We interrupt our gloom for a bit of hope, part 2

The international treaty to ban antipersonnel mines took effect in 1999. Since that time, Human Rights Watch reported in a November 18 emailing, millions of landmines have been destroyed according to a five-year survey by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).

So far, 143 countries have ratified the Mine Ban Treaty, nine more have signed but not yet ratified, and several other countries have indicated they will join in the near future.

More than 37 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines have been destroyed. The use and production of antipersonnel mines around the world has plummeted. Legal trade in the weapon has virtually ceased, and more than 1,100 square kilometers of mine-affected land have been cleared. In many of the most heavily mined countries, landmine casualty rates have fallen dramatically.

"The Mine Ban Treaty has already proven to be more than beautiful words on paper. It is making a real difference in saving lives and limbs around the world," said Mary Wareham, senior advocate in Human Rights Watch's Arms Division and global coordinator of the Landmine Monitor initiative. ...

The power of the mine ban movement is reflected in the fact that many of the governments that are not yet party to the Mine Ban Treaty are in de facto compliance with the treaty, or are taking significant steps consistent with the treaty. ...

Of the more than 50 countries known to have manufactured antipersonnel mines in the past, all but 15 have officially halted production, and several of the 15 have not produced in a number of years.

Some 65 countries have completely destroyed their stockpiles of antipersonnel mines.

The news is not all good, of course; it never is in these kinds of deals. Despite the impressive results, compliance has not been "absolute or uniform," said Stephen Goose, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Arms Division and chief editor of the Landmine Monitor report. Only 40 nations have adopted laws fully implementing the treaty and a few haven't lived up to obligations regarding transparency. And some of the signatories are adopting interpretations of their obligations under the treaty in a way that most reject. What's more, most nations in the Middle East and several of the former Soviet republics have not joined the ban. (Belarus and Estonia have; Latvia and Ukraine say they intend to.)

Still, the power of the movement can been seen in the fact that in 2003-04, four nations - Burma, Georgia, Nepal and Russia - were known to be using landmines. Five years earlier, the number was 15.

There is, however, one nation that hasn't just not signed on, but actually stands in defiance of the world, of world opinion, of logic, and of decency.

Guess who.

In February, the United States abandoned its long-held goal of eventually eliminating all antipersonnel mines and acceding to the Mine Ban Treaty. Instead, following a two and one-half year policy review, it became the first and only nation to assert that it intends to maintain certain types of antipersonnel mines indefinitely. [emphasis added]

Doubtless, that was the result of something else God whispered to the prophet George.

Footnote: The full Landmine Monitor report and related documents are available through the ICBL website at this link.