Abstract
This paper explains that the author is concerned because the removal of land mines in foreign countries seems to have fallen from top priority in many areas around the globe. The author points out that the lives of 26,000 individuals will never be the same again, due to stepping on land mines leftover from long ago conflicts. The letter pleads that the administration ratify the 1999 Ottawa Treaty, a pact signed by 142 global states and ratified by over 120 counties that bans the use of land mines around the world in any conflict, but which the United States has so far chosen not to sign or ratify. The paper is written in the form of a letter.

From the Paper
"Perhaps the best solution, Madame Secretary, is not to employ land mines in the first place. As another author and historian notes, using land mines during global conflicts ensures these wars will continue long after peace talks end the battles. He writes, "These wars never really end, at least not for the civilians-- the agriculturalists, pastoralists, and peasants--who must live in the midst of these 'explosive remnants of war.'" Thus, leaving these mines behind ensures eternal conflict and violence in a country already ravaged by war."

Tags:demining, remnants, treaty, ratification, civilians