Argumentative Essay On Landmines

According to the United Nations every year 20,000 people are killed by landmines. They are not just combatants but children, the elderly, and people simply walking in the wrong spot. In 1997, 162 countries signed the Ottawa Convention otherwise known as the Landmine Ban. The United States did not sign this deal because of certain strategic uses of landmines in certain places around the world. This was the end of discussion about landmines in the United States for the next 17 years. In 2014, the current administration said that the United States would stop producing landmines but would not destroy all of the current stockpile of nearly 10 million mines. The only thing keeping the United States from joining other countries in the Ottawa Convention is the continued use of …show more content…
If it were to sign right now the United States would comply with the Ottawa agreement before both China and Russia. This would be a big set in international leadership from the U.S about anti-personnel weapons. This level of leadership would also allow the United Sates show full commitment to its goals of removing landmines from areas around the globe. It would also allow the United States to be looked on favorably by several humanitarian groups who don’t believe landmine policy goes far enough. The banning of landmines is a goal widely supported in the western world, and by many people in the government itself. A majority of people also favor banning landmines. The largest problem facing a removal of the use of landmines from the Korean Peninsula is the possible North Korean invasion of South Korea. Opponents of a full ban say that minefields are crucial in the defense of South Korea especially Seoul, but those for a ban say that those are technically South Korean landmines. This issue is complex requiring appeasing an international audience, but also staying committed to protecting an