An estimated 719 square miles of land in Iraq are reported to contain nearly 20 million landmines

[rfranklin]

2. U.S. won't join landmine ban, administration decides

U.S. won't join landmine ban, administration decides


November 24, 2009|From Charley Keyes, CNN Senior Producer

The United States won't join its NATO allies and many other countries in formally banning landmines, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said during his midday briefing Tuesday.

"This administration undertook a policy review and we decided our landmine policy remains in effect," Kelly said in response to a question. "We made our policy review and we determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we sign this convention."

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-24/politics/us.landmines_1_landmine-policy-policy-review-ban?_s=PM OLITICS