U.S. Landmines Policy Still Under Review -- The Washington PostWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A review of U.S. landmines policy is ongoing and will take awhile to complete, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday, clarifying an earlier comment that the Obama administration had concluded it needed the weapons.
"The administration is committed to a comprehensive review of its landmines policy. That review is still ongoing," spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement.
Speaking ahead of a review conference next weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, on the 10-year-old international Mine Ban Treaty, Kelly said the U.S. policy review was "going to take some time" and while it continued the current policy of declining to join the accord would remain in force.
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Update: US revises statement on land mine policy -- AP
My Comment: Someone high up in the U.S. Government read and saw the news this morning and decided to reverse what has been the standard U.S. response on why the U.S. has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty. My bet is that it was the man in the Oval Office who made this decision.
Expect an announcement in the future that the U.S. will consider signing the treaty, and it will be done over the objections of the military and some of our allies (i.e. South Korea).