US opposed to landmine ban

The Daily Irrelevant links:

In 1994, the United States was the first nation to call for the elimination of landmines that killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of innocent people around the world.

But that was then. Today, Washington not only stands in opposition to an international treaty that bans the use and production of antipersonnel landmines, but intends to make new ones too.

In reversal of its earlier policy, the U.S. is reportedly planning to produce a new generation of landmines called “Spider” by March 2007, a move that has alarmed civil society groups campaigning for a global ban on the use and production of landmines for years.

“We are concerned about this,” says Alison Bock, president and founder of Landmines Blow!, a U.S.-based independent group. “This would erase many of the positive steps the U.S. has taken in the past.”