A letter from Adopt-A-Minefield, UNA-USA
By Marty Logan

Dear Friends,

On Friday, February 27th, the U.S. Department of State announced the new U.S. policy on landmines. While there were some positive developments, some aspects of the new policy can be viewed as a step back. The good news is that the Administration has committed to increasing funding for mine action by 50 percent to $70 million, assuring that the U.S. will remain the largest donor of mine action worldwide. This funding is critical to ensuring the safety of civilians around the world. Additionally, the U.S. policy also addresses the issue of persistent or “dumb” anti-vehicle mines – a class of landmines that the Mine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Convention does not include – and pledges to eliminate the use of these weapons by 2010.

However, aside from these positive points, the new policy further isolates the United States from the international community in that it dismisses the Mine Ban Treaty and it retains the right to use self-deactivating or “smart” mines indefinitely. These mines are indiscriminate killers while they remain active and 150 other countries have agreed to forgo the use of anti-personnel mines either smart or dumb. We continue to hope that the U.S. government will agree to do the same in the near future.

For more information about the new U.S. policy, please visit the State Department website at: http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/30047.htm

As a member of the Steering Committee for the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines, we would like to share the campaign’s statement and call to action for those who are interested in learning more or taking action. It is attached to this email and can also be found on the USCBL website: www.banminesusa.org.

If you have questions, please contact us at info@landmines.org.

- Staff of Adopt-A-Minefield, UNA-USA