General News
11/25/2009 8:49 AM ET
(RTTNews) -
The United States has said that it will not join an international treaty banning land-mines, supported by more than 150 countries, because a policy review had found that the US could not meet its "national defense needs" without land-mines.
However, the US State Department said it would send a delegation to attend a week-end review conference on the 10-year-old Mine Ban Treaty to be held in Colombia.
Countries such as China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Myanmar also have declined to join the accord that was established in 1997. The treaty plans to end the production, use, stockpiling and trade in land-mines, which cause a large number of casualties in conflicts around the world.
Explaining the decision Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the Obama administration "undertook a policy review and we decided that our land-mine policy remains in effect."
He said signing the convention would prevent Washington from meeting its "national defense needs and security commitments" to its "friends and allies."
Patrick Leahy, a US senator and a leading advocate for the treaty, criticized the decision, saying: "It is a lost opportunity for the United States to show leadership instead of joining with China and Russia and impeding progress."
Despite being not a signatory to the treaty, the United States has not used anti-personnel mines since the 1991 Gulf War, has not exported any since 1992 and has not produced them since 1997.
by RTT Staff Writer
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