Period 5/6 Landmines

Landmines that are left behind from conflicts have been a major problem for many countries in post-war years. One of the countries that is having a big problem with them is Angola. Angola has been in peace-time for 30 years now, and yet they still have horrible repercussions from the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Landmines are causing great roadblocks on the road to recovery from the war, where, as ‘The World Weekly’ article said “....tens of thousands of landmines left behind by both sides. Thirty years on, live mines restrict the expansion of commercial farming, kill and injure civilians, and hamper the government’s plans to attract tourism.” There are so many landmines that are still active and could be tripped at any moment that it is almost impossible for this country to progress and recover from their previous war-torn state. Landmines are generally such a problem that there is a treaty that was created to keep countries from using landmines in conflicts. The Ottawa Treaty has made many countries see somewhat eye-to-eye when it comes to landmines and they are no longer used by many countries. Some countries comply, though they haven’t signed onto the treaty. I think that the reasoning behind this is probably a mix of feeling bad for the countries so affected by the landmines and fear of being criticized and lambasted for using them, but mostly the latter. Landmines are an easy and effective way to attack, and I’m sure that plenty of countries would still be using them if it was not so frowned upon just because they would get so many repercussions for doing so. I think that major countries like the United States have not signed onto the Ottawa Treaty because we’re selfish. We never know when we’re going to get into a fight and using landmines is a very effective and easy way to win a fight. It’s a readily available weapon that is very effective, and even though there are bad repercussions for countries after the fighting has ended, we are more worried about winning the fight than what happens afterward.

In regards to those countries that signed into the Ottawa Convention, they appear to be fearful of the repurcussions from other countries. In the world today, countries do not care about each other, they do everything out of their own selfish desires. If certain countries do not sign the forms, other countries will step in and start providing deals or threatening them to sign. (B.T.W. some of these countries might be signing this treaty, not getting rid of their mines, and when a country they wish to have conflict with does sign, bye bye) Those countries that are not signing into ro complying with the convention are protecting themselves by eeping their mines for potential invasions; it is a line of defense and offense at the same time. The media, as with a few conflicts that could be labelled genocide like the Rhoyinga crisis, is not covering this epidemic because the country does not want to do anything about it. The United States do not want to help other countries unless they have to, so why put it in the media and give the citizens of the country an idea that they could help those in Angola? Crazy right? Following the removal of South African and Cuban troops from Angola, “... live mines restrict the expansion of commercial farming, kill and injure civilians, and hamper the government’s plans to attract tourism” (World Weekly). This hampers the country to a whole new level than the U.S. has dealt with. 80% of Angola’s food comes from imports; that is a horrible statistic (World Weekly). Angola is going to continue to be in debt, continue to lose workers and citizens, and continue to be stuck in the same routine until another country or two steps in and helps with the removal of these mines. Who knows, maybe Angola would be a huge asset, and if our country were to be on good terms with them because we helped them, we might advance as well. Land mines are a huge danger that no one on this side of the globe really has to worry about, unlike the Middle East and some countries. There should be more awareness placed on the fact that these historic weapons are still in use even today.

My question is: Why don’t countries blame the landmines that blow up on the countries that put them there decades ago? (Unlike in todays society where every bad thing that happens there has to be someone behind it, something ot put the blame on…..*cough cough* guns).

mayafrench
You quoted the same statement from the World Weekly that I did. As I read the quote I began to think to myself, "Is this how the South African and Cuban forces are still controlling Angola?" Are landmines a way of keeping a country docile, in a hurt, falling apart state? Could they be a new form of control over a country? It may sound kinda extreme but to me, at least, it kinda makes sense. If a country, and one country alone, has these landmines marked and traced, knowing what kind of mine and where they are all located, is it not control?

Angola is one of the many places that is home to some of the most destructive landmines. This epidemic is not covered by the media and or making great attempts to stop it is simple because as Princess Diana said " the world has many other preoccupations." The world we live in today is extremely focused of self progression and self success. Other countries are mainly focused on how to make more money, and how to make everything work in their favor. Even though it is killing and injuring hundreds of people a month and preventing the growth of many countries, the surrounding countries that are not affected will pay no attention to the devastation occurring right in front of them. Throughout Princess Diana's speech, she made a great point which was "In countries in which we hear little, their lonely fate is never reported." These countries much like Angola that we never hear much of, are suffering more than we may know. The people struggling as a result to the landmines are never heard about which gives them little to no opportunity to reach any form of help. "Currently, there are more than 100 million landmines located in 70 countries around the world" (How stuff works). These landmines were designed to "disable an person or vehicle that comes into contact with it by an explosion or fragments released at high speeds" (How stuff works). Since 1975 landmines have killed over one million people, which hasn't been covered much if at all in the media.These landmines are extremely dangerous and should be more publicly recognized. If this were happening in the United States it would be all over the news all around the world, but sadly these smaller less known and talked about countries get the short end of the deal and get no help or publicity on what is occurring.

The number of landmines that are still being found in many countries are astounding. The fear many people go through daily of being blow up in their hometowns is worrying. Many countries have arranged an agreement to stop the use of landmines, which would allow the number of mines to stop increasing. Countries that have not signed the agreement to stop placing landmines are still in compliance with it. They are in compliance because they fear the repercussions from other countries. This Compliance from fear creates a social norm for countries to not use landmines during warfare. Many extremist groups or countries that fear a large war are still using landmines to fight which creates a huge hassle in removing them.
There is little media coverage of the landmine epidemic because large, influential countries have chosen to still use landmines and media coverage of this decision would result n a huge government backlash on these media companies. Most media exists to keep citizens complacent with their governments.
Workers in Angola have a bleak future ahead of them. According to the world weekly and Golia was labeled a middle middle income status country that means they will get a lot less help removing land mines that are scattered throughout their country because of the Cold War. Much of their infrastructure and agriculture are endured because of these landmines they cannot expand their infrastructure for fear of hitting a landline in killing citizens. Without this ability to expand their economic status is in a state of stagnation. Angola May recede to a low-income country because of its inability to increase its economic infrastructure because of these landmines and their diminishing workforce because of the death toll that is still affecting them from the 1960s. Angola is an unfortunate example of modern-day colonialism where the mother countries, being the United States and Russia, have caused them great harm but do not help them recover after destroying their lands.
Large superpowers do not wish to sign the auto agreement because they feel like it would limit their power. United States feels as if it should not sign a anti landline agreement until it is sure that there is not going to be a ground war on the Korean Peninsula. China who right now is in a period of exponential economic growth fears that it will get into a war with other superpowers and does not wish to sign away its ability to use landmines or its ability to stockpile these type of weapons. Superpower countries fear estate of declining power, so did you do to prevent this they want to be in the best shape they possibly can which means keeping stockpiles of weapons and having the ability to fight any enemy possible. They only wish for the benefit of themselves and put the health of themselves in their citizens above the health of the whole world.

My question: Do you feel as if there will ever be a time where the superpowers will willingly sign an agreement that takes away the rights to use certain weapons?

I believe a big reason that many of the world superpowers aren’t joining in to help is because there isn't much to gain for them. It is a lot like what happened with Rwanda, if there is nothing to gain then there is no need to help, I don’t think that is the right way to go about things from a personal standpoint but that is just the way it is. As for the media coverage, it isn’t making headlines in the US because we are a non-signatory (ACA) and are not leading the charge to combat this issue. I think if we took the lead on this problem then there would be more news coverage in the US about it. The future of Angola is definitely going to be rough with all the cuts that The World Weekly article explained is happening, limiting the process for these landmines to be removed. There is also the fact that a self sufficient country has to rely on others now because of this issue. When you are independant like that then all of the sudden have to become dependant on other countries because production, especially in agriculture, is severely limited due to not being able to use the mine inhabited land, it is a rough transition. Another point that I would like to bring up is the fact that, “In 2016, eight people from one family alone were killed in Kuito when a child brought an anti-tank mine into his home,” (TWW)can you imagine what kind of fear that puts into society? There is always this looming thought that you could step in a wrong place and end up injured or worse. That has to be negatively affecting the Angolan society. In all, I believe Angola has a long, rough road ahead if they don’t receive more support for the landmine crises that they face, and that no one should have to live in fear of accidentally stepping on a landmine.

Question:

Do you believe that if the US was more involved in Angola that they would benefit more? Why or why not?

Land mines are very harmful pieces of equipment that were once useful and were very effective at getting the job done. With that being said, the way that they were implemented, they are still effective and highly dangerous to this day. In Angola, these weapons are being tripped and are killing hundreds of innocent people. According to the first article, since 2002, there are 1,000 square kilometers of land stretching over two countries infested with land mines. These land mines are harming tons of people and just like Princess Diana said, these people do not have the medical funds to help cure their injuries. The people in Angola are already in severe poverty and these land mines are not helping. If these land mines continue to harm the citizens, things will not be good in the near future. The population will take a sharp turn downwards along with the work force for the country. If people keep dying, no one will be able to work. This issue needs resolved. Other countries need to step in to help Angola. It is a burden on the other super powers in the world to help them but if we as a human race want to help out and create stronger bonds with each other, we need to step in. Many countries have trained EOD, explosive ordinance disposal, technicians and robots that can help Angola. We can help. The super powers need to step in and help it things will only get worse.