a range of compromises. It is believed that the result would be different if the United States would support a complete ban ("An Unacceptable Weapon" 15).
A recent report from the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) was released on the eve of a UN conference in Vienna and stated that there were more than 100 million unexploded landmines buried around the world. The UN conference considered tightening the international treaty governing the deployment of landmines. The VVAF offered a 550 page report stating that landmines claim 500 new victims around the world each week. It would cost an estimated $33 billion to remove them today, and at the same time the direct medical and rehabilitation costs to treat the world's landmine victims stands at $750 million ("Landmines Frustrate Social and Economic Recovery" Inter Press Service English News Wire).
The United Nations has taken a role in clearing landmines and in offering other humanitarian assistance to countries devastated by war, and this has been at a
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