Statement Of Senator Patrick
Leahy
On The Bush Administration's Revised Landmine Policy
February 27, 2004
| Mr. President, beginning in 1991 and every year since then, I
have spoken on this floor about the dangers of landmines to
innocent civilians and American soldiers. I have lost count of the
number of speeches I have made, and perhaps to some I am sounding
like the broken record that keeps on playing, because this is an
issue about which I feel passionately.
Many years ago, I sponsored the first law anywhere in the
world to stop the export of anti-personnel landmines. That law
led to similar actions by other nations, and in a short time
many of our |
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allies took far bolder steps. After five years, a treaty banning
anti-personnel mines was signed in Ottawa, and today over 150
nations have joined that treaty including every one of our NATO
allies, and every country in the Western Hemisphere except the
United States and Cuba.
During the Clinton Administration, I worked closely with the
White House on this issue, and although I was disappointed that
President Clinton did not join the Ottawa treaty, he pledged to
work aggressively to find alternatives to landmines so the U.S.
could join by 2006. Until this morning, that pledge was U.S.
policy, and the Pentagon publicly embraced it.
I ask unanimous consent that a May 15, 1998, letter to me from
former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, which spells out
that policy, be printed in the Record at the end of my remarks.
But privately, the Pentagon worked assiduously to undermine the
Clinton policy, and today we see the results. In an announcement
leaked to the press last night in an attempt to put a positive
spin on what anyone who knows this issue can readily see is a step
backwards, the White House has abandoned any pretext of joining
other civilized nations to eliminate these outmoded,
indiscriminate weapons.
Before I explain why the Administration’s revised policy is so
deeply disappointing to those of us who have worked on this issue
for years, I want to be clear that I have great respect for
Secretary of State Powell, for Assistant Secretary Lincoln
Bloomfield, and others in the State Department who administer our
humanitarian demining programs. These programs saves lives and
limbs, and the Administration’s plan to increase funding for these
programs by $20 million is constructive. It is far too little, but
it is a positive step.
I also want to emphasize that, except for in Korea, the United
States no longer uses the type of landmines which pose the gravest
risk to innocent civilians, the way some nations and rebel forces
do. Instead, we are helping countries clear their mine fields.
Just this week, the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, led by
Bobby Muller, signed an agreement with the Vietnamese Ministry of
Defense to conduct a country-wide survey of unexploded mines and
other bombs, many of which were left by our soldiers and which
continue to maim and kill innocent people. Once that survey is
completed, we and other nations can help remove these explosives.
So the issue not whether U.S. mines today are causing civilian
casualties. In fact, we have not used any landmines since 1991 in
the first Gulf War, and there is no evidence those mines had any
effect or that the Iraqis even knew they were there.
The real issue, which the Pentagon and the White House are
either incapable of grasping or prefer to ignore, is that as long
as the United States, with by far the most powerful armed forces
on Earth, continues to insist on its right to use these
indiscriminate weapons, other nations with armies far weaker than
ours will insist on their right to use them also.
And the victims will be innocent civilians, and U.S. soldiers
who even today are losing their lives and limbs from mines in
Iraq.
Mr. President, over two years ago, the Bush Administration
announced that it would review U.S. landmine policy. I welcomed
that review. I told the President, the Secretary of State, and top
officials in the Pentagon, that I wanted to find an approach that
could win broad support, including with the Pentagon.
I also recognized that as much as I wanted the United States to
join the treaty banning anti-personnel mines, this Administration
was not likely to do so. But I felt that, working together, we
could move toward that goal by strengthening our own policy.
Today, over two years later, and after refusing to consult with
me or other Members of Congress until the policy was already
finalized, the White House announced its plans.
Unfortunately, it turns out that we and the rest of the world
would have been far better off if the Administration had never
conducted its review in the first place, because with the
exception of a few positive aspects, its revised policy is a
deeply disappointing step backward.
What we see is another squandered opportunity for U.S.
leadership on a crucial arms control and humanitarian issue. Worst
of all, in a reversal from past policy, it says the United States
will continue using landmines indefinitely.
What message does this send to the rest of the world? We are by
far the most powerful nation on earth, and the world looks to us
for leadership. By backing away from the progress we have pledged
to rid the world of these indiscriminate weapons, others will ask
why they, with their much weaker armed forces, should stop using
them.
Once again, the Bush Administration had the opportunity to join
the civilized world in solving a global crisis, and once again
they have chosen unilateralism and arrogance over leadership and
cooperation.
Mr. President, the Administration’s press office has done an
impressive job of portraying this policy as an important advance,
when in fact the exact opposite is true. This Administration has
mastered the art of deception.
Let’s look at the facts:
– The Bush Administration says it will eliminate "persistent,"
or so-called "dumb" landmines by 2010. These mines are not
designed to self-destruct automatically after a set period of days
or months, and remain dangerous indefinitely. This is
constructive.
But in fact, except in Korea, the U.S. has not used this type
of mines for decades. So the Bush Administration is crediting
itself for eliminating a type of mine that we long ago stopped
using except in Korea, even though it reserves the right to use
these mines anywhere for another 6 years.
– Six years ago, the Clinton Administration, including the
Pentagon, pledged to end use of all anti-personnel mines outside
of Korea, including self-destructing mines, by 2003.
Self-destructing mines are as indiscriminate as dumb mines, until
they self-destruct. The Bush Administration abandons this pledge,
and reserves the right to use self-destructing anti-personnel
mines anywhere, indefinitely. This is a terrible reversal.
– Six years ago, the Clinton Administration, including the
Pentagon, pledged to "search aggressively" for alternatives to
self-destructing anti-vehicle mine systems, by 2006. The Bush
Administration abandons that pledge, and reserves the right to use
these mines anywhere, indefinitely.
– Six years ago, the Clinton Administration pledged that it
would sign the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines by 2006,
if suitable alternatives to anti-personnel landmines were fielded
by then. The Bush Administration abandons this pledge. What
message does this send to our allies, or to countries like China,
Iran, Pakistan and India that continue to make excuses for not
joining the treaty?
– The Bush Administration says it will seek a worldwide ban on
the sale or export of dumb mines. Let’s be realistic. We already
tried this approach back in 1994, and, as many of us predicted at
the time, it failed because other nations insisted that if the
U.S. was unwilling to give up its costlier self-destruct mines,
they would not give up their cheaper persistent mines.
– The Bush Administration says it will, within 2 years, begin
destroying all persistent landmines outside of Korea. This is
constructive, but they failed to mention that in 1998 the Clinton
Administration, including the Pentagon, pledged to destroy all
persistent anti-personnel mines outside of Korea by 1999.
Mr. President, I will have more to say about
this in the days and weeks ahead. I had hoped that the Bush
Administration would seize this opportunity to show real
leadership. I yield the floor.
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