Action Alert!

June 22, 2001

George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

We write in our capacity as Co-Chairs of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL), a nationwide coalition of faith-based, veterans, children¹s, humanitarian, human rights and arms control organizations, to express our deep concern about the global humanitarian crisis caused by antipersonnel mines. We strongly urge you to ban the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines, and to continue to support international relief to mine-affected populations.

Tens of millions of landmines are buried in more than 80 countries, and US- made mines continue to threaten civilians in 28 countries. More people have been killed by landmines than have died from nuclear explosions and chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. Wars end, but most landmines go on killing for decades. Some 300,000 people now live with shattered limbs and lives, and thousands more are maimed every year.

Landmines have become a global man-made epidemic. The only good news is we know the cure. We urge you to send the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and On Their Destruction (the Mine Ban or Ottawa Treaty) to the U.S. Senate for ratification during your first year in office.

It is our understanding that the U.S. is undertaking a review of current landmine policy and issues, coordinated by the National Security Council with input from the Department of Defense and Department of State. The USCBL welcomes such a review and urges you to include an evaluation of current assumptions regarding the requirements for and utility of antipersonnel and antivehicle mines for the future.

Current U.S. landmine policy is hinged on two conditions: the perceived need to use antipersonnel mines to defend South Korea; and, the perceived need to retain antipersonnel mines in mixed systems to protect antitank mines. The manner in which these two issues are reviewed is the critical building block on which any landmine policy decision will be made. Current policy acknowledges that the antipersonnel mines contained in U.S. mixed systems must also be eliminated. It is our view that mines have little to no utility in the war-fighting principles and practices currently being considered by the U.S. military for the 21st century. We believe that many of our active duty military officers share this view.

We view current policy‹that the U.S. will seek to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty by 2006‹as a step in the right direction. 2006 is, however, five years too late for the thousands of innocent men, women and children who lose their limb or life to landmines each year. We therefore urge you to accelerate this timetable and do what the previous Administration could not ¯ take bold steps to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines as rapidly as possible. We have enclosed a suggested series of steps we feel would allow the United States to move in this direction. We urge you to embrace these steps as a path toward a mine-free future‹for our military and our nation, and for the world.

140 governments have already signed the treaty banning antipersonnel mines, signaling their willingness to give up this indiscriminate weapon and to use alternatives already in existence. With recent decisions by Turkey and Greece to join the treaty, all of our NATO allies are on board. During your recent visit to Brussels, you stressed your desire to work together closely with our most important allies. We believe a decision by you to move forward on the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty would be very well received by our friends in Europe and beyond.

Finally, Mr. President, we want to express our deep appreciation for U.S. leadership in international humanitarian demining. Indeed, each mine removed from the ground is a life or limb saved, and we urge your Administration to dedicate increased resources to mine action.

We would welcome the opportunity to meet with the relevant policymakers as the Administration¹s review progresses to ensure that the voice of the humanitarian community is included in the process. On behalf of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines, we thank you for your consideration of our requests. We hope that you will assert the strongest possible U.S. leadership on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

Jerry White
Co-Chair of the USCBL, landmine survivor, and Executive Director of the Landmine Survivors Network

The Reverend Mark Brown Co-Chair of the USCBL and Assistant Director of the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

CC: Colin Powell, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense

Encl. Steps Toward A U.S. Mine Ban List of USCBL member organizations

Steps Toward A U.S. Mine Ban

*Set a date certain for the U.S. to join the ban treaty--a date closer than 2006;

*Set a date certain for the Pentagon to obtain suitable treaty-compliant alternatives to antipersonnel mines, including technologies, tactics, and operational concepts to achieve comparable military objectives;

*Commit the United States immediately to a policy of no use of antipersonnel mines;

*Commit the United States immediately to a policy of no use or transfer of antipersonnel mines in joint operations (NATO and otherwise) with nations that are a party to the Mine Ban Treaty;

*Announce a permanent ban on production of antipersonnel landmines;

*Make a decision not to produce the RADAM mixed mine system, which is not compliant with the ban treaty;

*Halt the exploration of procurement of an alternative system to non-self- destructing AP mines that will not be compliant with the ban treaty (due to the battlefield override system);

*Establish plans, procedures, and timetables for destruction of all antipersonnel mines, and begin placement in inactive status of ADAM and other mines immediately, with intent to destroy as soon as possible;

*Withdraw and destroy all antipersonnel mines stockpiled in countries that are party to the ban treaty; do not insist on transit rights through such countries;

*Ensure that revisions are well underway with respect to changes in war plans, doctrine, training, and manuals necessary for future combat without antipersonnel mines.