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> "More than a million Russian-made PFM-1 land mines—the most common butterfly type, possibly inspired by similar U.S. weapons deployed during the Vietnam War"

> "More than a million Russian-made PFM-1 land mines—the most common butterfly type, possibly inspired by similar U.S. weapons deployed during the Vietnam War" Possibly? Why is this article softballing? The Russian version of the mine is a DIRECT ripoff of the American version. They look EXACTLY the same. Here is a BLU-43, the American version: http://www.big-ordnance.com/subs/BLU43OD.jpg http://www.big-ordnance.com/subs/BLU43OD.jpg Here is a PFM-1, the Russian version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFM-1#/media/File:Russische_Schmetterlingsmine_PFM-1.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFM-1#/media/File:Russische_Sc... It's the same damn mine! There is no "possibly" about this. The author didn't lie but he's damn sure being dishonest. The article never even mentions the BLU-43 by name, which would allow more readers to look it up and decide for themselves.

paradoxparalax 8y ago
The author maybe being dishonesty, but his dishonesty would be, in contrary to what your comment appears to imply, Beneficial for the U.S. reputation, because creating a damn nice human-leg's unnecessary amputation machine is not something to be proud of, last time I checked. But then, you know...humans...
- darkpuma 8y ago
  > "his dishonesty would be, in contrary to what your comment appears to imply, Beneficial for the U.S. reputation" I must have expressed myself poorly, I meant to suggest exactly such a bias. The 'American Exceptionalism' bias in American media continues decades after the fact.
  - paradoxparalax 8y ago
    Oh sorry, in this case, I have misunderstood your reasoning, and Yes, I agree entirely with your point. I have never heard about the term "exceptionalism" in this context before, but it is a true fact, and I myself usually just call it 'American Hipocrisy'. Not that other countries' don't do that too, but the americans can be really good at keeping a straight wooden hard face.
woodruffw 8y ago
Lazy research, not dishonesty, is the far more likely explanation here. From Wikipedia[1]: > a land mine of Soviet production, very similar to the BLU-43 US Army landmine. Both devices are very similar in shape and principles, although they use different explosives. The author probably reworded the above. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFM-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFM-1
- beatgammit 8y ago
  Hanlon's Razor: > Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. Though I'd use ignorance here instead of stupidity.
jdietrich 8y ago
It is worth noting that neither the US nor Russia are signatories to the UN Convention on Cluster Munitions. The US has dropped many millions of cluster submunitions on Iraq and Afghanistan, and supplied millions more to the Saudi-led coalition that dropped them on Yemen. These submunitions frequently fail to detonate on impact, are frequently dropped in close proximity to civilian populations and often have a toy-like appearance. https://ordata.info/ordnance?id=4976 https://ordata.info/ordnance?id=4976

paradoxparalax 8y ago

The author maybe being dishonesty, but his dishonesty would be, in contrary to what your comment appears to imply, Beneficial for the U.S. reputation, because creating a damn nice human-leg's unnecessary amputation machine is not something to be proud of, last time I checked. But then, you know...humans...

darkpuma 8y ago
> "his dishonesty would be, in contrary to what your comment appears to imply, Beneficial for the U.S. reputation" I must have expressed myself poorly, I meant to suggest exactly such a bias. The 'American Exceptionalism' bias in American media continues decades after the fact.
- paradoxparalax 8y ago
  Oh sorry, in this case, I have misunderstood your reasoning, and Yes, I agree entirely with your point. I have never heard about the term "exceptionalism" in this context before, but it is a true fact, and I myself usually just call it 'American Hipocrisy'. Not that other countries' don't do that too, but the americans can be really good at keeping a straight wooden hard face.

woodruffw 8y ago

Lazy research, not dishonesty, is the far more likely explanation here. From Wikipedia[1]: > a land mine of Soviet production, very similar to the BLU-43 US Army landmine. Both devices are very similar in shape and principles, although they use different explosives. The author probably reworded the above. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFM-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFM-1

beatgammit 8y ago
Hanlon's Razor: > Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. Though I'd use ignorance here instead of stupidity.

jdietrich 8y ago

It is worth noting that neither the US nor Russia are signatories to the UN Convention on Cluster Munitions. The US has dropped many millions of cluster submunitions on Iraq and Afghanistan, and supplied millions more to the Saudi-led coalition that dropped them on Yemen. These submunitions frequently fail to detonate on impact, are frequently dropped in close proximity to civilian populations and often have a toy-like appearance. https://ordata.info/ordnance?id=4976 https://ordata.info/ordnance?id=4976