The United States said on Friday it would no longer make or buy anti-personnel land mines and that it would strive to eventually join the global treaty banning the weapons, but it stopped short of agreeing to destroy its stockpile of 3 million mines.
The decision was hailed by arms control groups as a small yet significant step forward. But Rep. Randy Forbes warned that it would threaten security on the Korean Peninsula, and Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said it was "bad for the security of our men and women in uniform."
A U.S. delegation made the announcement at a review conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Mozambique, and the White House later confirmed the decision.
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