Landmines are used as antipersonnel weapons in war. They are placed in the path of oncoming soldiers or vehicles, or where one army believes that the opposing army may be at some time. They are seen as a cheap way to protect territory and to undermine the enemy. However, they also an insidious weapon that is as likely to snare a civilian as a soldier, and another problem is that they remain in the ground long after a war may be ended. There are former battlefields all over the world, with many still mined and dangerous. Among the more dangerous parts of the world today in terms of landmines are parts of Africa, Bosnia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Proposals have been made to ban landmines so that such situations will not develop again. This is a movement parallel to one dedicated to removing the landmines that have already been left in the ground and that maim and kill thousands of civilians each year. The United Nations has been debating this proposal, which has also been circulated to member states for ratification. The United States has only recently joined in the demand for some sort of action, though the U.S. is balking at signing the proposed accord or at agreeing to ban landmine use completely. The issue has been much in the news recently because of a U.N. resolution regarding banning the use of landmines; because of the death of Princess Diana, who was prominent in the movement to clean up existing landmines; and because the organization she supported in the United States was given the Nobel Prize for Peace this year. Now that the issue has been brought to the forefront, however, the question is, what can we do to prevent deaths from landmines in the future?
In a recent speech, Thomas E. McNamara, Assistant Secretary for Political Military Affairs, stated the nature of the problem and the way landmines extend war beyond the immediate conflict:
The worldwide crisis of uncleared landmines is horrendous. T...