U.S. landmines policy - what you can do to help

(Thursday 03 January 2002 Boston, MA) Appeal from US Campaign to Ban Landmines Coordinator Gina Coplon-Newfield regarding US landmine policy rollback

To: All ICBL campaigners
From: Gina Coplon-Newfield, Coordinator, U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines
Re: U.S. landmines policy - what you can do to help
Date: January 3, 2001

My fellow campaigners:

The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines needs your help!

As you have heard, it appears that U.S. President George W. Bush and his Administration are moving towards a total abandonment of efforts to join the Mine Ban Treaty. If we thought U.S. mines policy was bad under President Clinton, it might get much worse under President Bush! We expect the new U.S. mines policies to be determined, possibly, in the coming weeks.

We really appreciate recent efforts of campaigners from France, New Zealand, the UK, and others to influence U.S. mines policy. We encourage everyone to continue or initiate more of this important campaign work. Here are some ideas:

• Meet with the U.S. Ambassador in your country and urge them to convey to the U.S. government the concerns of your country\'s citizens about U.S. mines policy.
• Urge reporters in your country to do two things: 1) to cover the story of the new landmines policies being developed by the United States and
  2) to ask both politicians in your country and those in the U.S. about U.S. mines policy in general and in relation to coalition forces in Afghanistan.
• Organize email or fax campaigns among citizens in your country urging President Bush (fax: +1 202-456-2461 or SPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERwhitehouse.gov">presidentSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERwhitehouse.gov and Secretary of State Colin Powell (fax: +1 202-261-8577) to support a U.S. ban on AP landmines.
• In bi-lateral, multi-lateral and other meetings, ask your government leaders to urge the U.S. not to roll back its mine policy. This can either be the reason for the meeting or an add-on issue during an already scheduled meeting about related issues.
• Other. Be creative!

If you plan to or are even just considering doing any of the above, I encourage you to contact the USCBL so we can make sure you have the information you need. You can reach me at SPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERphrusa.org">banminesSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERphrusa.org

Here are some talking points and things you might want to know in talking to reporters, activists, ambassadors, and others:

1) The U.S. Defense Department has recommended that the U.S.:

• abandon all efforts to join the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006 or ever;
• abandon all efforts to get rid of dumb mines by 2003;
• eliminate the search for alternatives program; and
• assert the need for mine use not only in Korea, but elsewhere.

Now the State Department (headed by Secretary Colin Powell) reviews the issue and makes its recommendations. Then the National Security Council, headed by Condoleezza Rice, packages all recommendations and sends them to the President for his approval. We expect this to happen in January or February.

2) 124 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives just sent a letter to President Bush urging him to work towards banning landmines. (In case you don't know, there are 435 Members of the House of Representatives, so the ones who just signed this letter represent more than a quarter, which we think is pretty impressive on a defense issue, during a war, right before the holidays)! To see the letter, please visit http://www.banminesusa.org/news/975_letter.htm

3) As Human Rights Watch (HRW) has recently indicated in a news release, nearly half of U.S. mines designated to "protect" South Korea are actually stockpiled in the U.S. This calls into question the notion that landmines are actually thought by the U.S. to be a military necessity. For the release, visit http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/12/koreamines1203.htm
HRW has also issued a press release on the rollback published a "Memorandum for U.S. Policymakers on Landmines" in November 2001 on "Issues and Questions for the Landmine Policy Review". See http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/11/usmines1121.htm

4) In May of 2001, 8 high-ranking, retired U.S. Generals and Admirals sent a letter to President Bush asking him to give up landmines and join the Mine Ban Treaty for military reasons. To see the letter, visit http://www.banminesusa.org/urg_act/990_generalsltr.html

5) In November of 2001, more than 500 U.S. veterans from all major wars since World War II and who live in all 50 states, sent a letter to President Bush asking him to ban landmines for both military and humanitarian reasons. To see this letter, visit http://www.banminesusa.org/news/981_letter.htm

6) The AP reported a couple of weeks ago that U.S. forces in Afghanistan do have Claymore mines with them. It is unclear whether they have been using these mines and, if so, whether they are being used in a command-detonated (treaty-compliant) manner or in a "dumb" (non-treaty-compliant) way.

Again, there is a lot of information at www.banminesusa.org that we encourage you to check out.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!!!!