tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post6950572048490855045..comments2024-03-28T15:05:10.372-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: What is it like to step on a landmine?Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-11421193399675111312014-06-27T20:38:34.742-05:002014-06-27T20:38:34.742-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-37315602308059711772014-06-27T14:30:31.655-05:002014-06-27T14:30:31.655-05:00Military effectiveness is not always the only cond...Military effectiveness is not always the only condideration. The nations of the world have chosen to refrain from use of atomic weapons, poison gas and biological agents because of long term consequences, particularly for non-combatants. We Americans have been lucky enough to fight our wars in other countries. I suspect our view of the matter might be different if we had to live with the detritus of battle.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641357239788323783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-41228216299388390642014-06-27T13:39:48.326-05:002014-06-27T13:39:48.326-05:00Charmingly inarticulate, no?
JohnCharmingly inarticulate, no?<br /><br />Johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-74223288682132932112014-06-27T11:40:20.770-05:002014-06-27T11:40:20.770-05:00By no qualification I mean your opinion was absolu...By no qualification I mean your opinion was absolute - not qualified - not attacking you for not being an expert (nor did I hold myself out to be one, but relayed what I had read in the same detail as your column). You're saying without any doubt whatsoever that you and your sources (I still don't know if you're representing this is a consensus or just that many in the military hold this view) are right and the Israelis are wrong (your column isn't limited to South Korea). And by "absolutely" in this context you are saying that Israel, for believing that landmines are effective in deterring or winning an existential war, are morally evil (that's how I interpret an analogy to genocide-enabling China or too long a list to go into Russia) because their ineffectiveness is unquestioningly correct. As for anonymity, it's a lot easier to be courageous when opinion making is your career and how you feed your family - some of us don't have that luxury and dare to think that their arguments can - and should - rise, fall and be judged on their own merits. Anon-not-Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-15141029825620934032014-06-27T09:58:24.269-05:002014-06-27T09:58:24.269-05:00Absolutely. Though you answer your own question (&...Absolutely. Though you answer your own question ("blithely") before giving me a chance, there is much written on the relative military uselessness of landmines. "A dozen years ago, I joined a group of retired military officers that urged President Bill Clinton to sign the global treaty," Lt. General Robert Gard Jr. wrote in 2009. "As a commander of U.S. troops in combat in Korea and Vietnam, I did not allow my soldiers to use anti-personnel landmines because I believed them to be a net liability." Here's the link to his article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lt-general-robert-g-gard-jr-/past-time-to-join-the-lan_b_176335.html. As far as "qualification," at least I am able to sign my name to my opinions, which is not something you can say. It's chutzpah for an anonymous poster to question the sincerity and qualifications of others. At least I have the courage of my convictions. Save anonymity for the rooms. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-21454576489962102712014-06-27T08:46:05.521-05:002014-06-27T08:46:05.521-05:00Neal, just how much research did you do into the c...Neal, just how much research did you do into the contra position you so blithely dismiss? Because my understanding is that the military is very much against removing landmines in South Korea and view them as a considerable deterrance rather than "they constrict more than they help." I've read that North Korea has been frustrated in its attempts to plan against the landmines (e.g., by building underground tunnels). Yet you say the mines have "scant value" and/or are counterproductive (which itself is quite a difference - which is it?). You're betting with the lives of US troops not to mention millions of South Koreans, against probably the least stable regime on the planet. Nor is it the only conflict where landmines have been still deemed necessary - Israel (also a non-signer) uses them too -are you so confident in your "military sources" that you believe - without qualification no less - that Israel's military strategists are dummies who have hurt their nation's security (not "dumb" for political reasons, but dumb purely for "constricting" their forces)? And that they've put themselves on the "moral" level of China and Russia by doing so? Anon-not-Anonnoreply@blogger.com