End the Terror of Landmines

The U.S. war in Afghanistan has drawn attention to antipersonnel landmines as instruments of terror. Afghanistan is considered to be one of the countries most severely affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (undetonated munitions, referred to as UXO). After twelve years of Soviet occupation and four more years of civil war, at least 724 square kilometers of the country are known to contain mines or UXO. New areas with mines and UXO are discovered each year.

The plight of Afghanistan highlights the crucial need for a global ban on landmines, weapons that kill and maim indiscriminately. Globally, antipersonnel landmines injure and kill upwards of 18,000 people each year, mostly children, farmers, and other innocent civilians. An estimated 80 million landmines lie buried in over 80 countries. These hidden weapons render land useless for cultivation, thereby inhibiting economic development in many struggling countries.

Because of the horror of landmines, nearly one hundred nations negotiated a treaty banning the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of antipersonnel landmines. The Mine Ban Treaty opened for signatures on Dec. 3-4, 1997 and entered into force as international law on March 1, 1999. Most nations of the world, including almost all NATO members, have joined this treaty. The U.S., in contrast, has refused to sign. However, Pres. Clinton committed the U.S. to joining the treaty in 2006.

The Department of Defense (DOD) has been conducting an official review of the U.S. landmine policy. Their recommendations to the President (which might be released as early as March 2002) could substantially alter U.S. policy. The DOD reportedly will advise the President to abandon all efforts to join the Mine Ban Treaty.

This is the wrong direction. Pres. Bush should not turn away from the U.S. commitment to join the Mine Ban Treaty. Rather, he should step up efforts to eliminate anti-personnel landmines entirely from the U.S. arsenal.