Mine Ban Treaty
The Mine Ban Treaty is an agreement to bar the use of victim-activated antipersonnel landmines, as well to destroy stockpiles of the weapons, to clear contaminated land, and to take other steps in support of mine free world. There are 162 states parties to the Treaty, which entered into force in 1999. The fewer that three dozen countries not party to the treaty include the United States, China, and Russia, but U.S. policy is to eventually accede to it.
Clinton has been on record as expressing support for the United States signing the Mine Ban Treaty. Technically, the United States can no longer sign the treaty because it has already entered into force. The United States would need to accede and has said that it cannot do so yet because it claims a need for the weapons on the Korean peninsula. Clinton has not indicated exactly how she would address the so-called "Korea exception."
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No Trump public statements have been found regarding either the Mine Ban Treaty or the use of landmines by the United States in general. However, given that Trump has at times suggested an openness to using controversial weapons for military attacks, including nuclear weapons against ISIS as a last resort, and a desire to build up the military at a broad level, he is expected to be open to the use of landmines and thus opposed to the United States joining the Treat. (See also Oct. 2 Military Times article on analysis of Trump and Clinton military spending and use.)
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Hillary Clinton QuotesI had hoped we would sign the landmine treaty over the last years, I certainly believe we should, and I'd like to see us do that. It's been a priority, I know, for President Obama and it hasn't yet happened, and you know I'm sure the reason it hasn't happened primarily is the concern on the part of our military about the DMZ between North and South Korea. |
Donald Trump Quotes[On using nuclear weapons against ISIS] I'm never going to rule anything out—I wouldn't want to say. Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't want to tell you that because at a minimum, I want them to think maybe we would use them January 24, 2016 - campaign video
I'm going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody -- absolutely nobody -- is gonna mess with us |