"do you know it says "lanmines" on the page? Pretty sure thats ones not in my websters (should be Land Mines??)."

"Landmines shouldnt be banned...stupid people step on em all the time...my grandaddy was a minesweeper and he never got no blown up stupid yuppies KEEP MINES"

"Mines are not evil in themselves, any more than any other weapon. Moreover, not all mines are laid indiscriminately, or without any plan or survey. Furthermore, children are not helpless against mines, as my own soldiers have proven through their mine awareness efforts in the Balkans, etc. Mine awareness saves lives. Mine removal is indeed very difficult, perhaps impossible to effectively and finally do. Clearly, when mines are lain, they must be recovered. Professional armies do this. There are no US-laid minefields out there killing anyone today. None. The banning of a weapon like a land mine is a poor excuse for taking real and substantive action aimed at resolving the reasons for conflict, or punishing aggressors, such as north Korea, Communist Vietnam, the former Soviet Union, etc. These legalistic efforts result in disproportionate harm to those who have the most respect for law and decency, and no harm whatever to despots against whom these weapons are a well-justified preventive measure. And finally, please consider this: abortion kills far more innocent children than land mines ever did. Consider your views on that issue before you deny me a weapon which I can use to save the lives of the soldiers I am responsible for, and which I will recover when I move to another location. Thank you."

"Do you guys realise that when a person in a farming community is maimed by a landmine, his family disowns him because he's no use to them? Do you realise that this means he has no livelihood whatsoever? And yet you rattle on about landmines being "useful" and so on!"

" You people are idiots!!!! A landmine didn`t kill Princess Diana, a car crash in Paris did. Landmines are an important method of warfare, and I`m not saying war is good, but they`ve certainly helped out. Most of these landmine accidents happen in poor countries like Egypt. Is it OUR fault they aren`t doing anything about it? This petition will never work. A petition only works if someone is doing things the petitioners are against. So what`s to come of this petition, is anyone REALLY going to send it to an army or a country`s president? We have to woory about more important things, like the Mideast situation, or Saddam Hussein. Find something elso to do!"

"Thanks to princess dianas annoying campaign the british army have now lost the capability to place landmines leaving us at a gret disadvantage."

"When we say that "firefighters are heroes because they risk their lives every day", we don't really mean every firefighter, every day, all day. That is the life of a de-miner. "

"The landmines are vital to the protection and well-being of the south koreans. Would you rather have 1,000 kids die or the entire country of south korea and possibly north korea dead? i would pick the lesser of the two evils. why wouldn't you??????"

"Greetings,

This was posted on the Global Perspectives idea page. I thought it might be of interest to you and that perhaps you could offer this person some help.

Thanks for your kind attention,

Glenn Sheppard"

"Today marks the third anniversary of the Banmines initiative. The going has been slower than we originally anticipated. 2,260 petition entries averages to about only 750 a year, less than 2 a day. We had hoped for a significant multiple of that. Yet we came to realise Banmines is not a numbers game. Numbers represent quantity, not quality. Whilst not attaining the former, Banmines surely has attained the latter. We have signatories from every remote corner of the world, everyday, ordinary persons who care passionately for the lives of their neighbours, whether local or global. We revere that spirit, for it was in that very same spirit that Banmines was conceived. That incorruptible spirit moves forward and carries on. We ask you to fuel the hope which drives this spirit by doing what you can to help Banmines raise the level of awareness of the landmines issue. Never underestimate the power of simple acts of caring and compassion. A little can go a long way. Banmines thanks you in earnest for your support."

"I am doing a project for school on this topic. and it is a good thing you are doing here."

"Two years ago, when Diana was killed in Paris, the streets around Kensington Palace in London were swamped with cellophane-wrapped flowers. This week, once again flowers have appeared outside the Palace. Diana may be gone but the issue she courageously fought for in the last years of her life - the banning of landmines - is still with us. In the wake of Kosovo it was once again the landmines that were doing the killing, and will continue to kill long after the war. Landmines won't go away unless the world makes it its business to get rid of them. Second anniversary of Diana's death - result, no media interest. Second anniversary of Banmines - result, 1500 plus signatures. If you're reading this, please tell everyone you know that it's landmines that cost lives - petitions cost nothing, but maybe they can help change people's minds. Even those of presidents. "

"Banmines, the Internet Online Petition to Ban Landmines Worldwide, began two years ago, on 3 September 1997. Today is Banmines's second anniversary. As a Web site on the Internet, Banmines has grown and developed. There are versions of it in three different languages, there are multiple viewing options from which to select, and there are three formats for signing the Banmines petition. Many other Web sites have links to Banmines, and many kind and considerate persons have incorporated links to Banmines in their e-mail signatures. Those involved with the Banmines site are grateful for these sincere expressions of caring and of commitment to the crucial cause Banmines exists to promote and strives to help accomplish. The major search engines have given Banmines good placement, also. Banmines's first anniversary arrived before the thousandth signature did. This past year has seen only about five hundred additional signatures to the Banmines petition. On this marking of two years of concerted effort, the petition count is just shy of 1,520 signatures. We had hoped for better, and don't know why this hope was not realised. We do know this. Most persons, in their minds and especially in their hearts, know landmines are not merely wrong but are outrightly evil. Most persons have a strong sense of compassion for the innocent victims of, both those maimed by and those killed by, landmines. We have received poignant messages and other communications that have moved us deeply. These have strengthened our resolve. Banmines began in earnest. Banmines now enters its third year in earnest. Whilst naturally we would like to see more -- many, many more -- petition signatures, as visual signs of support for our efforts, we understand and accept that, in the long run, right is right and wrong is wrong. Banmines stands, however humbly, for what is right, and is not swayed by popularity contests. Banmines is dedicated to the long run goal of witnessing the the total abolition of and absence of landmines on our garden planet, Earth. Banmines holds that humankind can not survive with landmines, and their equivalents or counterparts, yet surely can and very well may perish with them. To see its mission to fruition, Banmines is here, is in it, for the duration. To those who read these words, your support and help are as appreciated as they are needed."

Note: BANMINES is willing to host relevant, thoughtful comments and essays on the subject of landmines. Authors' views, and how authors express their views, do not necessarily represent, and may not represent at all, the official BANMINES view or how that view is expressed on the BANMINES web site.

"The idea of banning landmines betrays your colossal naiveté about the nature of war. As a soldier myself, I do fear encountering an enemy landmine, but I fear this no more so than any other weapon my enemy may seek to kill me with.

Like most weapons in use today, landmines are a critical link in the ability of soldiers to defend themselves. Yes they are lethal and yes they do horrible bodily harm - they're supposed to! Your irresponsible drive to ban them is a direct threat to my ability to maximize the safety of my soldiers in time of war.

Even if you could get every nation to sign such an ill-conceived document, do you really think the Irans, Chinas and North Koreas of the world would abide by it? Yet it seems you are more willing to trust nations bent on our destruction than you are your own military to use all weapons responsibly and judiciously.

Yes I am horrified by landmine injuries, but I am much more horrified by well-meaning but ignorant souls who think they can change the nature of war just by feeling bad about it. Do my soldiers and free peoples everywhere a favor, channel your energies into something useful! Thank you."

"Contrary to one commentator defending landmines, they are not like the moat of a castle. The deterrent value of the castle moat is its high visibility. Were a castle moat hidden, as are landmines, none would be deterred from attempting to breach the fortification.

The same commentator likens a landmine, attached to a trip wire, to an alarm to awaken a sleeping soldier to the presence of an hostile intruder. Any sound producing mechanism, when tripped, would accomplish that.

The commentator rhetorically asks whether bullets, knives and clubs would be banned as well, faultily comparing the indiscriminate destruction of the landmine to selective, target-specific weapons. Again contrary to the commentator, war need not be experienced for either it or its weapons to be appreciated, any more than a surgeon need undergo surgery to acquire surgical skills or a judge need commit crimes to preside over a trial fairly and justly.

The commentator states landmines are defensive weapons. Weapons are technological devices, intrinsically neutral. As mindless machines, they are instruments of the intentions of those using them; any weapon can be used either offensively or defensively.

Yet beyond the commentator’s error on this point, is the greater point of the lingering, long-lasting and often lethal legacies of certain weapons, regardless of how or of why they were deployed."