The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
To All at CASI, Please do read this. - "Morality"? NOT IN OUR NAME!!! BG. >From: s.a.blackwell@bham.ac.uk >Reply-To: bham_network@yahoogroups.com >To: bustw-list@bham.ac.uk, bham_network@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [bham_network] FWD: US to use land mines in Iraq >Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 12:35:53 +0000 > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: Echagop@aol.com > >Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 4:20 AM >Subject: US to use land mines in Iraq > > >Please see the following news release that we sent out on USCBL >letterhead on Friday. If you work with the media or know people who do, >please forward it to them. This is quite a disturbing development. > >March 7, 2003 > >CONTACT: >John Heffernan, Physicians for Human Rights (617) 413-6407 >jheffernan@phrusa.org > >PENTAGON ADMITS PLANS TO USE LANDMINES IN IRAQ > >Today, the US Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) criticized the US >military for officially and specifically acknowledging for the first >time that it plans to use antipersonnel mines in Iraq. At a Pentagon >briefing on Wednesday a senior defense official told reporters that US >forces "might deny access to [a chemical weapons site] by using >self-destructing small mines." Reportedly, the US has some 90,000 >landmines already stockpiled in the region. The last time the US used >antipersonnel mines was in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. > >"The use of antipersonnel landmines would endanger Iraqi civilians, US >troops, future peacekeepers and deminers," said Dan Smith, retired US >Army Colonel. "Use of this indiscriminate weapon in Iraq would more >than likely lead to civilian and US troop casualties, as it did during >the 1991 Persian Gulf War," said Smith. > >Members of Congress from both parties recently sent a letter to >President Bush urging him to prohibit US troops from using antipersonnel >mines in Iraq. The January letter states: "The United States military, >unquestionably the strongest in the world, can defend itself and its >interests without the aid of this indiscriminate menace." > >A recent US General Accounting Office (GAO) report on the use and >effects of landmines during the Persian Gulf War stated that some US >commanders were reluctant to use mines "because of their impact on US >troop mobility, safety concerns, and fratricide potential." > >Any US use of antipersonnel mines would run counter to and serve to >undermine the complete rejection of the weapon by most of the rest of >the world. One hundred forty-six nations have signed the 1997 Mine Ban >Treaty, but not the United States or Iraq. All NATO countries except >the United States have embraced the ban. Allied forces such as the UK, >which has already positioned 25,000 troops in the region, will be in >violation of the treaty if they assist US troops in mine-deployment >operations. > >"To use antipersonnel mines in Iraq would further isolate the US, given >that nearly all of our allies have outlawed this weapon of terror," said >Gina Coplon-Newfield, Coordinator of the USCBL. > >Moreover, the US Air Force air-dropped Gator mines being discussed are >unlikely to be effective in denying access to a facility. They cannot >be dropped with a high degree of precision, won't have the density of a >true barrier minefield, and, being on the surface, are easily spotted, >avoided, or cleared by an enemy. > >Though President Clinton did not sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, he did >issue a Presidential Decision Directive that instructed the Pentagon to >move toward joining the treaty by 2006 if suitable alternatives were >developed. The Bush Administration has not yet finished its formal >review of US landmine policies. > >"No Landmine in use today, even a self-destructing landmine, is smart >enough to differentiate between a soldier and an innocent civilian," >said Jerry White, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Landmine >Survivors Network. "Use of antipersonnel mines by the US in Iraq would >reverse a decade of US pledges to eliminate these weapons." > >The US Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of approximately 500 >veterans, medical, human rights, religious, and humanitarian >organizations as well as thousands of individuals nationwide advocating >for the US government to join the Mine Ban Treaty and to increase >support for demining and landmine victim assistance. The USCBL is >coordinated by Physicians for Human Rights, which shared the 1997 Nobel >Peace Prize for its role in founding the International Campaign to Ban >Landmines. > > >----- End Included Message ----- > _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today! http://messenger.msn.co.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk