Originally published on the CGS blog on August 5, 2010.
By: Jeff Brooks
In 1779, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Patrick Henry to discuss the proper treatment of the British and Hessian prisoners-of-war captured at the Battle of Saratoga. In this letter, Jefferson writes a remarkable sentence: “It is for the benefit of mankind to mitigate the horrors of war as much as possible.” As only he could, Jefferson summed up in a few simple but eloquent words an Enlightenment concept that should today be held up as a sacred principle.
Today, two international treaties stand forth as shining examples of the principle of mitigating the horrors of war: the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The former bans the manufacture, use or stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines, and the second does the same for cluster bombs. Both of these hideous weapons, which are of dubious military value, have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians over the years, including large numbers of children. Many thousands of others have been permanently maimed by them, and their indiscriminant use prevents many refugees from returning to their homes, stifling recovery efforts in many former warzones around the world.
The international community has stepped up to the plate to deal with the twin problems of landmines and cluster bombs. 156 nations have signed and ratified the Mine Ban Treaty. The Convention on Cluster Munitions has been signed 108 nations, of which 38 have completed the ratification process. But conspicuously absent from both lists is the United States of America.
Both agreements have already had a significant positive impact across the world. Worldwide, the production of antipersonnel landmines has plunged and stockpiles amounting to more than 42 million mines have been destroyed. Vast areas previously infested with landmines have been successfully cleared, allowing war refugees to return to their homes.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions has come into force much more recently, but we can expect it to have a very similar effect. Already, many nations that until recently were producing and exporting large quantities of cluster bombs have signed and ratified the treaty, boldly putting the moral imperative of mitigating the horrors of war ahead of the profits they would otherwise have earned from the sale of these weapons. Advocacy organizations have also been motivated to promote divestment in companies which manufacture cluster bombs or their components.
The United States should sign and ratify both of these international agreements. Doing so would not only contribute greatly to the progress already being made, but would encourage other nations not yet party to the agreements to join them as well. Perhaps most importantly, it would send a message to the world that the United States shares the common global goal of mitigating the suffering of war as much as possible, which Jefferson articulated so well.
Jeff Brooks is a teacher and political activist living in Austin, Texas. He is an active member of Citizens for Global Solutions and serves on the Global Solutions Political Action Commitee.
