Landmines

Same thought occurred to me. Is there an alternative as I do not wish to be associated in any way whatever with maiming children!
 
As disgusting as this is.. it doesn't surprise me.

Corporate greed over rides again, if there is a market for something, irrespective of its legality, someone will produce, market and sell it.

I think one of the boating mags at IPC should run a story on this - i am sure other boat owners would be interested.

Craig.
 
Agreed with all that has been said. But there must be other companies producing flares etc that haven't been exposed as deeply dodgy morally. I think I'd prefer to use another company from now on.
 
Come on gentlemen, I think you are being a little naive. The company sells fragmentation grenades which are not illegal. If they were buried in the ground and concealed they would be totally ineffective. Fragmentation grenades are part of every foot soldiers kit and they will frequently attach one or more to branches etc with a bit of string to pull the pin to protect their camps at night.

Anti personnel landmines are deliberately designed to be concealed in the ground and to blow your foot off, not to kill you. Why blow your foor off, because you then become a drain on resources in casualty evacuation etc, whereas someone who is dead can just be left. Nasty business war! The real problem is that these mines have been used to deny territory to an enemy, and then left and forgotten long after the war is over to the detriment of the local population. Being made of plastic landmines are very difficult to find and clear, which is why they were banned. Fragmentation grenades are made of metal and being above ground can easily be cleared later.

I respect your opinion about not wanting to buy products from a company that also makes armaments but I think you will find that this story is full of incaccuracies.

Chris Stannard
 
Chris

Of course - press always exaggerate. Mind you part of the transcript reads

"H: Life is cheap out there, but I do have to warn you, that’s a fragmentation grenade. It’s designed to kill people. "

However, it does also claim to be an "edited" transcript so one has to view it with caution.

It would make me think while handing over 90 odd quid for a new flare pack that part of this money could be funding R&D on illegal weapons.

Mind you, GPS was developed to drop bombs on people accurately wasn't it?


Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk
 
Yes but it is not about war. It is about whether a company should seek to sell weapons for securing an oil field when such products are are banned under the Ottawa Convention and production and sale is outlawed in the UK under the 1998 Land Mines Act.
 
I would hesitate to accuse any company or individual of a serious crime on the basis of a report on the BBC.

It may be better to wait to see if there is enough evidence to put to a court and then accept the verdict of the jury before passing sentence.

There is a lot of difference between a fragmentation grenade and a landmine. Certainly a grenade can be used to create a booby trap but so can many other things, many of then much more innocent than a grenade.

Problem with boycotting companies who are involved in supply of weapons is you are left with very little to buy. Start with oil companies who supply oil based plastics, not to mention base material for such delight as napalm bombs and then work down the supply chain.

Are you going to stop buying petrol?
 
I have to admit I have not seen this article, but thought I'd make a couple of points: Following some of the above logic, in that case we better stop buying fast food from those folks who have contributed to the I.R . er, I mean Noraid, listening to a certain world famous pop group for the same reasons - the makers of Nitrogen Fertilisers because thats a big element in certain types of terrorist bomb, ICI products (in fact almost ANY chemical producers goods) ... jeez get real.

The ban on landmines came about because of loony countries putting them out and not recording where, so that they could be retrieved at the end of hostilities 9hence areas still dangerous in the Falklands) . Landmines are actualy (as any military person of any knowledge will tell you) an area denial weapon - the intention isn't that folks stand on them, its that you deny them the use of that area at all. As a result of selling them to loony countries, and the resultant ban WE also now can't use them - which makes our guys in the field more at risk (never a concern of bleeding hearts back at home of course) and removes a weapon from our use which you can be sure any opponent will still be only too happy to use.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/boaty1965/index.htm
 
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