Urge President Bush to Reconsider his Decision to Reject Mine Ban Treaty and Roll Back US Landmine Policies

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS ANNOUNCED ITS NEW LANDMINE POLICY, WHICH REJECTS THE MINE BAN TREATY, ASSERTS THE RIGHT FOR THE US TO USE MINES IN COMBAT, AND DOESN'T AGREE TO GIVE UP "DUMB" MINES UNTIL 2010.

Resources to better Understand the New Policy

Click here to download an action alert flyer that we encourage you to distribute.

There are a few positive aspects to the new policy, such as an increase in mine action funding for next year.  However, overall the new policy is A MAJOR STEP BACKWARDS AND JEOPARDIZES GLOBAL EFFORTS TO BAN THIS INDISCRIMINATE WEAPON.

Action Alert 1:  Please contact the White House now and make it clear to President Bush that you are outraged at this decision to abandon US efforts to join the Mine Ban Treaty and that you want the President to reconsider.

White House Switchboard:  202-456-1111
White House Fax:  202-456-2461
White House Email: president@whitehouse.gov

Action Alert 2:  Please submit a letter to the editor. 

Most papers around the country, and around the world, have already published articles about this.

Many seem to inaccurately portray self-deactivating or self-destructing mines as "smart," though they cannot distinguish between the foot of a soldier and that of a child.  Make your voice heard to policy-makers and the general public.

Sample Letter to the Editor:

To the Editor:

The recent coverage of President Bush's new US landmine policy sugar-coats a major policy rollback.   The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty has made a tremendous, life-saving impact throughout the world.  More than 52 million mines have been destroyed from global stockpiles, trade of the stigmatized weapon has slowed to a trickle, hundreds of thousands of mines have been removed from the ground, most countries have given up use of the weapon, and casualty rates have declined dramatically.  US refusal to join this treaty gives political cover to countries such as Russia, India, and Pakistan, which have laid hundreds of thousands of mines in recent years with devastating consequences for innocent victims.

Though President Clinton failed to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, he did create a policy that would put the US on track to join the treaty by 2006.  The new Bush policy rejects any notion that the US will join the treaty, puts off the destruction of "persistent" landmines until 2010, and asserts that our military may use self-deactivating "smart" mines indefinitely.  These so-called "smart" mines cannot discriminate between the foot of a soldier and that of a child, tend to be scattered by air and are thus difficult to mark and map, pose tremendous challenges and costs for demining teams, and threaten the lives and limbs of innocent civilians and US troops who step on the weapons soon after they've been planted.

Meanwhile, reportedly, the US military hasn't used antipersonnel landmines since 1991.  Let's join the majority of the world in giving up this cruel, outmoded, and indiscriminate weapon!

Sincerely,
Name
Address

Resources to better Understand the New Policy:
Question and Answer Memo about the new policies by Human Rights Watch.

The Facts on the Dangers of So-Called "Smart Mines" -A Human Rights Watch Memo

Organizations and Policy-Makers Condemn New US Landmine Policy.