Land Mines
Land mines greatly contribute to the danger of international security
because
they are used as military weapons. Because land mines have caused
great
destruction there has been an effort from international and
non-governmental
organizations to ban mines and clear areas infected with
them. Land mines have
become a humanitarian issue because they have and still
are taking the lives of
innocent civilians. The Treaty of Ottawa officially
banned the use of land
mines. Yet supporters of the treaty know better than
to assume they are
victorious. The following essay will address the necessary
obligations for a
final victory and reveal why land mines are a threat to
international security.
The UN has estimated there have been more than
100 million land mines in
sixty-two countries (Boutros-Ghali). They are the
weapon of choice for many
militaries because they are cheap, accessible, and
easy to use. Land mines are
also known as hidden killers because it is not
possible to discover where they
are or how many there are. After wars are
over, the land mines remain,
threatening the peace and rebuilding of
societies. More and more victims are
civilians who endure excessive harm or
death. "Every 22 minutes a person is
harmed from a land mine. And since 1975
there have been more than one million
casualties"