John Whitehead's Commentary
The United States Should Take a Stand Against Landmines
Meanwhile, in countries like Angola, residents have more fundamental concerns--such as whether a routine trip to fetch water will end in tragedy because of hidden landmines. And as Senators discuss the appropriate means to fill their campaign treasure chests, the United States continues to be one of the few holdouts from the Mine Ban Treaty.
Despite the loss of its most visible spokesperson, Princess Diana, the issue of landmines in various countries lives on. Today there are an estimated 70 million landmines around the world, which kill or maim 26,000 people every year, including approximately 10,000 children. In countries such as Angola, amputees are a regular part of the landscape, a heartbreaking reminder of a bitter war that is still claiming victims.
This doesn't mean that the international community hasn't taken positive steps toward eradicating the problem. Passed in 1997, an international treaty to ban mines has been signed by over 130 countries. One group responsible for its passage, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Further, even though countries such as Kosovo and Chechnya continue to see additional landmines laid down, the international shipment of new mines has virtually stopped over the last couple of years, and signatory countries have destroyed millions of existing mines.
The United States, however, has yet to take a stand on the issue. According to military officials, signing the treaty would prevent the U.S. from using the devices in tense border situations, where they're allegedly necessary. And so America continues to stockpile 11 million of the silent--at least until they explode--killers.
Of course the military's argument, although questionable, should not be lightly dismissed. War is an ugly business, and when faced with a tyrant like Hitler or Iraq's Hussein, a free country must be able to fight fire with fire. Getting rid of every weapon with the potential for tragic outcome would leave liberty's shores defenseless.
But landmines are different. When war is over, men and tanks move out, taking their guns and grenades with them. Yet the mines remain behind, claiming the lives of innocent civilians for years after the conflict has ended.
In countries like Angola, mines have made it virtually impossible for the country to regain productiveness in the aftermath of a bitter war. Farmers can't plow their fields because of hidden mines and men, women and children lose arms, legs and lives to the stealthy weapons. The result is a high tax on an already poor nation's economic and health care systems.
Americans have no conception of this kind of post-war reality. Despite a century packed with the most destructive conflicts in world history, a war hasn't been fought on U.S. soil in 140 years. With the exception of Pearl Harbor, Americans at home have remained unscathed--a reality completely unlike that of Eastern Europe and Africa.
We should not, however, let this good fortune blind us to the suffering that goes on in the rest of the world. We should pursue other alternatives to mines that don't leave a legacy of grief behind when the military mission is accomplished.
Banning land mines doesn't mean abandoning a strong defense--it means adopting a strong defense for innocent men, women and children seeking to rebuild their lives after the nightmare of war. And it's high time that our President and Congress join the international community in standing against these deadly devices.
But it's not just the responsibility of our leaders. We all should--and can--help. To find out how, visit www.icbl.org and do your part to help rid the world of landmines.
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ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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