GDI 07-Landmines Aff

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007
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1AC 1/12 .......................................................................................................................................................................5 1AC 2/12 .......................................................................................................................................................................6 1AC 3/12 .......................................................................................................................................................................7 1AC 4/12 .......................................................................................................................................................................8 1AC 5/12 .......................................................................................................................................................................9 1AC 6/12 .....................................................................................................................................................................10 1AC 7/12 .....................................................................................................................................................................11 1AC 8/12 .....................................................................................................................................................................12 1AC 9/12 .....................................................................................................................................................................13 1AC 10/12 ...................................................................................................................................................................14 1AC 11/12 ...................................................................................................................................................................15 1AC 12/12 ...................................................................................................................................................................16 ****Topicality/Agents***** ......................................................................................................................................17 T Public Health: K of T ............................................................................................................................................18 T - Public Health AT: Prevention Only ......................................................................................................................19 T Public Health - Demining......................................................................................................................................20 T Public Health: Victim Assistance..........................................................................................................................21 T: Public Assistance = USAID Funding......................................................................................................................22 Demining Funding = NADR Appropriations ..............................................................................................................23 Demining Funding = NADR Appropriations ..............................................................................................................24 DOD Funds Demining.................................................................................................................................................25 Demining Funding = NADR, DoD, and USAID.........................................................................................................26 ****Inherency**** .....................................................................................................................................................27 Inherency Africa Needs Demining ...........................................................................................................................28 AT: Landmine Numbers Decreasing ...........................................................................................................................32 Inherency US Demining Funding Down ..................................................................................................................33 Inherency US SQ Assistance ....................................................................................................................................34 Inherency Demining Assistance Decreasing ............................................................................................................35 Inherency Landmine Health Care ..............................................................................................................................36 ****Health & Human Rts**** ...................................................................................................................................38 Health & Human Rights FW .......................................................................................................................................39 Health & Human Rights FW AT: No Universal.......................................................................................................41 Health & Human Rights FW - Landmines .................................................................................................................42 ****Advantages**** ..................................................................................................................................................44 Suffering ......................................................................................................................................................................45 Children .......................................................................................................................................................................47 Health Services ............................................................................................................................................................48 Structural Impacts........................................................................................................................................................49 Landmines instability...............................................................................................................................................50 Demining Conflict Resolution ................................................................................................................................51 Demining Peace ........................................................................................................................................................52 Refugees I/L ...............................................................................................................................................................54 Refugees = AIDS/HIV.................................................................................................................................................56 Refugees = Sexual Exploitation...................................................................................................................................57 Malaria I/L...................................................................................................................................................................58 Malaria Impacts - Death ..............................................................................................................................................59 Malaria Impacts Millions Deaths..............................................................................................................................60 Malaria Impacts - Deaths and economy ......................................................................................................................61 Malaria Impact - children ............................................................................................................................................62 Malaria Impact - Poverty.............................................................................................................................................63 Water I/L .....................................................................................................................................................................64 Water Impact - Survival ..............................................................................................................................................65 Water - basic right .......................................................................................................................................................66 Agriculture I/L.............................................................................................................................................................67 AT: Demined lands cant be farmed............................................................................................................................69 Humanitarian Aid ........................................................................................................................................................70 Development................................................................................................................................................................71 Democracy...................................................................................................................................................................75
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Impact - Environment..................................................................................................................................................76 Environment Pollution/Soil Damage ........................................................................................................................77 Environment Destroy Ecosystems ............................................................................................................................79 Environment Soil Erosion.........................................................................................................................................83 Environment Soil Erosion Impacts ...........................................................................................................................84 Toxic Soil I/L ...........................................................................................................................................................85 Environment - Toxic Soil ...........................................................................................................................................86 Environment Deforestation.......................................................................................................................................87 Environment Species Loss........................................................................................................................................88 Biodiversity I/L ...........................................................................................................................................................89 Biodiversity I/L - Africa ..............................................................................................................................................91 Environment Biodiversity Impacts ...........................................................................................................................92 AT: Biodiversity Alt Causes........................................................................................................................................94 Biodiversity Plan Solves...........................................................................................................................................95 African Economy I/L.................................................................................................................................................96 Poverty I/L...................................................................................................................................................................98 African Economy - Impacts.........................................................................................................................................99 ****Country Specific**** ........................................................................................................................................100 Angola .......................................................................................................................................................................101 Mozambique ..............................................................................................................................................................106 Zimbabwe ..................................................................................................................................................................108 Rwanda ......................................................................................................................................................................109 Somalia ......................................................................................................................................................................110 Sudan .........................................................................................................................................................................113 Uganda.......................................................................................................................................................................114 Somaliland.................................................................................................................................................................116 Puntland.....................................................................................................................................................................117 Senegal ......................................................................................................................................................................118 Ethiopia .....................................................................................................................................................................119 Namibia .....................................................................................................................................................................120 Burundi......................................................................................................................................................................121 Chad...........................................................................................................................................................................122 Democratic Republic of the Congo ...........................................................................................................................123 ****US Key**** ......................................................................................................................................................124 US Key - Responsibility ............................................................................................................................................125 US Demining GoodTraining and Technology.......................................................................................................127 US Key Tech ..........................................................................................................................................................130 US Key- Tech Development......................................................................................................................................132 US Key- Local Reliance ............................................................................................................................................133 US Key - Quick Reaction Demining Force ...............................................................................................................135 US key to Demining ..................................................................................................................................................136 US key- Generic ........................................................................................................................................................137 US Key- US Leadership ............................................................................................................................................139 US Solves Empirical Africa....................................................................................................................................140 US Solves Balkans Prove ........................................................................................................................................141 ****Solvency**** ....................................................................................................................................................142 Solvency Public Health Approach..........................................................................................................................143 Solvency - Integrated Program ..................................................................................................................................144 Solvency - USAID ................................................................................................................................................145 Solvency - Technology Key to Demining .................................................................................................................146 Solvency - Adv ..........................................................................................................................................................148 Solvency - Radar=effective .......................................................................................................................................149 Solvency - Infrared=effective ....................................................................................................................................150 Solvency - Nuclear=effective ....................................................................................................................................151 Solvency - Mine Action Education............................................................................................................................152 AT: Solvency Presses ................................................................................................................................................153 AT: Demining is Dangerous......................................................................................................................................154 AT: Number mines small ..........................................................................................................................................155
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AT: Smart Mines .......................................................................................................................................................156 AT: Landmine Monitor Indicts..................................................................................................................................157 AT: Landmines Good ................................................................................................................................................158 ****AT: CPs***** ...................................................................................................................................................159 AT: Local CP.............................................................................................................................................................160 AT: Ban Landmines CP No Solvency ...................................................................................................................161 AT Ban CP Norm Now ..........................................................................................................................................162 AT Ban CP US Signature Not Necessary ...............................................................................................................163 AT: Ban Mines CP Doesnt solve the Aff ..............................................................................................................164 AT: Ban CP - US Policies Solve Mines ...................................................................................................................166 AT: Ban Mines CP ....................................................................................................................................................167 AT; Ban Mines CP - New US Mines Safe................................................................................................................168 Ban Mines CP - AT Hurts Joint Operations ..............................................................................................................169 AT: Ban Mines CP Neo-Colonialism .....................................................................................................................170 AT: International $ CP US tech key .......................................................................................................................178 AT: UN CP ................................................................................................................................................................179 AT: AU CP ................................................................................................................................................................180 A2: EU CP.................................................................................................................................................................181 A2: NGO CP..............................................................................................................................................................182 *****AT: Disadvantages*****.................................................................................................................................183 Militarism ..................................................................................................................................................................184 Landmines Outweigh Disadvantage ..........................................................................................................................185 AT: Dogs DA ............................................................................................................................................................187 AT: Animal Rights ....................................................................................................................................................189 AT: Econ DA.............................................................................................................................................................191 AT: Nuclear War = Extinction ..................................................................................................................................193 AT: Aid Trade Off - NADR Key to Anti-Terrorism .................................................................................................194 AT: Aid Trade Off -NADR Budget Terror Module .................................................................................................196 AT: Aid Trade Off -War On Terrorism BadLeads to Terrorism ..........................................................................197 AT: Aid Trade Off - War on Terrorism BadUndermines Security .......................................................................198 AT: Aid Trade Off -War On Terrorism BadHuman Rights Abuses .....................................................................199 AT: Aid Trade Off -War On Terrorism BadRacial Profiling ...............................................................................202 AT: Aid Trade Off -War on Terrorism BadRacial Profiling ................................................................................203 AT: Aid Trade Off -Racial Profiling BadNo Value to Life ..................................................................................204 ****AT: Ks**** ......................................................................................................................................................205 AT: K Must Act......................................................................................................................................................206 AT: Ks General Perm............................................................................................................................................207 AT: Development K ..................................................................................................................................................208 AT: Compassion Fatigue K .......................................................................................................................................210
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Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 1/12

OBSERVATION ONE: INHERENCY
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Since WWI the use of landmines has grown substantially nowhere is this more evident than in sub-Saharan Africa where 21 countries face the deadly consequences of landmines every day while the problem has only gotten worse, donor countries have neglected the region, making the problems worse. Adeba 03
[Brian, Policy analyst and freelance writer in south Sudan, Peace and Environmental news, Action needed on landmines in sub-Saharan Africa, September-October 2003, http://www.perc.ca/PEN/2003-09-10/adeba.html] Since their introduction in World War I, the use of landmines in armed conflicts has increased dramatically. Today the UN estimates there are over 110 million mines the world over. These range from anti-personnel mines, to anti-tank mines, booby traps, cluster bombs and unexploded ordnance (UXO). For those caught up in the snare of war, life becomes a nightmarish experience as amputated limbs and imminent death become part of life. Nowhere is this spectre more painfully true than in sub-Saharan Africa with its seemingly endless wars. Exact figures on the landmine death toll are hard to come by. But if we take one of the worst case scenarios, Angola, where
915 million landmines have been planted since the '60s, then we can get a better picture. A British demining group called Halo Trust says there are 500 minefields in three of Angola's 18 provinces. Each minefield contains an average of 36 mines. Human Rights Watch estimates
120 Angolans die every month as a result of mines. The organization believes there are 3,300 minefields in Angola. Elsewhere in Africa, the Angolan scenario is mirrored in Mozambique (2 million mines), Sudan (half a million to 2 million), and Somalia (1 million). Of Africa's 54 states, 21 have problems with mines. Ninety-eight per cent of landmine victims are civilians, often women and children. Apart from grappling with the psychological effects of losing a limb, the victim is ostracized by society, loses income and is basically reduced to begging. Most of the population of these countries derive their livelihood from farming. The rumour that landmines are present in a particular location is enough to deny the people the use of that land for farming. Saddled with the burdens of conflict, unstable economies and a strangling debt crisis, most of these countries simply do not have the means to clear these minefields. The task of mine clearance is undertaken by non-governmental organizations,
mainly from the West. One such organization is the Canadian Association for Mine Clearance and Explosive Ordnance Security (CAMEO), formed by former military engineers and active in sub-Saharan Africa since January 1998. Among the challenges facing CAMEO is the problem of getting funding for its mine clearance operations in sub-Saharan Africa. "Sub-Saharan Africa seems to be an area neglected by most donor governments," says the Executive Director, Col (ret.) James Megill. "Some (Western governments) talk big about helping, but do not 'walk the talk.' Canada appears to care, but all they appear to want to do is study the problem. They will not get serious
and do something concrete like getting rid of landmines so lives and limbs can be spared and societies can return to a semblance of normal life."
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OBSERVATION TWO: AGRICULTURE
Africa doesnt produce enough food to feed itself. Brown 02 (AG, Food For The Future, Record of Conference of ATSE Crawford Fund,
http://www.crawfordfund.org/publications/pdf/proceedings2002.pdf, Aug 8) Most of the hungry in Africa, however, are not the victims of wars or incompetent governments. Hunger is widespread in Africa. Some claim there is enough food in the world for everyone if it were evenly distributed. True, but this argument ignores reality. Africa does not produce enough food to feed itself even if it were more evenly distributed. Rather, Africa must rely on massive purchases, using precious foreign exchange, and on equally large shipments of food aid with the accompanying disincentives for local production, and still over 30% of the population remains undernourished.
Land Mines prevent effective agriculture SafeLane 06 (How Do Landmines Affect Development, http://www.dev.mines.gc.ca/I/I_F-en.asp)
On agriculture: Many hectares of productive land are unsafe and have been abandoned, especially in border areas. People may move to less productive but safer areas, and then risk malnutrition or starvation. Alternatively, people may remain on the land, but landmine casualties may lead to fewer available workers and a reluctance to use the land, resulting in lower yields and possible malnutrition or starvation. Agricultural development programs cannot proceed in mine-infested regions until demining can occur. Pastoralists, people who live off their animals rather than plant fields, are also affected, because they cannot move their herds where they might wish, and livestock may not be led to the most productive pastureland.
Low food production results in 2.9 million deaths a year Mulama 07 (Joyce, Development-Africa: Food Security Depends On Access To Western Markets, Inter Press
Service, http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=23156) Some research agencies say the African farmer is growing poorer due to diminishing agricultural productivity, which has led to low food availability, rising poverty levels and increased number of undernourished populations. "An estimated 200 million people in Africa are malnourished, and their numbers have increased by almost 20 percent since the early 1990s," an IFPRI statistics shows. It says "undernutrition is the major risk factor underlying over 28 percent of all deaths in Africa, translating into some 2.9 million deaths annually."

OBSERVATION THREE: ENVIRONMENT
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Landmines contribute to species loss that interrupt the equilibrium of the food chain Nachon 05 [Claudio Torres, Researcher for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Environmental Aspects of Landmines, 2005, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3]
Landmines may cause a number of unregistered impacts on the environment and its components. Most of the reports on wildlife impacted by landmines tend to focus on certain charismatic species, i.e. tigers, elephants, camels. It would be a sensible gap not to give proper attention to other lesser known species that may play a fundamental role on the food chain in a given habitat. By altering these populations, the existing equilibrium of these species and their habitats may be placed under additional pressure.[44]
Mines destroy biodiversity and drive species towards extinction Berhe 06 (AA, The Contribution of Landmines to Land Degradation, Ecosystem Science Division, UCB,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112748670/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) Loss of biodiversity. The impact of landmines on different plant and animal populations was discussed by all the participants and was considered to be a foremost environmental concern, next to access denial. As long as they receive enough mass to activate them landmines do not differentiate between human beings or other life forms (Westing, 1996; Dudley et al., 2002). Landmines can threaten biodiversity in a given region by destroying vegetation cover during explosions or de-mining, and when animals fall victim. Landmines pose an extra burden for threatened and endangered species. Landmines have been blamed for pushing various species to the brink of extinction (Troll, 2000). Although it is widely believed that landmines destroy vegetation and kill untold numbers of animals every year, this is unfortunately one of the areas where there is hardly any numerical data to determine how many individuals of a species or where and how they fall victims. The very little data that exists on animal population is also highly biased towards domesticated animal and little is known about the impacts suffered by wild populations.
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Biodiversity Loss Causes Planetary Extinction Diner 1994 (David N. Judge Advocate Generals Corps of US Army, Military Law Review, Lexis)
No species has ever dominated its fellow species as man has. In most cases, people have assumed the God-like power of life and death -extinction or survival -- over the plants and animals of the world. For most of history, mankind pursued this domination with a singleminded determination to master the world, tame the wilderness, and exploit nature for the maximum benefit of the human race. n67 In
past mass extinction episodes, as many as ninety percent of the existing species perished, and yet the world moved forward, and new species replaced the old. So why should the world be concerned now? The prime reason is the world's survival. Like all animal life, humans live off of other species. At some point, the number of species could decline to the point at which the ecosystem fails, and then humans also would become extinct. No one knows how many [*171] species the world needs to support human life, and to find out -- by allowing certain species to become extinct -- would not be sound policy. In addition
to food, species offer many direct and indirect benefits to mankind. n68 2. Ecological Value. -- Ecological value is the value that species have in maintaining the environment. Pest, n69 erosion, and flood control are prime benefits certain species provide to man. Plants and animals also provide additional ecological services -- pollution control, n70 oxygen production, sewage treatment, and biodegradation. n71 3. Scientific and Utilitarian Value. -- Scientific value is the use of species for research into the physical processes of the world. n72 Without plants and animals, a large portion of basic scientific research would be impossible. Utilitarian value is the direct utility humans draw from plants and animals. n73 Only a fraction of the [*172] earth's species have been examined, and mankind may someday desperately need the species that it is exterminating today. To accept that the snail darter, harelip sucker, or Dismal Swamp southeastern shrew n74 could save mankind may be difficult for some. Many, if not most, species are useless to man in a direct utilitarian sense. Nonetheless, they may be critical in an indirect role, because their extirpations could affect a directly useful species negatively. In a closely interconnected ecosystem, the loss of a species affects other species dependent on it. n75 Moreover, as the number of species decline, the effect of each new extinction on the remaining species increases dramatically. n76 4. Biological Diversity. -- The main premise of species preservation is that diversity is better than simplicity. n77 As the current mass extinction has progressed, the world's biological diversity generally has decreased. This trend occurs within ecosystems by reducing the number of species, and within species by reducing the number of individuals. Both trends carry serious future implications. Biologically diverse ecosystems are
characterized by a large number of specialist species, filling narrow ecological niches. These ecosystems inherently are more stable than less diverse systems. "The more complex the ecosystem, the more successfully it can resist a stress. . . . [l]ike a net, in which each knot is connected to others by several strands, such a fabric can resist collapse better than a simple, unbranched circle of threads -- which if cut anywhere breaks down as a whole." n79 By causing widespread extinctions, humans have artificially simplified many ecosystems. As biologic simplicity increases, so does the risk of ecosystem failure. The spreading Sahara Desert in Africa, and the dustbowl conditions of the 1930s in the United States are relatively mild examples of what might be expected if this trend continues. Theoretically, each new animal or plant extinction, with all its dimly perceived and intertwined affects, could cause total ecosystem collapse and human extinction. Each new extinction increases the risk of disaster. Like a mechanic removing, one by one, the rivets from an aircraft's wings, [hu]mankind may be edging closer to the abyss.
Loss Of Biodiversity Results In Extinction And Outweighs All Other Impacts WILSON 1992 (Dr. Edward O.- Professor at Harvard and author of two Pulitzer Prize winning books, The
Diversity of Life, 1992)
The worst thing that can happen, will happen, is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing in the 1980s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendants are least likely to forgive us.

OBSERVATION THREE: MALARIA
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Mine craters serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes Berhe 06 (AA, The Contribution of Landmines to Land Degradation, Ecosystem Science Division, UCB,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112748670/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) When a 250 g antipersonnel landmine detonates, it can create a crater with a diameter of approximately 30 cm (United Nations General Assembly UNGA/A/38/383, 1983; Troll, 2000). The explosion was described by nine of the participants as having the ability to facilitate removal and displacement of topsoil while forming a raised circumference around the crater and compaction of soil into the side of the crater. The level of the impact can vary
depending on the physical conditions of the soil; the type and composition of the explosive and how many landmines detonate in the vicinity. The impact is greater in dry, loosely compacted and exposed desert soils but is less severe in humid soils that have vegetation or physical protection. Susceptibility to reduced infiltration, flooding and erosion is also higher in areas with steep slopes. In such cases, transported soil increases sediment load of drainage systems. When soil is compacted due to external forces, its resistance to penetration by
plant roots and emerging seedlings increases, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the root zone of plants and the atmosphere is also retarded. Generally, as long as repeated explosions do not occur in the same location, the crater can develop into a stable element of the landscape when runoff or wind erosion washes soil to its bottom. In warm and humid regions, however, it has been reported (United Nations General Assembly UNGA/A/38/383, 1983; Troll, 2000) that the crater may hold water, turn into a marsh and serve as breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Malaria is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africait is mostly transmitted through mosquitoes. CDC 04 (The Impact of Malaria, A Leading Cause of Death Worldwide, Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/impact/index.htm) Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. It is a leading cause of death and disease in many developing countries, where young children and pregnant women are the groups most affected. According to the World Health Organizations World Malaria Report 2005: At the end of 2004, some 3.2 billion people lived in areas at risk of malaria transmission in 107 countries and territories. Between 350 and 500 million clinical episodes of malaria occur every year. At least one million deaths occur every year due to malaria. About 60% of the cases of malaria worldwide and more than 80% of the malaria deaths worldwide occur in Africa south of the Sahara. Malaria occurs mostly in poor, tropical and subtropical areas of the world (Geographic Distribution). The area most affected is Africa south of the Sahara, where an estimated 90% of the deaths due to malaria occur. This is due to a combination of factors: A very efficient mosquito vector (Anopheles gambiae) assures high transmission The predominant parasite species is Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the most severe form of malaria Local weather conditions often allow transmission to occur year round Scarce resources and socio-economic instability hinder efficient malaria control activities. In other areas of the world malaria is a less prominent cause of deaths, but can cause substantial disease and incapacitation, especially in rural areas of some countries in South America and Southeast Asia.
Malaria is the leading cause of death worldwidein Africa, it claims about 742,000 deaths a year. CDC 04 (The Impact of Malaria, A Leading Cause of Death Worldwide, Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/impact/index.htm) Malaria is a leading cause of death and illness worldwide. As most people who die from malaria are African children less than 5 years old, having accurate information about this group is especially important. Valid estimates of
the number of malaria deaths are useful for monitoring the impact of prevention and control activities, targeting public health interventions, and advocacy. Unfortunately, the information systems of most African countries do not produce dependable estimates. To fill this gap, a variety of estimates have been proposed using mathematical models, but most have been simplistic or lacked documentation of the methods and data. A recent model, which the World Health Organization currently uses to produce annual malaria estimates, identified populations at risk for malaria with a model that predicts where the climate is suitable for malaria transmission [1]. The malaria mortality rate, from an analysis
of field studies, was applied to these malaria-risk populations to produce an estimate of about 766,000 deaths among African children less than 5 years old for the year 1995. This model was recently refined to account for variations in malaria transmission intensity, and about 742,000 malaria deaths were estimated for the year 2000 [2]. Although these two latter models were considerably superior to previous ones, they still can be refined and improved

OBSERVATION FIVE: LANDMINES
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Landmines kill one person every 15 minutes, those who live by minefields live in constant fear of dismemberment and death Bus 99(What You Should Know about Landmine Victims Margaret S. Bus Senior Associate Information Journal
Volume 3, No.3 Fall 1999 http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/3.3/focus/how_many_victims.htm) One million people have been killed and maimed by anti-personnel mines. Twenty-six thousand people a year become victims, 70 people a day, or around one person every 15 minutes. Three hundred thousand children and counting are severely disabled because of landmines. Half the people who step on an anti-personnel mine die from their injuries before they are found or taken to hospital. An even higher percentage of children die because, being smaller, their vital organs are closer to the blast. After the end of hostilities, decades afterwards, anyone who strays into a mine field is at risk. Everyone is vulnerable. Women collecting water, children playing, men working the land or tending cattle. Most mine fields are unmarked, or have become unmarked after time, erosion, washouts and topographical changes have occurred. You may have no idea that you are in danger until it is too late. If the horrifying thought suddenly strikes you that where you are walking might be mined, there is not a lot you can do about it. You could painstakingly test each centimeter of the ground in front of you before each step. Perhaps sliding a knife into the ground at 30 degrees to see if there is anything dangerous underneath. You may not discover the mine until you put your weight on it. At least 13 pounds of weight may be necessary to activate it.
Pentland 04 (William, law clerk, World & I, April, law clerk, San Francisco writer, WORLD & I, April 2004, p. 253. (DRG/C6)) Officially, landmines claim over twenty-six thousand casualties every year. Unofficially, they claim far more. Most mine-related deaths occur in remote and underdeveloped areas of war-ravaged countries. The nearest hospitals are usually quite far, the resources required for the journey seldom available. Other than aid workers, governing elites, and their cronies, almost no one has a personal car in the rural developing world. Many cannot afford to buy food, let alone erratic "public" transportation. As a result, many landmine fatalities are simply not reported.
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Mines sustain violent cultures and promote instability Litzelman 02 (Michael, Benefit/Cost Analysis of US Demining In Ethiopia and Eritrea, Journal of Mine Action
6.2, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.2/focus/michaellitzelman/michaellistzelman.htm) There is an important U.S. interest to control landmines, especially those that are imbedded in the land of countries that are of national and vital interest to the United States and its allies. Reducing or eliminating these weapons may help to stabilize an important area and region inimical to U.S. interests. The existence of landmines has led to economic and political calamity and creates a greater chance of them being used by a faction or group against innocent civilians or even U.S. personnel. AP landmines may sustain a culture of conflict and violence. Therefore, it may be in the United States interest to ultimately assist in eliminating these undiscriminating weapons, which could be of direct benefit to the United States and host nations (HNs).
Landmines prevent humanitarian assistance and perpetuate poverty and instability Bloomfield 04 (Lincoln P. Jr, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Jan,
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/0104/ijpe/bloomfield.htm) Persistent landmines, the residue of past wars, insurgencies, and internal reigns of terror, kill or maim thousands of people each year in dozens of countries around the world. Untold numbers of persistent (or dumb) landmines, estimated in the millions, infest areas in every hemisphere. Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) disrupt humanitarian aid delivery, agriculture, trade, education, and social development. These explosive remnants of war drain scarce public health resources and impede post-conflict reconstruction and economic recovery in impoverished areas most in need of relief. Landmine contamination is a humanitarian disaster that perpetuates poverty, desperation, and regional instability.
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When greater focus is given to large violent events we tend to forget that violence doesnt come as a pre-packaged unit rather it erupts out of less visible structural violence instead of just worrying about the large-scale impacts of their (disad/critique/etc.) we need to examine the micro-level structural violence that end in war, violence, and genocide. King 04 [Charles, Associate Professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, The Micropolitics of Social Violence, World Politics 56.3, 2004, pgs 431-455]
Violent events are often clustered spatially and temporally. Existing research practice has been to treat the cluster itselfsomething called "the Bosnian war" or "the Rwandan genocide"as the only serviceable dependent variable. Cases, in other words, have become coterminous with conflicts. But violence does not come in prepackaged units. Violent events are themselves constructed as part of the process of social violence; they are wrapped up in the constitutive power of collective action. Even at the lowest level of aggregation, the individual violent episode, bounding the case can still be frustratingly difficult. Previous instances of violence
may be invoked as rallying points. What outside observers see as discrete phenomena may be, in the minds of participants, multiple iterations of the same dispute. Violent events, in other words, are not natural kinds. The rhetorical battle for control over defining the event can thus be as much a part of the contestation as violence itself. Anyone who has spent time in violent settings, from societies plagued by sectarian discord to an English football match, can understand how difficult it is to distinguish successive iterations of violence from one another, both analytically and causally. Slicing into the complex narrative of first causes and iterated grievances can provide a cross-sectional image of a conflict at one point in time, but it can also be misleading.
Any single episode of violence may be part of an intricate web of meanings connected with previous events and acting as precipitants for those to come. But things can also work in the opposite way. Participants themselves may devise very clear ways of marking off one episode from another. That is why
in societies where interfamilial feuding is common, there are also usually social rules for deciding how to terminate a violent dispute whose blood and how much of it must be spilled in order for a wrong to be righted, for example.32 The alternative would be an endless spiral of revenge, precisely the condition that complex feuding norms are meant [End Page 449] to forestall. The point is that where any instance of collective violence begins and ends, whether it is a single riot or an entire civil war, can be determined only from within the cognitive landscape of those who are engaged in it. Marking off events as discrete by fiat of the researcher will not do the trick. What constitutes an analytically singular event is thus both a conceptual and an empirical question, part of what Horowitz and Kalyvas have both called, in slightly different senses, the "ontology" of violence.33 But how exactly does one go about ordering the varied and often contradictory versions of who did what to whom? One technique is simply to rely on press reports in local languages, as Beissinger does, and to make sure that those reports come from many different, mainly indigenous sources. That, at least, takes one as close as possible to the action without requiring a multisource account of every killing. Beissinger's careful event analysis protocol (included as an appendix to his book) is a model for how one might think clearly about the problem of bounding the violent event. Another is to write an ethnography of event making, to examine systematically the various meanings attached to violent episodes and to explore the ways in which one is marked off from another. That approach is less amenable to quantitative analysis and may produce only a Rashomon-like series of multiple stories. But focusing on the construction of meaning itself can provide a valuable corrective to the idea of the violent event as a naturally occurring species.34 A third is represented by what Horowitz has called a "near-miss strategy": doing enough microlevel
work to know under what conditions a case that looked to be heading toward large-scale, mass violence instead turned into something smaller, a lynching, for example.35 This is a technique much preached but rarely practiced. It is not quite enough to work at extremely high levels of aggregation, to ask why Yugoslavia's end was violent but Czechoslovakia's was not. Rather, following [End Page 450]through on this strategy would involve narrowing the research focus, both spatially and temporally, and giving greater attention to cases that really seemed, but for a few key variables, to be heading in the same awful direction. These techniques would certainly dampen scholarly ambitions, but that might not be a bad thing. They would cause researchers to take very seriously the bounding of both cases and events. They would remind us to be honest about what we are really studying: not violence tout court, but one small, bracketed space on a scale of behaviors running from murder to total war. Knowing with some certainty why a massacre did not escalate to genocide is not nearly as attractive as saying why one country is war torn and another peaceful. But it is probably closer to science.
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Thus the plan:

OBSERVATION SIX: SOLVENCY
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The State department has cut funding to demining programs U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines 06 (Administration Cuts Funding Request for Humanitarian Demining,
Feb, , http://www.banminesusa.org/archives/newsletters/31_Feb_2006.html#7 The United States leads the world in donations to efforts to clear mines, provide assistance to victims, and educate communities on the risks of landmines; its contributions represent close to half the worldwide total for such initiatives. Since 1993, the U.S. has donated over $1 billion, funding research and development on new demining technologies. When announcing its new policy in 2004, the Bush administration pledged to increase the funds available to support the State Departments portion of the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program by an additional 50% over fiscal year (FY) 2003 baseline levels. This would raise the level to about $70 million per year. At $64.3 million, the State Departments portion of the FY 2007 budget falls short of the $70 million target. When the president fails to live up to his pledge, the Congress should step in and act.
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Wolf and Barmazel 200 [Daniel H. Wolf, President, and Steven Barmazel, Publications Director, Terra Segura International, The Necessity of Implementing a Public-Health Approach to Humanitarian Demining, 2004, http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/5.2/notes/danielwolf.htm]
Manual demining is the gold standard for near-100 percent removal. However, the inherent risks eviscerate individual productivity. Checking for booby traps, clearing vegetation, probing carefully, digging up numerous suspicious objects and rotating crewmembers to
deter stress and boredom requires multitudes of low-skilled detection personnel. With more than 3,000 personnel, for instance, the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) cleared only 10 sq km a year out of some 3,500 affected sq km. As a consequence, labor costs are astronomical. Bureaucratic
factors also increase costs. Centralization robs the tooth of clearing activities by concentrating excessive resources in the bureaucratic tail. Relying on peacekeeping forces
and national armies for leadership, the organizational models for these projects, not surprisingly, are military. Though appropriate for combat, when applied to mine
this model is inefficient, not economical, stifling to local initiative and adaptation, and slow to respond to new or newly-discovered beneficiary needs. Experimentation is directed from above, innovation must run a gauntlet of policies and
clearance, doctrines, and local responses to local conditions must pass through levels of bureaucratic filters. Furthermore, most projects suffer all the typical problems of systems with third-party funding. A handful of distant agencies disburse most demining money, so these donors (plus army headquarters when the deminers are active-duty soldiers) become the projects true clients; the people living in mine-infested areas are simply powerless beneficiaries. Priorities of donors and national officials often trump the needs of deminers and mined communities. Accountability
is the reason usually given for bureaucratic structures, but small spending for actual demining is the reality, irrespective of justification for high overhead. The Bosnia Mine
Action Center, despite enormous spending since 1995, has not even finished its preliminary task of mapping all minefields, much less accomplished sizable clearance. Even minefields around Sarajevo remain unmarked, a fact that was tragically proven last year when two children were killed instantly and a third died slowly within earshot of her parents while Norwegian Peoples Aid deminers tried frantically to rescue her. However, with more than 3,000 personnel, CMAC cleared only 10 sq km per year out of some 3,500 affected square kilometers. When accountability is de-emphasized to allow greater efficiency, however, abuses occur. The United Nations for years praised CMAC as a model of effectiveness and "sustainability." Recent exposure of nepotism, inefficiency and misfeasance in CMAC (specifically, the clearing of land for the commercial use of former Khmer Rouge officers) led to funding cutoffs and contraction. Some who have worked with LAO-UXO in Laos allege that it would collapse without expatriate advisers. LAO-UXO may be more robust than that, but an exodus of expatriates would likely cause foreign donors to lose confidence, causing LAO-UXO to shut down from lack of funds. A recent U.N. policy review, noting the prevalence of "poor management compounded by inappropriate and unsupportive U.N. administrative and budgetary mechanisms, lack of forward planning and disputed lines of authority," recommended that the United Nations "not be involved in the direct implementation of mine action activities."1 Even the most effecient programs are expensive. Total monthly expenses for the Afganistan Mine Action Program, for example, run $800 (U.S.) per deminer, only $150 (U.S.) of which is actual wages; the rest is equipment, transport, food accommodations, insurance, medical support, etc. Total costs for the programs five expatriate supervisors reach $250,000 (U.S.) each.2 The
unfortunate result of all these factors is that clearance costs more than most agricultural land is worth. This eliminates one of the most powerful incentives for investing in deminingthe lure of positive returns on investments. Private landowners will not invest in land clearance unless they expect to make a profit in order to
support their families. Likewise, a government ministry in a poor country will not invest in clearing large areas if it cannot expect positive net revenues, even considering the economic and social value of avoiding injuries and deaths. It must invest its limited funds in growth and development, not simply spend in ways that may produce net reductions in collective economic well being. Improvements in Planning Demining The picture is not entirely dismal. Coordination between military and civilian organizations has improved, and the United Nations has responded to critiques by beginning to focus on the coordination among, rather than the actual operations of, NGOs. Additionally, in an attempt to match needs with available resources, demining planners now apply triage to lands (i.e., prioritize them according to risk and necessity and authorize "treatment" according to these priorities). Obviously, acute threats such as mined schoolyards and water sources are treated immediately even at great cost. Ideally, public infrastructure and transportation are cleared next, then private infrastructure and productive lands, and finally low-value lands such as pastures and wastelands. The desired treatments for these various levels of need have evolved into three accepted risk-reduction "treatment levels." From the top, Level 3 is complete clearing (the most expensive), akin to acute care; Level 2 is demarcation of minefield perimeters (meant to put mined land in a safe holding pattern while making the unmined surrounding land available); and Level 1 is an aspirin-like treatment, generating general location data and impact information for planning purposes, accompanied by mine awareness training that is often ineffective. Unfortunately, funds are too limited in many cases even to clear the most critical areas, much less mark mine fields to keep people safely out. Even when funds are available, the middle level of care is largely unattainable because Level 2 surveys apply the same labor-intensive techniques used for clearance itself, which is very expensive, especially in densely vegetated areas. In order to make serious headway, overall performance must increase dramatically without expecting increased public funding. The challenge is enormous, and responsible agencies must go beyond easy fixesthey must make substantial changes in their organization and procedures and bring along donors and affected constituencies in both mined and donor countries. Getting started requires three strategic responses: adopting the utilitarian public-health philosophy. immediately implementing measures to improve performance within existing institutional constraints. providing a several-year effort to create systemic flexibility, improve options and transition demining institutions towards a true public-health demining system.
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Technology is critical to demining operations Rand Review 03 (a nonprofit institution to improve policy through research and analysis, Spring, $50 million
needed for landmine detection, Vol 27, No 1) A major research and development program costing about $50 million over five to eight years is needed to sharply accelerate efforts to remove landmines that kill thousands of civilians each year in 90 nations, according to a RAND report. "There is a desperate need for better landmine detection equipment," said Jacqueline MacDonald, an engineer and coauthor of the report. "Technology is available to create better tools to remove landmines, but nothing will be developed unless there is investment in a wellorganized, focused research program." The report said research is needed to develop new technology that can replace the World War II-era equipmentthe mainstay of worldwide efforts to remove landmines. Researchers cited the need for a new generation of landmine detectors that would be more accurate and reliable to speed landmine removal. Today's landmine detection equipment is primitive, relying on technology that results in a high number of false alarms, according to researchers. Landmine detectors used today operate via a technology that is unable to distinguish landmines from other metallic materialsby far the greatest limitation of the process.
US technological leadership and research advancement make it the best actor for solvency Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) As long as the United States is the pre-eminent world power, it will be looked to for leadership in mine clearance. About 10 years ago the United States joined the fledgling humanitarian mine clearance effort around the world. Since that time we have generally expanded our effort by simply doing more of what was done before. While that approach got mines out of the ground, it will not suffice to meet President Clinton's goal and the world's expectation of us. The May 1998 Washington Conference acknowledged that 110 million mines may be a counterproductive overestimation. The conference attendees agreed to revise and lower the estimate. This decision acknowledges that the number of mines is not as central to the issue as the number of victims. The "one at a time" clearance method of the past requires technological augmentation to reach the President's goal. The problem is further complicated by the profusion of areas that are declared minefields but are in fact only "suspected" or may consist of only one mine, the one that exploded. A two-part enhanced technology effort is emerging as a cornerstone of the U.S. approach to mine clearance. First, use technology to cut the problem down to size; and second, use technology to find and clear the mines. Highly accurate surveys are needed to separate suspected from confirmed areas and, further, to limit the actual mined areas to their real boundaries. Some currently available satellite and global positioning satellite (GPS) technology may, with further development, be useful. Using this technology to reliably rule out suspected areas, much land can be returned to use without the expense of painstakingly clearing each square foot. With suspected areas ruled out, further development of fast, cheap clearance should be the remaining priority. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing, among other projects; computer-assisted technology to mimic the processing a dog's nose and brain do to differentiate smells. This research is promising and may result in very low risk mine clearance. Further research in this area coupled with highly accurate surveys could make the concept of land mines in war obsolete.
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****Topicality/Agents*****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T Public Health: K of T
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Public Health Policies should have social justice as their central goal this is best limit Merson, Black and Mills 01 (Michael, Dean of Public Health, Yale, Robert, Prof International Health John
Hopkins and Anne, Prof of Health Economics and Policy, International Public Health: Diseases, Programs, Systems, and Policies, eds. M. Merson, R. Black & A. Mills, p. xiii xiv) Social justice is the main pillar of public health. Its basic tenet is that the knowledge obtained on how to ensure a healthy population must be extended equally to all groups in any society, even when the burden of disease and ill health within that society is distributed unequally. Often this fair distribution of benefits is impeded by differences in gender, social class, ethnicity, and race. A critical challenge for public health is overcoming those barriers that prevent the application of the broad array of available prevention approaches and tools.
Negatives definition overlimits, ignoring that public health is always a political activity we have a duty to overcome the artificial divide between public health and social action McKinley and Marceau 04 (John, Professorships in Medicine, Biostatistics and Epidemiology and Sociology
and directing BU's Center for Health and Advanced Policy Studies and Lisa D. Marceau, New England Research Institute, Political and Economic Determinants of Population Health and Well-Being, eds. V. Navarro & C. Muntaner, p. 202-3) Most of us consider public health and politics (or social action) to be entirely separate worlds and many believe that never the twain should meet. Public health activities are generally well-motivated by the public
interest, many people think that public health ought to remain a value-free, mainly scientific activity, devoid of any partisan preference. Politics, in contrast, can be viewed as a somewhat distasteful activity involving powerful self-interested pressure groups, the use of state power to achieve particular ends, and the influence of money and parties on nationally important decisions. Public health and politics are inappropriate bedfellows if, as is usually the case, politics is reduced to party politics politics with a small p. In this view, politics is a perhaps necessary but nonetheless distasteful evil which has no appropriate place in the more objective scientific world of public health. Politics of course, involves much more than just party activities. It concerns the structure,
distribution, and effects of power in society. Who and which groups are able to pattern the social order? What are the sources of their influence? How do they acquire and retain their privileged position? What are the social effects of the government policies that these groups are able to shape? It is these questions, not the distracting skirmishes of low-level party struggles, that are the real stuff of politics. This is politics with a big P. Viewed in this broader sense, politics is an essential part of an effective public health. If certain interest groups and individuals in society are able to socially pattern the health of the population, shape the scope of debate on health problems, and even determine the nature of government responses to them (social policy), then learning the approach of such groups is an essential component of public health. Indeed, understanding these approaches is the inescapable context of all public health interventions. If the health of a population is socially determined, then public health must take place in the social policy arena. Hence, public health is, inescapably, a political activity. To disregard these sociopolitical determinants of the health of society is to relegate public health solely to the prevention and promotion of individual risk behaviors which are mere epiphenomena.
Must break the silence and interrogate forces promoting ongoing structural health violence
Farmer 03 (Paul, Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, p. 50, Questia) Today, the world's poor are the chief victims of structural violence a violence that has thus far defied the analysis of many who seek to understand the nature and distribution of extreme suffering. Why might this be so? One answer is that the poor are not only more likely to suffer; they are also less likely to have their suffering noticed, as Chilean theologian Pablo Richard, noting the fall of the Berlin Wall, has warned: We are aware that another gigantic wall is being constructed in the Third World, to hide the reality of the poor majorities. A wall between the rich and poor is being built, so that poverty does not annoy the powerful and the poor are obliged to die in the silence of history. 51 The task at hand, if this silence is to be broken, is to identify the forces conspiring to promote suffering, with the understanding that these are differentially weighted in different settings. If we do this, we stand a chance of discerning the causes of extreme suffering and also the forces that put some at risk for human rights abuses, while others are shielded from risk. No honest assessment of the current state of human rights can omit an analysis of structural violence, as the following chapters attempt to show.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T - Public Health AT: Prevention Only

This does not provide a limit our contextual standard is better
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Turncock 01 (Bernard, Professor Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Public Health: what it is and how it works, p. 19) If pubic health professionals were pressed to provide a one-word synonym for public health, the most frequent response would probably be prevention. In general, prevention characterizes actions that are taken to reduce the possibility that something will happen or in hopes of minimizing the damage that may occur if it does happen. Prevention is a widely appreciated and valued concept that is best understood when its object is identified. Although prevention is considered by many to be the purpose of public health, the specific intentions of prevention can be numerous. Prevention can be aimed at deaths, hospital admissions, days lost from school, consumption of human and fiscal resources, and many other ends. There are as many targets for prevention as there are various health outcomes and effects to be avoided.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T Public Health - Demining
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Land mines hurt public health in Africa Mine Action Information Center 02 (Upsetting Lives: The Public Health Impact of Landmines in Africa,
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.3/focus/taylor/taylor.htm) Landmines are an immense problem throughout the continent of Africa, specifically in the way they affect public health; the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies (RCS) estimate that as many as 140 million Africans live in countries where the threat of injury or death due to landmines is high or very high. These
menaces are found in villages, towns, and fields, and around roads, wells, schools, and health clinics. Both directly and indirectly, landmines have many adverse effects on the public health of the people of Africa. It is not only the physical injuries that affect the inhabitants of these nations; even the threat of landmines slows development. In Angola, studies illustrate that more individuals have died from poor water and sanitation, disease and malnutrition than direct injuries. By affecting water safety, agricultural development, public health campaigns and the socio-economic and emotional state of many inhabitants, landmines certainly hinder the well-being of entire African societies, while also killing, injuring and disabling over 12,000 African people per year.
Landmines are a public health issue ARCHI 07 (American Red Cross &Red Crescent Health Initiative, Landmines in Africa.
http://www.ifrc.org/WHAT/health/archi/fact/fmines.htm)
Landmines are a global concern since their presence can lead to profound health, social, environmental and economic impacts. In many mine-infested countries, these weapons are typically deployed in fields, near villages and towns, on
roads, around wells, schools, health clinics, and even in individual homes.
Besides killing and disabling individuals, landmines also affect families and communities by preventing land cultivation, blocking passage to safe drinking water, and limiting the access of vaccination teams by closing roads and isolating villages and towns. Landmines prevent children from attending schools and visiting health facilities. They also limit mobility and impede the return of refugees.
Both directly and indirectly, landmines have a huge effect on public health in Africa Taylor 02 (Sarah B. Upsetting Lives: The Public Health Impact of Landmines on Africa,
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.3/focus/taylor/taylor.htm) Landmines are an immense problem throughout the continent of Africa, specifically in the way they affect public health; the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies (RCS) estimate that as many as 140 million Africans live in countries where the threat of injury or death due to landmines is high or very high. These menaces are found in villages, towns, and fields, and around roads, wells, schools, and health clinics. Both directly and indirectly, landmines have many adverse effects on the public health of the people of Africa. It is not only the physical injuries that affect the inhabitants of these nations; even the threat of landmines slows development. In Angola, studies illustrate that more individuals have died from poor water and sanitation, disease and malnutrition than direct injuries. By affecting water safety, agricultural development, public health campaigns and the socioeconomic and emotional state of many inhabitants, landmines certainly hinder the well-being of entire African societies, while also killing, injuring and disabling over 12,000 African people per year.
Land mines are a serious public health hazard according to WHO UNECA 1995 (Economic and Social Situation in Africa, Report,
http://www.uneca.org/cfm/21/socrep/afec4.htm) There is another growing health hazard in Africa emanating from the devastation caused by the innumerable landmines in the conflict and post-conflict areas. In the Bulletin of the WHO Pan-African Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response (Vol. 2, No. 1), landmines in Africa have: "wide and long-lasting consequences for the population, the health services and the socioeconomic fabric of the affected countries. Besides killing and disabling people, landmines preclude access to water, farming land, firewood, markets, schools and health facilities with a dramatic impact on the natural environment the life of the communities, and the economy of a country... And the fact that the civilian casualties of the landmines are mainly women
and children adds to the magnitude and gravity of the tragedy. One woman killed or mutilated represents higher risk of illness or malnutrition for the entire family, one disabled child represents a long-term burden to the health services of the society at large. In war and in its aftermath, landmines, besides the workload represented by the wounded and disabled persons, pose a threat to Health mobileteams, logistics, etc: the outcome will be reduced coverage and effectiveness for all PHC activities. Health will lose personnel,
equipment and supplies; funds will be diverted into tertiary care and long-term hospitalization, as well as towards staff insurance and disability allowances."
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T Public Health: Victim Assistance
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Victim assistance is public health assistance Rutherford 02 (Kenneth R. Rutherford, Landmines Studies Coordinator at Southwest Missouri State
University, Landmines: A Survivors Tale, Landmines: A Survivors Tale, December 2002, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.3/focus/rutherford/rutherford.htm, 10 July 2007) This assistance does not require the creation of formal programs necessarily. Rather, states can assist victims through programs and policy. The definition of victim assistance is comprehensive and is not restricted to the provision of medical treatment for initial traumatic injuries sustained from landmine explosions and the provision of prosthetics.12 Victim assistance also includes ongoing treatment to aid in physical therapy, and mental and emotional rehabilitation of survivors and their families. Landmine survivors themselves have defined victim assistance as emergency and medical care; access to prosthetics, wheelchairs and other assistant devices; social and economical reintegration; psychological and peer support; accident prevention programs; and legal and advisory services.13 These activities can take the form of continued rehabilitative care, psychological and social counseling, vocational training, broader public advocacy for disability rights, and judicial reform aimed at removing barriers that hinder persons with disabilities from integrating into society. For example, if a state does not have the financial resources to provide direct victim assistance, it can satisfy its obligation to assist victims through policy changes enabling survivors to become more fully integrated into societys economic and social realms. Described below are three specific policy examples of victim assistance, whose implementation did not require programming.
Victim assistance directly related to public health Landmine Monitor (Landmine Report 2005; http://www.icbl.org/lm/2005/kenya; 2005)
In 2004, Landmine Monitor identified no casualties from mine incidents. Public health facilities in Kenya are believed to be adequate to provide first aid and advanced medical care to mine/UXO casualties, ranging from rural health centers to national referral hospitals. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Lopiding Hospital in Lokichokio, on the KenyaSudan border, provides first aid, surgical care and physical rehabilitation to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities, who have been evacuated across the border from southern Sudan by ICRC. The hospital also provides follow-up assessment, nursing care and physiotherapy, and ongoing training for surgeons, nurses and orthopedic technicians. Three mine casualties from southern Sudan were admitted to the hospital in JanuaryFebruary 2004, two in June 2004, and one in February 2005 for surgical treatment. In 2004, the orthopedic workshop fitted 392 prostheses, produced 116 orthoses and 1,318 crutches, and distributed 33 wheelchairs. The hospital also runs a three-month training course for fieldbased repairers in southern Sudan; they are trained to do simple repairs on prostheses, and to refer more complex cases and new cases to Lopiding Hospital.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T: Public Assistance = USAID Funding
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Humanitarian mine action funding comes from USAID Jenny Lang, U.S. State department Fellow, April 2003 (The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program: Helping
Countries Get on Their Feet, Journal of Mine Action, Issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/lange/lange.htm) The vast majority of U.S. funding support for humanitarian mine action comes from the DOS, the DoD and USAID. Until recently, CDC involvement had focused primarily on MRE, but there are indications that the CDC in the future will engage more in survivors assistance initiatives as well.
Funding comes from USAID Leahy War Victims Fund Jenny Lang, U.S. State department Fellow, April 2003 (The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program: Helping
Countries Get on Their Feet, Journal of Mine Action, Issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/lange/lange.htm) Through the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, USAID contributes to improving the mobility, health and social integration of the disabled due to casualties of war, including landmine survivors. USAID funds for mine action in FY 2002 totaled approximately $8 million.
Demining funding comes from USAID Leahy War Victims Fund Department of State, April 5, 2002 (The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/2002/9183.htm) The third primary source of U.S. mine action funding is the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Through the fund, USAID contributes to improving the mobility, health, and social integration of the war disabled, including landmine survivors. USAID mine action funding totals $10 million for FY02.
Landmine survivor assistance funding comes from USAID Human Rights Watch, June 2000 (Clintons Landmine Legacy, Issue12.3,
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslm/USALM007-07.htm) The primary vehicle for U.S. government funding for landmine survivor assistance is the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (WVF) administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The WVF provides prosthetic assistance for victims who have lost limbs as a result of landmines and other war-related injuries. Since 1989, the WVF has provided $60 million in support for victims of war in sixteen countries. The approximate FY 2000 budget is $12 million.146 Expenditures for landmine victims are not separated out from those for war victims overall, thus it is not possible to give a precise value to U.S. spending on mine victim assistance programs. The WVF is dedicated to improving the mobility, health, and social integration of adults and children who have sustained physical disabilities as a direct or indirect result of war or civil strife. These programs focus on medical care and physical rehabilitation. This includes the expanding of cost-effective, quality prosthetic services and setting up well equipped, self-sustainable local medical facilities. Related services, such as gaining access to education and employment opportunities are also funded to promote the economic and social rehabilitation of the victims. These programs can be funded in a variety of ways. Country-based projects meeting criteria are mostly funded through grants to organizations that work closely with host governments and that are registered with USAID. Funds are normally negotiated and managed directly from USAID's overseas missions.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Funding = NADR Appropriations
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Funding for mine action support comes from NADR appropriation Department of State, April 5, 2002 (The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/2002/9183.htm) Within DOS, the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs (PM/HDP) manages two separate accounts to support mine action. Under the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Projects (NADR) appropriation, DOS funds both commercial and nongovernmental organizations' initiatives supporting a host country's program and its progress towards Sustainment. Overall Sustainment is achieved when the host nation is successfully managing and conducting humanitarian demining operations, and can sustain those operations by directly soliciting donors for support, if national resources are insufficient. DOS also provides direct non-cash support to military demining organizations within a mine-affected country, to include the provision of equipment, technical assistance, training, and other services. NADR funds also are used to support programs conducted by international organizations such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States. NADR is not limited to funding commercial, NGO, or international organization operations. NADR funds can be channeled to a U.S. embassy or to an operational element of DoD to support the acquisition of services and equipment. FY02 NADR funds total $40 million; an additional $3 million was received for Afghanistan. Overall, U.S. mine action support from NADR has totaled over $180 million since 1997 (see attached chart).
Demining funding comes from NADR appropriations Jenny Lang, U.S. Department Fellow, April 2003 (The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program: Helping
Countries Get on Their Feet, Journal of Mine Action, issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/7.1/focus/lange/lange.htm) DOS funding is provided under the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related (NADR) Programs appropriation, which is managed by the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. These funds support both commercial and non-governmental organization (NGO) mine action initiatives within a specific country. NADR funds are also used to support programs implemented by international organizations such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS). NADR funds can also be transferred to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, directly to a U.S. Embassy or to an operational element of the DoD to support the acquisition of services and equipment. Just recently, the U.S. Congress enacted the Export Control and Foreign Operations appropriation for FY 2003, providing $55.6 million for NADR mine action.
Funding for humanitarian demining programs run by the DOS is provided by NADR Human Rights Watch, June 2000 (Clintons Landmine Legacy, Issue12.3,
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslm/USALM007-07.htm) The Department of State is responsible for assisting a recipient country in sustaining its national demining program. Once a program is established, continued support of demining operations is the responsibility of the Department of State's Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs. Funding for the humanitarian demining programs run by the Department of State is provided by the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related programs (NADR) appropriation. NADR funding can used to support the programs of international organizations and nongovernmental organizations or can be transferred to other agencies.128
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Funding = NADR Appropriations
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US demining program funding comes from NADR appropriations Land Mine Monitor, August 2002 (United States of America, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2002/usa)
Funding for most of the programs administered by the Department of State are provided annually by the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related programs (NADR) appropriation and can be used to support mine clearance programs of individual countries, international organizations, or can be transferred to other agencies. The State Department support to mine action is often used to augment training programs executed by the Department of Defense. The countries/regions that received NADR mine action funding and the amount of assistance provided in FY 2001 are presented in the following table. Recipients of State Department NADR Mine Action Funding (US$), FY 2001[42] Afghanistan 2,800,000 Mauritania 400,000 Angola 2,844,000 Mozambique 2,180,000 Armenia 850,000 Namibia 40,000 Azerbaijan 1,100,000 OAS[43] 1,350,000 Cambodia 2,468,208 Oman 273,000 Chad 300,000 Peru 861,000 Djibouti 400,000 Rwanda 400,000 Ecuador 963,000 Somalia 1,400,000 Eritrea 1,050,000 Thailand 1,270,000 Georgia 1,000,000 Vietnam 1,650,000 Guinea Bissau 488,837 Yemen 1,022,895 Jordan 947,000 Zambia 700,000 Laos 993,000 Zimbabwe 594,901 Lebanon 1,000,000 [44] Mine Detection and Clearance: Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Laos, Mozambique, OAS, Peru,
Somalia (Somaliland), Thailand, Yemen, Zimbabwe. Mine Detecting Dogs: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Mozambique, OAS, and Thailand. Equipment and Supplies: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chad, Djibouti, Ecuador, Ethiopia,
Jordan, Laos, Mauritania, OAS, Oman, Peru, Rwanda, Thailand, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe. Support and Sustainment (including training) to National Demining Offices/Mine Action Centers: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Ecuador, Lebanon, Mauritania, Mozambique, Peru, Yemen, Zambia. Mine Risk Education: Angola, Armenia, Eritrea, Namibia, OAS, Rwanda. Landmine Impact Surveys: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Vietnam. Quick Reaction Demining Force (QRDF) Funded from the NADR appropriation and established in 2001 by the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, the QRDF is intended to rapidly reply to emergency demining situations worldwide. This unit is based in Mozambique and conducts mine clearance there when not deployed. It consists of mine detecting dog and manual clearance teams trained by the RONCO Consulting Corporation. In early April 2002 part of the QRDF was sent to Sri Lanka to undertake short-term assessment,
survey and clearance tasks.[45] Later in April 2002, other elements of the QRDF were deployed to the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan to perform a similar short-term survey and clearance mission
The NADR is the agency that would fund demining operations GAO 04 (Government Accounting Organization, department of state nonproliferation,
anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs follow legal authority, but some activities need reassessment, www.gao.gov/new.items/d04521.pdf)
The Department of States regional stability and humanitarian assistance programs funded through the NADR account are designed to promote peace and regional stability, as well as meet humanitarian needs in post-conflict situations. These programs work to achieve U.S. national security interests by supporting demining activities and the destruction of small arms and light weapons in areas that have suffered from hostilities. There are two major programs supporting regional stability and humanitarian assistance: the Humanitarian Demining Program and the Small Arms/Light Weapons Destruction Program. The NADR account also includes funding for an additional demining activity
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 DOD Funds Demining

US demining assistance is funded by the DoD United States Code
25 Landmines Aff
http://www.loislaw.com/ogpc/login.htp?WSRet=1&dockey=19942944@USCODE&OLDURL=/gpc/index.htp&OL DREFURL=http%3A//news.google.com/archivesearch%3Fq%3Ddemining%2Bunited%2Bstates%26hl%3Den%26 ned%3Dus%26sa%3DN%26sugg%3Dd%26as_ldate%3D2003%26as_hdate%3D2006%26lnav%3Dd0) United States Code - 10 U.S.C. 407 Humanitarian demining assistance: authority; limitations (c) Expenses. (1) Expenses incurred as a direct result of providing humanitarian demining assistance under this section to a foreign country shall be paid for out of funds specifically appropriated for the purpose of the provision by the Department of Defense of overseas humanitarian assistance. (B) The cost of any equipment, services, or supplies acquired for the purpose of carrying out or supporting humanitarian demining activities, including any nonlethal, individual, or small-team equipment or supplies for clearing landmines or other explosive remnants of war that are to be transferred or otherwise furnished to a foreign country in furtherance of the provision of assistance under this section. (e) Humanitarian Demining Assistance Defined. In this section, the term "humanitarian demining assistance", as it relates to training and support, means detection and clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, including activities related to the furnishing of education.
DoD provides training teams for US humanitarian demining program DoD April 3, 2006 (U.S. Department of Defense Role in Humanitarian Mine Action,
http://www.wood.army.mil/hdtc/dodhma.html) U.S. Department of Defense Role in Humanitarian Mine Action
The U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Mine Action seeks to build successful, self-sustainable indigenous mine action programs. The Department of Defense (DoD) delivers on-the-
ground mine action training: Department of Defense provides mine action training teams Geographic Combatant Commanders (e.g. Pacific Command, Southern Command, European Command) execute the Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) Program in their regions
DoD funds humanitarian mine action from OHDACA account Department of State, April 5, 2002 (The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/2002/9183.htm) DoD funds humanitarian mine action from its Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (OHDACA) account. FY02 OHDACA funds total $18 million. OHDACA finances training conducted by U.S. Special Operations Forces as well as limited amounts of equipment to support that training. Equipment may be left behind for use by the mine-affected nation. OHDACA also supports mine awareness education initiatives, again normally conducted by U.S. Special Operations Forces personnel. Through separate funding (approximately $14 million in FY02), DoD also supports research and development of promising mine detection and removal technologies.
80% of the funding that comes from the DoD is used for moving US troops and equipment around the world. Human Rights Watch, June 2000 (Clintons Landmine Legacy, Issue12.3,
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslm/USALM007-07.htm) Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining programs are funded annually from the Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (OHDACA) appropriation. OHDACA funded programs are coordinated with the
Department of State and approved by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency administers the funds while the regional military commanders execute the programs. By law, U.S. military personnel are prohibited from entering live minefields or removing mines as part of humanitarian demining programs.138 Use of OHDACA funds is restricted under
Title 10, United States Code, Section 401. These funds can only be used to support U.S. forces participating in humanitarian demining activities. According to a military planning document, "the majority of the [OHDACA] funds are used to pay costs associated with deployment of U.S. military trainers and support personnel."139 Officers from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance confirmed that as much as 80 percent of OHDACA funding is spent on personnel allowances and the logistical costs of moving personnel and equipment across the world.140 Purchase of equipment, supplies, and
services is permitted as long as it directly supports U.S. military forces participating in humanitarian demining activities. Donation of purchased equipment, supplies, and services can occur upon completion of the program.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Funding = NADR, DoD, and USAID
26 Landmines Aff
Demining funding comes from the DOS NADR appropriatios, DoD, and USAID State Department, November 1, 2001 (The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program: a Commitment to Make
the World Mine-Safe, http://bogota.usembassy.gov/wwwsmq01.shtml) U.S. funding support for humanitarian mine action comes from DOS, DoD, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Mine clearance operations, surveys, mine awareness efforts, survivor assistance, training, and equipment are supported through programs within these entities. DOS funding is provided under the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related (NADR) programs appropriation. These funds support both commercial and nongovernmental organization initiatives to a host country's program and its progress towards sustainment, including the provision of equipment, technical assistance, training, and other services. NADR funds are also used to support programs conducted by international organizations such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Through NADR funds, DOS is also able to transfer money to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, directly to a U.S. Embassy, or to an operational element of DoD to support the acquisition of services and equipment. FY01 NADR funds totaled $40 million. DoD funds humanitarian demining activities from its Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (OHDACA) account. FY01 OHDACA funds totaled $25.5 million. OHDACA funding is provided principally to support training and equipment. DoD funds training conducted by the U.S. Special Forces personnel assigned to various commanders-in-chief. DoD also supports mine awareness education initiatives and, through separate funding (approximately $12 million in FY01), research and development of promising mine detection and removal technologies. Another principal source of funding for humanitarian mine action is USAID. Through the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, the agency contributes to improving the mobility, health, and social integration of the disabled, including landmine survivors.
27 Landmines Aff
****Inherency****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Africa Needs Demining
28 Landmines Aff
African de-mining projects are in a crisis there is a huge need for more money and projects to ensure that humanitarian and commercial de-mining is successful Heever 07
[Johann van den, Managing Director of Demining Enterprises International, Challenges of demining in Africa, 2007, http://ipoaonline.org/journal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=392&Itemid=28] This article focuses on how clearance operations in Africa differ from those in other parts of the world. It must
be stated that the writer and his company are mostly involved in clearance activities on behalf of commercial clients and not any humanitarian clearance projects. Operating on behalf of commercial interests does not mean that these clearance projects do not have a positive influence on the local population of an affected area. On the contrary, these clearance projects have a significantly positive effect on the local population. These positive effects include infrastructure reconstruction, new job opportunities and skills development, and clearing areas to be used for the benefit of the local population. Humanitarian mine clearance activity
on the African continent is in a crisis situation. The local population is at risk daily of landmine or ERW accidents. If funding can be found for small clearance projects around small villages and towns, such projects will make a huge humane difference to especially the children and the day-to-day lives of the inhabitants. Mine clearance operations in Africa have its own positives. These positives will be around forever. The local
population receives demining companies well in their areas, and their gratitude is forever. People of a small village where only a few landmines are cleared and removed around a watering hole will always be thankful and grateful. As these areas where companies work are mostly in remote areas, companies have no choice to do some social good as well. Our company, in coordination with the village administration, tried to facilitate secondary health clinics, which is especially helpful to women and children. The photograph in the center of the page shows the legs of a landmine victim. He lost his lower leg and created his own prosthesis out of bamboo and copper wire, which have now grown into his leg. This victim walked approximately 12 kilometers in the hope that our company would be able to assist him in finding a suitable prosthesis for his leg. This is just one of the countless tragedies left by the legacy of landmines and ERW on the African continent. In most countries on the continent where clearance is carried out, extended civil wars took place. Mostly these are wars long-over by the time that companies will begin clearance projects. Therefore the risk to companies and their staff from active conflict is quite low. The security risk is probably less than even just 1 percent of that experienced in Afghanistan or Iraq. The security risk in these areas, where it does exist, is mainly with regard to petty crimes such as theft. There should be no doubt
that there is a huge need for clearance projects and funding for clearance projects on the African continent. Both humanitarian and commercial clearance projects will go a long way in making Africa a safer place. It will also mean opening up of the continent for investments, but mostly it will normalize the lives of million of women and children in the outer rural areas of Africa. To us, who work in
Africa on a daily basis, we see our work as a peace operation on its own, even if it is far away from the bright lights of the rest of the world. We want to urge decision makers all over the world to lend companies on the continent a helping hand, or a hand of friendship in trying to free the African continent of these silent killers.
Landmines are a huge problem in Africa, where there are places that have been de-mined for 10 yrs, but efforts are still unsuccessful. Geofrey Mugumya, 20 January 2007 [Director of Peace and Security of the Africa Union
Commission; The Problems of Landmines and Small Arms; Presentation to the AU-EU Security Dialogue: Towards a Common Agenda For De-mining and Disarmament; http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/AMMF-72JH22/$FILE/au-landminesjan2007.pdf?OpenElement] Unfortunately, though much progress has been made, both in Africa and internationally, the problem of landmines has not been resolved in 10 years. In some countries in Africa, the problem is only now being tackled. In Angola and in South Sudan, the long-running conflicts associated with the use of millions of landmines have only recently been successfully concluded, allowing the authorities to begin to tackle the deadly legacy of landmines. Even in countries that have been addressing this issue for 10 years now, there is still a long way to go before they can reach the status of landmine free countries. In fact, I have recently come across one country that is still plagued by landmines dating from the Second World War. And in those cases where no maps exist of mined areas, the challenges are even greater, and will require effort and time and money for many years to come. The major challenge posed by landmines in post-conflict countries is as an obstacle to development. Mined areas cannot be used for economic activity, and has negative impact on women in particular, since these are the main agricultural producers. Our mine policy needs to take greater account of the gender aspects of landmines.
29 Landmines Aff
Africa contains at least 40 million landminesone of the most heavily minded continent. Landmines kill or maim more than 12,000 people a year. ARCHI 07 (American Red Cross &Red Crescent Health Initiative, Landmines in Africa.
http://www.ifrc.org/WHAT/health/archi/fact/fmines.htm)
Africa suffers from an epidemic of landmines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and is the most heavily mined continent in the world with at least 40 million landmines. Over half of Africa is affected and 140 million people live in countries where the risk of being killed or injured by landmines can be considered high or very high. The most severely infested countries are Angola, Chad, Eritrea, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. In addition, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia have minefields dating back to World War II. In Africa, landmines kill, injure and disable over 12,000 people per year
The greatest danger facing civilians in sub-Saharan Africa is landmines Mitchell 04 [Anthony, Policy analyst for the Associated Press, Experts map out strategy to eliminate landmines from sub-Saharan Africa, September 15 2004, Highbeam]
in Ethiopia's capital Wednesday to draw up plans to eliminate landmines from sub-Saharan Africa, the most heavily mined region in the world. The three-day conference attended by diplomats, landmine experts and other officials is
Experts gathered expected to come up with common stand on landmines that kill and cripple 15,000 people every year worldwide. The experts will also assess hurdles in clearing mined areas and assisting victims in Africa, officials said. "The greatest harm to the civilian population and children is from landmines," said Wolfgang Petritsch, Austria's ambassador to the United Nations. "We must eliminate this weapon." Angola and Mozambique are Africa's most heavily mined countries, a legacy of years of civil war. The experts are meeting ahead of a major summit to review implementation of the Ottawa Convention that calls for banning and destroying all landmines by 2009. Some 143 states, including 48 African nations _ 90 percent of the continent _ have joined the convention. Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Morocco and Somalia are the only African countries that have not ratified the convention, which into force in 1999. Petritsch, who is the president of the November Summit on a Mine-Free World, called for the destruction of the estimated 200 million landmines stockpiled in the world. "The affects of these weapons are there many years after the conflict," he said.
Landmines are still being planted in places like Angola. IDRC 07 (Still Killing: Landmines in South Africa http://www.idrc.ca/fr/ev-68075-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html)
A conservative estimate is that southern Africa has some 20 million mines in its soil, of which some 400 000 have been cleared since mine clearance efforts began in 1991. Land-mines have claimed more than 250000 victims since 1961. Despite international clearance efforts in Angola, land-mines continue to be planted by both Unita and government forces. In 1996, land-mines were used in criminal acts in Angola and Mozambique. The re-laying of land-mines in central Mozambique by criminal groups linked to drugand gun-running, to stop the restoration of state control in remote areas, worried the government, particularly because some of these mines have been on access roads to the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric powerline rehabilitation project.
30 Landmines Aff
Africa is a hotspot for landmines due to a lack of formal military doctrine on part of governments and rebel groups Oppong and Kalipeni 05
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] Internal conflicts predominating throughout Africa do not usually involve the heavy use of armored formations sometimes found in international armed conflict. Instead, mines have been freely used, and are among the most popular weapons, because of their inexpensiveness and ease of use. There are at least two reasons for this. First, guerrilla armies or irregular forces operating in Africa seldom have any formal military doctrine, and, certainly, none concerning the indiscriminate use of landmines (Human Rights Watch 1994). Since their soldiers are often illiterate, poorly trained, and badly disciplined, the doctrine that prevails seems aimed at achieving (a) systematic depopulation of specific areas by harassment of [End Page 8] the local population, (b) harassment of government forces, or (c) disruption of movements of government forces on transport routes also used by civilians (Unruh, Heynen, and Hossler 2003; Vines 1991, 1996). Second, where government forces have the
advantage in vehicles, as in southern Sudan or Mozambique, rebel groups have concentrated on the use of antitank mines to prevent road travel (Human Rights Watch 1994). They have laid mines under railway lines and on airstrips. Sometimes, during fluid phases of internal warfare, rebel groups have occupied former government positions and added to or changed the surrounding minefields, creating multiple minefields. Even well-trained government armies have engaged in similar tactics, producing severe landmine contamination and depopulation of [End Page 9] large areas and, as the political ecology approach argues, the deliberate degradation of important resources.
31 Landmines Aff
Sub-Sahran Africa contains the greatest concentration of mines in the world Nachn 99 (Claudio Torres, President State Council of Environmental Protection Mexico, environmental aspects
of landmines, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Since World War II, landmines have been extensively used in Africa during armed conflict. Wars of national liberation in Southern Africa during the last quarter of the XX century left millions of landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXOs) condemning future generations to suffer the burden of such insidious high-explosive devices. Intergenerational responsibility was not taken into consideration whatsoever. Although many regions of the world are heavily mined, "[i]t is generally accepted that Africa is the most heavily mined continent. Severely affected countries include Angola, Mozambique, Somalia (and Somaliland), Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. Others include Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Zambia, Chad, Namibia, Burundi, Uganda, DR Congo, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Congo-Brazzaville, Djibouti, Malawi, Niger, South Africa and Swaziland."[15] Going into deeper detail, "...Southern Africa is probably the most heavily mined region in the world, with Mozambique and Angola listed by the United Nations as among the most mine - contaminated countries. [16] According to Noel Stott, from the South African Campaign to Ban Landmines, "an estimated 20 million mines lie buried in the soils of southern Africa, many unmapped and unmarked." [17] Landmines were widely used by most fractions to conflicts in both, Angola and Mozambique. As mentioned above, reports of continued use of landmines in Angola, a signatory to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, darkens the hopes to universally ban the weapon in the region. For Alex Vines, an specialist on humanitarian demining in the region, "Southern Africa is the most mine affected region in the world."
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Landmine Numbers Decreasing
32 Landmines Aff
Like sediment, landmines accumulate. Only by eradicating this destructive curse is key to development, health, the environment and human rights Anderson 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Kenneth Anderson director of the
Arms Project of Human Rights Watch Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 19) The world is losing ground against the spread of minesperhaps (although reliable facts are hard to come by) at an accelerating rate. In any case, the problem of mines is compounded by the fact that they accumulate. Physical deterioration and mine clearance take relatively few mines out of action, while successive years of warfareespecially in long-running civil wars, such as those in Angola and Cambodiapile layer upon layer of mines. Mines accumulate like sediment in the developing world, and eventually the accumulation becomes so greatas occurred in the early 1990sthat the rest of the world begins to notice. Dealing with that accumulation will be one of the key social, development, health, environmental, and human rights problems of the 1990s.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency US Demining Funding Down
33 Landmines Aff
United States funding of landmine removal continues to be cut Stedjan 05 (Scott Stedjan, USCBL Coordinator, US Campaign to Ban Landmines Calls on Congress to Support
Increased Funding for Demining, Friends Committee on National Legislation, 26 September 2005, http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1543&issue_id=9, 11 July 2007) We urge you to support the Senates position and fully fund the presidents request of $72 million for Humanitarian Demining when the conference committee for the foreign operations appropriations bill (H.R. 3057) convenes. On February 27, 2004, the Bush administration announced a new United States policy on landmines that significantly departed from past approaches to the landmine scourge. While the US Campaign to Ban Landmines remains extremely disappointed with most of the policy, most notably the abandonment of the decade-long objective to eventually eliminate all antipersonnel mines, the administrations policy contained at least one positive element that Congress should support a significant increase in the funding level for demining. The administration pledged to increase the funds available to support the State Departments portion of the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program by an additional 50% over FY03 baseline levels. While the Senate version of the foreign operations appropriations bill included the presidents full request of $72 million in the Nonproliferation Anti-Terrorism, Demining and Related Programs Account, the House version of the bill unfortunately cuts the presidents request by 22% to $56 million. We urge you to fund the program at the Senates level. Humanitarian demining is a critical first step for reconstruction of post-conflict countries.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency US SQ Assistance
34 Landmines Aff
US assistance provides over two dozen landmine affected nations in Africa with humanitarian assistance. Department of State 03 (US Humanitarian Demining Programs in Africa.
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs Washington, DC. July 2, 2003. http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/22173.htm Fact) The U.S. Governments Humanitarian Demining Program (HDP) seeks to relieve human suffering while promoting U.S. interests. The Programs objectives are to reduce civilian casualties; create conditions for the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes; reinforce an affected countrys stability; and encourage international cooperation and participation. The Program seeks to accomplish these objectives by supporting a wide range of mine action initiatives including mine risk education (MRE); training and equipping indigenous personnel; landmine survey; and mine/unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance operations in mine-affected nations. Since FY 1993, the United States has committed over $700 million to global mine action initiatives, including research and development. Among the nations of Africa, over two dozen are considered landmine/UXO-affected. The United States has provided, or is currently providing, humanitarian mine action assistance to 19 of these countries: Angola, Chad, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Northwest Somalia, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Since FY 1993, total U.S. spending on humanitarian mine action assistance in Africa has been approximately $141,124,000
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Demining Assistance Decreasing
35 Landmines Aff
Demining efforts have decreased even as countries continue to be plagued by landmines. Vanuatu News 04 (The Ottowa Convention Treaty, Anwar Iqbal, UPI South Asian Affairs Analyst, The
ICBL report for 2004, however, says that although "an unusually large number" of countries are still plagued by land mines, particularly in Africa, donor contributions to de-mining programs have declined.) The ICBL report for 2004, however, says that although "an unusually large number" of countries are still plagued by land mines, particularly in Africa, donor contributions to de-mining programs have declined. "Neither governments nor donors are doing enough for the victims," the ICBL complained. "Mine action funding fell most severely in 2003 for Vietnam and Cambodia, but decreased in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea, Somaliland, Laos and Ethiopia," the report said. Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Iraq and Mozambique were the top recipients of mine clearance funding between 1992 and 2003 but this was not enough to meet their requirements, the report said.
Assistance for mine victims has declined since 1999 as landmines kill and maim thousands of civilians in sub-Saharan Africa. Vanuatu News 04 (The Ottowa Convention Treaty, Anwar Iqbal, UPI South Asian Affairs Analyst, The
ICBL report for 2004, however, says that although "an unusually large number" of countries are still plagued by land mines, particularly in Africa, donor contributions to de-mining programs have declined.) However, since 1999, "resources for mine victims' assistance have declined although the number of victims continues to grow every year," the report said. The four-day review conference in Nairobi is expected to urge donors to increase their contributions, especially for the victims in sub-Saharan Africa where thousands of uncharted land mines continue to kill and maim innocent civilians. A report, to be submitted to the Nairobi conference, portrays a dismal picture. According to this report: -- Land-mine explosions claimed more than 8,000 victims last year. About 2,000 of these were children. -- Some 32 countries, which include the poorest of the poor, are battling with this problem. In Africa, these include Angola, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda. -- Nearly 150 countries officially support the accord, but three out of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the body that should maintain world peace, have still not given their support. -- These three countries -- China, Russia and the United States -- jointly have a stockpile of 170 million anti-personnel mines or land mines specifically aimed at maiming or killed people on foot.
The international community has decreased funding for mine action Global Issues.Org, September 18, 2006 (Landmines,
http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Landmines.asp) There was a decrease in international funding of mine action: The 2005 total of $376 million was down $23 million, almost six percent, from 2004 This is the first significant decrease since 1992 The global decrease largely reflects big reductions from the two most significant donors: the European Commission (down $14.9 million) and the United States (down $14.6 million). There was a decrease of funding to many mine-affected countries, affecting their programs: Afghanistan, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Mauritania, and Tajikistan Funding of mine victim assistance is still deemed as largely inadequate.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Landmine Health Care
36 Landmines Aff
Only 10% of landmine victims have access to health care sub-Saharan Africa is the worst Sderlindh 06 [Lisa, Policy analyst for the Inter Press Service, Conflict: Getting rid of landmines in years
instead of decades, April 10th 2006, Highbeam] More than 80 countries contain buried landmines and other explosive remnants of war, which together kill or maim between 15,000 and 20,000 people annually, according to the Landmine Monitor Report (LMR) 2005. At least 20 percent of the victims are children, and 80 percent are civilians.
Launched by the U.N. to raise public awareness about landmines and efforts for their eradication, the first International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on April 4 brought reason for hope. Thanks to international efforts, the number of mineaffected countries has fallen in recent years, as well as the number of those killed or injured, which hit 26,000 in 1999.
The problem of landmines and other remnants of war or unexploded ordnance can be solved in years rather than decades, says Paula Claycombe, senior program officer at the United Nations children's agency UNICEF. But for thousands of landmine survivors, "Progress is not evident, they don't feel that their daily lives have been significantly altered yet," Cameron Macauley, who has 25 years of experience helping landmine victims, told IPS.
Working with the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN), an international organization created by and for survivors to help victims reclaim their lives, Macauley stressed that the international community must further recognize the needs of survivors in many postconflict and developing countries. Only about 10 percent of landmine victims have access to basic health care
and rehabilitation. And for those who need sophisticated post-trauma care, the numbers are even lower, according to LSN. In Ethiopia, for example, there are only two orthopedic surgeons for 71 million people. "In subSaharan Africa, where the problem is at its worst today, many people do not even have information about necessary health care," said Macauley. "Landmines [also] bring about a nutritional risk, as food security is endangered. If
farmers believe that there is a single landmine in an area, that land will be abandoned, crops left un-harvested and food sources will be resultantly scarce," he told IPS.
The majority of people affected by landmines dont receive any health assistance Oppong and Kalipeni 05
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] Landmine contamination is approaching a worldwide crisis. Approximately 120 million landmines are buried in seventy-one countries throughout the world, and two to five million new landmines are planted each year (Office of International Security and Peacekeeping Operations 1994). In 2002 through June 2003, Landmine
Monitor found new landmine casualties reported in 65 countries which included every region of the world. While noting the difficulties of obtaining comprehensive data on landmine casualties, particularly taking into consideration countries experiencing ongoing conflict, or inaccessible minefields in remote areas, or countries with limited resources to monitor public health, Landmine Monitor estimates that there are between 15,000 to 20,000 people that are killed or injured by landmines every year (Landmine Monitor 2003). As a matter of fact, in 2002, over 11,700 new landmine/UXO casualties were reported. Landmine Monitor notes that although this figure falls short of the 15,00020,000 estimate, [End Page 3] it does not take into account the many
casualties that are believed to go unreported, as innocent civilians are killed or injured in remote areas away from any form of assistance (Landmine Monitor 2003). The exact figure for landmine casualties is unknown, but may well be far greater, since many victims of landmine accidents never reach a health center, and their cases are therefore not included in the tabulations. The International Council of the Red Cross
(ICRC) estimates that landmines maim 1,200 people each month, and kill 800 (Coupland 1998; New Internationalist 1991).
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Landmine Health Care
37 Landmines Aff
There is a great need for health assistance in landmines Maxwell 06 (John Maxwell, Scholar-Diplomat Program, The UN Today: Millennium Goals and Reform
Agendas, The West Virginia, 22 March 2006, http://www.wvu.edu/~facdis/newsletters/April06newsletter.pdf, 10 July 2007) There is a great need not only to train local personnel in landmine removal but also to treat landmine victims. Most deaths from landmines occur prior to arriving at a hospital. Several medical personnel from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center were contracted by EUCOM to conduct "First Aid" classes for the local population. They taught them how to treat and care for victims up to several days while being transported to a hospital with injuries as serious as severed limbs. Along with the medical training WVU-Parkersburg was contracted to provide computer/network instruction for the Chad Landmine Headquarters staff. WVU-P Assistant Professor of Computer and Information Technology Doug Weaver conducted over 60 hours of instruction. He covered everything from "Care and Maintenance of Computer Systems in Desert Conditions" to French Microsoft Office 2003 and its application to IMSMA (Information Management System for Mine Action). This is the database software they use to track landmine fields and landmine victims in conjunction with GPS and satellite imagery.
38 Landmines Aff
****Health & Human Rts****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW
39 Landmines Aff
A framework of Human rights is key to actual humanitarian assistance Horwood 03(Ideological and analytical foundations of mine action: human rights and community impact Chris
Horwood assoc. UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 5, pp 939954, 2003) Although the language of the early 1990s did not capture the essence of this reaction in terms of a rights-based paradigm, the reaction to mines was in fact born out of a general outrage that innocent civilians were experiencing a denial and abuse of their rights to security and dignity (safety in their communities and freedom from continual fear of explosive remnants of war (ERW)).4 It was this reaction that laid the foundations for what is now known as the humanitarian mine action sector. However, unless the fundamental justification for mine action intervention is explicitly expressed within a rightbased framework, there is a risk that mine action will experience ideological drift and confusion as it seeks to attract continued donor support and to justify its different interventions in an increasing number of countries world-wide. Throughout the latter part of the 1990s focus on developing and defining the paradigm of human rights and the role of such rights in development and international law intensified. United Nations agencies and member-states, nongovernmental organisations and legal institutions and centres of policy development are increasingly using a rights-based approach as a dynamic closely allied to international humanitarian law in their foundation principles for analysis, justification, engagement and intervention.5 A rightsbased approach to development assistance is a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights. It comprises the integration of the norms, standards and principles of international human rights into plans, policies and processes of development. The norms and standards are those contained in such international treaties and declarations as the International Bill of Human Rights (which comprises the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). These documents contain a broad range of guarantees addressing virtually all aspects of human life and human development. A fuller exploration of the principles of human rights and their implications for interventions in development cannot be undertaken in this article, but such principles clearly involve inherent obligations concerning the principles of universality and indivisibility, equality and equity, and accountability, as well as participation, empowerment and obligation. The humanitarian imperative of intervention (the purely needs-based approach) is being superseded by the rights-based approach (RBA), which at times demands or endorses military intervention (eg Kosovo, Bosnia, Rwanda) or rejects humanitarian assistance that is based on a more politicised implementation of assistance. The ascendancy of human rights has led to conditionality of aid, increased analysis and evaluation of the impact of aid, and a move away from neutrality as a central principle of humanitarian intervention. The needs-based approach is being eclipsed by most recent developments of the RBA and the latters controversial critique of traditional non-political, supposedly neutral, humanitarianism.6
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW
40 Landmines Aff
The plans commitment to socioeconomic humanitarian assistance is a rights approach, the only system that impacts can morally be evaluated in, focusing on political gains ignores the social consequences of action Horwood 03(Ideological and analytical foundations of mine action: human rights and community impact Chris
Horwood assoc. UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 5, pp 939954, 2003) There is a trap the sector may fall into through its current, narrowly defined, socioeconomic emphasis: if mine action wants to sell itself as offering important socioeconomic benefits, then it should fully expect donors and development institutions to evaluate the success of mine action against the opportunity cost of investments in mine action and the alternatives availablesuch as povertyalleviation programmes or economic-recovery programmes, as well as humanitarian intervention. Donors will increasingly demand that the sector prove, through more reliable measurement, the level of impact currently claimed in somewhat empirically vague and imprecise terms. Inherent in the current interest in socioeconomic analysiswhich has by no means gained universal credence at the operational levelis a focus on the economic benefits of mine action. In 1990 the World Bank conducted studies that illustrated how the impact of social development on subsequent economic growth was much greater than the impact of economic growth on subsequent social improvement. In development policy and analysis, social capital is recognised as an important part of the socioeconomic dynamic. Importance is not only placed on the economic capital, as the value of social capital increasing concurrently with economic capital is emphasised. This is still under-represented in terms of analysis and measurement in the mine action sector. Given that, in some contexts, clearance of mined or suspected mined areas could have a far greater social-capital impact (benefiting perhaps a whole community) than the more obvious criteria for selection (economic/agriculturalbenefiting perhaps one or two families), planners should perhaps see this aspect of the implementation of a more rights-based analysis as potentially of use in their planning.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW AT: No Universal
41 Landmines Aff
Integrating public health and human rights broadens persprctives on human rights while not giving into inequality propped up by appeals to culture
Farmer 03 (Paul, Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, p. 217 - 19, Questia) But what, more specifically, does a focus on health bring to the struggle for human rights? This book has argued that a narrow legal approach to health and human rights can obscure the nature of violations, thereby enfeebling our best responses to them. Casting prison-based tuberculosis epidemics in terms of social and economic rights offers an entre for public health and medicine, an important step in the process that could halt these epidemics. Conversely, failure to consider social and economic rights can prevent the allied health professions and the social sciences from making their fullest contribution to the struggle for human rights. One of the central points of this book is that public health and access to medical care are social and economic rights; they are at least as critical as civil rights. An irony of this global era is that while public health has increasingly sacrificed equity for efficiency, the poor have become well-informed enough to reject separate standards of care. In our professional journals, these subaltern voices have been well-nigh blotted out. But we heard snatches of their rebuke recently with regard to access to antiretroviral
therapy for HIV disease. For over a decade, those living with both poverty and HIV (they are tens of millions strong, even if they have no acronym) have been demanding access to effective therapy. In the past several years, these demands have become increasingly specific, as a group of rural Haitians living with HIV made clear in a declaration made public in August 2001. The patients traced the links between the right to treatment and other social and economic rights: It is we who are sick; it is therefore we who take the responsibility to declare our suffering, our misery, and our pain, as well as our hope. We hear many poignant statements about our circumstances, but feel compelled to say something clearer and more resounding than what we've heard from others. [We] are fortunate to have access to medications and health care even though we do not have money to buy them. Many of our health problems have been resolved with [antiretroviral] medications. Given how dire our situation was prior to treatment, we have benefited greatly. But while we feel fortunate to have access to these services, we feel great sadness for others who don't receive the same treatment we do. And in addition to our health problems, we have other tribulations. Although less preoccupied with our illness, we still have problems paying for housing. We have trouble finding employment. We remain concerned about sending our children to school. Each day we face the distressing reality that we cannot find the means to support them. Not being able to feed our children is the greatest challenge faced by mothers and fathers across the country of Haiti. We have learned that such calamities also occur in other countries. As we reflect on all these tragedies we must ask: is every human being not a person? Yes, all human beings are people. It is we, the afflicted, who speak now. We have come together to discuss the great difficulties facing the sick. We've also brought some ideas of our own in our knapsacks; we would like to share them with you, the authorities, in the hope that you might do something to help resolve the health problems of the poor. When we the sick, living with AIDS, speak to the subject of health and human rights, we are aware of two rights that ought to be indivisible and inalienable. Those who are sick should have the right to health care. We who are already infected believe in prevention too. But prevention will not save those who are already ill. All people need treatment when we are sick, but for the poor there are no clinics, no doctors, no nurses, no health care. Furthermore, the medications now available are too expensive. For HIV treatment, for example, we read in the newspapers that treatment costs less than $600 per year [in developing countries]. Although that is what is quoted in press releases, here in a poor, small country like Haiti, it costs more than twice that much. The right to health is the right to life. Everyone has a right to live. If we were not living in misery, but rather in decent poverty, many of us would not be in this predicament today. We have a message for the people who are here and for all those able to hear our plea. We are asking for your solidarity. The battle we're fighting to find adequate care for those with AIDS, tuberculosis, and other illnessesis the same as the combat that's long been waged by other oppressed people so that everyone can live as human beings. 14
Whether or not we continue to ignore them, the destitute sick are increasingly clear on one point: making social and economic rights a reality is the key goal for health and human rights in the twentyfirst century. Although trained in anthropology, I, like most anthropologists, do not embrace the rigidly particularist and relativist tendencies popularly associated with the discipline. 15 That is, I believe that violations of human dignity are not to be accepted merely because they are buttressed by local ideology or longstanding tradition. But anthropologyin common with sociological and historical perspectives in generalallows us to place in broader contexts both human rights abuses and the discourses (and other responses) they generate. Furthermore, these disciplines permit us to ground our understanding of human rights violations in broader analyses of power and social inequality. Whereas a purely legal view of human rights tends to obscure the dynamics of human rights violations, the contextualizing disciplines reveal them to be pathologies of power. Social inequalities based on race or ethnicity, gender, religious creed, andabove allsocial class are the motor force behind most human rights violations. In other words, violence against individuals is usually embedded in entrenched structural violence.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW - Landmines
42 Landmines Aff
Landmines cause economic poverty and the complete destruction of Human Rights Horwood 03(Ideological and analytical foundations of mine action: human rights and community impact Chris
Horwood assoc. UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 5, pp 939954, 2003) Each year thousands of innocent men, women and children are killed and maimed by anti-personnel landmines and UXO. Thus, in addition to successfully fulfilling their design objectives, the ability of mines and UXO to block normal social economic, cultural and political activitiespredominantly at the micro, community level, but also at the macro national scaleis considerable. They achieve this for years and decades after the end of conflict. By denying access to land for transport and food production, communal resources and facilities, the presence of mines and UXO also hinders political participation and thereby has an impact on the legitimacy of governments and democracy while diverting development planning or rehabilitation intervention to non-contaminated areas.8 Mines have a complex impact on poverty that is more than just economic: valuable social capital is adversely affected by the presence or suspected presence of mines and UXO. Both block people from normal essential activities. Peoples rights are violated by mines specifically through denial of the rights to: life, physical integrity and socioeconomic development in the widest sense, including denial of the right to: adequate food, the means of producing that food and access to potable water; standards of living adequate for mental and physical health and well-being without the presence of fear; access to education and favourable and safe working conditions; adequate housing and return to homes and communities (in the case of internally displaced persons and refugees); freedom of movement and freedom of association; participation in the government of the country; equal access to public service and participation in cultural and religious life.
The Plan is key to alleviating the abuses of HRs Horwood 03(Ideological and analytical foundations of mine action: human rights and community impact Chris
Horwood assoc. UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 5, pp 939954, 2003) To a certain degree the mine action sector has been reluctant to identify itself closely with other humanitarian and development interventions, and reluctant to accept that mine action must also face the same sociopolitical complexities that face development agencies when planning and executing their policies. There is an erroneous perception that mine action is more technical than a range of other forms of development assistance. Although particular functions of mine action such as clearance and surveyare explicitly technical, the sector should to some extent be demystified and mainstreamed in strategic development planning processes and should not continue its current parallel existence.11 Mine action needs to be understood not only as a classically humanitarian or a typically developmental form of assistance but also as a key effort needed for recovery, reconstruction, poverty alleviation and the realisation of basic human rights for millions of people.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW - Landmines
43 Landmines Aff
The plan solves the ideological misnomers of the status quo, only by taking a rights based approach to humanitarian demining will ever fix the problem itself Horwood 03(Ideological and analytical foundations of mine action: human rights and community impact Chris
Horwood assoc. UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 5, pp 939954, 2003) With regard to the relevance of an RBA to the impact of mines and UXO, there is a striking absence of any reference to rights in the policies and strategies, reference documentation and analysis of the mines sector.13 The issue of the responsibilities and obligations of the international community and the specific rights of individuals affected by mines have to a large extent been neglected in mine action. Mine action practitioners tend not to consider mine-affected people as rights-holders: at best, the latter participate marginally and late in the mine action process by pointing out where mines may be located at the community level. Within the mine action community, understanding of the connection between rights and mines is limited and at present not deemed relevant, and discussion of an RBA appears abstract and unhelpful to the practicalities of removing mines and UXO on the ground. This article, however, argues that the philosophical and analytical foundations of mine action will define the scope, depth and level of its sustained impact. Additionally, far from being a question of semantics, use of an RBA is the paradigm needed in order for mine action to survive as a sector and correctly engage with longer-term intervention, whether this be humanitarian or development-based. This requires a conceptual change within both the mine action sector and the overall development sector in their understanding of mine action. Not least, the ideological positioning of mine action within the culture of rights-based approaches will bring it closer to development agencies and donors in terms of policy and intervention.14
Only a Human Rights approach to Humanitarianism yields benefits, relying cost-benefit analysis ruins progress and ignore the systemic harms of mines Horwood 03(Ideological and analytical foundations of mine action: human rights and community impact Chris
Horwood assoc. UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 5, pp 939954, 2003) While seeking socioeconomic credentials for intervention, mine action should be careful not to trap itself and betray the initial humanitarian impetus of mine action of the 1990s or distance itself from the rights-based obligations suggested earlier in this article. In particular, as a favoured tool of the current mine action interest in socioeconomic analysis, the use of costbenefit analysis can prove to be a double-edged sword. A costbenefit analysis of mine action will favour mine action in countries with already existing infrastructure, since costbenefit analysis cannot calculate the impact of mines blocking access to structures that do not exist. (For instance, there may be mines in a Somali village that do not block access to a school because there is no school to block; however, the very existence of the mines may hinder the potential construction of a school in the future.) In Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo, by contrast, community facilities and developed infrastructure offer attractive and immediately obvious socioeconomic benefits to donors and operators keen to seek out relevant contaminated areas. Emphasising costbenefit analysis also presupposes that a return on investments is the overall aim of the assistance. This is not necessarily the aim of strategies focusing on poverty alleviation and other humanitarian interventions. Costbenefit analyses, particularly if fairly simply conducted, will tend to favour clearance of national or regional infrastructure, such as roads, pylons and bridges. However, in terms of poverty alleviation, the clearance of these structures may have little impact on poor and marginalised groups that are affected by mines. For them, clearance in other areas may be crucial to improving their livelihood: an immediate illustration of how a rights-based approach could yield richer information and wider options from which to prioritise
44 Landmines Aff
****Advantages****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Suffering
45 Landmines Aff
Landmines cause extreme sufferingamputations, psychological problems, and economical costs. International Secretariot, October 1995 (Landmines and Mine Clearance Technologies,
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/27a/013.html) 19. Those who survive usually require surgery which often involves amputating a leg, both legs or an arm. In Angola it is estimated that there are 70,000 landmine amputees (nearly 1 per cent of the population) and a further ten million unexploded landmines, one for every inhabitant. In Cambodia, mine injuries have left over 30,000 amputees in a country with a population of eight million. 20. The presence of thousands of amputees within a country places a heavy and continuing medical burden on the community. Many war-ravaged states cannot fund a comprehensive healthcare system and often cannot even provide victims with a prosthesis which typically costs about $125. As a result amputees often remain limbless and difficult to rehabilitate. With the economic problems that result from war, the amputees become a burden on their families and a drain on a feeble economy. The psychological problems that can result from the loss of a limb and the hardship of new circumstances are often untreated.
Landmines cause unacceptable amounts of human suffering Apollo Rwomire, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Botswana, 2001 (Social Problems in
Africa: New Visions, pg 21-22, Questia) One immediate example of the consequence of war in Africa is the destructive capacity of landmines, often indiscriminately used over large areas of land. Their capacity to maim and kill arbitrarily long after wars have ended leads to unacceptable levels of human sufferingthe medical care, physical and social rehabilitation of these people (injured civilians) is a challenge and a burden to their respective societies (SAPEM, 1996: 3). The severe damage caused by landmines is reflected in the ratio of amputees to the total population in countries such as Angola (1:470), Mozambique (1:1,682), Northern Somalia (1:650) and Uganda (1:1,100).
Landmines cause expensive injuries worsening societal progress Anderson 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Kenneth Anderson director of the
Arms Project of Human Rights Watch Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 20-21) The health and social services of developing countries suffer devastating effects of mines. Where medical care is available, the amputations typically required for mine wounds generally necessitate not just one but several operations. Large transfusions are usually needed, as well as antibiotics. And once the amputation is complete, the rehabilitation and fitting of prosthetics are expensive. Nor can very many developing world societies absorb a large number of amputees into economies that depend on physical labor. The ripple effects and indirect costs of mine wounds in economically marginal societies go on and on.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Suffering
46 Landmines Aff
Social ostracism causes landmine victims to be socially excluded psychologically conditioning them to feel worthless. This form of dehumanization ends in exclusion and worse as families cant come to terms with victims loss of humanity. Geiger and Giannou 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis H. Jack Geiger,
M.D., is president of Physicians for Human Rights and professor of community medicine at the City University of New York Medical School. Chris Giannou, M.D., is a former consultant surgeon to the International Committee of the Red Cross Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 135) The staggering costs for direct medical care and rehabilitation are, in turn, dwarfed by other, lesstangible but equally important social costs. The widespread use of land mines in impoverished agrarian societies, in which family and community survival are dependent on subsistence farming, creates multiple crises: psychological damage, social ostracism, and economic hardship of amputees; loss of productivity of family care takers; removal of hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land from safe use for decades; and disruption of transportation and agricultural markets. In the technologically developed countries of the West, amputee victims of land mines would be described as "physically challenged" or "disabled." Less-charitable persons would use the word handicapped. In the bleak poverty of war-ravaged societies of the Third World, no euphemism is possible. These people are seen (and see themselves) as cripples; they have been mutilated. They cannot help their families eke out an existence, or provide food or the fuel for its cooking; the children cannot even play. In many societies, these wounds are also a cause of social ostracism. A family's attempts to come to terms with the social and emotional trauma of a land mine victim can have catastrophic consequences. A patient who has already had a foot or part of a leg blown away by a land mine needs surgery. Before that can happen, however, in places like Afghanistan or Somalia, the family must confer among themselves, delaying the operation. Even if the family members accept the operation, they may point out the level at which they wish the surgeon to cut, in the belief that the operation should "save" as much of the leg as possible. All too often, their preferred level is not high enough to remove all of the damage tissues, and amputation there would cause infection or gangrene, or would make the fitting of an adequate prosthesis impossible.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Children
47 Landmines Aff
Landmines dont just kill on explosion. They leave children maimed and unable to support themselves Pearn 97 (John, Professor Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, British Medical Journal, Recent advances
in paediatrics: IIchildhood and adolescence, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7087/1099#Landmines) Antipersonnel landmines are an inhuman,37 38 escalating, and uncountered threat to children in some 26 countries, and more mines continue to be laid than cleared.39 The 2000-3000 victims killed or maimed each month40 include many children. Mines made of plastic float on the runoff of annual floodwaters and so kill or injure civilian farmers and children far from the site of primary implantation or dispersal. The medical consequences of landmines include avulsion of one or both feet and shrapnel wounds to the pelvis, abdomen, and face. Blinding in one or both eyes is common and some degree of conductive deafness is inevitable.37 When children are playing together or collecting firewood or farming, whole sibships can be engulfed in the blast.41 Refugee children are killed when they return home to their villages,37 38 41 42 when collecting scrap metal for subsistence survival, or when simply using found objects to make toys.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health Services

Land mines prevent effective health services Humanitarian Demining 95 (Direct And Indirect Consequences Of Landmines
48 Landmines Aff
On Public Health, http://www.humanitariandemining.org/archive/lmeffects.asp#phil1) In areas where roads, agricultural land and access to public health clinics and public meeting places are mined, a public health campaign such as mass immunization is difficult to carry out. Mass immunization requires mobile vaccination teams. In such a setting, where mobile teams are not familiar with their surroundings, their lives can be put in danger, and therefore villages or towns near minefields are often left out of public health campaigns. A similar difficulty is faced by public health workers and humanitarian agencies when there is an epidemic outbreak close to a mined area. In general, the presence of landmines in and around a village or community interferes with access and delivery of health care, including disease surveillance. Landmines, by preventing health service activities and discouraging humanitarian assistance, can greatly increase the risk of the affected population contracting infectious diseases. Low or no vaccination coverage in a village will give rise to the six preventable childhood diseases, resulting in increased rates of child morbidity and mortality. Such high mortality and disability rates among children, as an indirect result of the presence of landmines, may, as mentioned, be much greater than those directly attributable to mine explosions. In Afghanistan, most of the poliomyelitis cases of disability originate from provinces where landmine concentration is high (9). This hypothesized relationship between polio-related disability and landmines needs further investigation.
The effects of landmines on healthcare systems is incalculable they tie up resources, require more attention, and facilitate the spread of disease Oppong and Kalipeni 05
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] Besides the visible impact in shattered lives, starving people, and damaged markets, the effect on health systems is incalculable, as landmines [End Page 4]compound the problems by tying up the resources of the healthcare system. Landmine-injury victims require nearly three times as many units of blood, four times as many surgical procedures, and longer hospital stays than patients with other war-related injuries (Coupland 1996a & 1996b; Eshaya-Chauvin and Coupland 1992). The increased frequency of blood transfusions facilitates the spread of syphilis, hepatitis, malaria, and HIV
Land mines overwhelm emergency services Mark S. Rountree (MD, Extremity Trauma Study Branch ;Countering the Global Landmine Epidemic Through Basic Science Research, Journal on Mine Action 4.2, June 2000
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/4.2/Focus/GLE/global.htm) Landmine injuries have reached epidemic proportions in the Third World, affecting both combatants and civilians. From 1980-1993, the incidence of landmine related injuries doubled, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths or injuries per month (Rutherford 1997). Designed to maim rather than kill, landmine injuries can quickly overburden local medical services, creating shortages of medical supplies and lengthening the wait for treatment. Landmine survivors often require more surgical procedures than other war injuries, longer recovery times and their injuries rapidly deplete the limited blood supplies. Even with international assistance, many countries emergency services are quickly overwhelmed, further escalating the morbidity and mortality rates for these and other injuries (Stewart 1999).
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Structural Impacts
49 Landmines Aff
Landmines prevent humanitarian assistance and perpetuate poverty and instability Bloomfield 04 (Lincoln P. Jr, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Jan,
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/0104/ijpe/bloomfield.htm) Persistent landmines, the residue of past wars, insurgencies, and internal reigns of terror, kill or maim thousands of people each year in dozens of countries around the world. Untold numbers of persistent (or dumb) landmines, estimated in the millions, infest areas in every hemisphere. Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) disrupt humanitarian aid delivery, agriculture, trade, education, and social development. These explosive remnants of war drain scarce public health resources and impede post-conflict reconstruction and economic recovery in impoverished areas most in need of relief. Landmine contamination is a humanitarian disaster that perpetuates poverty, desperation, and regional instability.
Mines are bad, they destroy communities in terms of the economy, rights and health Horwood 03(Ideological and analytical foundations of mine action: human rights and community impact Chris
Horwood assoc. UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan Third World Quarterly, Vol 24, No 5, pp 939954, 2003) In addition to arguments related to political and national peace building or reconstruction, social and economic arguments are being increasingly used for actual clearance and EOD,1 while the more purely humanitarian and emergency-assistance argument continues to be used for mine-risk education (MRE) and mine-victim support. In many respects, this development within the mine action sector illustrates a positive maturation of the sector and a deeper understanding of the detrimental role of mines within community and national economics. One of the keynote speeches of the seminal 1995 International Landmines Conference in Phnom Penh emphasised that not only were mines an abomination in terms of loss of life and limb, but their impact on agriculture, water, access, health and trade affected development and blocked socioeconomic recovery.2 This is now generally understood, but for many participants the 1995 conference would have been the first time that they had considered the issue of mines within this wider context. It was the devastating human impact of minesin peacetime, on civilian populationsthat initially captured the attention of the international humanitarian community and the world media. The consensus was that basic and essential rights of thousands of communities were being directly infringed by the presence of landmines and that people had a right to be free of this scourge. Words like epidemic, catastrophe and scourge were used to describe the impact of mines, and all efforts to mitigate the impact of mines was, and continues to be, classified as humanitarian intervention without any real analysis of the deeper nature of the threat posed by mines and the mechanisms needed to address it.3
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Landmines instability
50 Landmines Aff
The threat of landmines lead to thousands of victims, population displacement and prevent sustainability in certain regions in Africa. Roberts 04 (Hayden, JMU, Frazure-Kreuzel-Drew Fellow, The Quick Reaction Demining Force: The United
States' Response to Humanitarian Demining Crises http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/8.1/focus/roberts/roberts.htm) On January 19, 2002, the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) accepted a formal cease-fire agreement following the mediation of the United States and Switzerland for a war that had lasted 17 years in the Nuba Mountains. This war had resulted in massive population displacement within the region, and landmines had consistently been cited as a major threat to the civil population and a barrier to freedom of movement and generation of income. The government of Sudan believed that between 1989 and February 2002, 1,160 persons became mine victims in the Nuba Mountain region. Following the cease-fire, the displaced population from both within and outside the region had begun spontaneous relocation and movement despite advice from authorities to wait until their security and safety could be assured. The actual presence of landmines in some areas, their suspected presence in others and the inability to differentiate between the two situations all posed real threats to the Nuba Mountains community. The landmines also threatened the implementation of the cease-fire and the sustainability of peace in the Nuba Mountains.
Mines sustain violent cultures and promote instability Litzelman 02 (Michael, Benefit/Cost Analysis of US Demining In Ethiopia and Eritrea, Journal of Mine Action
6.2, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.2/focus/michaellitzelman/michaellistzelman.htm) There is an important U.S. interest to control landmines, especially those that are imbedded in the land of countries that are of national and vital interest to the United States and its allies. Reducing or eliminating these weapons may help to stabilize an important area and region inimical to U.S. interests. The existence of landmines has led to economic and political calamity and creates a greater chance of them being used by a faction or group against innocent civilians or even U.S. personnel. AP landmines may sustain a culture of conflict and violence. Therefore, it may be in the United States interest to ultimately assist in eliminating these undiscriminating weapons, which could be of direct benefit to the United States and host nations (HNs).
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Conflict Resolution
51 Landmines Aff
Demining efforts impact the local economies promoting hospital development, stability and the prevention of barriers inherent to civil wars Pritchard 99(An Integrated Approach to Providing Humanitarian Aid: The Humanitarian Demining
Development Response Program in Saurimo, Angola Amanda Pritchard Acting Director of Strategy and Service Development Mine Action Information Journal Volume 3, No.1 Spring 1999 http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/3.1/profiles/hmd_pritchard/hmd_pritchard.htm) The gradual reestablishment of the local economy has both immediate and long-term health benefits. In the short-term, both the ability to have a greater selection and quality of food, combined with the opportunity to purchase a wider variety of medicines have a significant impact on the health of the population. The longer-term benefits are also substantial. The viability of the local hospital depends on the ability of the local community to afford its services. The hospital relies on income from the government, collected through taxes, just as it relies on the ability of its patients to buy the medicines they have been prescribed. In Saurimo, the prognosis for the continued improvement of the hospital is good because there is sufficient capacity within the local community to ensure its continued viability. One of the biggest obstacles to national renewal in Angola is the permanent political and military instability in the country. Although this situation is national in character and its leading protagonists display little interest in creating a permanent peace, on a local level there is much that can be done to improve the situation. By focusing on health, HMD Response's program benefits the whole population, and through the training and employment opportunities it is creating, HMD Response aims to give people from all sides of the conflict the chance to participate meaningfully in the community. Similarly, the demining work undertaken by HMD Response is contributing to the process of reopening access routes throughout the area, which again helps to breakdown the barriers created by many years of civil war.
Demining is key to conflict resolution, Sri Lanka proves Harpviken and Skra 03(Humanitarian mine action and peace building: exploring the relationship Kristian
Berg Harpviken and Bernt A Skra, associates at International Peace Research Institute Third World Quarterly, Vol. 24 No 5, pg 809822, 2003) Mine action may also serve as a foundation for conflict resolution. The problem of landmines, if and when acknowledged by all parties to the conflict, may serve as a fruitful starting point for the development of joint solutions. At times, mine action managers may engage in pure conflict-resolution missions in order be able to start de-mining or other types of projects. At other times, it may be representatives of the parties to the conflict or external facilitators who identify the landmine problem as a promising focus for negotiations. A recent example comes from Sri Lanka, where the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed to de-mine the key Highway A9 that links the Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the country. The two sides de-mined different sections of the road, meeting at an agreed middle point. The opening of the road was a concrete signal of newly gained confidence, and it was widely referred to in various Sri Lankan media as a breakthrough in the peace process.28 Based on a mutual agreement between the parties, it may prove to be an instrumental step in a longer conflict-resolution sequence. A different example comes from Cambodia, where land disputes led to the setting up of so-called Land Use Planning Units (LUPUs) in some provinces.29 These units deal with the clarification of land rights and take part in the prioritisation of land for de-mining. The LUPUs work closely with the national mine action authority, but are part of the regular civilian administrative structure and, once in place, their activities extend far beyond clarifying the ownership of de-mined land
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Peace
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Demining programs are the key method to promote peace building abroad Harpviken and Skra 03(Humanitarian mine action and peace building: exploring the relationship Kristian
Berg Harpviken and Bernt A Skra, associates at International Peace Research Institute Third World Quarterly, Vol. 24 No 5, pg 809822, 2003) Humanitarian mine action, like any other sector operating in conflict settings, needs to focus more strongly on building the capacity to analyse its impact on conflict and peace, and to ensure that the resultant analysis is used to improve existing practices. A minimalist approach is to aim at preventing negative effects of interventions. In the cases above, however, where a peace-building impact has effectively been sought, as in Sri Lanka and Sudan, the peace-building potential of mine action has proved to be great. In other cases, there may have been similar opportunities, but these have not always been capitalised upon. While strong arguments remain for not subordinating all mine action to a centrally coordinated peace-building operation, organisations and personnel will have to increase the attention they pay to the impact of their activities on peace. They will need to become equipped not only to assess the impact of interventions on conflict, but also to respond to any opportunities for enhancing peace that arise.
Demining is an important factor in peace building, its inevitable focus on the political aspects of landmines make it an effective agent of change Harpviken and Skra 03(Humanitarian mine action and peace building: exploring the relationship Kristian
Berg Harpviken and Bernt A Skra, associates at International Peace Research Institute Third World Quarterly, Vol. 24 No 5, pg 809822, 2003) At the most general level, returning to how we perceive peace building, one tendency is to see the core political activities, such as confidence building, conflict resolution and reconciliation, as having mainly to do with communicating and re-establishing a sense of dialogue. We have here argued that there is merit in focusing on solving concrete problems. In coming together to develop solutions to the landmine problem, parties emerging from a conflict have a concrete focus for their dialogue, one where there are real differences of opinion, where they will inevitably have to work their way towards trusting in peace, and where progress in mutual understanding can be demonstrated through solid results. The same goes for a variety of concrete issues to be settled during or in the aftermath of armed conflict. Dealing with landmines offers great potential, while being but one example of this process.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Peace
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Demining is instrumental to reconciliation, diffusing feuding sides of an issue. This political core promotes peace Harpviken and Skra 03(Humanitarian mine action and peace building: exploring the relationship Kristian
Berg Harpviken and Bernt A Skra, associates at International Peace Research Institute Third World Quarterly, Vol. 24 No 5, pg 809822, 2003) Mine action may also be instrumental to reconciliation, a key component of the effort to tear down old divisions and make it possible for parties who may have been involved in serious atrocities to live together. Generally, co-operative activities and processes of transitional justice are the primary mechanisms here, and mine action may contribute to both. Mine action may contribute to reconciliation directly, for example when former adversaries work side by side in a programme, as in the Sudanese example mentioned above. Similarly, when local populations identifying with one group realise that those coming to clear mines in their community belong to another, this has the potential to defuse tensions at the popular level, as discussed in a 1998 impact-assessment report from Afghanistan.30 Another avenue to a reconciliatory impact is when a former party to the conflict is engaged in clearing mines, effectively being seen by the population to be removing the instruments of war. This effect is presumed to have occurred in Guatemala, as well as in several other Latin American countries, when the military was allocated the task of clearing mines. Finally, if mine-education activities incorporate rights issues and reflect the international instruments aimed at protecting civilians, this contributes to building awareness of social injustice more generally. Mine action, then, has a contribution to make to peace building that goes well beyond the impact that it has through improving security or through facilitating development and reconstruction. Mine action programmes may also have a major effect on peace buildings political core.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees I/L

Fear of landmines prevent repatriation, prolonging stay in refugee camps. BBC News, June 8, 2001 (Eritreans Return to Destroyed Homes,
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1378377.stm) "I wanted to go back home but at the same time I wanted to stay in the camp. But they told me to go." Now she said she has new worries: "My main concern is the landmines, and especially for my children." "I was just out looking for my daughter because she was late coming from the well, I was so scared I went to look for her because I am afraid of the mines." Many Eritreans ended up in displaced persons camps In Eritrea, non-governmental organisations clearing landmines such as the Halo Trust, and Danish Church Aid, along with Eritrean government landmine clearers have started to survey, mark and clear minefields. But it is a long process
Landmines prevent repatriation of refugees and displaced people and break down economies International Campaign to Ban Landmines, August 2, 2005 (Arguments for a Ban,
http://www.icbl.org/problem/solution/ban_arguments) Landmines slow repatriation of refugees and displaced people, or even prevent it altogether. They hamper the provision of aid and relief services and threaten, injure and kill aid workers. Medical treatment for landmine victims, where available, is costly, burdening an already overstretched healthcare system. Communities are deprived of their productive land: farm land, orchards, irrigation canals and water points may be no longer accessible. Mines also cut off access to economically important areas, such as roads, electricity pylons and dams. A landmine incident may cost a family their breadwinner. Vocational training and support may not be available so many survivors struggle to make a living after their accident and become a burden on their families. Landmines hinder tourism and the use of land for recreation such as hiking and skiing.
Landmines have prevented millions of displaced persons in Mozambique from repatriating. Landmine Survivors Network, 2003 (Mozambique,
http://www.lsndatabase.org/country_text.php?country=mozambique) During the civil war, both sides planted millions of landmines for route denial, border defenses, and protection of key economic and strategic installations. Landmines were also used to disrupt access to water routes, agricultural fields, and fisheries. The aftermath of such prolonged fighting left over 5.5 million people displaced - 4 million internally displaced and 1.5 million as refugees in neighboring countries. Mined areas have prevented repatriation and resettlement of people. They have also increased landmine casualties among refugees as they attempt to return home and farm their land. Mined roads have disrupted trade, making food and goods exchange nearly impossible in some areas, particularly in Tete, the most heavily mined province in Mozambique.
Refugees are too afraid to return home because of landmines Kevin M. Cahill, resident and Director of the Center for International Health and Cooperation in New York City, 1995 (Clearing the Fields: Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis, pg 4)
Refugees are afraid to return to their homes, creating a growing financial burden on international relief agencies. Land mines have cut the expected rate of repatriation in Cambodia from 10,000 to 1,000 per week. In Afghanistan the situation is even worse. Some 3.5 million refugees will not return because mountain roads and fields are infested with mines. The bill for refugees refusing to leave the camps in Pakistan was $50 million in 1993. In southern Sudan, mines have paralyzed agricultural production, leaving thousands trapped in a drought-stricken region. Everywhere, power plants, transportation centers, water supplies, and other essential services are primary mining targets so that the basic infrastructure of society collapses, and economic independence becomes a painful mirage.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees I/L
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Landmines injure thousands and prevent the return of displaced persons Amparo Trujillo, specialist with the OAS Department of Public Information, March-April 2007 (No More
Mines!, Americas, Issue 59.2, Questia.com) THE ANTI-PERSONNEL landmine is a manifestation of man's cruelty to man [SIC]. It is the product of war whose effects can last decades beyond the conflict itself. According to E-Mine, the Electronic Mine Action Network, it is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 people, both civilian and military, die or are wounded by landmines every year. Added to the incalculable cost of human life, is the economic cost. In 1997, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on their Destruction. Better known as the Ottawa Convention, it went into effect two years later. Now there are 152 states party, 33 of which are from the Americas. This international treaty was created with the view toward ending the suffering and death caused by antipersonnel landmines "that kill or maim hundreds of people each week, mostly innocent and defenseless civilians and especially children; obstruct economic development and reconstruction; inhibit the repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons; and have other severe consequences for years after emplacement."
Landmines prevent regfugee repatriation to Angola US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, January 14, 2004 (Refugee Return to War Devestated
Angola, http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=2558) Obstacles to Return 5. Refugees repatriating to Angola-and UNHCR and other UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations assisting with their return-face three major obstacles: The presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance. Lack of basic social services in areas of refugee return. Poor infrastructure. 6. The presence of landmines, broken bridges, and poor road conditions have rendered closed approximately 40 percent of the main refugee returnee areas in Angola to organized refugee repatriation and have slowed repatriation and reintegration to areas deemed safe for refugee return by the UN Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD).
Refugees cannot return to Angola because of landmines US Committee for Refugees, 2004 (Africa, http://www.refugees.org/article.aspx?id=1158)
In Angola, refugees long displaced from 27 years of civil war, which abruptly ended in early 2002, repatriated steadily during 2003. Some 100,000 Angolans returned to their war-devastated homeland primarily from Zambia and Congo-Kinshasafrom June to November 2003. The presence of hundreds of thousands of landmines and the lack of government-provided basic social services, including potable sources of drinking water, primary schools, and health clinics, prevented more refugees from repatriating.
The threat of landmines denies people from their home for years. IDRC 07 (Still Killing: Landmines in South Africa http://www.idrc.ca/fr/ev-68075-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html)
The ongoing threat created by live land-mines can prevent civilians from living in their homes and using their fields, and can seriously threaten the ability of an entire country to rebuild long after war has ended. Fear of land-mines, whether present or not, denies land and homes to people who are hesitant to return. In Mozambiques Maputo province, the village of Mapulenge, which had been the centre of a community of 10 000 people, was deserted for four years because local people had been told it was mined. A mine clearance operation in 1994 took three months and uncovered only four mines; these, and the spreading of rumours, had been sufficient to depopulate an area for four years. Four anti-personnel mines, costing US$40, resulted in years of fear and tens of thousands of dollars spent, before the community felt safe to return. In Mozambique, the United Nations concluded a contract for the clearance of 2010 kilometres of roads in 1994. Many of these roads had been closed for years, yet the clearance produced only 28 mines; other less hazardous ordnance items were also uncovered.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees = AIDS/HIV

Refugees face increased risk of HIV transmission UNAIDS, 7/12/07 (Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons,
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http://www.unaids.org/en/Policies/Affected_communities/Refugees.asp) Millions of people worldwide are forced to uproot their lives to escape conflict, persecution or violence. This includes refugees and asylum-seekers who flee their country of origin across national borders, persons displaced within their own countries (internally displaced persons), and stateless persons. In 2005, the global number was 19.2 million, 4 million of whom lived in sub-Saharan Africa, where drought and conflict continue to force people from their homes in massive numbers. Many factors contribute to increased risk of HIV transmission among refugees both in emergency and post-emergency phases of refugee situations. People who flee their homes and communities lose their means of livelihood. Social networks and institutions break down, weakening social and sexual norms. Health and education services are disrupted, reducing access to HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health services, and HIV-related treatment and care for those who need it.
Host communities also face an increased risk of HIV infection UNAIDS, 7/12/07 (Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons,
http://www.unaids.org/en/Policies/Affected_communities/Refugees.asp) Host communities are also at increased risk of HIV. The vast majority of refugees live within host communities, not in camps, and are now staying longer in their host countries. The average estimated length of stay has increased from nine years in 1993 to seventeen years in 2003. In these situations, failure to address the HIV-related needs of refugees not only denies them their rights, it also undermines efforts to address HIV in host communities.
Refugees face sexual exploitation and HIV UNAIDS, 7/12/07 (Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons,
http://www.unaids.org/en/Policies/Affected_communities/Refugees.asp) During conflict and displacement, women and children, especially girls, are at even greater risk of exposure to HIV. Rape is often used as a weapon of war. Women and girls are subject to sexual violence and exploitation in refugee situations. They may be forced to exchange sexual services to meet their basic needs for food, water and shelter. Children living without parental support are particularly at risk of sexual and physical violence and exploitation.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees = Sexual Exploitation
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Refugees face sexual and gender based violence Johannes John-Langba, Manager Child Poverty Programme. Children's Institute - University of Cape Town, 2007
(The Relationship of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence to Sexual-Risk Behaviour Among Refugee Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, World Health and Population, http://www.longwoods.com/product.php?productid=18957&cat=469&page=1) Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has been reported to occur during all phases of the refugee experience: prior to flight, during flight, while in the country of first asylum and during repatriation and reintegration. The perpetrators are reportedly fellow refugees, members of other clans, religious or ethnic groups, military personnel, relief workers, members of the host population and family members (United Nationals High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR 1999]). "SGBV encompasses a wide variety of abuses that include rape, sexual threats, exploitation, humiliation, assaults, molestation, domestic violence, incest, involuntary prostitution (sexual bartering), torture, insertion of objects into genital openings, and attempted rape" (UNHCR 1999: 36). Like other regions of the world, women in sub-Saharan Africa are not only vulnerable to SGBV during conflict, but also during the periods of social disruption and disintegration in the aftermath of war, especially when they are fleeing the conflict and residing in camps for refugees or internally displaced persons (Human Rights Watch [HRW] 2000). For instance, a 1994 survey of 205 Liberian women and children aged 15-70 years found 49% had experienced at least one incident of physical and/or sexual abuse by soldiers during the Liberian civil war (Koss and Kilpatrick 2001). In Sierra Leone, a household survey of women revealed that 9% experienced war-related sexual assault and an additional 9% had been sexually assaulted outside a war situation (Coker and Richter 1998).
These sexual based injuries lead to psychological breakdown and further exploitation Johannes John-Langba, Manager Child Poverty Programme. Children's Institute - University of Cape Town, 2007
(The Relationship of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence to Sexual-Risk Behaviour Among Refugee Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, World Health and Population, http://www.longwoods.com/product.php?productid=18957&cat=469&page=1) The injuries that refugee women sustain from SGBV persist long after the crime. The social, psychological and health consequences of SGBV have been widely noted among refugees in subSaharan Africa. Refugee victims of SGBV in the region have reported ongoing sexual and reproductive health problems, psychological and social problems. Survivors of SGBV in refugee situations have been observed to experience depression, guilt, terror, shame and loss of self-esteem. In refugee camp settings in Africa, SGBV victims are often rejected by spouses and families, ostracized and subjected to further exploitation and/or punishment (UNHCR 1999). These physical, psychological and social consequences of SGBV only add to the pain of uprooting and forced migration.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria I/L
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Mine craters serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes Berhe 06 (AA, The Contribution of Landmines to Land Degradation, Ecosystem Science Division, UCB,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112748670/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) When a 250 g antipersonnel landmine detonates, it can create a crater with a diameter of approximately 30 cm (United Nations General Assembly UNGA/A/38/383, 1983; Troll, 2000). The explosion was described by nine of the participants as having the ability to facilitate removal and displacement of topsoil while forming a raised circumference around the crater and compaction of soil into the side of the crater. The level of the impact can vary depending on the physical conditions of the soil; the type and composition of the explosive and how many landmines detonate in the vicinity. The impact is greater in dry, loosely compacted and exposed desert soils but is less severe in humid soils that have vegetation or physical protection. Susceptibility to reduced infiltration, flooding and erosion is also higher in areas with steep slopes. In such cases, transported soil increases sediment load of drainage systems. When soil is compacted due to external forces, its resistance to penetration by plant roots and emerging seedlings increases, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the root zone of plants and the atmosphere is also retarded. Generally, as long as repeated explosions do not occur in the same location, the crater can develop into a stable element of the landscape when runoff or wind erosion washes soil to its bottom. In warm and humid regions, however, it has been reported (United Nations General Assembly UNGA/A/38/383, 1983; Troll, 2000) that the crater may hold water, turn into a marsh and serve as breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impacts - Death
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Malaria is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africait is mostly transmitted through mosquitoes. CDC 04 (The Impact of Malaria, A Leading Cause of Death Worldwide, Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/impact/index.htm) Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. It is a leading cause of death and disease in many developing countries, where young children and pregnant women are the groups most affected. According to the World Health Organizations World Malaria Report 2005: At the end of 2004, some 3.2 billion people lived in areas at risk of malaria transmission in 107 countries and territories. Between 350 and 500 million clinical episodes of malaria occur every year. At least one million deaths occur every year due to malaria. About 60% of the cases of malaria worldwide and more than 80% of the malaria deaths worldwide occur in Africa south of the Sahara. Malaria occurs mostly in poor, tropical and subtropical areas of the world (Geographic Distribution). The area most affected is Africa south of the Sahara, where an estimated 90% of the deaths due to malaria occur. This is due to a combination of factors: A very efficient mosquito vector (Anopheles gambiae) assures high transmission The predominant parasite species is Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the most severe form of malaria Local weather conditions often allow transmission to occur year round Scarce resources and socio-economic instability hinder efficient malaria control activities. In other areas of the world malaria is a less prominent cause of deaths, but can cause substantial disease and incapacitation, especially in rural areas of some countries in South America and Southeast Asia.
Malaria is the leading cause of death worldwidein Africa, it claims about 742,000 deaths a year. CDC 04 (The Impact of Malaria, A Leading Cause of Death Worldwide, Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/impact/index.htm) Malaria is a leading cause of death and illness worldwide. As most people who die from malaria are African children less than 5 years old, having accurate information about this group is especially important. Valid estimates of the number of malaria deaths are useful for monitoring the impact of prevention and control activities, targeting public health interventions, and advocacy. Unfortunately, the information systems of most African countries do not produce dependable estimates. To fill this gap, a variety of estimates have been proposed using mathematical models, but most have been simplistic or lacked documentation of the methods and data. A recent model, which the World Health Organization currently uses to produce annual malaria estimates, identified populations at risk for malaria with a model that predicts where the climate is suitable for malaria transmission [1]. The malaria mortality rate, from an analysis of field studies, was applied to these malaria-risk populations to produce an estimate of about 766,000 deaths among African children less than 5 years old for the year 1995. This model was recently refined to account for variations in malaria transmission intensity, and about 742,000 malaria deaths were estimated for the year 2000 [2]. Although these two latter models were considerably superior to previous ones, they still can be refined and improved
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impacts Millions Deaths
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Malaria kills more than a million people in Africachildren die within 72 hours if they arent immediately treated. Rotberg 07 (Stuart, Harvard School of Public Health, Africa Progress and Problems; AIDS & Health Issues, p. 44)
The second-deadliest disease of sub-Saharan Africa, malaria ranks as the worlds most server tropical parasitic disease. Worldwide, there are some 300 million to 500 million cases of malaria each year, with 1 million to 2 million fatalities. About 90 percent of all deaths from malaria occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds; the disease claims the lives of many more African children than either HIV/AIDs or tuberculosis. If children do not receive prompt treatment after developing malaria symptoms, they usually die within 72 hours.
Malaria results in more than a million deaths in Africa alone. Roll Back Malaria 2001, (Malarian Africa
http://www.rbm.who.int/cmc_upload/0/000/015/370/RBMInfosheet_3.htm There are at least 300 million acute cases of malaria each year globally, resulting in more than a million deaths. Around 90% of these deaths occur in Africa, mostly in young children. Malaria is Africa's leading cause of under-five mortality (20%) and constitutes 10% of the continent's overall disease burden. It accounts for 40% of public health expenditure, 30-50% of inpatient admissions, and up to 50% of outpatient visits in areas with high malaria transmission.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impacts - Deaths and economy
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Uncontrolled malaria leads to 12 billion lost dollars a year and over a million deaths. RBM 01 (Rollback Malaria, http://www.rbm.who.int/cmc_upload/0/000/015/370/RBMInfosheet_3.htm)
The vast majority of malaria deaths occur in Africa, south of the Sahara, where malaria also presents major obstacles to social and economic development. Malaria has been estimated to cost Africa more than US$ 12 billion every year in lost GDP, even though it could be controlled for a fraction of that sum. There are at least 300 million acute cases of malaria each year globally, resulting in more than a million deaths. Around 90% of these deaths occur in Africa, mostly in young children. Malaria is Africa's leading cause of under-five mortality (20%) and constitutes 10% of the continent's overall disease burden. It accounts for 40% of public health expenditure, 30-50% of inpatient admissions, and up to 50% of outpatient visits in areas with high malaria transmission. There are several reasons why Africa bears an overwhelming proportion of the malaria burden. Most malaria infections in Africa south of the Sahara are caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most severe and life-threatening form of the disease. This region is also home to the most efficient, and therefore deadly, species of the mosquitoes which transmit the disease. Moreover, many countries in Africa lacked the infrastructures and resources necessary to mount sustainable campaigns against malaria and as a result few benefited from historical efforts to eradicate malaria.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impact - children

Malaria is the principal cause of at least 1/5th of children in Africa. National Geographic News 2003 (June 12,
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0612_030612_malaria.html
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A recent report by two United Nations agenciesthe World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) #151;outlines the enormity of Africa's malaria problem and calls on the global community to step up its efforts to combat the disease. Noting that the death toll remains "outrageously high," The Africa Malaria Report says that sub-Saharan Africa faces continued malarial devastation unless swift action is taken. Malaria, the report noted, is the single biggest killer of children under five and a serious threat to pregnant women and their newborn. "New analyses confirm that malaria is a principal cause of at least one-fifth of all young child deaths in Africa," the report said. "No country in Africa south of the Sahara for which data are available shows a substantial decline." Though there is no single cure for malaria and an effective vaccine is considered years away, the keys to prevention, the causes, and clinical responses are well understood but poorly implemented, the report says. Patients also suffer because of increasing drug and insecticide resistance and underfunded health care systems, resulting in a malaria resurgence that has led to a more virulent disease today than in the 1960s.
Malaria is easily transmitted through mosquitoes and is the leading cause of death for children. National Geographic News 2003, (June 12
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0612_030612_malaria.html Malaria is transmitted from person to person through the bite of a female Anophelesa species of mosquito prevalent throughout sub-Saharan Africa and considered to be the most dangerous. Only a small proportion of malaria infections are fatal, but children under five and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable due to their weaker immune systems. Brian Greenwood, a world authority on malaria and director of the Malaria Center at the University of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, estimates that 1 to 2 percent of cases lead to fatalities. The high overall number of deaths from malaria reflects the regularity with which Africansparticularly the poorest segments of society contract malaria. While the majority of healthy adultswho might be bitten up to twice a day by malarial mosquitos in the rainy seasonwithstand the malaria parasite, many children are hospitalized. In fact, says Greenwood, "malaria is the commonest cause of admission into pediatric wards."
A child dies every 20 seconds of malaria. Tren 04 (Richard, CATO, South Africas War Against Malaria: Lessons for the Developing World March 25,
2004, http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa513.pdf People in rich countries expect to live longer because of economic growth and the attendant increase in income, which then translates into improved nutrition, proper sanitation, and clean water. Growing wealth and the concomitant advances in medical and public health technologies decrease the incidence of communicable diseases in rich countries and contribute to important advances against diseases in poor countries. One such technology is the use of the insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to combat malaria. During World War II the Allied Forces used DDT to halt the spread of louse-borne typhus and to control malaria. Inspired by its effectiveness, public health officials used DDT to eradicate malaria from Europe and the United States. However, the scourge of malaria persists in less affluent parts of the world. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria infects between 300 million and 500 million people every year and kills more than 1 million. Most people who die are children: one child dies every 20 to 30 seconds
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impact - Poverty
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Malaria leads to povertyit hinders social development. RBM 01 (Rollback Malaria, http://www.rbm.who.int/cmc_upload/0/000/015/370/RBMInfosheet_3.htm)
In Africa today, malaria is understood to be both a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty. Annual economic growth in countries with high malaria transmission has historically been lower than in countries without malaria. Economists believe that malaria is responsible for a growth penalty of up to 1.3%% per year in some African countries. When compounded over the years, this penalty leads to substantial differences in GDP between countries with and without malaria and severely restrains the economic growth of the entire region. Malaria also has a direct impact on Africa's human resources. Not only does malaria result in lost life and lost productivity due to illness and premature death, but malaria also hampers children's schooling and social development through both absenteeism and permanent neurological and other damage associated with severe episodes of the disease
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Water I/L

Mine fields prevent access to clean water. Humanitarian Demining 95 (Direct And Indirect Consequences Of Landmines
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On Public Health, http://www.humanitariandemining.org/archive/lmeffects.asp#phil1) As mentioned earlier, the mining of roads and passages leading to sources of fresh drinking water, firewood, grazing and agricultural land, has indirect and long-term consequences on public health, particularly of rural populations. Rural populations, especially those who have recently returned from refugee camps and have recently lost a member to a mine explosion, as a result for example of fetching water from a fresh spring or well, will tend to avoid such fresh water sources in future, and instead seek other sources perhaps further away and less safe for drinking purposes. While boiling river water, in general, can make it safe to drink, the fact that often the roads and passages leading to the river or to forest areas for firewood are mined, discourages the villagers from "bothering" to boil their drinking water. Hence, minefields can play yet another role in polluting--indirectly--drinking water. In Afghanistan, rural populations, in general, are not used to latrines, and use instead a nearby field for such purposes. Minefields thus also tend to change the behavioural patterns of rural populations and villagers, with urine and human excrement accumulating nearby their homes and ending up as well in passing rivers and tributaries, increasing the high probability of water contamination. Mined roads and passes to sources of drinking water and firewood and minefields around villages force villagers to drink polluted water, which causes, inter alla, diarrhoeal diseases, especially among children during the summer months. And in countries where cholera recurs every summer, the effect that minefields have in preventing access to safe drinking water sources increases morbidity and mortality.
Land Mines restrict clean water use, facilitate the breeding of disease carriers, and prevent the use of farmland LandMines.org 06 (Impact of Landmines, http://www.landmines.org.uk/268.php, 2/14)
Landmines also prevent access to safe drinking water, forcing people to drink dirty, contaminated water that can cause diarrhoea and cholera. In addition, rotting carcasses of animals killed by landmines turn minefields into breeding grounds for insects, such as test flies and malarial mosquitoes, that transmits viruses and bacteria. The deployment of mines also renders large tracts of fertile farmland unusable, which in turn leads to food shortages and severe malnutrition. Under nourishment is particularly devastating to the long-term health and survival of children still in their developing years. The international community works closely with mine-affected countries to implement victim assistance and rehabilitation programs intended to help mine victims. It also promotes broad health awareness and immunization campaigns to minimize some of the long-term medical consequences of landmines. Funding is a continual problem in providing adequate aid to victims and mine-affected communities, and damaged infrastructures prevent large numbers of people, especially those living in remote villages, from receiving adequate medical care even when treatment is available.
Heavy metals from landmines find their way into fresh water supplies contaminating them and making the water undrinkable Nachon 05 [Claudio Torres, Researcher for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Environmental Aspects of Landmines, 2005, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3]
It is generally accepted that the use of landmines has been concentrated not only on the battlefield, but in and around civilian populations and basic infrastructure. Sewage and water treatment facilities have been targeted in many African locations. As well, unconfirmed reports of use of landmines as a method for fishing in places as the Tanganika Lake in Tanzania, may suggest that such technique could be in use elsewhere, polluting water with heavy metals and
possibly altering chemical composition of sediments. Additionally, landmines may be removed from its original location by heavy rain, floods and other meteorological phenomena, travelling downstream to more stable water bodies as lagoons, lakes, and estuarine ecosystems.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Water Impact - Survival

Water extremities pose a serious threat to human survival. Bliss, 2000 (Shepherd, online: http://fading-hope.blog-city.com/water_wars.htm)
65 Landmines Aff
Shiva exposes the ongoing destruction of the earth's resources and how the world's poor are stripped of their rights to the precious commons of good water, "It is the poorest people in the Third World who will be most severely affected by climate change, drought, melting glaciers, and rising sea levels ." Climate change is a primary cause of water shortages. Shiva writes about a cyclone in Orissa, India, that damaged 1.83 million homes and 1.8 million acres of paddy crops. It killed 300,000 cattle, and human casualties were around 20,000. "The l999 cyclone was not a mere natural disorder - it was mainly a man-made ecological crisis unleashed by the combined impact of climate change, industrialization, and deforestation," according to Shiva. Similar catastrophes that appear to be natural have increased in recent years and are likely to intensify even more, because of human damage to the environment that throw ecosystems out of balance . Geologist Jane Nielson, who worked with the U.S. Geological Service for years, explains what happens when forests are cut. "The soils erode because the tree roots no longer hold the soil as well. The tree branches don't provide the umbrella effect that slows down bullet-like raindrop impacts. If roots are removed and the soil replanted with a monoculture, the soil erodes more because the mature roots are gone." Alaska has been hard-hit by water crises recently. Average temperatures in Alaska have risen a startling 7 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 30 years, causing the thawing of ice caps and glaciers. The sudden temperature rise is human created. Among its consequences are dead forests, sagging roads, crumbling villages, and the disruption of marine wildlife. Catastrophic fires also threaten Alaska as a result of the melting ice. Climate change creates not only more flooding and cyclones, but also more droughts and heat waves. "There is either too much water or too little, and both extremes pose a threat to survival ," Shiva notes.
Water shortages lead to millions of deaths, disease and deadly conflict. Lagod 07 (Martin, a managing director and co-founder of Firelake Capital Management, July 8 online:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/08/EDGOTQ8JBS1.DTL) According to data collected from NASA and the World Health Organization, 4 billion people will face water shortages by 2050. Already in China, water levels in the Yellow River -- a source that supplies more than 150 million people -- are down 33 percent from the average. In China's cities, wastewater pollution and inadequate treatment facilities have contaminated the water consumed by more than half the population. Of its 669 major cities, 440 face moderate to severe water shortages. The Chinese government -- desperately seeking solutions -- calls the water shortage a social, environmental and economic crisis. The crisis in China has global implications. Its agricultural industry has been nearly crippled by groundwater contamination, making the Chinese dependent on grain supplies from the West. If the Chinese population continues to grow, the demand for grain could cause global shortages and rising prices. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the population grows by more than 2.6 percent each year and severe drought affects the supply , less than 70 percent of water needs are met. The same is true in India, where all 14 major rivers are polluted and drying up. The United Nations deems dirty water a leading cause of death for children under age 5, responsible for the deaths of more than 1.8 million children every year . Across the world, deadly conflicts already rage over water. The Global Policy Forum cites conflicts from China to Africa, India and the Arabian Peninsula -- and the problems are expected to escalate. In a 1995 statement, a vice president of the World Bank, Ismail Serageldin, asserted, " The wars of the next century will be about water." Organizations from the United Nations to the CIA have warned against the dangers of a looming water shortage.
Everything must be done to reduce the water shortage crisis in order to safeguard survival. Bliss, 2000 (Shepherd, online: http://fading-hope.blog-city.com/water_wars.htm)
For our planet's future, we have to safeguard and make intelligent use of our water. We have an opportunity -- and a moral obligation -- to develop, use and invest in technological solutions sathat reduce water waste. The water shortage crisis -- a close second to the global warming crisis -- needs to be at a higher level of awareness for our population. We assume water will be there forever, but that's not the case. We can no longer take it for granted. We have to put our best thinking, energy and resources into finding solutions while we still can.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Water - basic right
66 Landmines Aff
Landmines can restrict access to safe drinking water, contributing to diarrhoeal diseases which are the biggest cause of preventable death in the world. Adopt-a-minefield 06 (Landmines and the Millennium Development Goals http://www.landmines.org.uk/347.php)
Landmines continue to kill or injure between 15,000 and 20,000 people annually. There is also evidence that many more people suffer and die as a result of the indirect but equally lethal impact of landmines as an obstacle to sustainable development. Landmines that render potential agricultural land unusable contribute to food shortages and nutrition deficit Landmines that restrict access to potable water contribute to diarrhoeal diseases, the greatest cause of preventable death on the planet Landmines that inhibit schools from being built or students and teachers from attending classes limit educational and training opportunities Landmines that hinder the construction and maintenance of roads and other infrastructure can have a devastating economic and social effect Landmines breed insecurity that tears the social fabric of vulnerable states and create further instability Clearly, mine action is a development issue as well as a humanitarian issue, a political issue, a social issue, and ultimately, a human rights issue for nothing is more basic than the right to life, liberty, and the security of the person.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Agriculture I/L
67 Landmines Aff
Landmines make land unusablekills food production Apollo Rwomire, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Botswana, 2001 (Social Problems in
Africa: New Visions, pg 21-22, Questia) Apart from killing and maiming innocent people, landmines are also responsible for leaving land unusable for purposes such as building and food production. In Angola, for example, it is estimated that 33 percent of the countrys land is virtually unusable due to landmines, and that even in Zimbabwe, where the war of liberation ended in 1979, one million acres of land are totally unusable (SAPEM, 1996:11).
Landmines leave thousands of acres of land unusable, devastating economies, health, and stability Claudio Torres Nachon, international environmental lawyer and Landmine Monitor Researcher for Mexico and Belize, May 1999 (ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF LANDMINES,
http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Social and economic consequences of landmines are tremendous. They impose a multidimensional burden on the countries affected by landmines. In the words of UN Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, "Not only do theses abominable weapons lie buried in silence and in their millions, waiting to kill or maim innocent women and children; but the presence -or even the fear of the presence- of a single landmine can prevent the cultivation of an entire field, rob a village of its livelihood, place yet another obstacle on a country's road to reconstruction and development."[19] In many mine-infested countries, the return to a peaceful way of living faces tremendous challenges. Humanitarian demining costs are elevated and in most cases drains vital funds from other badly needed investments for reconstruction. As well, large surfaces of land can not be cultivated According to a report from the US Department of State, " [a] more relevant measure of the problem, however, is not the number of landmines per country, but the number of square kilometers of productive land rendered unusable by the presence or suspected presence of landmines or other unexploded ordnance (UXO)."[20] . In Libya, it is estimated that about 8.49% of its arable land is contaminated by landmines.[21] A larger surface may not be cultivated because of solely fear to landmines. In other spheres, landmines are in most cases laid near vital infrastructure installations as bridges, electrical towers, water and sewage treatment plants, hospitals and roads. Unless landmines are removed and destroyed from all these sites, they "will pose huge ancillary social costs; create vast numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs); impede economic recovery, prolonging the need for international assistance: prevent the delivery of government services; serve as physical obstacles to unity and reconstruction; create conditions for the spread of disease, as well as inflicting injuries, ending lives; and encourage continued militarization of post-conflict societies."[22] Therefore, uncleared landmines may affect pacification efforts and compromise the environmental and food security of mine affected countries.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Agriculture I/L
68 Landmines Aff
Landmines leave toxins in the soil, killing agricultural productivity Claudio Torres Nachon, international environmental lawyer and Landmine Monitor Researcher for Mexico and Belize, May 1999 (ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF LANDMINES,
http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) As landmines are planted just below the surface of the land, their most direct impact is upon soil quality and composition. When a landmine explodes it destroys surrounding vegetation and shatters and displaces the soil, making it vulnerable to water and wind erosion. If landmines explode on cultivated land, levels of agricultural production are dramatically reduced. In many countries, landmines have reduced harvest yields by as much as 50%. .
Mines severely limit food production UN.org 07 (The Economic Costs of Landmines, http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/banmines/units/unit1c.asp)
Sometimes mines are placed in farmer's fields. Arable (agricultural) land becomes unusable. As more agricultural land is taken out of production, regions which were once self-sufficient are now dependent upon outside sources for their food. In one part of Angola alone, it is estimated that landmines have reduced food production by more than 25%. In Mozambique, also in Africa, the drought along with the mining of arable land and the road system have had a serious impact on the region. In other countries, the mining of irrigation systems and water-delivery plants makes it almost impossible to farm even those fields which are mine-infested. In many areas, it is the national infrastructureroads, power lines, electric plants, irrigation systems, water plants, dams and industrial plantsthat are often mined during civil conflicts. At the end of the conflict, it is often impossible to approach these facilities to repair them or even try to maintain them. As a result, other services, such as electricity and water, become spotty in these situations. Goods and services cannot be sent on mined roads and local businesses suffer while the prices of scarce goods go up, causing inflation. The cycle of poverty keeps growing.
Pollution causes by landmines drives farmers away from fertile ground hindering agricultural production and economic development Sandham 03 [Oken Jeet, Policy Analyst for Kangla Online, Landmines use is against humanity, 2003, http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=663&]
The pollution caused by the landmine explosions also has the effect of pushing the people from their traditional lands because most of the mines are often laid in the habitation areas. The communities, unable to return to their contaminated land and agricultural farms, are often driven out into otherwise unused or marginal land, placing additional pressure on already fragile environment, while many are forced to live in the urban areas, contributing to overcrowded housing, congested traffic, unemployment, air and noise pollution, and problems with water supply sanitation and waste disposal.
Landmines represent an ongoing catastrophe making land unusable for farming Anti-Personnel Landmines: A Modern Day Scourge. Contributors: Frank Faulkner - author. Journal Title: New Zealand International Review. Volume: 22. Issue: 5. Publication Year: 1997. Page Number: 2+. COPYRIGHT
1997 New Zealand Institute of International Affairs; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group The situation in urban areas also provides further evidence of the general economic malaise suffered by countries affected by landmine pollution. As part of an overall military strategy, key economic installations are frequently targeted for mining operations. The objective may not necessarily be to destroy any such asset, but rather to deny its use by the enemy. Any military advantage to be gained, however, is often in inverse proportion to the damage inflicted on civilians. The end-product is the comprehensive breakdown of the national infrastructure; powerlines are isolated, and bridges, watertreatment plants, and transport systems are also systematically mined, denying regular maintenance and repair. For these countries, landmines represent an ongoing catastrophe, from which they cannot hope to recover until the problem is eradicated. As an example, during the Second World War, nearly 2.8 million hectares, or 87 per cent, of Libya's rangelands were rendered unusable by landmines. By 1980 approximately 1.8 million hectares, or only 67 per cent, could be declared safe for use.(12)
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Demined lands cant be farmed
69 Landmines Aff
Empirical examples of Afghanistan and Cambodia show that de-mined lands are fruitful. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 02 Dec 2004 [ Roots of Peace back demining/ecotourism
project in Angola; Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/e6c910032f05b67b85256f5e00695c00?OpenDocument&Click=] Roots of Peace, which works with bodies including the UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Mine Action Service and the UK-based Mine Advisory Group, is also developing agricultural projects in de-mined areas. In Afghanistan, for example, the de-mined areas have been restored into grape growing fields and in Cambodia, the once deadly soils are now being used to cultivate rice. Together we have planted rice in Cambodia, grapes in Afghanistan, orchards in Croatia and wheat in Iraqconverting swords into plough shares in war torn countries, said Ms Kuhn. UNEP, which has a Post Conflict Assessment Unit based in Geneva, has carried out studies in several wartorn countries and regions including the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. It recently conducted a post conflict assessment of Liberia and has received similar requests from other African countries including Angola.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Humanitarian Aid

Land Mines paralyze entire regions and stop aid The Defense Monitor 96 (Landmines: The Real Weapons of Mass Destruction,
70 Landmines Aff
Http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Landmines_html/Real_Weapons_Destruc.html) The human costs of mines already in the ground are enormous. Thousands of lives are lost to explosions. Entire regions are denied basic services because repairs to infrastructure are impeded. Humanitarian aid shipments are disrupted, and societies are thrown into chaos. Mines isolate power lines, bridges, water plants, and road and rail networks. When roads are impassable, goods and services cannot be easily transported. Workers cannot move from one part of the country to the other and economic development is further impeded. When product availability dwindles, prices skyrocket. Businesses then raise their prices and workers demand wage increases. Even in a healthy economy, mines can artificially limit supplies of critical products, producing an inflationary spiral that is politically destabilizing
De-mining is key to allowing foreign aid in King 01 (Elizabeth, Danger in the Earth, The Canadian Landmine Foundation,
http://www.canadianlandmine.org/greenteacherarticle.cfm) In the mid-1980s, emergency and aid workers in developing countries around the world became increasingly less able to improve a community's access to water, agriculture and human services. Landmines became an obstacle in the path to sustainable development with severe economic, social, medical, and environmental consequences on mine-affected communities. In the economic realm, landmines bar access to infrastructure such as roads and railways and slow post-war reconstruction and the redevelopment of human services. Teachers and healthcare workers, for example, cannot get to work. Students are unable to safely make their way to school. The community's access to natural resources is restricted.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Development
71 Landmines Aff
Demining is crucial to development and peace IRIN 04 (Well Known Invisible Killers Littered Throughout Africa, Integrated Regional Information Networks,
Nov 24, http://wwwnotes.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/f303799b16d2074285256830007fb33f/3a1e43697feb90cc49256f57000c23dc?OpenDocument)
Said Djinnit, head of the Peace and Security Council at the AU, described the devastating effects of landmines on the continent and their impact on development at the conference. "We have seen innocent people, women and children amputated, lose their limbs and other vital parts of their bodies - and end up handicapped," he told delegates. "We have also seen landmines destroy the healthy and productive part of our active population, destroy fertile land for agriculture, destroy transport networks and destroy important natural resources that support life." Djinnit also told the conference, attended by diplomats, landmine experts and other officials, that the AU had been at the forefront of the campaign to ban landmines. Nonetheless, he said ending the scourge of landmines on the continent had "not been pursued with all the needed vigour and determination in Africa". "Landmines continue to be the main impediment to post-conflict reconstruction and development in our countries," the AU official added. "Ridding the continent of this invisible and indiscriminate weapon is crucial for creating conditions for peace, security, stability and development in Africa, as well as reconciling and healing societies from the trauma of conflict."
Mines deter development in affected areas MacDonald Jacqueline 03 (Alternatives For Landmine Detection, RAND Corporation,
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1608/) The presence of mines also can cause economic decline (Andersson et al., 1995; Jeffrey, 1996; Cameron et al., 1998). Most victims are males of working age, and often they are unable to return to work. The Andersson et al. survey found that households with a mine victim were 40% more likely to report difficulty in providing food for the family. Further, the medical bills for survivors can bankrupt families. Many victims must undergo multiple surgeries. Children who lose limbs require multiple prosthetic devices over their lifetimes. Mines affect not only the victims families but also the entire community surrounding the mined area. Even the rumor of mine presence can halt all activity in an affected area. For example, in Mozambique, a town of 10,000 was deserted for four years because of a rumor that mines were present; a three-month clearance operation later found only four mines (Vines and Thompson, 1999). The extensive mine contamination of Afghanistans fertile valleys has reduced agricultural production; Andersson et al. (1995) estimated that without mines, agricultural land use in Afghanistan could increase by 88200 percent.
Mines hurt development Berhe 06 (AA, The Contribution of Landmines to Land Degradation, Ecosystem Science Division, UCB,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112748670/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) Landmines contribute to perpetuations of underdevelopment by killing or injuring a communitys sources of income (people and livestock), inhibiting effective cultivation or control of locust (and other pests) and scaring away tourism and other means of income (similar observations were reported by Hanevik, 1998). Several of the participants indicated that a large portions of landmine victims are adult men, the bread-earners and heads of households. Similarly, Andersson et al. (1995) reported that the highest risk group are men between the ages of 15 and 64 years. The loss of more than 57 000 animals that Andersson et al. attribute to landmines is equivalent to a minimum annual market value of roughly US$200 per household. It is assumed that Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia and Mozambique alone have suffered more than 6 million US dollars loss due to landmines effect on animals. For the nomadic populations in North and Eastern Africa and theMiddle East loss livestock reared for production of dairy,meat, leather products or subsistence farming activities has had significant socio-economic effects. At a larger scale, landmines and their impacts become added burdens to the already over-taxed economies and overstretched resource bases of struggling nations. Fragile financial systems of developing nations become more susceptible to failure as funds are diverted away from development, to take care of disproportionate health bills of victims. Landmines interfere with economic development. Landmines in Vietnam hindered the construction of a new major northsouth highway, while de-mining activities drained the resources of the community in Mozambique to the point that there were no funds left to restore de-mined roads. Furthermore, with growing land scarcity the poor, women and minorities are disadvantaged.
72 Landmines Aff
Landmines hurt economic development and undermine agriculture Gray 97 (Bruce, Landmines: The Most Toxic and Widespread Pollution Facing Mankind, University of Sydney,
http://fn2.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~puppydog/bgray.htm, landmine expert) Rae McGrath stated that: [i]n many of the poorest countries of the developing world mines are not merely instrumental in denying vital land to farmers, pastoralists and retunring refugees, but have covered large tracts of the earth's surface with non-biodegradable and toxic garbage [McGrath in Davies, Dunlop, and McGrath 1994:121; McGrath 1997:10-11]. But are mines really a form of pollution? Technically, "pollution", according to David Meagher's Dictionary of the Australian Environment, is defined as: [t]he presence in the environment of any substance or energy that is of sufficient concentration, or that is present for a sufficient period, to be harmful or offensive to humans or likely to cause damage or unnatural change in the environment, through the activity of humans [1991:251]. Mines clearly fall into this category. While few people would argue with the notion that mines represent a serious danger to human health, only a small minority currently view them as a pollutant. Yet by adopting the conceptual underpinnings outlined above, it becomes possible - even imperative - to view landmines (and, for that matter, all unexploded ordnance) as a profound, long-term environmental threat to human health and well-being; and thus as a form of highly toxic pollution. The effects of this kind of pollution are profound. For example, mines are a major contributor to economic and social impoverishment. According to Giannou and Geiger, [t]he widespread use of land mines in impoverished agrarian societies, in which family and community survival are dependent on subsistence farming, creates multiple crises: psychological damage, social ostracism, and economic hardship of amputees; loss of productivity of farm care-takers, removal of hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land from safe use for decades; and disruption of transportation and agricultural markets [1995:141]. Supporting this, Tolba states that landmines 'have endangered people, livestock and wildlife, and hindered the development of vast areas of land' [1992:213]. The UN concludes that because the natural environment constitutes the basis of all social life and economic development, the direct damage caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) may destroy the basis for socio-economic development in badly affected countries. Even the mere suspicion of mines prevents people using their natural resources by denying access to that component of the environment [UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:13; Westing et al. 1985:123]. In summary, according to the UN: unexploded remnants of war endanger people, livestock, and wildlife; impede the development of an economic infrastructure ([such as] roads, power and telephone lines, airports, etc.); make land unsafe to farm or irrigate, and hamper mineral exploration [Westing et al. 1985:123].
Landmines ruin any chance at Development Anderson 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Kenneth Anderson director of the
Arms Project of Human Rights Watch Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 20) One approach to examining the effects of land mines is to use the various disciplines from which the land mines crisis is being addressed. Land mines have a disastrous effect on development, and particularly agricultural development, following an armed conflict. At precisely the time when there is the greatest need to restart agricultural production, to put people back to productive work, to ensure food supplies, and to bring refugees back to their lands, land mines impose a high barrier. The need to remove land mines, even when it can be done, raises the cost of development immensely.
73 Landmines Aff
Landmines obstruct economic development, humanitarian aid, and refugee return M2 Newsire 05 [No Author Cited, Remaining landmines said to be obstacle in many countries to humanitarian aid, refugee return, economic progress; Special political committee completes debate on removal action; Delegates stress continuing problems after long-ago conflicts, October 2005, Highbeam]
The presence of landmines was an obstacle to economic development, humanitarian aid operations and refugee return, said the representative of Angola this morning as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)
concluded its debate on assistance in mine action.
There was a clear need to mobilize additional financial and technical resources, especially to those countries emerging from long conflicts, he said. Although many mines had been cleared, challenges remained, and the Sixth
Meeting of States parties to the relevant convention, to be held later in the year, should review the critical issues still faced by mineaffected countries. The representative of Peru, concurring, said that anti-personnel mines obstructed economic development and
delayed reconstruction. The existence of these devices also inhibited the repatriation of refugees and internationally displaced people, not only during conflicts but post-conflict, making it difficult to reconstruct international peace and stability. As Member States were now discussing the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, said Thailand's representative, the importance of mine action, particularly mine clearance, at the initial stage of the peacebuilding process, should be emphasized. Mine clearance was not only a confidence-building measure, but also an essential element for the long-term recovery and development of post-conflict States.
Landmines impede development

Fighting for Human Rights. Contributors: Paul Gready - editor. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 2004. Page Number: 78.
The campaign to ban landmines has been widely celebrated as one of the most successful examples of humanitarian advocacy. At the outset of the campaign in the early 1990s, estimates suggested that more than 100 million mines had been scattered
through over 60 countries and each month 2,000 civilians were either killed or severely injured. In addition to the direct human cost, the presence of landmines impeded the distribution of humanitarian aid, obstructed access to infrastructure and agricultural land, deterred the repatriation of refugees and diverted vital resources from reconstruction efforts. In the most mine-affected countries, clearance programs were expected to take decades, and in spite of growing resources dedicated to the task, the number of mines sown worldwide far outpaced demining efforts.
74 Landmines Aff
Landmines carry large social costs by impeding development slow economic recovery and prolong the need for international aid Nachon 05 [Claudio Torres, Researcher for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Environmental Aspects of Landmines, 2005, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3]
Social and economic consequences of landmines are tremendous. They impose a multidimensional burden on the countries affected by landmines. In the words of UN Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, "Not only do theses abominable weapons lie buried in silence and in their millions, waiting to kill or maim innocent women and children; but the presence -or even the fear of the presence- of a single landmine can prevent the cultivation of an entire field, rob a village of its livelihood, place yet another obstacle on a country's road to reconstruction and development."[19] In many mine-infested countries, the return
to a peaceful way of living faces tremendous challenges. Humanitarian demining costs are elevated and in most cases drains vital funds from other badly needed investments for reconstruction. As well, large surfaces of land can not be cultivated According to a report from the US Department of State, " [a] more relevant measure of the problem, however, is not the number of landmines per country, but the number of square kilometers of productive land rendered unusable by the presence or suspected presence of landmines or other unexploded ordnance (UXO)."[20] . In Libya, it is estimated that about 8.49% of its arable land is contaminated by landmines.[21] A larger surface may not be cultivated because of solely fear to landmines. In other spheres, landmines are in most cases laid near vital infra-structure installations as bridges, electrical towers, water and sewage treatment plants, hospitals and roads. Unless landmines
are removed and destroyed from all these sites, they "will pose huge ancillary social costs; create vast numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs); impede economic recovery, prolonging the need for international assistance: prevent the delivery of government services; serve as physical obstacles to unity and reconstruction; create conditions for the spread of disease, as well as inflicting injuries, ending lives; and encourage continued militarization of post-conflict societies."[22] Therefore, uncleared
landmines may affect pacification efforts and compromise the environmental and food security of mine affected countries. Policy makers for funding of humanitarian demining assistance should, accordingly, consider at least the above mentioned factors while deciding how to allocate funds in post conflict master recovery planning. Poor decision-making may in fact prove disastrous and counter productive in determined scenarios. As well, environmental and human settlements assessments may serve "...as a management tool for the international community as an integrated part of the needs assessment requirements in the overall emergency humanitarian effort in war-torn areas".[23] A report of the First Meeting of the Standing Committee of Experts on Mine Clearance
of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, recognized that "...simple measures of effectiveness of clearance -such as numbers of mines removed or destroyed, or the area of land cleared- had their uses but do not provide adequate measures of benefit to the communities affected or of impact on development. Hence there is a need for socio-economic indicators, which shall include humanitarian and environmental concerns."[24]
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Democracy
75 Landmines Aff
Landmine removal has political implications for the establishment of democracy Kempf 06 [Daniela, HDIs Director of Mine Action Programs. Kempf is a native of Croatia, where she worked as National
Coordinator for the Open Society Institute, Opening roads to Angolas future, August 3rd 2006, Journal of Mine Action, 10.1] Clearing landmines and opening up the roads also has political implications: Angola is preparing for the first free parliamentary elections next year, and these newly opened roads will allow election officials to set up polling places and send international monitors to previously isolated and unreachable villages. When the day comes, voters will be able to go to the voting booth without the fear of landmines. Angola is now free from war, but its people are still struggling with destruction, death and obstacles to development. In order to truly begin post-conflict reconstruction and set itself on the path toward democracy, Angola needs to be freed from the plight of landmines. The partnership among the Humpty Dumpty
Institute, the U.S. government and HALO Trust is helping to clear Angolas roads for a better future, safe from the risk of landmines.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Impact - Environment
76 Landmines Aff
Landmines cause environmental degradation, leak toxic minerals, and increase global warming LandMine Monitor 2000 (Environmental Aspects of the International Crisis of Antipersonnel Landmines and
the Implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, Center For Environmental Law and Economic Integration of the South, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2000/appendices/environment.html) The impact of landmines goes further than the killing and maiming of civilians and military well after conflicts are over. Landmines affect many components of the global biosphere. Among the many problems attached to the use of landmines are those related to its impact on the natural environment and its components. Landmines have killed and maimed large numbers of specimens of wildlife and domestic species worldwide. Landmines set in motion a series of events leading to environmental degradation in the forms of soil degradation, deforestation, pollution of water resources with heavy metals and possibly altering entire species populations by degrading habitats and altering food chains. Additionally, landmines are usually placed near hospitals or sanitation facilities, impacting the ability to preserve human health. In certain cases there is a repetitive geographical coincidence between mineaffected zones and biodiversity hotspots. By degrading habitats, impacting population species, altering foods chain, and placing additional pressure over natural resources, landmines pose a considerable risk to pristine ecosystems throughout the world. Landmine-poaching presents the ultimate distortion of this insidious weapon. It is used as a simple and effective mechanism for killing wildlife. Environmental impacts may occur while demining is taking place or by destruction of stockpile as well. In general terms, environmental impacts of APMs can roughly be categorized as direct or indirect. 1) Direct Impacts Of Landmines On The Environment: By direct environmental impact we refer to those effects, alterations and disruptions caused to the natural environment and/or its components at the moment and specific location of the blast of a landmine; 2) Indirect Impacts Of Landmines On The Environment: Indirect environmental impact of landmines are those effects, alterations and disruptions that may take place at differentiated spatial and temporal scheme from an original location or explosion of a landmine. From a temporal spectrum indirect impacts may be continuous and/or delayed at a short, medium or long term. By continuos impacts we refer to those landmine related physico-chemical effects which degrade, pollute or transform in any ecologically sensitive perspective those environmental elements interacting with the device, i.e. Decomposition or corrosion of the landmines case, may produce a prolonged leaking of toxic heavy metals typically present in a landmine, as mercury and lead. Delayed impacts are those negatively affecting the environment and it components at a later time in a single, recognizable event, i.e. Certain methods of mine clearance may produce such impacts. Short term effects generally include the physical destruction of close range vegetation and killing/injuring of wildlife. Medium term impacts may include a deterioration on soil composition preventing cultivation lands to return to levels of agricultural production prior to a landmine explosion. Long term impacts include the persistence and bioaccumulation of certain toxic substances freed into the site of the blast as mercury and lead, both present on most landmines. It is open to discussion how to classify impacts which are specially difficult to assess and quantify. A probable influence into global warming by depletion and enhanced human pressure over natural carbon dioxide sinks as forest presents an enormous task for scientists. As entire populations may not be able to return to their villages or cultivation lands, in occasion they are forced to find new land to settle. To better comprehend the issue, let us remember some basic principles of environmentalism: first, nature knows best; second, everything must go somewhere; and third, but not last, everything is connected to everything else. Therefore, even if such impact on global warming happens to be minimal, it should be properly addressed as an innovative way to reflex on the nature and ends of armed conflict.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Pollution/Soil Damage
77 Landmines Aff
Chemicals in landmines pollute top soil and contaminate water posing health risks to those who drink it. Matthee 07 [Imbert, Policy Analyst for Clear Path International, Pollution: Landmines are a global health problem, February 21st 2006, http://clearpathinternational.org/cpiblog/archives/000858.php]
Pollution. Consider for a moment what the word means. If it's defined as "the presence in the environment of any substance of sufficient concentration to be harmful to humans or cause long-term damage to the natural environment," landmines fit the bill. In fact, some consider landmines as the most toxic and widespread pollution in the world. It's important to
remember that even as we mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Ottawa Convention on Dec. 3 this year. I made those points during a presentation Sunday at the 5th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference at the University of Washington campus. The conference is a brainchild of the Puget Sound Partners in Global Health, which include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, PATH, UW School of Medicine, UW School of Public Health & Community Medicine, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and others. Puget Sound Partners for Global Health (www.pspgh.org) is a collaboration of Seattle-area researchers, healthcare professionals, students and non-governmental organizations committed to improving global health. It links the Seattle global health community by sharing information; funding international training, education and research opportunities; and holding events focused on global health. I was invited to speak on the health and development problems caused by landmines. They are numerous. But before I get into that, let's look at some global statistics: The world has roughly 110 million landmines spread among 80 countries, mostly in the developing world. More than 140 million people live in areas where their lives or livelihoods are threatened by landmines or unexploded ordnance (UXO). About 20,000 to 30,000 people are killed or injured by mines each year with as many as two out of every three victims being civilians and one in every four being children. Of course, the number of casualties and the burden of the treatment on already challenged health care systems in the Third World is just that part of the landmine problem that sticks up above the surface. Let's go back to the notion of landmines as pollution. That breaks down into two parts: the danger and the
damage. The danger obviously comes from the threat they cause to life, causing people to alter their behavior. One big problem in places like Africa is that the presence or even the fear of landmines means local villagers avoid getting their drinking water from sources that are relatively clean and get them from polluted rivers instead. Add to that the danger of collecting firewood in mined areas and they do not even boil the water for
consumption.
This leads to serious health conditions such as diarrhoeal diseases. Another one is malnutrition caused by the
presence of mines and UXO in areas that could otherwise yield food crops. In Libya, heavily mined during World War II, two thirds of the arable land is confirmed or suspected of being contaminated. Locally, they are known as "fields of the devil" and have killed 125,000 sheep, goats, cattle and camels since the 1940s, further reducing their use as a source of food. In Afghanistan, already anemic in its ability to produce food crops, 20 percent of all farm land was taken out of circulation by landmines and UXO. Farm output is still only at 45 percent of prewar levels.
The damage landmines cause comes from the explosions and the chemicals inside them. Detonations destroy the top soil. In the former DMZ districts of Gio Linh and Vinh Linh, central Vietnam, a 50 percent drop in the rice
production per hectare has been blamed on regular explosions from ordnance left by years of warfare.
Even lurking quietly on or under the surface, landmine and UXO affect the soil. Their poisonous insides containing TNT, RDX & cyclonites or tetryl leach out and soluble in water, causing toxicity to humans and mammals even in small quantities.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Pollution/Soil Damage

Landmines are the most toxic pollution facing humanity UNICEF 00 [No Author Cited, Landmines: A Deadly Inheritance, 2000, http://www.unicef.org/graca/mines.htm]
78 Landmines Aff
Children in at least 68 countries are today threatened by what may be the most toxic pollution facing mankind the contamination by mines of the land they live on. Over 110 million land-mines of various types plus millions more unexploded bombs, shells and grenades remain hidden around the world, waiting to be triggered by the innocent and unsuspecting, the report says. So common are mines in Cambodia that they are now used for fishing, to protect private property and even to settle private disputes.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Destroy Ecosystems
79 Landmines Aff
Landmines have a prolonged impact on the environment UN News Center 06 [No Author Cited, Annan targets landmines, ecological damage in call to curb wars impact, November 6th 2006, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20505&Cr=landmine&Cr1=]
6 November 2006 United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today took aim at two of the pernicious consequences of war, calling for universal adherence to a treaty that seeks to limit the effects of landmines and booby traps, and urging stronger measures to protect the environment during conflict. Landmines, booby-traps and other improvised explosive devices aggravate and prolong the horrendous consequences of armed conflict, threatening our societies and future generations, he said in a message to a meeting in Geneva of the Parties to the Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Both during and after hostilities, they kill indiscriminately and maim vulnerable civilians, especially women and children. They cause excessive, yet random, suffering of combatants. They endanger the lives of peacekeepers and humanitarian-aid workers, and hamper the repatriation and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons. And they impede post-conflict reconstruction, he added. In the message, delivered by UN Deputy Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament Tim Caughley, Mr. Annan stressed the importance of exchanging information on how to better protect civilians. I urge you to also consider how to promote universal adherence to the Protocol, and strongly appeal to those countries that have not yet ratified this instrument to do so as soon as possible, he said. In another message, marking the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, Mr. Annan cited the oil spill from a Lebanese power station resulting from this summers Israeli-Hizbollah war in calling for steps to ensure that international accords on war and armed conflict cover deliberate and unintentional damage to the environment. Parties engaged in hostilities have a responsibility to observe international rules and agreements, such as the Geneva Conventions, that govern the conduct of war, Mr. Annan said. Some of these rules, such as a prohibition of the deliberate destruction of agricultural land, have an environmental emphasis. But, by and large, the environmental consequences of war are overlooked by contemporary laws, he added. It is high time that we review international agreements related to war and armed conflict to ensure that they also cover deliberate and unintentional damage to the environment.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Destroys Ecosystems

Mines leak poisons and cause extensive damage to ecosystems ICBL 2000 (Environmental Aspects of Landmines, International Campaign To Ban Landmines,
80 Landmines Aff
http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Being planted on the surface of the land, or just beneath its surface, landmines most direct impact is over soil quality and composition. Soil may be affected by the explosion of the weapon or by leaking of toxic substances from a landmine after a period of time in which it is affected by corrosion if it is made of metals, or by decomposition if it is made of wood or other degradable materials. "Any of the three varieties of high explosiveweapons (blast, fragmentation, or general purpose) may be extremely dangerous (fatal) for soldiers and/or civilians and may also cause local disturbance of soil. The fragmentation effects can be more severe in some ecosystems than in others, especially in forests where fragments implanted in trees could open a way to invasion of micro-organisms. After a prolonged period, consequences of the corrosion of fragments and the release of various alloying elements, such as iron, manganese, chromium, zinc, copper, etc., start to show. Mercury is also appearing as pollutant after utilization of high-explosive weapons. In agricultural regions the toxic elements can easily penetrate the human food chain."[43] Therefore, as toxic elements penetrate the soil, processes of bioaccumulation may start and reach humans in on way or another. As well, those toxics may raise to the atmosphere and travel long distances and finally pollute other habitats in distant regions of the world. This process of long distance transboundary pollution of chemicals leaked by landmines has not been studied to detail. Again, it is necessary to produce accurate data on the amount of toxics released by landmines. 1.3.4 Landmines and water pollution It is generally accepted that the use of landmines has been concentrated not only on the battlefield, but in and around civilian populations and basic infrastructure. Sewage and water treatment facilities have been targeted in many African locations. As well, unconfirmed reports of use of landmines as a method for fishing in places as the Tanganika Lake in Tanzania, may suggest that such technique could be in use elsewhere, polluting water with heavy metals and possibly altering chemical composition of sediments. Additionally, landmines may be removed from its original location by heavy rain, floods and other meteorological phenomena, travelling downstream to more stable water bodies as lagoons, lakes, and estuarine ecosystems.
81 Landmines Aff
Landmines adversely affect ecological processes that cause irreversible damage to ecosystems Bruce Gray, University of Sydney, Landmines: The most toxic and most widespread pollution facing mankind, Monday, 14 - 17 July 1997, International House
The effects on the natural environment are equally profound. A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report to the UN General Assembly concluded that mines adversely affect ecological processes by disturbing the soil, destroying vegetation, and killing flora and fauna [UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:11 & 12; Westing et al. 1985:121]. Landmines (as well as UXO) also introduce poisonous substances into the environment as their casing corrode and decay [UNEP / GC / 103 1977:2; UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:11; Westing et al. 1985:121]. Mines commonly use 2,4,6trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX, or "Cyclonite"), or tetryl as high explosive fillers; and these
substances can leach into the surrounding soil and water as the metal or timber casings disintegrate. These substances, and the compounds derived from them as they decompose, are soluble in water, long-lived, carcinogenic, and quite toxic - even in small quantities [UNEP / GC / 103 1977:2; UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:12; Westing et al. 1985:122; Patterson et al. 1996:361; Toze et al. 1996:416]. For example, both TNT and RDX are lethal to mammals, aquatic micro-organisms, and some fish (RDX is particularly toxic to mammals [UNGA / 38 /
383 1983:12; Westing et al. 1985:122].
The impacts of sporadic landmine detonations on soil and vegetation are also deleterious. Not only do mines destroy flora, they also shatter the soil structure thereby lowering soil productivity. A UNEP report into the environmental effects of the Iraq-Kuwait conflict concluded that mines caused: irreversible damage to ecosystems, including prolonged direct damage to soil through shattering and displacement, destruction of soil structure, and increased vulnerability of soil to water and wind erosion [UNEP 1991 in UNICEF 1994:37].
Landmines have set in motion a series of environmental problems Claudio Torres Nachon, international environmental lawyer and Landmine Monitor Researcher for Mexico and Belize, May 1999 (ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF LANDMINES,
http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) This chapter attempts to address some environmental aspects and impacts of antipersonnel landmines (APMs) in the global environment, with a strong emphasis on Africa. The impact of landmines goes further than the killing and maiming of civilians and military well after conflicts are over. Landmines affect many components of the global biosphere. This document recognizes the broader spectrum of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) but due to subject matter objectives our research was limited to antipersonnel landmines. Article 2(1) of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (1997 Mine Ban Treaty), defines: "Antipersonnel mine" means a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons. Mines designed to be detonated by the presence, proximity or contact of a vehicle as opposed to a person, that are equipped with anti-handling devices, are not considered anti-personnel mines as a result of being so equipped." [1] Historically, landmines have been widely used in a number conflicts in many regions of the world since the end of World War II. According to Geoffrey Best, "...it may be said that mines became for the 1970s and 1980s what napalm had been for the 1950s and 1960s; the weapon whose careless and indiscriminate uses have inflicted the most cruel and extensive injuries on civilians...[I]n scale and persistence, mines make up a giant problem and scandal.[2] Africa in particular has been severely contaminated with such indiscriminate explosive devices. Other regions of the world as South East Asia, Central and South America and diverse zones throughout Asia are heavily mined as well. Among the many problems attached to the use of landmines are those related to its impact on the natural environment and its components. Being silent, indiscriminate patient killers, landmines remain active long after conflicts are gone. Its victims are not limited to human beings, landmines have killed and maimed large numbers of specimens of wildlife and domestic species worldwide. In that logic, landmines set in motion a series of events leading to environmental degradation in the forms of soil degradation, deforestation, pollution of water resources with heavy metals and possibly altering entire species' populations by degrading habitats and altering food chains.

Landmines leak toxic substances and force overuse of un-mined areas LandMines.org 06 (Impact of Landmines, http://www.landmines.org.uk/268.php, 2/14)
82 Landmines Aff
In addition to the impact on their victims, landmines also have severe environmental consequences. Mined areas can restrict access to large areas of agricultural land, forcing populations to use small tracts of land to earn their livelihoods. The limited productive land that is available is over-cultivated, which contributes to long-term underproduction, as minerals are depleted from the soil, and the loss of valuable vegetation. Furthermore, landmines introduce poisonous substances into the environment as their casings erode. Explosives commonly used in landmines, such as trinitrotoluene (TNT), seep into the soil. The decomposition of these substances can cause many environmental problems because they are often water soluble, carcinogenic, toxic, and long lasting. Landmines also harm the environment when they explode, scattering debris, destroying surrounding vegetation, and disrupting soil composition. This substantially decreases the productivity of agricultural land and increases an area's vulnerability to water and wind erosion, which in turn can add sediment into drainage systems, adversely affecting water habitats. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) detonations have similar results. One study has shown that the detonation of UXO in the Vietnamese province of Quang Tri has drastically reduced soil productivity. According to estimates, rice production per hectare has decreased 50 percent in this area. The slow degradation of landmines and their devastating impact on surrounding land can render resources unusable for many generations. The environmental impact of landmines is particularly pronounced when viewed in conjunction with socio-economic factors and other consequences of landmine contamination.
Mines seep toxic substances and destroy soil composition King 01 (Elizabeth, Danger in the Earth, The Canadian Landmine Foundation,
http://www.canadianlandmine.org/greenteacherarticle.cfm) In addition to the impact on their victims, landmines also have severe environmental consequences. Mined areas can restrict access to large areas of agricultural land, forcing populations to use small tracts of land to earn their livelihoods. The limited productive land that is available is over-cultivated, which contributes to long-term underproduction, as minerals are depleted from the soil, and valuable vegetation is lost. Furthermore, landmines introduce poisonous substances into the environment as their casings erode. Explosives commonly used in landmines, such as trinitrotoluene (TNT), seep into the soil. The decomposition of these substances can cause many environmental problems because they are often water soluble, carcinogenic, toxic, and long-lasting. Landmines also harm the environment when they explode, scattering debris, destroying surrounding vegetation, and disrupting soil composition. This substantially decreases the productivity of agricultural land and increases an area's vulnerability to water and wind erosion, which in turn can add sediment into drainage systems, adversely affecting water habitats. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) detonations have similar results. One study has shown that the detonation of UXO in the Vietnamese province of Quang Tri has drastically reduced soil productivity. According to estimates, rice production per hectare has decreased 50 percent in this area.
Landmines ruin the environment and society pays as a result Anderson 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Kenneth Anderson director of the
Arms Project of Human Rights Watch Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg.21) The effects of land mines as a pollutant in the environment are just now beginning to be understood. It is a long-lived pollution, one that requires physical cleansing of the earth to eliminate. And since land mines are often laid in places of human habitation, land mine pollution may in some cases have the effect of pushing people who cannot return to their own land out into otherwise unused land. Mines thus set off a long chain of direct and indirect effects; their costs stretch over decades and reach far beyond the initial tragic victim of a mine who loses a limb; all of society pays, over and over again.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Soil Erosion
83 Landmines Aff
Landmines cause soil erosion Bruce Gray, University of Sydney, Landmines: The most toxic and most widespread pollution facing mankind, Monday, 14 - 17 July 1997, International House
Furthermore, the destruction of vegetation cover and topsoil by mines and UXO, coupled with deforestation (resulting from the use of defoliants such as Agent Orange), has a cumulative effect. Reduced water retention in
mountainous regions results in flooding and topsoil erosion on the coastal plains [Monan 1994:13, Monan 1997:13]. The disruption to the soil structure further exacerbates the erosion problem, which leads to an increased sediment load in the drainage system (and increased sedimentation in coastal waters, which can adversely
affect fish and prawn habitats). The extensive use of landmines accelerates deforestation. In areas where agricultural and grazing land has been mined, forests often become the only source of fuel and livelihood. Valuable forests and fruit trees are speedily striped and felled for firewood and building material.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Soil Erosion Impacts
84 Landmines Aff
Erosion of soil threatens life on the planet Ikerd 1999 [John E- Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics at University of Missouri, Foundational
Principles: Soils. Stewardship, and Sustainability, Sep 22, http://www.ssu.missouri.edu/faculty/jikerd/papers/NCSOILS.html] A foundation is "the basis upon which something stands or is supported" (Webster). The basic premises of this discourse on "foundational principles" is that soil is the foundation for all of life, including humanity, that stewardship of soil is the foundation for agricultural sustainability, and that sustainability is the conceptual foundation for wise soil management. All living things require food of one kind or another to keep them alive. Life also requires air and water, but nothing lives from air and water alone. Things that are not directly rooted in the soil -- that live in the sea, on rocks, or on trees, for example -- still require minerals that come from the earth. They must have soil from somewhere. Living things other than plants get their food from plants, or from other living things that feed on plants, and plants feed on the soil. All life may not seem to have roots in the soil, but soil is still at the root of all life. First, I am not a soil scientist. I took a class in soils as an undergraduate and have learned a
good bit about soils from reading and listening to other people over the years. But, I make no claim to being an expert. So I will try to stick to the things that almost anyone might know or at least understand about soil. As I was doing some reading on the subject, I ran across a delightful little book called, "The Great Worlds Farm," written by an English author, Selina Gaye, somewhere around the turn of the century. The copyrights apparently had run out, since the book didnt have a copyright date. Back then people didnt know so much about everything, so they could get more of what they knew about a lot more things in a little book. The book starts off explaining how soil is formed from rock, proceeds through growth and reproduction of plants and animals, and concludes with cycles of life and the balance of nature. But, it stresses that all life is rooted in the soil. Initially molten lava covered all of the earths crust. So, all soil started out as rock. Most plants have to wait until rock is pulverized into small particles before they can feed on the minerals contained in the rock. Chemical reaction with oxygen and carbon dioxide, wearing away by wind and water, expansion and contraction from heating and cooling, and rock slides and glaciers have all played important roles in transforming the earths crust from rock into soil. However, living things also help create soil for other living things. Lichens are a unique sort of plant that can grow directly on rock. Their spores settle on rock and begin to grow. They extract their food by secreting acids, which dissolve the minerals contained in the rock. As lichens grow and die, minerals are left in their remains to provide food for other types of plants. Some plants which feed on dead lichens put down roots, which penetrate crevices in rocks previously caused by mechanical weathering. Growth or roots can split and crumble rock further, exposing more surfaces to weathering and accelerating the process of soil making. Specific types of rock contain limited varieties of minerals and will feed limited varieties of plants even when pulverized into dust. Many plants require more complex combinations of minerals than are available from any single type of rock. So the soils made from various types of rocks had to be mixed with other types before they would support the variety and complexity of plant life that we have come to associate with nature. Sand and dust can be carried from one place to another by wind and water, mixing with sand and dust from other rocks along the way. Glaciers have also been important actors in mixing soil. Some of the richest soils in the world are fertile bottomlands along flooding streams and rivers, loess hills that were blown and dropped by the wind, and soil deposits left behind by retreating glaciers. Quoting from the "Great Worlds Farm," "No soil is really fertile, whatever the mineral matter composing it, unless it also contains some amount of organic matter matter derived from organized, living things, whether animal or vegetable. Organic matter alone is not enough to make a fertile soil; but with less than one-half percent of organic matter, no soil can be cultivated to much purpose." After the mixed soil minerals are bound in place by plants, and successions of plants and animals added organic matter and tilth, the mixtures became what we generally refer to as soils. The first stages of soil formation are distinguished from the latter stages by at least one important characteristic. The dissolving, grinding, and mixing required millions of years, whereas, soil binding and adding organic matter can be accomplished in a matter of decades. Thus, the mineral fraction of soil is a "non-renewable" resource it cannot be recreated or renewed within any realistic future timeframe. Whereas, the organic fraction is a renewable or regenerative resource that can be recreated or renewed over decades, or at least over a few generations. Misuse can displace, degrade, or destroyed the productivity of both fractions of soils within a matter of years. And, once the mineral fraction of soil is lost, its productivity is lost forever. If there are to be productive soils in the future, we must conserve and make wise use of the soils we have today. The soil that washes down our rivers to the sea is no more renewable than are the fossil fuels that we are mining from ancient deposit within the earth. In spite of our best efforts, some quantity of soil will be lost at least lost to our use. Thus, our only hope for sustaining soil productivity is to conserve as much soil as we can and to build up soil organic matter and enhance the productivity of the soil that remains.
In times not too long past, the connection between soil and human life was clear and ever present. Little
more than a century ago, most people were farmers and those who were not lived close enough to a farm to know that the food that gave them life came from the soil. They knew that when the soil was rich, the rains came, and the temperature was hospitable to plants and animals, food was bountiful and there was plenty to eat. They knew that when droughts came, plants dried out and died, and the soil was bare, there was little to eat. They knew when the floods came, plants were covered with water and died, and the soil was bare; there was little to eat. They knew very well that their physical well being, if not their lives, depended on the things that lived from the soil. William Albrecht, a well known soil scientist at the University of Missouri during the middle of this century, hypothesized that people from different parts of the country had distinctive physical characteristics linked to the soils of the area where they grew up. He attributed those physical distinctions to differences in nutrient values of the foods they eat, which in turn depended on the make-up of the soils on which their foodstuffs were grown. Albrechts hypothesis was never fully tested. As people began to move from one place to another throughout their lives, and as more and more foodstuffs were shipped from one region of production to another for consumption, people no longer ate food from any one region or soil type. But its quite possible that when people lived most of their lives in one place, and ate mostly food produced locally, their physical makeup was significantly linked to the make up of local soils. Today, we eat from many soils, from all around the world. Even today there is a common saying that "we are what we eat." If so, "we actually are the soil from which we eat." The connection between soil and life is no longer so direct or so clear, but it is still there. Most urban dwellers also have lost all sense of personal connection to the farm or the soil. During most of this century many people living in cities either had lived on a farm at one time or knew someone, usually a close relative, who still lived on a farm -- which gave them some tangible connection with the soil. At least they knew that "land" meant something more than just a place to play or space to be filled with some form of "development." But these personal connections have been lost with the aging of urbanization. One of the most common laments among farmers today is that "people no longer know where their food comes from." For most, any real understanding of the direct connection between soil and life has been lost. It s sad but true. Whats even sadder is that many farmers dont realize the dependence of their own farming operation on the health and natural productivity of their soil. They have been told by the experts that soil is little more than a medium for propping up the plants so they can be fed with commercial fertilizers and protected by commercial pesticides until they produce a bountiful harvest. In the short run, this illusion of production without natural soil fertility appears real. As long as the soil has a residue of minerals and organic matter from times past, annual amendments of a few basic nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash, being the most common crop yields can be maintained. Over time, however, as organic matter becomes depleted, production problems appear and it becomes increasingly expensive to
maintain productivity. As additional "trace elements" are depleted, soil management problems become more complex. Eventually, it will become apparent that it would have been far easier and less costly in the long run to have maintained the natural fertility of the soil. But, by then much of the natural productivity will be gone -- forever. In the meantime, many farmers will have little sense of their ultimate dependence on the soil. Still, all of life depends upon soil. All life requires food and there is simply no other source of food except living things that depend directly or indirectly on the soil. This is a foundational principle of natural science, of human health, and of social studies that should be taught at every level in every school in the world -- beginning in kindergarten and continuing through college. That we must have soil to live is as fundamental as the fact that we must have air to breath, water to drink, and food to eat . Its just less obvious.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Toxic Soil I/L
85 Landmines Aff
Landmines ruin soil quality, ruining farming land and putting deadly elements into the food chain Nachn 99 (Claudio Torres, President State Council of Environmental Protection Mexico, environmental aspects
of landmines, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Being planted on the surface of the land, or just beneath its surface, landmines most direct impact is over soil quality and composition. Soil may be affected by the explosion of the weapon or by leaking of toxic substances from a landmine after a period of time in which it is affected by corrosion if it is made of metals, or by decomposition if it is made of wood or other degradable materials. "Any of the three varieties of high explosive-weapons (blast, fragmentation, or general purpose) may be extremely dangerous (fatal) for soldiers and/or civilians and may also cause local disturbance of soil. The fragmentation effects can be more severe in some ecosystems than in others, especially in forests where fragments implanted in trees could open a way to invasion of micro-organisms. After a prolonged period, consequences of the corrosion of fragments and the release of various alloying elements, such as iron, manganese, chromium, zinc, copper, etc., start to show. Mercury is also appearing as pollutant after utilization of high-explosive weapons. In agricultural regions the toxic elements can easily penetrate the human food chain."[43] Therefore, as toxic elements penetrate the soil, processes of bioaccumulation may start and reach humans in on way or another. As well, those toxics may raise to the atmosphere and travel long distances and finally pollute other habitats in distant regions of the world. This process of long distance transboundary pollution of chemicals leaked by landmines has not been studied to detail. Again, it is necessary to produce accurate data on the amount of toxics released by landmines.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment - Toxic Soil

Toxic substances, soil degradation, and deforestation all occur Gray 97 (Bruce, Landmines: The Most Toxic and Widespread Pollution Facing Mankind, University of Sydney,
http://fn2.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~puppydog/bgray.htm, landmine expert)
86 Landmines Aff
The effects on the natural environment are equally profound. A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) mines adversely affect ecological processes by disturbing the soil, destroying vegetation, and killing flora and fauna [UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:11 & 12; Westing et al. 1985:121]. Landmines (as well as UXO) also introduce poisonous substances into the environment as their casing corrode and decay [UNEP / GC / 103 1977:2; UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:11; Westing et al. 1985:121]. Mines commonly use 2,4,6trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX, or "Cyclonite"), or tetryl as high explosive fillers; and these substances can leach into the surrounding soil and water as the metal or timber casings disintegrate. These substances, and the compounds derived from them as they decompose, are soluble in water, long-lived, carcinogenic, and quite toxic - even in small quantities [UNEP / GC / 103 1977:2; UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:12; Westing et al. 1985:122; Patterson et al. 1996:361; Toze et al. 1996:416]. For example, both TNT and RDX are lethal to mammals, aquatic micro-organisms, and some fish (RDX is particularly toxic to mammals [UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:12; Westing et al. 1985:122]. The impacts of sporadic landmine detonations on soil and vegetation are also deleterious. Not only do mines destroy flora, they also shatter the soil structure thereby lowering soil productivity. A UNEP report into the environmental effects of the Iraq-Kuwait conflict concluded that mines caused: irreversible damage to ecosystems, including prolonged direct damage to soil through shattering and displacement, destruction of soil structure, and increased vulnerability of soil to water and wind erosion [UNEP 1991 in UNICEF 1994:37]. Furthermore, mine clearance can be equally similarly [UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:11, Westing
report to the UN General Assembly concluded that et al. 1985:122]. According to UNEP, the most environmentally damaging of all the explosives used on land in the Gulf War were the fuel-air explosive bombs used to clear minefields. They pulverised what little top soil existed and destroyed any vegetation that had established itself [Cave 1991 in UNEP 1991:45; Roberts & Williams 1995:262]. Supporting these views, the Director of UNEP has stated that '[m]ines and unexploded ordnance pose one of the most serious and potentially long-lasting threats to the environment of Kuwait' [UNEP 1991:9 & UNYB 1991:506]. Vietnam provides another example of the environmental damage caused by mines. According to Jim Monan's [1994:13] case study on landmines and underdevelopment in Quang Tri province (central Vietnam), the sporadic detonation of mines and UXO throughout Gio Linh and Vinh Linh districts have effectively destroyed the fertile topsoil (the O to A horizon of soils), dramatically reducing the soil's productivity. The result is a 50% reduction in rice production per hectare [Monan 1994:13, Monan 1997:13]. Furthermore, the destruction of vegetation cover and topsoil by mines and UXO, coupled with deforestation (resulting from the use of defoliants such as Agent Orange), has a cumulative effect.
Reduced water retention in mountainous regions results in flooding and topsoil erosion on the coastal plains [Monan 1994:13, Monan 1997:13]. The disruption to the soil structure further exacerbates the erosion problem, which leads to an increased sediment load in the drainage system (and increased sedimentation in coastal waters, which can adversely affect fish and prawn habitats). The extensive use of landmines accelerates deforestation. In areas where agricultural and grazing land has been mined, forests often become the only source of fuel and livelihood. Valuable forests and fruit trees are speedily striped and felled for firewood and building material. Deforestation, in turn, affects drainage systems, water tables, wetlands, coastal mangroves and dune systems, all of which has an adverse impact on fish and other wildlife
[Roberts & Williams 1995:11, 93, 179, & 247]. Turkey provides a further example. In the Munzur Mountains in Turkey's eastern province of Tunceli, landmines are said to be destroying large swathes of the national park's fragile environment through a combination of shattering of the soil structure, destruction of vegetation and ground cover, and by starting fires [Reuters 1997]. There is a significant cost in livestock associated with landmines. In Libya for example, over the forty years between 1940 and 1980, more than 125 000 camels, sheep, goats, and cattle have been killed by mines and other UXO (this equates to approximately one animal per 1 000 per annum) [UNGA / 38 / 383 1983:16; Sgaier 1985:36; Westing et al. 1985:126]; while Aqa states that: [t]here have also been about 264 000 goats and sheep killed in Afghanistan, at a value of about $31.6 million dollars. The same holds for cows, horses, camels, and vehicles. The total direct cost of damage caused by mines to animals and vehicles comes to about $155 million [1994:24]. In subsistence pastoral and agricultural societies where personal wealth is often measured in livestock, the economic and social impacts on family structures of livestock losses of this magnitude can be devastating. In addition to livestock, rare and endangered species are threatened by mines. While the effects of landmines on non-human species are at this point in time far from clear, preliminary studies conducted by UNEP [UNEP / GC / 103 1977:2; UNGA / 38 383 1983:6-16; Westing et al. 1985:117-136; UNEP 1991], as well as anecdotal evidence [Spinney 1994:12; Fraser 1995; Monan 1995; Pearce 1995:42; & Roberts and Williams 1995:11 & 247], indicate that these effects are highly deleterious. Landmines are an extra burden to already threatened species and habitats. Mines have killed many animals, including elephants in Africa and Sri Lanka, eradicated gazelles from parts of Libya, pushed snow leopards to the brink of extinction in Afghanistan, and killed one of the few remaining male silver-backed mountain gorillas in Rwanda [Roberts & Williams 1995:11]. This has led Anderson to declare that '[t]he effects of land mines as a pollutant in the environment are only just nowbeginning to be understood. It is a long-lived pollution, one that requires physical cleansing of the earth to eliminate' [1995:21]. Unfortunately however, as Jan Eliasson (United Nations Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs) explains, [l]and mines are recognised as having a devastating environmental impact. Their severe and long-term effect on land usage, water supply, and infrastructure make them among the most toxic of all man-made pollutants. ... Land mines ... degrade very slowly and render land and other natural resources unusable for years, even generations [1995:176].
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Deforestation
87 Landmines Aff
Landmines accelerate deforestation Bruce Gray, University of Sydney, Landmines: The most toxic and most widespread pollution facing mankind, Monday, 14 - 17 July 1997, International House
Furthermore, the destruction of vegetation cover and topsoil by mines and UXO, coupled with deforestation (resulting from the use of defoliants such as Agent Orange), has a cumulative effect. Reduced water retention in mountainous regions results in flooding and topsoil erosion on the coastal plains [Monan 1994:13, Monan 1997:13]. The disruption to the soil structure further exacerbates the erosion problem, which leads to an increased sediment load in the drainage system (and increased sedimentation in coastal waters, which can adversely affect fish and prawn habitats). The extensive use of landmines accelerates deforestation. In areas where agricultural
and grazing land has been mined, forests often become the only source of fuel and livelihood. Valuable forests and fruit trees are speedily striped and felled for firewood and building material. Deforestation, in turn, affects drainage systems, water tables, wetlands, coastal mangroves and dune systems, all of which has an adverse impact on fish and other wildlife [Roberts & Williams 1995:11, 93, 179, & 247]. Turkey provides a further example. In the Munzur Mountains in Turkey's eastern province of Tunceli, landmines are said to be destroying large swathes of the national park's fragile environment through a combination of shattering of the soil structure, destruction of vegetation and ground cover, and by starting fires [Reuters 1997].
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Species Loss
88 Landmines Aff
Landmines contribute to species loss that interrupt the equilibrium of the food chain Nachon 05 [Claudio Torres, Researcher for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Environmental Aspects of Landmines, 2005, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3]
Landmines may cause a number of unregistered impacts on the environment and its components. Most of the reports on wildlife impacted by landmines tend to focus on certain charismatic species, i.e. tigers, elephants, camels. It would be a sensible gap not to give proper attention to other lesser known species that may play a fundamental role on the food chain in a given habitat. By altering these populations, the existing equilibrium of these species and their habitats may be placed under additional pressure.[44]
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Biodiversity I/L
89 Landmines Aff
Landmines destroy biodiversity and cause ecocide through destruction of the environment McNeely 02 [Jeffrey, Chief Scientist at IUCN, Biodiversity, Conflict and Tropical Rainforests, 2002, http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2002/envsec_conserving_overview.pdf]
War, and preparations for it, has negative impacts on all levels of biodiversity, from genes to ecosystems. These impacts can be directsuch as hunting and habitat destruction by armiesor indirect, for example through the activities of refugees. Sometimes these impacts can be deliberate, and a new word has been added to the military vocabulary: ecocide, the destruction of the environment for military purposes clearly deriving from the scorched earth approach of earlier times. Westing (1976) divides deliberate environmental manipulations during wartime into two broad categories: those involving massive and extended applications of disruptive techniques to deny to the enemy any habitats that produce food, refuge, cover, training grounds and staging areas for attacks; and those involving relatively small disruptive actions that in turn release large amounts of dangerous forces or become self-generating. An example of the latter is the release of exotic micro-organisms or spreading of landmines (of which over 100 million now litter active and former war zones around the worldStrada, 1996)
Landmines have a direct affect on African biodiversity Nachn 99 (Claudio Torres, President State Council of Environmental Protection Mexico, environmental aspects
of landmines, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), some 24,000 people are killed or maimed by landmines every year.[10] In reality, no one knows for sure the exact figure or the exact spectrum of the problem. Many accidents involving landmines are never reported. Environmentally speaking, in Angola, for example, "humans are not the only victims of land mines. Dr. Foster ...has personally seen a herds of cows blown up while crossing a road, and then parts of the cows raining down. They probably saved his life. He also knows of elephants and other wildlife being maimed or destroyed in this way".[11] According to Anna Richardson, "Thousands of animals such as antelopes and elephant fell prey to landmines, hunters and hungry soldiers during Angola's long and bitter war."[12] Although Angola is a signatory of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, landmines have continued to be used by both Angolan government and UNITA rebels[13], such actions severely condemned by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the international community.
Mines destroy biodiversity and drive species towards extinction Berhe 06 (AA, The Contribution of Landmines to Land Degradation, Ecosystem Science Division, UCB,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112748670/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) Loss of biodiversity. The impact of landmines on different plant and animal populations was discussed by all the participants and was considered to be a foremost environmental concern, next to access denial. As long as they receive enough mass to activate them landmines do not differentiate between human beings or other life forms (Westing, 1996; Dudley et al., 2002). Landmines can threaten biodiversity in a given region by destroying vegetation cover during explosions or de-mining, and when animals fall victim. Landmines pose an extra burden for threatened and endangered species. Landmines have been blamed for pushing various species to the brink of extinction (Troll, 2000). Although it is widely believed that landmines destroy vegetation and kill untold numbers of animals every year, this is unfortunately one of the areas where there is hardly any numerical data to determine how many individuals of a species or where and how they fall victims. The very little data that exists on animal population is also highly biased towards domesticated animal and little is known about the impacts suffered by wild populations.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Biodiversity I/L
90 Landmines Aff
Landmines are the greatest poison to the environment Nachn 99 (Claudio Torres, President State Council of Environmental Protection Mexico, environmental aspects
of landmines, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Short term effects generally include the physical destruction of close range vegetation and killing/injuring of wildlife. Medium term impacts may include a deterioration on soil composition preventing cultivation lands to return to levels of agricultural production prior to a landmine explosion. Long term impacts include the persistence and bioaccumulation of certain toxic substances freed into the site of the blast as mercury and lead, both present on most landmines. It is open to discussion how to classify impacts which are specially difficult to assess and quantify. A probable influence into global warming by depletion and enhanced human pressure over natural carbon dioxide sinks as forest presents an enormous task for scientists. As entire populations may not be able to return to their villages or cultivation lands, in occasion they are forced to find new land to settle. To better comprehend the issue, let us remember some basic principles of environmentalism: first, nature knows best; second, everything must go somewhere; and third, but not last, everything is connected to everything else. Therefore, even if such impact on global warming happens to be minimal, it should be properly addressed as an innovative way to reflex on the nature and ends of armed conflict. When considering the wide array of environmental impacts it can be said that, "landmines may be the most widespread, lethal, and long-lasting form of pollution we have yet encountered"
Landmines destroy complex ecosystems Claudio Torres Nachon, international environmental lawyer and Landmine Monitor Researcher for Mexico and Belize, May 1999 (ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF LANDMINES,
http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Wildlife and livestock are a common casualty of landmine explosions. There have been reports of antelopes and elephants killed by landmines during the civil war in Angola. Elephants have also been killed by landmines planted along the border between Burma and Bangladesh. Brown bears were killed by landmines in Bosnia and Croatia. Native tigers are threatened by landmines in Cambodia. In Tibet, rare species of clouded leopard, barking deer, snow leopard and Royal Bengal tiger have been reported as casualties of landmines either maimed or killed. In the Congo Democratic Republic, rebel forces tested some fields for the presence of landmines by herding cattle across them. Depletion of resources/deforestation The presence of mines denies farmers and villagers access to natural resources, and this drives them into more marginal and fragile environments. Forests often become the only source of fuel and food, and the resulting depletion of resources leads to deforestation and the destruction of biological diversity. When people are driven off their most productive agricultural land they may be forced to depend on a smaller area of land to survive or earn a living. This land may be over-cultivated and depleted of its minerals. Poor soils are fragile, vulnerable to erosion and yield less. Over-cultivation accelerates the process of desertification, which destroys complex ecosystems.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Biodiversity I/L - Africa
91 Landmines Aff
Landmines destroy biodiversity in Africa Claudio Torres Nachon, international environmental lawyer and Landmine Monitor Researcher for Mexico and Belize, May 1999 (ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF LANDMINES,
http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Landmines have taken a deadly toll on biodiversity in Africa and other places of the planet. Numerous wildlife and domestic animals casualties have been reported. Considering the difficulties to properly assess the exact number of fauna killed or maimed by landmines, it is not adventurous to consider those figures as a fraction of the actual direct impact of landmines on biodiversity. Indirect impacts on wildlife are even farther to assess. From North to South, testimonies account for the killing and suffering of fauna. In Libya for example "...Minefields have claimed the lives of an estimated 75,000 camels, 36,250 sheep, 12,500 goats and 1,250 cattle."[26] In southern Africa the situation is delicate as the region is host to a wide spectrum of biodiversity. In Zimbabwe, according to Lt. Col. Martin Rupiya, "...every village near Chiredzi has lost at least one animal to land mines... In the Gonarezhou National Park, elephants and buffaloes have had to be killed after they were injured by land mines." [27 ] In neighboring Mozambique "Mines reportedly have killed more than 100 elephants
Landmines are devastating the African environment Nachn 99 (Claudio Torres, President State Council of Environmental Protection Mexico, environmental aspects
of landmines, http://www.icbl.org/resources/document/lm_environment.php3) Landmines have taken a deadly toll on biodiversity in Africa and other places of the planet. Numerous wildlife and domestic animals casualties have been reported. Considering the difficulties to properly assess the exact number of fauna killed or maimed by landmines, it is not adventurous to consider those figures as a fraction of the actual direct impact of landmines on biodiversity. Indirect impacts on wildlife are even farther to assess. From North to South, testimonies account for the killing and suffering of fauna. In Libya for example "...Minefields have claimed the lives of an estimated 75,000 camels, 36,250 sheep, 12,500 goats and 1,250 cattle."[26] In southern Africa the situation is delicate as the region is host to a wide spectrum of biodiversity. In Zimbabwe, according to Lt. Col. Martin Rupiya, "...every village near Chiredzi has lost at least one animal to land mines... In the Gonarezhou National Park, elephants and buffaloes have had to be killed after they were injured by land mines." [27 ] In neighboring Mozambique "Mines reportedly have killed more than 100 elephants..." [28] Another avenue for direct impact on wildlife may be the intentional use of landmines as a technique for poaching wildlife. Landmine-poaching presents the ultimate distortion of this insidious weapon. It is used as a simple and effective mechanism for killing wildlife. Cases of landmine-poaching of highly endangered species as tigers have been reported in Burma and other South East Asia locations. A single bowl of tiger penis soup, an alleged aphrodisiac delicacy, may cost up US$500.00 in Japan. Returning to Africa, "people of the village of Mulondo in southern Angola took anti-tank mines from a mine-belt surrounding their village and planted them into the traditional elephant migration paths of the Mupa National Park. As elephants flee strictly straight ahead, the whole herd was massacred here..."[29] There are as well unconfirmed reports of UNITA rebels use of landmines to kill elephants to procure their valuable ivory tusks to buy weapons. From another perspective, it is necessary to reflect on the impact of landmines on domestic species. In impoverished, less developed countries of Africa, to own cattle means much as they serve many cultural, social and economic values. Losing a cow means much more than losing a source of protein.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Biodiversity Impacts
92 Landmines Aff
The impact is extinction Montague 95 (Peter, Rachel's Environment & Health News, The Four Horsemen -- Part 2: Loss of Biodiversity,
December 14 http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/bulletin.cfm?Issue_ID=651) Extinctions are dangerous for humans, but it is not immediately clear just how dangerous. In their 1984 book, EXTINCTION, Paul and Anne Ehrlich compare our situation to an airplane
held together by rivets. As time goes on, an occasional rivet will pop out. No single rivet is essential for maintaining flight, but eventually if we pop enough rivets, a crash seems certain to occur. So it is with humans and the other species with whom we share the planet. No single species is essential to our well being, yet it is certain that we need biological diversity in order to survive. Therefore each time we diminish diversity, we take another irreversible step toward the brink of a dark abyss. In the process, we desecrate the
wondrous works of the creator.
Biodiversity Loss Causes Planetary Extinction Diner 1994 (David N. Judge Advocate Generals Corps of US Army, Military Law Review, Lexis)
No species has ever dominated its fellow species as man has. In most cases, people have assumed the God-like power of life and death -extinction or survival -- over the plants and animals of the world. For most of history, mankind pursued this domination with a singleminded determination to master the world, tame the wilderness, and exploit nature for the maximum benefit of the human race. n67 In
past mass extinction episodes, as many as ninety percent of the existing species perished, and yet the world moved forward, and new species replaced the old. So why should the world be concerned now? The prime reason is the world's survival. Like all animal life, humans live off of other species. At some point, the number of species could decline to the point at which the ecosystem fails, and then humans also would become extinct. No one knows how many [*171] species the world needs to support human life, and to find out -- by allowing certain species to become extinct -- would not be sound policy. In addition
to food, species offer many direct and indirect benefits to mankind. n68 2. Ecological Value. -- Ecological value is the value that species have in maintaining the environment. Pest, n69 erosion, and flood control are prime benefits certain species provide to man. Plants and animals also provide additional ecological services -- pollution control, n70 oxygen production, sewage treatment, and biodegradation. n71 3. Scientific and Utilitarian Value. -- Scientific value is the use of species for research into the physical processes of the world. n72 Without plants and animals, a large portion of basic scientific research would be impossible. Utilitarian value is the direct utility humans draw from plants and animals. n73 Only a fraction of the [*172] earth's species have been examined, and mankind may someday desperately need the species that it is exterminating today. To accept that the snail darter, harelip sucker, or Dismal Swamp southeastern shrew n74 could save mankind may be difficult for some. Many, if not most, species are useless to man in a direct utilitarian sense. Nonetheless, they may be critical in an indirect role, because their extirpations could affect a directly useful species negatively. In a closely interconnected ecosystem, the loss of a species affects other species dependent on it. n75 Moreover, as the number of species decline, the effect of each new extinction on the remaining species increases dramatically. n76 4. Biological Diversity. -- The main premise of species preservation is that diversity is better than simplicity. n77 As the current mass extinction has progressed, the world's biological diversity generally has decreased. This trend occurs within ecosystems by reducing the number of species, and within species by reducing the number of individuals. Both trends carry serious future implications. Biologically diverse ecosystems are
characterized by a large number of specialist species, filling narrow ecological niches. These ecosystems inherently are more stable than less diverse systems. "The more complex the ecosystem, the more successfully it can resist a stress. . . . [l]ike a net, in which each knot is connected to others by several strands, such a fabric can resist collapse better than a simple, unbranched circle of threads -- which if cut anywhere breaks down as a whole." n79 By causing widespread extinctions, humans have artificially simplified many ecosystems. As biologic simplicity increases, so does the risk of ecosystem failure. The spreading Sahara Desert in Africa, and the dustbowl conditions of the 1930s in the United States are relatively mild examples of what might be expected if this trend continues. Theoretically, each new animal or plant extinction, with all its dimly perceived and intertwined affects, could cause total ecosystem collapse and human extinction. Each new extinction increases the risk of disaster. Like a mechanic removing, one by one, the rivets from an aircraft's wings, [hu]mankind may be edging closer to the abyss.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Environment Biodiversity Impacts
93 Landmines Aff
Loss Of Biodiversity Results In Extinction And Outweighs All Other Impacts WILSON 1992 (Dr. Edward O.- Professor at Harvard and author of two Pulitzer Prize winning books, The
Diversity of Life, 1992)
The worst thing that can happen, will happen, is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing in the 1980s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendants
are least likely to forgive us.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Biodiversity Alt Causes
94 Landmines Aff
American University, May 15, 1996 [ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; CASE NUMBER: 295; CASE
MNEMONIC: LANDMINE; CASE NAME: ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; http://www.american.edu/TED/LANDMINE.HTM] Landmines leave no visible damage to the environment, but that is not to say that their impact is any less severe than desertification and deforestation in other parts of the world. Landmines, it could be argued, do not allow man to alter the soil by cutting down trees, extracting minerals, or dumping chemicals. However, by their very nature, landmines are a man made pollutant and adversely alter the environment for future generations. For example, in Angola thousands of miles of riverbanks, and tens of thousands of acres of farmland, pastures, and forest are now unusable. In addition, the landmines have lead to a large migration of people from the countryside to towns and cities. The increased numbers of people in certain parts of the country place a strain on the resources of the land. Areas where refugees have been forced to move have been stripped of wood and wild game while water supplies have been depleted and contaminated leading to increases in reported cases of dysentery, malaria and cholera. In time the areas will be prone to desertification as the land is further stripped by the refugees in their attempts to survive.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Biodiversity Plan Solves
95 Landmines Aff
Landmine removal allow the critical, needed balance between humans and animals, thus leading to biodiversity. Government of Angola, 05 Jul 2005[press releases, Angola: Partnership with US landmines-related
NGOs; http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ACIO-6DZSB5?OpenDocument&Click=] She said around 1,500 square kilometres to be cleared of landmines are located in the partial reserves of Luiana Park, in the Southeast Kuando Kubango province of Angola. Landmines removal in this region will allow restore balance between nature and human beings, well as safe flow of animals from the North of Botswana, through Namibia, Angola and Zambia, to ensure that the South of the continent is filled up with wild animals. The eco-tourism project for Kuando-Kubango region is worth six million dollars, being one million already available. After the removal of these explosive devices, the "Conservation International" will work with the Angolan authorities for the creation of a National Park in the province. Roots of Peace and Conservation International are non-profit US organisations which develop mine removal actions and agriculture revival in the rural areas. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Hotels and Tourism, Eduardo Chingunji, NGOs representatives and from the National Inter sector Commission for Landmines removal and Humanitarian Aid (CNIDAH).
Reducing the amount of landmines restores the natural migration patterns and increases natural biodiversity. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 02 Dec 2004 [ Roots of Peace back demining/ecotourism
project in Angola; Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/e6c910032f05b67b85256f5e00695c00?OpenDocument&Click=] Nairobi, 2 December 2004 - An ambitious project to clear deadly land mines from a wildlife sanctuary in southern Africa is being launched today in a bid to give thousands of elephants and local villagers new hope. The initiative, backed by the California based Roots of Peace, underlines that land mines are an environmental as well as a humanitarian concern. It was announced during the Nairobi Summit for a Mine-Free World taking place at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The one million US dollar project initially aims to clear mines, sown during the Angolan civil war, to help restore an ancient elephant migration route linking Botswana with Zambia and Angola. It is part of a wider pln aimed at creating a vast transfrontier conservation area which is being supported by the governments of Switzerland and the United States. An estimated 120,000 elephants, whose numbers are growing at five per cent annually would be able to move north into Angola and Zambia if the mines were cleared. The high, artificial, number of animals has triggered an environmental disaster with serious damage to the woody vegetation in the Chobe National Park and adjacent areas. The elephants are also coming into increasing conflict with villagers because of the damage they are causing to crops and the daily threats to human life.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 African Economy I/L
96 Landmines Aff
Landmines cripple Africa economies and make it more expensive to deliver aid to certain regions Oppong and Kalipeni 05
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] As an environmental problem, landmines have profound medical and economic consequences, particularly for civilian populations. Intended to deny access of terrain to enemy troops, landmines effectively depopulate whole sections of countries, disrupt agriculture and transportation, damage economic infrastructure, and kill or maim thousands of innocent civilians. Frequently, they are deployed to make vital economic assets useless, crippling the affected economy (Unruh, Heynen, and Hossler 2003). Market systems are seriously hampered when roads are landmined, because farmers are no longer able to send their produce to the market. Inflation and soaring prices result from the artificial shortages of goods and services caused by restricted movement. Mined roads escalate the effect of droughts by disrupting domestic food movements and obstructing food relief. In 1980, while it cost $80 to deliver one ton of relief supplies by road from Lobito to Huambo in Angola, it cost $2,000 by air, but landmines along the delivery routes made land transportation unfeasible (UNICEF 1996).
By preventing access to necessary daily activities and needs land mines kill the economy Mark S. Rountree (MD, Extremity Trauma Study Branch ;Countering the Global Landmine Epidemic Through Basic Science Research, Journal on Mine Action 4.2, June 2000
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/4.2/Focus/GLE/global.htm) Landmines have a lasting effect on the indigenous population of affected countries in many aspects of daily life. By limiting access to agricultural areas, landmines may contribute to famine, forcing inhabitants to farm in mined areas, thus increasing the number of victims. For landmine amputees, the limited supply of adequate prosthetic devices can determine their level of dependence on others for support, further burdening the economy.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 African Economy I/L
97 Landmines Aff
Landmines destroy the African agriculture workforce Taylor 02 (Upsetting Lives: The Public Health Impact of Landmines in Africa Sarah B. Taylor December 2002
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.3/focus/taylor/taylor.htm Journal of Mine Action 6.3) As most African countries are agrarian, disabilities such as the loss of a limb prevent inhabitants from carrying out everyday activities; this in turn severely affects both the social and the economic capacity of the disabled. Gerber comments on this dilemma. He states, "Data show that people involved in agriculture are more likely to be injured by mines and UXO than their urban counterparts." He also notes that the majority of landmine injuries leave the injured physically unable to complete their jobs, stating, "In less developed countries, subsistence as well as commercial agriculture is a manual process. There is little automation. A personwhether an amputee, blinded or disabledis often no longer capable of working as a farmer. If you are not able-bodied in Africa, you are likely not able to work in agriculture." Laura Hamilton, an occupational therapist and the Director of International Programs at the Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR), has witnessed the societal impact of these physical landmine injuries. She notes, "Usually people with disabilities are no longer considered functional members of society, so they are not really allowed to work; or it is not really expected for them to work or be the bread winner of the family." This societal mentality of many African communities (and throughout much of the world) also has a dramatic economic impact. Hamilton states, "Theyre not expected or even wanted to continue working in the workforce, so theyre kind of barred access to jobs. There is no such thing as returning to work." Thus, when a member of a family is injured, especially one that supplied the primary income, the dynamics of the entire family changes. Hamilton agrees, "[Children] have to quit school so they can go help the family earn a living, or the mother, who often was at home with the children, is now out foraging. Shes putting herself at risk for being injured too because shes out hunting food and gathering firewood, [tasks] that maybe she hadnt done before." Gerber knows that disentangling this predicament is problematic. He states, "The challenge in Africa and elsewhere is to retrain people who cannot return to their pre-injury vocations for jobs that they can do after their injuries. A farmer becoming a tailor, a teacher, a baker, etc."
Agriculture is key to the African Economy Proctor 05(Agricultures Key Role in Africas Fight against Poverty, Felicity Proctor Director of Programme
Development 11 March 2005 http://www.nri.org/comment/africaagriculture.htm National Resources Institute) The African continent is rich in human and natural resources. Of some 900 million people, over 75% live in rural areas including small towns and villages. These rural populations depend heavily, although not exclusively, on the production and use of natural resources for their livelihoods: this high level of reliance on natural resources will remain through at least the next generation. Agriculture is not only a key to both rural and urban food security and to household livelihoods, but is also a major contributor to the export economy and thus to foreign exchange earnings. It is the most important source of employment in most countries of the region. African farmers pursue a wide range of crop and livestock production and marketing enterprises, with considerable diversity across and within the major agroecological zones. Unlike many other regions of the world, African food crop production and food security is based on a multitude of farming systems. These farming systems are strongly influenced by the prevailing market conditions, which include market access both locally and globally. The African Union through NEPAD has expressed its recognition of the crucial role of agriculture for food security, for economic growth, and for underpinning the processes of economic diversification. Unlocking the potential for agriculture is and must continue to be a major priority for national governments, for donors, for academic and policy centres internationally, and for the private sector. NEPADs Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme provides a framework to guide future investment and policy.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Poverty I/L
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The effects of landmines include lack of food, shelter, and jobs for many people, leading to poverty. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 02 Dec 2004 [ Roots of Peace back
demining/ecotourism project in Angola; Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/e6c910032f05b67b85256f5e00695c00?OpenDocument&Click=] Klaus Toepfer, UNEPs Executive Director, said: Land mines are among the horrendous legacies of war that play their deadly role in perpetuating poverty. The direct threat to people from these seeds of misery must be our first concern but it is clear that the environment, upon which local people depend for items such as food, shelter and natural medicines suffers, too. Land mines effectively bar people from productive land forcing them to clear forests and other precious areas for agriculture with consequences for the fertility of soils, accelerated land degradation and loss of wildlife. We need more initiatives like this Roots of Peace and Conservation International project in Angola that not only remove these discarded weapons but replace them with the chance for local people to earn a sustainable livelihood, he said. Angola, which suffered decades three decades of civil war which finally came to an end in December 2002, is one of if not the most mined countries in the world with over 2,200 known sites harbouring mines or unexploded ordnance.
De-mining increases jobs and the prospect of increasing jobs. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 02 Dec 2004 [ Roots of Peace back demining/ecotourism
project in Angola; Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/e6c910032f05b67b85256f5e00695c00?OpenDocument&Click=] Heidi Kuhn, Founder and President of Roots of Peace, said they were waging peace on the most heavily mined country in Africa. She said restoring the migration routes by de-mining the reserve also offered the prospect of creating local jobs and much needed income for the people there. There are very few ecotourism initiatives in Angola, mainly because of the land mines. Restoring this area is part of a bigger plan to create a large transboundary park known as the Okavango/Upper Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area which will stretch from Zimbabwe through Botswana, Namibia, Angola and Zambia. Once completed it would be the largest continuous wilderness, wetland and wildlife area in southern Africa with significant tourism potential and revenue-raising prospects for local people, said Ms Kuhn, whose San Rafael, California-based, organization has established a track record on raising funds for de-mining projects in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Croatia and Iraq.
Landmines drive countries into perpetual poverty Holmes 97(Civil Affairs: Reflections of the FuturePrepared remarks by H. Allen Holmes, assistant secretary of
defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, at the Worldwide Civil Affairs Conference, Volume 12, Number 32 Chicago, June 6, 1997. http://www.specialoperations.com/Literature/Articles/Civil_Affairs.htm) The anti-personnel land mine crisis has taken an enormous toll on populations and governments around the world. The failure or inability of a country to address the proliferation of anti-personnel land mines, beyond the obvious personal suffering, denies farmers use of their fields, which stymies the resumption of agricultural production, denies access to markets, reduces public confidence in fledgling governments and creates many other hurdles for a nation trying to heal the wounds of war. So beyond the injuries inflicted and the medical expenses incurred, mine fields drive whole societies into helpless poverty with no obvious way out.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 African Economy - Impacts

Landmines in sub-Saharan Africa cause war and economic decline
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Luckham et al 99 (Ahmed and R Muggah, The Impact of Conflict on Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, IDS, 1999, http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/conflictsubsaharanafrica.pdf, 11 July 2007) In the majority of African economies the most direct impact of war is on production and household livelihoods. War can deny people access to their land at critical growing or planting periods, increase the costs of agricultural inputs, disrupt markets and restrict sales of produce. The use of landmines for example, in countries like Angola has severely limited access to land in the long term. Agricultural production and family livelihoods have suffered dramatically as a result. A study undertaken by the International Food Policy Research Institute7 determined that African countries had suffered production losses of up to 45% (in Angola). Average production losses through conflict were 12%.War also seriously affected growth in the agricultural sector reducing it by 3% per annum. War has therefore been responsible for increasing the gap between food production and consumption in large parts of Africa and in some countries has created a substantial requirement for imported food and food aid.
Landmines Destroy African Economies Beir 03(The economics impact of landmines on developing countries, Gregory L. Bier Adjunct Assistant
Professor, Department of Management, College of Business, University of Missouri-Columbia International Journal of Social Economics Bradford 2003 Vol. 30, Iss. 5/6; pg. 651) Demining brings unique and complex challenges to reconstruction. In an agriculturally-based economy, land must be made readily available to economic activity. Often this involves the laborious task of removing the threat of mines. However, in many instances it is merely the suspicion of mines that makes the land unusable. The World Bank's 1997 operational guidelines on demining (Operations Policy Department, 1997) make the very accurate assessment that its support of demining activities should be limited to indirect activities and that its support should also be tied to a larger project, such as "road construction." Many non-governmental organizations indirectly supplement their demobilization effort by placing former infantry and engineer combatants into demining roles. Economic impact of landmines Landmines simply compound the complexity of systematic economic development. They impact agricultural land, water canals, roads, access to public places and utilities. In an economic reconstruction sense the impact of landmines include: destroys livestock, wildlife, and other environmental resources; disrupts markets and production; prevents the maximum use of farmland; inhibits tourism and potential investment; prevents the delivery of government services; depletes the already limited medical resources in poor countries; impedes the return of refugees (the country's human capital); prolongs the economic reconstruction (that in turn increases instability); prevents the delivery, import and export, of products and services; serves as a physical obstacle to rapport and economic reconstruction; hinders the repair of irrigation systems that allow for restored production; prevents the government from extending its presence around the country.
Landmines prevent economic prosperity Beir 03(The economics impact of landmines on developing countries, Gregory L. Bier Adjunct Assistant
Professor, Department of Management, College of Business, University of Missouri-Columbia International Journal of Social Economics Bradford 2003 Vol. 30, Iss. 5/6; pg. 651) It would be of interest to address how the impact of landmines specifically hinders a struggling nation's ability to rebuild its economic base. First, landmines leave a real and lasting impression of the instability the population has witnessed. This impression is not quickly changed. In an agrarian country, its economy can be crippled since it is so dependent on the productivity of the agricultural sector. The presence or even the suspicion of landmines halts farming and transportation systems. Kakar (1995) studied the impact of landmines simply on agriculture and found that, "Without mines, agricultural production could increase 88-200% in Afghanistan, 11% in Bosnia, 135% in Cambodia, and 3.6% in Mozambique." Eimeril (1997) goes on to emphasize that by placing quantifiable figures on the value of land, such as this, simplifies the release of international funding. Even the most simplistic response to this is a rise in prices as a reaction to the limited supply of goods and services.
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****Country Specific****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Angola
101 Landmines Aff
Angola is the most heavily mined country in the world with over 20 million mines deployed in over 50% of its providences Oppong and Kalipeni 05
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] It is impossible to estimate the number of landmines in Angola. According to the United States State Department, by 1994 more than 9 million mines had been deployed throughout the country; 2 million had
been laid in Mozambique, 1.0 to 1.5 million in Somalia, 0.5 to 1.5 million in Sudan, and 0.5 to 1 million in Ethiopia and Eritrea (United States Department of State 1994). Scholars have put the total number of landmines in Angola at somewhere around 20 million (Human Rights Watch 2003; Robbins, n.d.); in 2002, the U.S. State Department cited estimates ranging up to 7 million (United States Department of State 2002). With eight of its eighteen provincesnearly 50 percent of the countryheavily mined, Angola remains one of the most severely mined countries in the world. The provinces of Bie and Huambo, in central Angola, have suffered a disproportionate share of landmine injuries; however, as shown in figure 2, the landmine problem is severe in the south and east, particularly in Moxico Province (Human Rights Watch 1997, 2003).
Landmines are dangerous to animals, plants, and all life. American University, May 15, 1996 [ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; CASE NUMBER: 295; CASE
MNEMONIC: LANDMINE; CASE NAME: ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; http://www.american.edu/TED/LANDMINE.HTM] In short, the Angolan landmine situation severely disrupts almost all aspects of the countries environment because landmines are a pollutant to humans, animals and fauna alike. For the time being the laying of landmines has stopped in Angola, but it continues at an alarming rate in other parts of the world and there seems to be no foreseeable solution to the problem. After the integration of both sides into a unified military and government landmines pose the largest threat to a long lasting peace, and the future of Angola both environmentally and literally. If the situation is not remedied with help from the international community Angolans will be confined to certain portions of the country which will not allow for industry and agriculture to flourish and will strain the land where landmines are not present to the point of desertification and severe species loss.
Landmines leave thousands dead or maimed every year Loveman 05 (Ellie Loveman, Mine Action Information Center, Angola, Mine Action, Vol 9, No 1,
August 2005)
During the Angolan civil war, the Angolan government, UNITA, Cubans and South Africans deployed mines. In 2000, landmines claimed 840 victims in Angola, with half the accidents occurring on roads contaminated with mines. As of 2001, one in every 334 Angolans was an amputee and less than 30 percent of the population had access to health care. As a result, still today up to half of those injured die before or after surgery. In 2004 alone, a mine incident occurred every four days. On December 4, 1997, Angola signed the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention, but landmines were still used against UNITA until a peace agreement was formed between the two parties in April 2002. Angola ratified the Mine Ban Convention on July 5, 2002, and the Convention became effective on January 1, 2003.
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Prefer plan over the PIC-Angola is severely impacted by landmines has one of the highest rates of landmines in the world Loveman 05 (Ellie Loveman, Mine Action Information Center, Angola, Mine Action, Vol 9, No 1,
August 2005)
The war-torn country of Angola is severely impacted by landmines; Steve Priestley, Director of International Projects for Mines Advisory Group (MAG) said, No matter the total number of mines, of all the countries in the world, Angola is the one most heavily impacted by landmines. He added, Whatever you want to do, whether its plant a field or rehabilitate a school or open a road, youve first got to clear away the mines. The threat of mines has paralyzed the country.2 In order to create safer living conditions for Angolans, several non-governmental organizations funded by the United States and several other donors have worked or are working to destroy and remove landmines while providing mine risk education (MRE) to help prevent future incidents.
Landmines kill thousands in Angola Loveman 05 (Ellie Loveman, Mine Action Information Center, Angola, Mine Action, Vol 9, No 1,
August 2005)
In Angola, the purpose of landmines is well-known: They are planted to cause death or injury to a person or vehicle, and casualties are expected. The Angolan government reports that, as of September 2004, an estimated 700 deaths and 2,300 injuries had resulted from landmines over the previous six years. An additional 80,000 mine survivors are living in Angola. According to the Angola Educational Assistance Fund, Inc., in 1997, 40 percent of mine victims were children, 8,000 of the 70,000 amputees in the population were children and 150 to 200 new accidents occurred each week. Today, according to statistics provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 1015 percent of all mine victims worldwide are women. In Angola, the national percentage is 20 percent. More women are working outside the home in traditional male roles due to the deaths and injuries of the men who fought in the war, which increases their chances of encountering landmines. Women are affected in worse ways than men, however, as an injured woman is considered a burden and does not receive necessary support from the male-dominated community.
Landmines prevent water access Feinberg 06 (Lloyd Feinberg, US Agency for International Development, USAIDs Perspective: The
importance of Social and Economic Development Strategies for Humanitarian Mine Action, Journal of Mine Action, Vol 9, No 2, February 2006, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/9.2/feature/feinberg/feinberg.htm, 11 July 2007) For example, in Angola, demining operations made it possible to reestablish a water pumping station in Moxico province that brings potable water to more than 120,000 residents. Mine clearance also allowed the reconstruction of a surgery room in Huila province's Mavinga Hospital. These infrastructural changes will improve the health and productivity of Angola's people, which in turn will contribute to long-term economic gains and increased chances of political stability. The potential gains are great for many people in many sectors. Whether or not mine clearance will have achieved its goals by 2007, it is increasingly important for those concerned about the lasting impacts of landmines and other explosive remnants of war to view their mine action activities within the framework of social and economic reconstruction and development strategies.
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Angola has the worst landmine problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. There isnt even a comprehensive system to count the number of mines. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] More than three decades of internal conflict left Angola with one of the worlds most serious landmine problems. No comprehensive national mine survey exists, so the actual number of landmines in the country is unknown. The humanitarian demining organization, Menschen gegen Minen (MgM), estimates the true quantity of mines is probably in the hundreds of thousands, rather than millions. Large quantities of unexploded ordnance (UXO) also are present. Eight of Angolas 18 provinces are heavily mined, including Moxico, Malange, Kuando-Kubago and Bie, covering nearly 50 percent of the country in a band from the northwest border with the Congo to the southeast border with Namibia.
Landmines lead to infrastructure breakdown, the inability to provide humanitarian aid, and stops the coming of freedom. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] Combatants planted these mines to destroy or deny access to Angolas infrastructure. Landmines pose a critical obstacle to freedom of movement and to restarting Angolas domestic food production. Mines are concentrated around roads, railways, bridges and public facilities, such as schools, churches, water supply points and health care facilities, as well as near some provincial capitals, military facilities, footpaths and fields. These mines hinder humanitarian aid, economic reconstruction and the resettlement of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Landmines affect a large portion of the population, with 80,000 amputees and an ever-expanding number of victims under the age of 15.
The US has poured money into Angola like no other. The US has spent more than 45 million dollars on Angola. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] Since Fiscal Year (FY) 1995, the United States contributed $38,000,000 in humanitarian mine action assistance to Angola, still provided exclusively through non-governmental organizations (NGOs), primarily to facilitate IDP and refugee resettlement and for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The Department of Defense Humanitarian Assistance Program has provided excess equipment to supplement the mine detectors, vehicles and safety and communications equipment previously purchased with U.S. funds. Approximately one in 334 Angolans is an amputee mine survivor, and the United States has funded programs to assist them. Since 1996, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided more than $5,900,000 to a Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation program to render rehabilitation and social and economic reintegration to those with mobility needs in Angolas isolated eastern regions. Through a rehabilitation center and fully functioning orthopedic workshop located in wartorn Moxico Province, the program has repaired more than 350 prostheses and orthoses, produced and delivered 1,800 mobility aids and provided 6,000 physiotherapy interventions. In FY03, the United States allocated approximately $4,000,000 in financial assistance to Angola. These funds include $500,000 to the LWVF; $1,320,000 to The Hazardous Area Life-Support Organization Trust to continue clearance operations in Bie and Huambo Provinces; $980,000 and $705,000 to Norwegian Peoples Aid and MgM, respectively; and $395,000 to Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for the Eastern Angola Road Access Project. These NGO demining efforts provided for the resettlement of IDPs; increased agricultural land for subsistence farming; allowed access to water and firewood for the resident civilian population; and opened roads and rural areas to provide access routes for humanitarian relief.
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Landmines impede progress in Angola, have killed at least seventy-thousand people, and cripple their livelihood. American University, May 15, 1996 [ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; CASE NUMBER: 295; CASE
MNEMONIC: LANDMINE; CASE NAME: ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; http://www.american.edu/TED/LANDMINE.HTM] In 1994 the two warring sides in the Angolan civil war signed the Lusaka peace accords and subsequently have slowly retreated from their entrenched positions. However, due to the heinous number of land mines Angola will remain a country afflicted by the scourge of war for decades to come because the devices act as a silent enemy not allowing the population to progress and rebuild. Estimates of the number of Angolan land mines range between 10 and 20 million which equates to at least 1 to 2 land mines for every person in the country. U.N. estimates put the number of Angolan amputees resulting from the silent killers at 70,000. For three decades mines were scattered in Angola's fields, villages, roads, and other unexpected places to intimidate, maim and kill innocent victims. Land mines have a devastating affect upon the environment by`restricting the movement of people, deterring farming, disrupting economies, and killing and mutilating many innocent men, women, and children. In 1993 a UN General Resolution moratorium on the sale and export of antipersonnel land mines was passed. However, international consensus has yet to be achieved and Angola's problem continues unabated.
Landmines dont allow people or animals to lead normal lives, are terrible to the environment, prevent governmental order, and lead to the mass exodus of refugees. American University, May 15, 1996 [ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; CASE NUMBER: 295; CASE
MNEMONIC: LANDMINE; CASE NAME: ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; http://www.american.edu/TED/LANDMINE.HTM] Land mines affect Angola on a daily basis. Refugees are often unable to return to their homes and farm their land. In those cases where people attempt to rebuild around the mines many lose their lives in the process. In addition, animals are kept away from centuries old watering holes leaving them confused and likely to die in the harsh elements of the bush. Landmines are also causing difficulties for the Angolan government as it attempts to incorporate democracy and rebuild the shattered country with as little social discontent as possible. In short, there is total disruption to human life and the environment. Landmines leave no visible damage to the environment, but that is not to say that their impact is any less severe than desertification and deforestation in other parts of the world. Landmines, it could be argued, do not allow man to alter the soil by cutting down trees, extracting minerals, or dumping chemicals. However, by their very nature, landmines are a man made pollutant and adversely alter the environment for future generations. For example, in Angola thousands of miles of riverbanks, and tens of thousands of acres of farmland, pastures, and forest are now unusable. In addition, the landmines have lead to a large migration of people from the countryside to towns and cities. The increased numbers of people in certain parts of the country place a strain on the resources of the land. Areas where refugees have been forced to move have been stripped of wood and wild game while water supplies have been depleted and contaminated leading to increases in reported cases of dysentery, malaria and cholera. In time the areas will be prone to desertification as the land is further stripped by the refugees in their attempts to survive.
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No one is able to use any of the existing infrastructure in Angola because it is so heavily mined. American University, May 15, 1996 [ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; CASE NUMBER: 295; CASE
MNEMONIC: LANDMINE; CASE NAME: ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; http://www.american.edu/TED/LANDMINE.HTM] Due to Angola's lack of infrastructure it is difficult to find figures indicating the destruction that landmines have caused, but a U.S. State Department report estimates that in 1993, following an escalation in fighting between UNITA and MPLA troops, the Angolan harvest was reduced by more than 30 percent. Further complicating economic rejuvenation most roads, bridges, and public works have been mined or destroyed severely reducing the movement of all people who do not have access to air transportation. The Benguela railway, Angolas only major railroad has been mined so severely that it is no longer in use at all. The railway had provided Angola and neighboring Zaire and Zambia with a major transportation route to send their products to the major Angolan port of Benguela for export to the rest of the world. All of these limiting factors caused by landmines severely decrease the ability of the country to attract foreign investment which is desperately needed to stimulate the economy and provide a better standard of living for Angolans.
There is a shortage of assistance to landmine survivors in Angola now United Nations, January 2007 (http://www.stoplandmines.org/slm/jose_brinco_B.html)
An estimated 6 million mines laid during 27 years of civil war still litter Angola's countryside. They have left a trail of physical destruction - disabling one in every 415 Angolans - as well as psychological trauma. Apart from the effects on the individual, landmines also remain a serious impediment to Angola's social and economic reconstruction, blocking access to water points, hampering the recovery of the country's agriculture sector and creating a climate of fear and tension. "Every Angolan knows that somewhere there is a mine with his name on it. We are trying to postpone that meeting for as long as possible," one villager told the development agency, Handicap International. There is some good news. Physical rehabilitation is not in short supply for those living in the cities and major provincial centres, although those in the heart of the bush may be unaware of the services on offer, or be unable to get to the centres for treatment. Yet for those young enough and strong enough, the free prostheses and physiotherapy offered there can help them to physically lead a normal life. At the Centro Neves Bendinha in the capital, Luanda, Mambo takes a break, playing with her doll after a morning of physiotherapy. "I like Luanda and I like learning how to walk by doing all the exercises on the equipment," she said shyly. "Afterwards, when I get my new leg, I'll be able to play more and dance and go back to school." Just 10 years old, Mambo has not yet developed the fear of stigma and is confident she faces a bright future. But a sense of fatalism among many victims, particularly older mine survivors, can create problems when it comes to reintegrating into society. "Victims often think that all they can do after a landmine accident is to go onto the street and beg - they don't see any other way of earning money to live; lots of them come to the cities to beg," said Emmanuelle Rioufol, programme director for Handicap International France. Medical experts and aid workers believe there is a real shortage of both psychological skills to help deal with the trauma of losing a limb, as well as life training skills to help victims realise they still have a future. "Physical rehabilitation is just one piece of the puzzle; assistance to landmine survivors is much more complex," explained Tracy Brown, country representative of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), an NGO that has been running rehabilitation programmes for landmine survivors in the eastern region of Angola since 1997. "Most amputees with good rehabilitation don't have to be disabled and incapable of leading a normal life. However, there is very little in the way of other services that address psychological impact, post-trauma support and life skills training which helps integrate landmine victims," she said.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Mozambique
106 Landmines Aff
Humanitarian assistance has dramatically dropped in mine ridden Mozambique; however the country is not ready to finish demining on its own Reuters, March 20, 2007 (Mozambique: Demining Operations Wind Down after 15 Years,
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/e4fc28c3f852b56fe1b59a8f3c5cbfe3.htm) International humanitarian support for demining operations in Mozambique dropped by more than 25 percent in 2006, to US$9.2 million from $12.7 million the year before, reflecting a growing consensus among donor and aid organisations that landmines in Mozambique no longer posed a major threat. Government officials, however, do not feel they are up to the task of completing the work themselves. At a meeting in February to discuss the country's new demining plan, the deputy minister for foreign affairs and cooperation, Henrique Banze, said the pull-out of international partners would hinder the country's development. "It is important that our partners continue to contribute because the problem we are dealing with, from the point of view of development as well as with demining, still requires a great deal of national and international effort," said Banze. He pointed out that Mozambique has until 2009 to meet its obligations under the Landmine Ban Treaty, which left them very little time.
Funding to Mozambique has significantly decreased, hindering demining efforts. South African Press Association, 02.27.2007 (Mozambique: Concerns Over Reduced Funding for
Demining, http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/13629.html) Maputo (Mozambique) - Reduced funding by international donors will delay the clearing of landmines in Mozambique, Vista News reported. Deputy Foreign and Co-operation Minister Henrique Banze was quoted in the Monday edition of the national daily Noticias as saying cuts in funding and the removal of deminers by some demining agencies would stall the process. "(It) is important for the international demining partners to continue to contribute to the process, because we still have a lot of mines lying around in the country," he said. "This is affecting the implementation of development projects in some parts of the country." Without disclosing why international donors had cut down on aid destined for the demining process, Banze said the government was seeking a strategy to minimise the problem of mines in the country. "While the primary responsibility to remove the mines rests with the government, international partners have a good will to complement our efforts." Banze was speaking at the opening of a one-day seminar to debate the 2007/2010 national program of action against landmines. Donor funding aimed at demining in Mozambique was reduced to US9.2 million in 2006 from US12.7 million in 2005. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) in its 2005 Landmine Monitor report also lamented on the dwindling funding for the demining activities. "Twelve donor countries reported contributing a total of some $10mn to mine action in Mozambique in 2005," says the report.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Mozambique
107 Landmines Aff
If mines were removed from Mozambique, there would be an increase in economy and transportation. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] In FY04, the U.S. Department of States Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement allocated $1,492,000 for humanitarian mine action (HMA) in Mozambique. These funds consisted of $1,372,000 to The HALO Trust for continued demining operations in two provinces, Zambezia and Cabo Delgado, and $120,000 to improve quality of the skills of the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) humanitarian demining cadre through additional training, equipment and logistical support, ensuring that work is performed according to International Mine Action Standards. The HALO Trusts work in Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique enabled commerce to resume on the main Pemba-Montepuez road to the provincial capital and recovered farmland bordering the road. Mine clearance allowed local communities to cultivate and develop cashew plantations, which contribute to the provincial economy. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention also contributed $350,000 for landmine survivors programs. In FY05, the United States provided $2,336,000 more in mine action aid. Of this amount, The HALO Trust received $676,000 to support seven manual demining teams, one survey team, one mine detecting dog team, and two mechanical teams. $1,666,000 was provided in training, technicial support, and equipment to further develop the FADM humanitarian demining (HD) units capability as the sole government HD provider.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Zimbabwe
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Demining efforts in Zimbabwe failin 2003 both the US and EU withdrew funds and support. World News 04 (Zimbabwe: demining hit by US/EU funding withdrawal IRIN News Africa
http://archive.wn.com/2004/03/02/1400/p/2d/bfe8d32ff32db1.html) He added that 335 km of land had been cleared in the east of the country, but 630,000 out of an initial 1.8 million anti-personnel mines still remained. Of the 36,000 fragmentation mines planted in the area, 3,200 were yet to be removed. Only 150,000 out of the 400,000 landmines buried in the southeastern triangle of the country, where the Zimbabwe-South Africa-Mozambican borders converge, had been removed. An estimated 250,000 mines were still active. Zimbabwe's stuttering demining effort has been frustrated by a lack of funding, equipment and skilled personnel. In 1997 the US army trained 120 demining engineers and donated Zim $6 million (around US $400,000) to help kick-start the programme. A year later the European Union provided Zim $206 million ($5.8 million) to extend the exercise into the heavily mined eastern highlands along the border with Mozambique. Both the EU and the US withdrew their support in 2000, in protest over the government's human rights and governance record. Sanctions imposed by the EU and US in the wake of flawed presidential elections in 2003 included the suspension of military cooperation. Mugoba acknowledged that the demining exercise had slowed because of a shortage of funds after the withdrawal of US and EU support. The current work was now funded by the government, but he provided no figures for expenditure on the programme.
Landmines in Zimbabwe put entire communities in dangerongoing projects are unsuccessful. World News 04 (Zimbabwe: demining hit by US/EU funding withdrawal IRIN News Africa
http://archive.wn.com/2004/03/02/1400/p/2d/bfe8d32ff32db1.html) BULAWAYO, - Twenty-four years after the liberation war ended, landmines still remain a cruel and present danger for communities living along Zimbabwe's borders with Zambia and Mozambique. An estimated 1.9 million mines were planted in the border areas during the bitter struggle that began in the late 1960s between the colonial government of the then Rhodesia and nationalist guerrillas. The minority government wanted to prevent guerilla incursions from bases in Zambia and Mozambique, while the liberation movements used the mines to cordon off their infiltration routes, secure captured areas and generally complicate pursuit by the Rhodesian army. Buried and forgotten by the soldiers who planted them, today civilians and their livestock are the victims. According to official figures, 568 people have been killed by landmines since independence in 1980, but the real toll is said to be far higher. Since 1980 the Zimbabwe National Army has been demining in the Binga-Victoria Falls area on the border with Zambia and the eastern highlands bordering Mozambique. The operation should have taken 10 years to complete, but is still ongoing.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Rwanda
109 Landmines Aff
There are not enough health professionals to respond to victims needs in Rwanda. Landmine Monitor 05 (Rwanda. http://www.icbl.org/lm/2005/rwanda)
In early 2005, after pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Rwanda dismissed most of its healthcare staff because of lack of proper qualifications. The hospitals can recruit again, but lacks the funds to do so. There is a shortage of trained healthcare professionals.[75] The government is reportedly in the process of building more health centers in the countryside. However, there are still not enough centers to respond to the needs.[76] On average, the centers are 20 to 50 kilometers from the minefields.[77] NDO has a standby team, including medical personnel, to evacuate mine casualties to the nearest hospital. In 2004, NDO conducted four evacuations.[78] Due to a lack of funds, NDO does not offer any other medical or rehabilitation assistance to mine survivors.
Humanitarian aid, economic development, and social advancement are hindered by landmines in Rwanda. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] Rwanda emerged from its 1994 civil war with an estimated 100,000250,000 landmines scattered throughout the country. Despite the lack of written records and maps, the Government of Rwanda believes that the heaviest concentrations of landmines, some 50,00060,000, were in the Kigali area and in four prefectures in the north and northwest, about 10 kilometers from the border with Uganda, an area approximately 120 kilometers long. An additional 1,200 square kilometers of suspected mine-contaminated land is situated south of this region. Significant portions of Rwandas roads were mined, cutting off entire regions and hindering the flow of humanitarian aid and commodities. Overall, the mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) have been a major impediment to the economic and social development of the country. Moreover, the thick vegetation and steep hilly terrain have posed enormous challenges to mine clearance activities.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Somalia

Mine problems can be fixed. They only lack funding Swart 02 (Jab, Mine Action Program for Somalia, Journal of Mine Action v6.1
110 Landmines Aff
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.1/focus/swart/swart.htm) The significant negative socioeconomic impact of landmine and UXO contamination can be seen in almost every aspect of Somali society: reduced land available for livestock and cultivation, increased transportation costs, obstacles to repatriation and re-integration of communities, poor performance of rehabilitation efforts, loss of lives, disability, psychological problems and general lack of security of communities. In 2000, the reported mine victims were 107 in the northwest, 101 in the northeast, 147 in central Somalia and approximately 40 in Mogadishu, of which roughly 40 percent resulted in fatalities. These figures are by no means complete, as the reporting system is very fragmented. The presence of mines has prevented the return of approximately 200,000 refugees from Djibouti and Ethiopia. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had anticipated closing these camps by 2001 but has continually fallen short of their targets, in large part because of mine fieldsreal or perceived. The mine/UXO threat is a finite problem, however, and given sustained stability and funding, it can be solved within seven to 10 years.
There are still a lot of landmines in Somalia. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] Northwest Somalia (Somaliland) has a severe landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem. Several conflicts have left large quantities of landmines and UXO along the border between northwest Somalia and Ethiopia, the perimeters of military installations, important access routes and urban areas. Following the Ethiopian conflict, the Somali Army laid mines near the border and around nearby military bases as a defense strategy. The civil war in 1988 saw the continued practice of laying mines, restricting both military and civilian movement within the country. The Somalia Mine Action Center (SMAC) has confirmed the presence of at least 28 mined roads and 63 known and 17 suspected minefields in Somalia.
The landmines in Somalia are non-metallic, thus making hem harder to detect. African Red Cross & Red Crescent Health, Thursday, March 30, 2006 [African Red Cross &
Red Crescent Health Initiative 2010; http://www.ifrc.org/WHAT/health/archi/fact/fmines.htm] There are more than 1 million landmines in Somalia. They are found along the Ethiopian border and around military bases, schools, water sources, and even individual homes. Sixty percent of the landmines are estimated to be antipersonnel mines. Landmines that have been found were manufactured in more than 24 countries. Compounding the problem is that approximately 50 percent of the landmines are non-metallic, and no minefield records have been located, although minefield locations are known locally. Seventy percent of all the landmines are found in barrier minefields located in the mountainous terrain along the Ethiopian border. A section of the border from Djibouti to Barbein Genyo contains some 76-96 minefields. The northern part of the country is heavily mined, including the northern capital of Hargeisa and 18 roads leading into it. Concentrations of landmines are found on the grazing lands between Burao and Erigavo in Zeyla. Landmines have also been found in the towns of Burao, Erigavo, and the port town of Berbera. The presence of landmines has disrupted traditional life for many Somalis. Agriculture has suffered, and livestock losses have been heavy. Physicians for Human Rights estimated that in 1992 there were 4,500 people disabled as a result of landmine accidents. According to the Hargeisa Hospital, for the one-year period beginning in February 1991, 75 percent of mine casualties were children 5-15 years of age.
111 Landmines Aff
The transportation of humanitarian aid is impossible because of all the landmines. Humanitarian aid is critical in failed states such as Somalia. UN News Service, May 31, 2007 [ (New York); http://allafrica.com/stories/200706010029.html;
Somalia: Aid Reaches Hundreds of Thousands in Somalia, But Difficulties Persist, UN Says] Humanitarian organizations have also been working to provide clean drinking water, sanitation, education and health services to internally displaced persons (IDPs), many of whom are now using the lull in fighting to return to Mogadishu, OCHA said. OCHA voiced particular concern, however, over the prevalence of acute watery diarrhoea, which has killed nearly a thousand people, and the fact that some areas affected by the outbreak remain inaccessible. Many roads are still too dangerous for transport, landmines have been reported in some areas, airstrips have been rained out, transit through Kenya is still being negotiated and ships are refusing to sail to Somalia following the deadly 19 May attack against a chartered ship off the port of Merka. A guard trying to repulse pirates was killed in that incident.
Landmines affect every single aspect of life in Somalia. They have driven the cost of transportation sky high, reduced land available for farming, disabled and killed people, and stop the efforts to rebuild the government and the country. Landmine Monitor, 2005 [Somalia; http://www.icbl.org/lm/2005/somalia.html]
The mine problem in Somalia is a result of various internal and regional conflicts over an almost 40year period, with the first reported occurrence of mine-laying in 1964. Central and southern Somalia are heavily contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO); Galguduud, Bakool, Bay, Hiran and Lower Jubba are the most affected regions. In addition, a large amount of explosive ordnance exists countrywide.[26] The UN claims that the socioeconomic impact of landmines and UXO can be seen in almost every aspect of Somali society: reduced land available for livestock and agricultural production, increased transportation costs, poor performance of rehabilitation and development efforts, loss of life, disabilities, a general lack of security of communities, and obstacles to repatriation and reintegration.[27 ] Casualties continued to be reported in 2005 from mines and UXO.
Landmines increase the multi-vehicle accidents, increase deaths, and slow traffic a lot. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] Reliable statistics are not available. However, evidence from Baidoa and Marka hospitals shows a recent rise in AT accidents (from virtually nil in Marka in 1998-99) involving civilian transport and agricultural vehicles in the front-line area around Burhakaba and the region between Qoryoley and Kurtunwaarey. Accidents have involved multiple victims, relatively high death to injury ratio, and loss of livestock and vehicles. While road-mining is disruptive, routes are rarely completely closed. Instead, new small-scale diversionary routes are created, slowing traffic and transport and maintaining a level of (somewhat risky) mobility for e.g. market purposes.
112 Landmines Aff
Indigenous awareness is not exhaustive and encourages risky behavior. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] Indigenous awareness can actually increase risk-exposure, where it constitutes straightforward overconfidence. Further, awareness does not cover random mine clusters comprehensively leaving some unknown and unsuspected. Local awareness does not address the changing cost-benefit evaluations of communities through e.g. periods of good and bad harvest; and awareness does not sufficiently cover the problems and risks of UXO. In Somaliland, there have been a few relatively small-scale campaigns in mine-awareness. These have had limited impact. People in urban and rural areas are familiar with mines and UXO both in discussion and in physical recognition. Government has not taken on a significant role in advising local communities about danger and risk mitigation; this has been left to international and national NGOs, whose work has been of variable approach and standard.
Somalias landmines have prevented 200,000 refugees from repatriating Landmine Monitor, 2001 (Somalia, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2001/somalia/#Heading5048)
Somalia has a serious landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem stemming from several conflicts (See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 205-207 for details). According to the UN, the presence of mines real or perceived has been largely responsible in preventing the return of approximately 200,000 refugees from Djibouti and Ethiopia.[8] According to the UN, A major problem is that the location and extent of mined areas is largely unknown, and therefore the magnitude of the problem to be contained has not been determined.[9]
Somali refugees face racial hatred and violence The Nation (Nairobi), 6/29/07 (Kenya: Africa InsightAfrica Cant Run Away From Somalia,
http://allafrica.com/stories/200706280958.html) Somali refugees in South Africa have also become victims of racial hatred and a violence. In Diepsloot area in Northern Johannesburg, business rivalry and stiff competition between the locals and refugees has triggered rising tension and violence with locals attacking Somali traders. Local traders claim that Somali refugees are destroying their livelihoods. "We are under attack from these people," a South African trader was quoted saying. "For example, I have my tuck shop in a certain place - then a Somali places the same business right next to mine. On top of that he sells his goods so cheaply, all my customers end up deserting me! How
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Sudan
113 Landmines Aff
Landmines in Sudan hinder humanitarian goods and the movement of civilians. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] Sudan has a serious landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem as a result of its civil war that began in 1983. Both the Government of Sudan (GoS) and armed opposition groups, such as the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), emplaced landmines to protect fixed garrisons and interdict roads, respectively. Local records indicate that between 1989 and February 2002, an estimated 1,160 persons became landmine victims in the Nuba Mountain region of southern Sudan. Both landmines and UXO currently hinder the movement of cease-fire monitors, humanitarian goods and the civilian population.
Sudan is one of the most mined countries in Africa, but yet it lacks basic medical facilities. African Red Cross & Red Crescent Health, Thursday, March 30, 2006 [African Red Cross &
Red Crescent Health Initiative 2010; http://www.ifrc.org/WHAT/health/archi/fact/fmines.htm] The Sudanese Government recently stated that two to three million landmines and UXO cover some 800,000 square kilometers or 32 percent of the country. The UN currently cites a figure of one million landmines, and a recent UN assessment mission stated that between 500,000 and two million landmines may exist. Mining in the southern region continues to occur. Roughly 40 different types of landmines are known to exist in the country. The desert of northern Sudan was mined during World War II and again recently in new conflicts along the northwestern border with Libya and the eastern border with Eritrea. Landmines have been laid by government forces and the SPLA around towns in southern Sudan. The government estimates that mine accidents have resulted in more than 70,000 amputees and an equal number of deaths. Most parts of Sudan, particularly in the south, lack medical services and rehabilitation centers, and limited equipment and qualified personnel to conduct basic lifesaving procedures.
Landmines inhibit the resettlement of IDPs, stop humanitarian aid, the movement of peacekeepers, and instill fear. E-MINE Electronic Mine Information Network, accessed Jul 12, 2007 [Sudan;
http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=25] While IDPs and refugees are waiting to return mainly to the southern region, the perceived threat from landmines and ERW are still inhibiting factors for agricultural production, food security, economic activities and freedom of movement. They pose great risks to vulnerable people and to emergency humanitarian assistance, the deployment and activities of peacekeepers, and long-term reconstruction and development activities. As fightings in Darfur have been intensified since the end of 2006, ERW threats posed to local population, IDPs and humanitarian workers as well as potential new landmine laying are another area of concern.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Uganda
114 Landmines Aff
Landmines obstruct the governments attempts to resettle IDPs, and instill fear in the citizens like a deadly, but forgotten disease. The Monitor, 19 June 2007 [(Kampala); Yasiin Mugerwa; Kampala; Uganda: IDPs Fear to Return
Home Due to Landmines, Say MPs; http://allafrica.com/stories/200706181822.html] LIKE a deadly disease long forgotten and assumed defeated, landmines - the scourge of the battlefield of the northern insurgency - is affecting the government's efforts to resettle IDPs. The existing unexploded landmines in the region constitute a crisis that needs urgent attention if millions of displaced people in Acholi, Lango and West Nile are to return home safely. According to Acholi Parliamentary Group Chairperson Livingstone Okello-Okello, preliminary findings show that while the landmine issue began as a military problem, it is now a humanitarian disaster. Although the peace talks currently underway in Juba to put an end to the 20-year conflict between the government and the rebel LRA had raised hope for peace, many displaced persons still have a long way to go before they return home as Mr Okello-Okello, also Chua county MP explains. "The landmine scare is a serious problem in the region that has been a battle ground for years. This has negatively impacted on the resettlement programme. Some of our people who survived the LRA insurgency fear to go back only to die from possible landmine blasts," he said. However, the peace talks that began in July 2007, have so far achieved little apart from a shaky truce, as some displaced persons still live in a climate of fear and violence afraid of the landmines planted by the LRA.
Landmines scare people away from resettling in their homes and stop them from farming. The Monitor, 19 June 2007 [(Kampala); Yasiin Mugerwa; Kampala; Uganda: IDPs Fear to Return
Home Due to Landmines, Say MPs; http://allafrica.com/stories/200706181822.html] "Some of our villages have many landmines and other dangerous objects. When the residents go digging, they sometimes unearth these objects. Others die in the process. It's a serious issue." Daily Monitor has learnt that more than 500 people have died as a result of the abandoned explosives in past two decades. Last year alone Avsi, an Italian NGO that conducts mine awareness training in the region, received reports of more than 200 bombs and landmines discovered in the area. In May, Avsi trained 23 community development officers to sensitise IDPs in Gulu and Amuru. Statistics from Avsi show that landmines hit and injured 1,387 residents in Gulu and Amuru districts in 2006. To Concy Aciro, the Amuru Woman MP, the landmine crisis justifies what UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said about the several years it would take to rebuild northern region after 20 years of the war, even if the peace talks succeed. Ms Aciro said in the past few months, thousands of IDPs have returned home due to improvement in the security situation in the region. "Many of our people have established settlements that have decongested the major camps but complain that access to social services is still poor and are calling upon the government to remove the landmines," she said.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Uganda
115 Landmines Aff
As in Uganda, Landmines cause all kinds of problems Wakabi 06(Landmines pose further danger to Ugandas war refugees World Report Wairagala Wakabi
research associate with Collaboration on International ICT Policy for Eastern and Southern Africa www.thelancet.com Vol. 368 November 11, 2006) In northern Uganda, plagued by Africas longest-running armed conflict for the past 20 years, landmines have on average hit 22 people every month for the past 8 years. And continuing insecurity hampers demining efforts and keeps farmers away from their mine-infested fields. Classed by the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as one of four forgotten emergencies in the world, the conflict has displaced up to 17 million people who live in 200 army-guarded camps. Poor sanitation, disease outbreaks, human rights abuses, rape, and gender-based violence are rife, according to the UN and humanitarian agencies.
The is a shortage of medical help for landmine victims Wakabi 06(Landmines pose further danger to Ugandas war refugees World Report Wairagala Wakabi
research associate with Collaboration on International ICT Policy for Eastern and Southern Africa www.thelancet.com Vol. 368 November 11, 2006) The orthopaedic centre admits 12 patients every 3 weeks. They are fed, housed, and given prostheses free of charge. They also undergo rehabilitation and counseling before being discharged. After discharge, we follow them up after a period of 3 months. If they have minor problems, we rectify them in the eld; if they are major, we refer them back to the centre. With only one orthopaedic office, the centre is very understaed. The biggest challenge is lack of personnel. We are very few here compared to the number of clients, Kalanzi told The Lancet. Although it is a state facility, AVSI foots 90% of the centres budget for feeding, treating, and transporting patients.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Somaliland
116 Landmines Aff
Landmines kill more women and children than any other group. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] It is often claimed that women and children are a large proportion of victims. In some areas, children are indeed considerably affected (Adadley UXO-contaminated area; Gabiley Mine Tech COA statistics). However, Somali Red Crescent Society records a total of 679 people treated between 1994 and 1999, of whom 258 were victims of landmines or bombs. This breaks down as 222 male and 36 female, and across age ranges records 17% between ages 13 0 and 19, and 56% between ages 20 and 39. This contradicts the classical (media- and donor-friendly) assertion that the majority of victims occur among women and children. In specific instances (e.g. UXO and herding), children are high-risk and high impact victims. Girls and women are not a demonstrable high-risk group. Representations of injury and fatality impact of mines and UXO should pay more attention to available evidence and truth.
Landmines kill animals, which are the cornerstone of Somalilands economy. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] In Somaliland, many victims are livestock. This in itself constitutes a considerable impact on household and community economic well-being. Of the NDAs 30,134 victims, the remaining 23,351 are livestock: 5,630 camels; 2,414 cattle; 12,998 sheep; 91 horses; 1,345 donkeys; and 867 vehicles. Given that up to 60% of the population of Somaliland is principally pastoralist, and that livestock trade is one of the more significant contributors to the national economy3, the economic impact of UXO and landmines on livelihoods, trade and growth may be substantial.
Somaliland is the most heavily mined area in Somalia. Due to the fear of landmines, the social and economic aspects are negatively affected, and there is much land denial and wastage. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] Somaliland is generally considered the most heavily ordnance-affected area of Somalia. Reports of widescale mining are, however, often contradicted by the experiences of demining agencies, where considerably smaller areas and quantities of contamination are found to be the norm. However, due to the particularities of the conflicts in this zone, with specific government attention to disrupting the socioeconomic livelihoods of the SNM-supporting Isaaq nomads (using more AP mines than in the east and southwards, and using more random, land-denial deployment), mine action agencies will need to take such reports seriously. While actual levels of land use inhibited by community suspicions of mine contamination are difficult to assess, some areas, routes and roads are accounted presently unused (leading to land-wastage and obstruction of trans-regional traffic).
Landmines cause the change of patterns of migration of nomads, which causes elevated conflict between nomadic groups. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] Given that up to 60% of the population of Somaliland is principally pastoralist, and that livestock trade is one of the more significant contributors to the national economy3, the economic impact of UXO and landmines on livelihoods, trade and growth may be substantial. For nomads, impact of pastoral denial can be mitigated by changing routes. However, it should be remembered that where this happens, different nomadic groups, simultaneously diverted from their normal or traditional route patterns, may coincide in a particular area, potentially leading to conflict for resource access and use. Hence the ultimate impact of successfully mitigated land denial in this group may actually be increased inter-group tensions with the potential for conflict. Among sedentary communities there is an issue for refugees and resettlement, where awareness of local conditions including ordnance contamination may be low.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Puntland
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Land denial is a big problem in Puntland, and is caused by the fear of landmines. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] In the wider Galkayo-Goldogob area, mines are reported to the south along the border between North and South Mudug, and along local roads (some of which are currently unused). To the west, defensive minefields similar to those encountered in Somaliland were reportedly laid during the Ogaden conflict. These may be expected to be largely formal minefield, to be capable of relatively straightforward clearance, but also probably the subject of relatively high local awareness and avoidance. Land denial in terms of cropping, grazing and market trading routes may continue to be issues, though known routes for cross-border traffic are functional. Beira is also reportedly affected, as are the first 100km of road between Galkayo and Cheriiban, and Galkayo airport.
The fear of landmines leads to land denial, which is critical in an agrarian society. Sebastian Taylor MSc, 26 May, 2000 [Landmines and UXO in Somaliland, Puntland and Central &
Southern Somalia: A feasibility study; http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/SOM_00-003.pdf] Land Denial: There is little evidence of land denial in Bari and Nugaal; North Mudug, however, may constitute a more serious problem in this respect. There are reports of areas of cultivable land that remain unused, of areas of usable pasture that remain ungrazed and of routes and roads untraversed. The impact of the suspicion of mines presence is very real, whether there is actual contamination or not. However, one indicator may be the low level of engagement in Puntland of the World Food Programme.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Senegal
118 Landmines Aff
The citizens of Sengal, deminers and citizens alike are very heavily affected by landmines. There needs to be more landmine education there. Land mine Report, 2006 [Senegal; http://www.icbl.org/lm/2005/senegal]
Key developments since May 2004: On 14 July 2005, the General Assembly of Senegal adopted a law on mine action. Following a security incident in April 2004, the Army ceased demining activities. At the end of 2004, UNDP began assistance to the mine action program in Senegal. A six-month emergency study was planned to start in October 2005, to collect information on the presence of landmines in Casamance and assess their impact on the population. Limited mine clearance which started in the second half of 2003 stopped in April 2004 after deminers were killed in a security incident. Handicap International believes that the reduction in casualties, from 198 in 1998 to 17 in 2004, is due in large part to mine risk education. Senegal has been identified as one of 24 States Parties with significant numbers of mine survivors, and with the greatest needs and responsibility to provide adequate survivor assistance.
Senegal has not shown interest in demining the rest of its lands. Land mine Report, 2006 [Senegal; http://www.icbl.org/lm/2005/senegal]
On 30 December 2004, Senegal signed a peace agreement with the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mouvement des Forces Dmocratiques de Casamance, MFDC). The preamble of the agreement acknowledges the disastrous consequences provoked by over twenty years of conflict and fighting in Casamance, notably the economic regression of the region, the suffering of populations and the risks incurred because of the presence of antipersonnel mines. The agreement calls for humanitarian demining in Casamance without delay and urges parties to facilitate mine clearance.[4 ] Senegal participated in the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, held in Nairobi in November-December 2004, but did not make any statement. Senegal was absent from the June 2005 intersessional Standing Committee meetings. In 2004, Senegal participated in international meetings on landmines in Burkina Faso in January, and in Paris in March. Senegal has not engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3. Thus, Senegal has not made known its views on issues related to joint military operations with non-States Parties, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training. However, in September 2002, Senegal stated that it would not allow transit or stockpiling of antipersonnel mines on its territory.
Landmines impede the return of IDPs, kill livestock, stop people from farming, and essentially screw all aspects of life in Senegal. Land mine Report, 2006 [Senegal; http://www.icbl.org/lm/2005/senegal]
The mine problem results mainly from fighting in Casamance region since 1982, and especially since 1997, between the Army and MFDC. Over the course of the conflict, several thousand people were internally displaced, and thousands more fled to The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.[20 ] Since the peace agreement in December 2004, thousands of people have been expected to return. But, according to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the mine and UXO problem is a clear impediment to resettlement of IDPs [internally displaced persons] and development of agricultural resources.[21 ] A refugee who had returned back to his village close to the border with Guinea-Bissau explained that a lot of people here are also worried about landmines that were buried here during the civil war. Because of this we are afraid to venture into the bush to do farm work.[22 ] In 2005, as a consequence of fear of cultivating their own land, some of the population of Casamance fled again to Guinea-Bissau, in order to find safe agricultural land for cultivation or to become agricultural workers.[23 ] The mine problem seriously affects the rehabilitation process and the economic development of Casamance, having an impact on reconstruction, agriculture, fishing, transport of goods and services, and tourism. It also has an impact on trade between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. It is estimated that landmines kill 20 livestock per week on average and jeopardize the use of 1,000 square kilometers of productive land. The presence of landmines is said to block humanitarian projects, notably for the World
Food Programme, which cannot access populations living in some areas reported as contaminated.[24] A lack of marking and fencing of mined and mine-suspected areas was criticized in April 2004 by Senegalese human rights organizations, including the Senegalese section of Amnesty International.[25 ] In its Article 7 report for 2004, Senegal states that known mined areas are marked and entry into some mine-suspected areas is banned.[26]
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Ethiopia

Both people and livestock are killed by landmines. Land mine Report, 2006 [Ethiopia; http://www.icbl.org/lm/2002/ethiopia]
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Ethiopia has had a landmine problem for the last 60 years, during which time 33 types of antipersonnel mines have been used.[16] The country is littered with large numbers of antipersonnel mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). Prior to the 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea, the Ethiopian demining headquarters identified 97 minefields in three regions of the country where it was operating.[17] Many of the mines and minefields are near populated areas and inflict casualties on both people and livestock.
Ethiopia does not have sufficient medical facilities to support landmine casualties. Land mine Report, 2006 [Ethiopia; http://www.icbl.org/lm/2002/ethiopia]
In Ethiopia, few hospitals are capable of performing emergency surgery and most health posts in the mine-affected areas do not have the capacity to provide emergency care to mine casualties. Adigrat hospital provides emergency care and physiotherapy services, with support from Medecins Sans FrontieresHolland in surgery.
Landmines stop the flow of food, safety, and critical resources. E-MINE Electronic Mine Information Network, accessed Jul 12, 2007
[http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=11] Landmine and UXO contamination in the Tigray, Afar and Somali regions of northern and southeastern Ethiopia negatively influences food insecurity, adds to regional poverty and denies safe movement. The 2004 Landmine Impact Survey conducted by Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) was given quality assurance by the UN Mine Action Service and mainly financed by the European Community. It identified suspected mineaffected areas, and prioritized those where the majority of recent landmine incidents have occurred and/or where landmines block access to critical livelihood resources. A collaborative process between regional governments, local community leaders and Ethiopian mine action survey teams assisted by UN advisors helped further prioritize areas most in need of immediate landmine clearance. Priorities in both Tigray and Afar are mainly determined by the value of land for agricultural purposes. All cleared land is available for common use by community farmers and herders, and in most cases, plowing and grazing begins immediately after the handover of cleared land to the community.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Namibia
120 Landmines Aff
Landmines in Namibia discourage farmers from panting, tourists from visiting, and put the rural population in danger. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) have infested about 100,000 square kilometers of land (about 12 percent of Namibia) that contain some of the highest population densities in the country. By the time Namibia achieved independence from South Africa in 1989, South African Defense Forces (SADF) had laid more than 44,000 landmines in defensive perimeters around military and police bases and two water supply towers along the Namibia-Angola border in the nations northwest. The resulting 10 minefields encompassed more than 360,000 square meters of land. The SADF also laid mines around 410 electric power pylons stretching from the northern town of Ruacana south approximately 200 kilometers to the northern border of the Estosha National Game Reserve. A 900-meter2 area around each pylon contained 2436 landmines. Hundreds of thousands of UXO continue to be embedded along Namibias northern border, a major battleground during the war for independence. From December 1999 through May 2002, Unio Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA) and factions of the Foras Armadas de Angola (Angolan Armed Forces [FAA]) in the Angolan civil war laid landmines in the Caprivi and Kavango regions of northeast Namibia. Although these mines affect a relatively small geographic area along some 300 miles of the border shared by Namibia and Angola, Namibian Police believe that a significant quantity endanger much of the rural population, frighten away tourists and discourage farmers from planting crops. The mines are difficult to locate, because they are unmarked and unmapped. In addition, combatants probably buried many mines along the edge of rivers and, over time, sand and vegetation growth have covered many of them. The landmines will most probably be found one at a time. For these reasons, the Namibian Police expect landmine casualties will continue to occur until deminers clear the affected areas.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Burundi
121 Landmines Aff
Landmines perpetuate the displacement of internally displaced people in Burundi. Refugees International, May 24, 2004 [Burundi: Returning internally displaced in urgent need of
assistance and protection; http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/965/] Internally displaced interviewed in Makamba and Gitega provinces also expressed serious concerns about security in the areas of return. In Kayogoro, Makamba province, IDPs who had returned home are at constant risk of being harassed and abused because of increasing banditry and their proximity to areas where former rebels have gathered to await the start of the disarmament and demobilization process. Others are too afraid to return. They only go back to cultivate their fields on the hills. In Makamba, the presence of landmines is also impeding the return. Three people were injured in the first three months of this year because of landmine accidents.
Internally displaced people are left in a perpetual state of fear, movement, and dehumaized Norwegian refugee Council, Global IDP Project, 5 NOVEMBER 2004
[http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UNTC/UNPAN018826.pdf; Trapped in displacement: internally displaced people in the osce area] There are an increasing number of refugees who have been refused asylum in countries within the European Union, and who are returning, voluntarily or involuntarily, to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A number of these people are entering into a situation of internal displacement because they are unwilling or unable to return to their municipalities of origin due to concerns about their personal security, including fear of persecution. UNHCR has expressed concern that many of these newly internally displaced people are being denied the possibility of acquiring IDP status upon return and are consequently deprived of emergency accommodation as well as basic IDP entitlements. UN agencies have also expressed concern that requirements for housing and social assistance may exclude certain categories of vulnerable groups, thereby creating a situation of involuntary return. Of particular concern are severely traumatised individuals, including internally displaced women who were raped in their former places of origin and who may be unwilling or unable to return. Without assistance to secure alternative accommodation elsewhere, these people may have to continue to live in their area of displacement in precarious conditions or may have no alternative but to return involuntarily to their pre-war residences. War crimes witnesses are also particularly vulnerable due to the lack of fully functional national witness protection mechanisms.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Chad
122 Landmines Aff
Chad can get their economy and way of life back if we demine the country. US Department of the State, June 2006 [Bureau of Political-Military Affairs; To Walk the Earth in
Safety] As an outcome of continuous mine and UXO clearance in the Fada region, date-palm cultivation has returned, along with normalizing access to public buildings, such as schools, markets, and medical facilities. According to the national HMA plan, by 2010 it is expected that demining of all known sites will be completed. In 2005 USEUCOM began to focus its mine action efforts on assisting the Chadian Haut Commissariat National au Dminage to develop a Mine Victims Assistance Program through emphasis on management, immediate medical care, trauma management, evacuation techniques and procedures, and medical care in treatment facilities.
Critical water and food sources were cut off by mines.

E-MINE Electronic Mine Information Network, accessed Jul 12, 2007 [http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=7; ] A landmine impact survey (LIS) implemented between December 1999 and June 2001 identified 249 mine-affected communities covering up to 1,081 square kilometres, not including the Tibesti region, which is the most-affected area in the country. The total number of victims reported during the course of the LIS was 1,668 (824 fatalities and 844 injuries). Landmines and ERW affect the livelihoods and safety of over 280,000 people and block access to critical resources such as water and grazing areas. Since June 2001, new minefields and dangerous areas together measuring 85.2 square kilometres have been found. As of August 2006, the total number of recorded victims reached 2,286 (1,075 fatalities and 1,211 injuries), with 213,713 people living in areas considered dangerous. During the first six months of 2006 alone, 26 new fatalities and 55 new injuries were recorded. Between December 2005 and April 2006, in addition to the conflict in the Tibesti Region, various rebel groups attacked the National Army in the east (along the border with Sudan), the south (along the border with the Central African Republic) and the capital on April 13, 2006. During these and other battles, malfunctioning ammunition was abandoned and became a hazard the civilians in these areas. Units were deployed for immediate battle area clearance operations. A limited mine risk education campaign (funded by UNICEF and with technical support of HCND) was organized.
The US plays an absolute critical role in Chads demining program. Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, August 2004 [U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs:
Africa; To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action; http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm] The United States played a key role in launching Chads mine action program in January 1998. U.S. military personnel trained a cadre of Chadian deminers who were capable of independently training personnel in humanitarian mine action techniques and procedures. The United States also provided necessary demining equipment. Since the start of actual demining in September 2000, progress has been made in reducing deaths and injuries, and reopening access to cropland, water and housing. After 18 years of blockage due to mine and UXO infestation, mine clearance operations reopened the traditional route of villagers, camel herders, merchants, and traders into northern Faya, significantly easing and securing the life of the locals. The reopening of the road south of Faya to the capital has enhanced the life of the local residents by improving communications with the capital and the rest of Central and West Africa. In Moyto, land was opened to agriculture. In Massenya, UXO removal allowed the airport to reopen. The demining of Ounianga-Kebir opened it for future tourism and trade. Continued U.S. humanitarian mine action assistance will enable the Government of Chad to demine its northern provinces and to benefit from economic and social development in those regions.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Democratic Republic of the Congo
123 Landmines Aff
There is currently land denial in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Megan Wertz, Thursday August 03 2006 [worked for the Journal of Mine Action since August 2005;
James Madison University w/ a B.S. in technical and scientific communication; http://maic.jmu.edu/Journal/10.1/profiles/drc/DRcongo.htm] The total number of mine/UXO casualties in the DRC is unknown. According to the U.N. Mission in the DRC, there have been approximately 2,585 mine casualties recorded.1 The majority of recorded casualties occurred in Equateur, South Kivu, Katanga, North Kivu and Oriental provinces. The impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war on the population is difficult to determine due to the isolation of areas in the southeast for the past three years, mainly due to the ERW threat. Nongovernmental organizations have experienced difficulties when attempting to access remote areas of the DRC. The large size of the country, inaccessibility of areas due to natural conditions (e.g., vegetation and abundant rainfall), and unstable safety conditions have inhibited survey activity.
Mines are terribly dangerous in the DRC, they are one of the most deadly weapons, affecting mainly civilians. E-MINE Electronic Mine Information Network, accessed Jul 12, 2007 [Democratic Republic of the
Congo; http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=65] The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)sometimes referred to as the host of the worst emergency to unfold in Africa in recent decadeshas more than 1,000 people dying every day from war-related causes, including disease, hunger and violence, according to estimates from the International Crisis Group. Mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) are among the most pernicious effects of the years of fighting. They threaten to cause death and injuries for years to come.
Landmines hinder humanitarian aid, stop reconstruction, impede bringning peace, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. E-MINE Electronic Mine Information Network, accessed Jul 12, 2007 [Democratic Republic of the
Congo; http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=65] Mines and particularly UXO maim and kill people in the DRC, and hinder humanitarian aid, reconstruction, development and peace-building throughout the country. The extent of the problem is difficult to assess, but the growing number of victims and dangerous areas being reported suggests that the impact is considerable. The provinces of Equateur, Orientale, the Kivus and Katanga are the most affected. Since 2001, 726 suspected mined areas and 631 UXO polluted areas have been reported. Out of these, 707 and 502 areas, respectively, have not yet been cleared. To date, 1,864 victims have been recorded (815 killed and 1,049 injured). Sadly, the figures represent only the tip of the iceberg, and are expected to rise dramatically as more information is gathered from hitherto inaccessible areas and a tenuous return to normalcy in parts of the country allows greater freedom of movement.
If mines were removed, IDPs would safely return, transportation would be possible, and there would be more farming. E-MINE Electronic Mine Information Network, accessed Jul 12, 2007 [Democratic Republic of the
Congo; http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=65] Successful elections, the peaceful establishment of a new government and the formation of an integrated army could mean the beginning of increased humanitarian access and development for the DRC. In this case, it is essential that mine action be adequately funded to ensure the safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); the clearance of agricultural land, school grounds, villages and water resources; and access to all major roads and paths for the local population as well as the humanitarian aid and development community.
124 Landmines Aff
****US Key****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key - Responsibility
125 Landmines Aff
The United States bears a special responsibility to remove landmine Human Rights News 01 (US Also Bears Responsibility for Landmines Crisis, 5 March 2001,
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2001/03/05/usint352.htm, 10 July 2007) The United States spends more money on humanitarian mine programs than any other country, and Pentagon officials often insist that U.S. mines cause relatively little damage. But Human Rights Watch released fresh research showing that U.S.-manufactured antipersonnel mines have been used by government or rebel forces in at least twenty-eight countries or regions, causing numerous civilian casualties. "The U.S. bears a special responsibility for the landmines crisis," said Stephen Goose, program director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. "Washington is one of the largest producers and exporters of mines in the past, and one of the largest stockpilers today. President Bush should make joining the Mine Ban Treaty a high priority so that the U.S. can fully wield its influence and power to achieve a truly global ban on antipersonnel mines."
The US has a moral responsibility to get rid of landmines. The majority of people maimed or killed by landmines are innocent civilians. ARO 04 (Africa Renewal Online, UNICEF: landmine ban a "moral responsibility,"
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol18no4/184briefs.htm) With landmines killing or injuring thousands of children each year, the head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ms. Carol Bellamy, has called on those countries that have not yet ratified the 1997 landmine ban or ended production of the devices to do so. She specifically named China, India, the US and Russia. "Landmines are a deadly attraction for children, whose innate curiosity and need for play often lure them directly into harm's way," she told delegates to the first World Summit on a Mine-Free World in Nairobi, Kenya, on 2 December. "Countries have a moral responsibility to ratify the mine ban treaty and rid the world of these devastating weapons." According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the overwhelming majority of the 15,000-20,000 people killed or maimed annually by landmines are civilians -- 20 per cent of them children. With upwards of 300 mn of the explosive devices scattered across conflict zones in Africa, Asia and Latin America, mines are a major obstacle to development in some areas. A project to clear mines from a wildlife sanctuary and elephant migration route in Angola was announced at the summit, one of 2,200 mine fields known to remain in the country after decades of war.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key - Responsibility
126 Landmines Aff
The impacts of landmines are structural they claim one life every 22 minutes 800 lives every month and 2600 lives a year [Mark Stemman. Updated by Scot Natbanson, 1995, Land Mines: Mass Destruction in slow motion, Coalition for Peace Action, http://www.peacecoalition.org/facts/landmines.html]
Landmines - camouflaged explosives made to cripple or kill people, or to destroy weaponry - turn fields, paths, and travel routes into potential death traps for innocent civilians long after the conflicts end and the causes of war are forgotten. Though they receive less attention than nuclear or other conventional weapons, landmines kill 800 people every month, 26,000 victims every year. This means one casualty every 22 minutes. 2 Landmines are cheap,3 easy to acquire, easy to carry, and capable of making large areas inaccessible.4
Antipersonnel landmines, designed smaller to target people on foot, pose a danger to civilian populations in dozens of nations. Combatants lay landmines to cordon off areas, cripple potential adversaries, and wreak economic havoc on strategic areas. For example, an estimated four million mines, some supplied by the United Stares, remain buried in Cambodia as a grim reminder of two decades of fighting. Children's exercise books contain pictures of antipersonnel mines 6n their back covers in an attempt to teach the young about the dangerous nines that lay hidden all over the country.5 There is no solution to the landmines problem in Cambodia in sight. According to Handicap International: In 1979.-. there were about 10,000 Cambodian amputees. After 10 years of hard work... nearly 15,000 are walking again. The problem is that - today - there are 30,000 amputees! And the figures are growing at just such an rate in almost half of the countries we are working in (emphasis added).6
Although mine-clearing technologies do exist and work to some extent, they risk human lives and drain scarce resources in many developing-world nations. In the West, World War II landmines in the Netherlands continue to
maim an average of 12 people per year. In the developing world, a landmine that costs as little as $3 to purchase often costs as much as $1,000 in equipment and labor to remove.7 This robs these nations of precious resources that otherwise could be
invested in sustain-able development programs. Because of the tremendous number of mines strewn indiscriminately throughout the developing world (an estimated 110 million at this time), poor nations have no choice but to undertake the enormous project of mine clearance. The complete dc-mining of Cambodia alone will take an estimated 250 years.8 To remove all of the
mines in the world today, according to a report by U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ohali, would cost $33 billion and take nearly 1,100 years If the effort continues at the current rate and landmine proliferation were stopped completely in 1996, an unlikelyprospect (Toward Freedom April/May 1995).9 As the world's number one power, the United States -which has funded the placing of landinines in wars from Angolato Nicaragua - has a special responsibility to take a leadershiprole in the effort to enact an international ban on the expon,manufacture, possession, and use of landmines.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Demining GoodTraining and Technology
127 Landmines Aff
US demining training and technology empirically solveGuinea Bissau, Jordan, and Laos prove. Jenny Lang, U.S. State department Fellow, April 2003 (The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program: Helping
Countries Get on Their Feet, Journal of Mine Action, Issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/lange/lange.htm) Guinea-Bissau Since January 2000, the NGO HUMAID has cleared over half of the entire suspected mine-infested land in Guinea-Bissau, rendering 257,178 square meters mine safe. Nearly 3,000 mines and over 13,333 pieces of UXO have been destroyed. Due to these efforts, much of the land has been transformed for productive use. Over 49,000 square meters are under cultivation for crops including cashews, beans and maniocs. Homes are being built, schools are being rehabilitated and there is access once again to major industries such as the Guinea-Telecom Center. Jordan Since 1997, Jordan has proudly established an effective national mine action program, which has resulted in significant lowering of casualties. At present, Jordan is conducting technical surveys of minefields along the Syrian border. As of January 2003, Jordans Royal Corps of Engineers had cleared 86,123 landmines from about 200 minefields, restoring more than 3,064 acres of land to safe use. Laos U.S. Special Operations Forces soldiers have trained more than 1,200 Laotians, creating an indigenous capability to clear UXO and also the ability to train additional clearance technicians. Personnel at UXO LAO (the Lao National UXO Project) have destroyed more than 363,000 pieces of UXO and cleared more than 32,700,000 square meters of land, which now has been restored to productive agricultural use. UXO LAO personnel have also conducted mine/UXO awareness visits in more than 2,400 villages. More than 300 Laotian medical staff members have received training in emergency rehabilitation or laboratory services.
Countermine Division of the US army provides the best demining technology, reducing time and cost constraints as well as improving safety Sean Burke, U.S Army Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate, April 2003 (The U.S Department of
Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program, Journal of Mine Action, Issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/sburke/sburke.htm) The Countermine Division of the U.S. Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) executes the R&D program for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (OASD(SO/LIC)). From the Pentagon, OASD(SO/LIC) provides funding, guidance and management oversight to the program. The NVESD Countermine Division is wellequipped to execute this program due to its extensive countermine engineering expertise, coupled with a world-class fabrication facility and access to excellent test facilities. The HD R&D Program tests, demonstrates and validates equipment for immediate use in various international HD missions and environments. The goal is to transition new technologies to both military and civilian demining organizations. A key component of the program is to develop demining technologies and then to provide equipment to the international demining community to assess its capabilities in actual demining conditions. The program focuses on R&D technology development that reduces the time and cost associated with demining while improving operator safety. This is accomplished through adapting commercial-off-the-shelf equipment, integrating mature technologies and taking advantage of R&D activity in tactical countermine and UXO clearance. The program aims to improve on existing technologies for mine and minefield detection, mechanical mine and vegetation clearance, mine neutralization, individual deminer protection, and individual deminer tools.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Demining GoodTraining and Technology
128 Landmines Aff
US demining efforts solve besttechnology and training allows host countries to move faster and sustain demining operations Sean Burke, U.S Army Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate, April 2003 (The U.S Department of
Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program, Journal of Mine Action, Issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/sburke/sburke.htm) The HD R&D Program has to date deployed equipment to nearly 30 countries. Besides providing valuable performance data to demining organizations and the R&D Program, these deployments have had a direct impact on the slow but steady progress being made to remove post-conflict landmines. The story of the Tempest and SDTT in Thailand is a prime example. In March 2002, the Thai government officially released cleared land along the Thai-Cambodia border to the civilian population. The HD R&D Program was an integral part of this important success. U.S. troops also benefit from the HD R&D Program. First, when military units deploy for peacekeeping and stability operations, they move into areas where fighting has just ended and the danger of landmines is significant. They need the means to detect and clear all landmines in these areas. In addition, it is important to be able to detect re-mining activity by former warring parties. Some pieces of equipment developed by the R&D Program may be effective tools for peacekeeping and stability operations. In order to examine the military utility of this equipment, the Army established the Joint Area Clearance Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (JAC-ACTD). Several HD R&D technologies are now undergoing extensive demonstrations under the JACACTD. Depending on the results of these demonstrations, the potential exists for introduction of this equipment into the U.S. military. Also, U.S. soldiers are key players in establishing sustainable indigenous mine action capacities in supported countries. As part of the overall task of guiding the host nation to establishment of a national mine action office and conducting demining training, they can recommend technologies developed under the HD R&D Program. The HD R&D Program also benefits the Army as a whole because its efforts contribute to solving the humanitarian mine problem while assisting military countermine research. The HD R&D Program continues to develop new technologies to improve the safety and efficiency of demining. The unique system of annual requirements workshops, the NVESD in-house design and fabrication capability, worldwide technology development and field evaluations has proven to be an excellent formula for success.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key Technology & Training
129 Landmines Aff
US is a pioneer in deminingtechnology, training, and funding. Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr., assistant secretary for Political-Military Affairs and Special Represenative for Mine, December 2002 (Deritus of Conflict: The US Approach to the Humanitarian Problem Posed by Landmines and
Other Hazardous Remnants of War, Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, Vol. 4, Number 1, http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/24987.htm) The U.S. Government has been a pioneer and steadfast supporter of mine action, helping where it can by providing financial support to and training for mine risk education initiatives and clearance efforts. The U.S. furthermore, has also assisted in the investigation of new detection and clearance technologies, the development of indigenous mine action capacities and the formation of a wide array of publicprivate partnerships. The aim of these partnerships has been to reinforce the official mine action programs of the United States, other donor nations, the United Nations, and the Organization of American States. In 1993, the U.S. made the response to the landmine crisis a priority and organized its previously ad-hoc efforts into the formal U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program4. Since then, the U.S. Government has spent about $700 million dollars to support mine action efforts in forty-five countries.
US Humanitarian Demining program solves technological and training requirements for demining American Forces Press Service, February 9, 2000 (DoD Aids Global Demining Efforts,
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=44590) "We're in a mad dash to get to the field with a new capability," said Beverly Briggs, head of DoD's Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program office here. Her group examines and adapts existing commercial off-the-shelf technologies and equipment that will help detect, neutralize and clear mines, mark and map minefields, and protect individual deminers. And that equipment is needed, she said. A look around the world gives an idea of the scope of the problem: "Hidden Killers" a State Department publication says there are 60 million mines worldwide. Officials estimate there are 500,000 mines still buried in Angola. At the end of the civil war in Nicaragua there were 132,000 mines. There are between 4 million and 6 million land mines in Cambodia, where one out of every 236 people is an amputee because of mine blasts. "We aim to eliminate the threat posed to civilians by antipersonnel land mines," Briggs said. "In the last year alone we've deployed some eight major mine detection/mine clearance systems into Bosnia, Kosovo, Jordan, Cambodia and Guantanamo Bay." This mission does not include anti-tank mines or other ordnance that may be in areas, such as unexploded cluster bombs and artillery rounds. The United States has taken the lead to assist countries that are experiencing the problems of uncleared land mines. In May 1996, President Clinton directed the Department of Defense to significantly expand its humanitarian demining program, to develop improved mine detection and clearing technology and to share this new technology with the international community. The assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict oversees the DoD Humanitarian Demining Program. The DoD program is a critical component of the overall U.S. program. DoD's program concentrates on training host nations in the procedures of land mine clearance, mine awareness, and victims' assistance, as well as the development of leadership and organizational skills necessary to sustain the programs after American military trainers have redeployed. Currently the U.S. Humanitarian Demining program includes 33 countries of which DoD has conducted operations in 27.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key Tech
130 Landmines Aff
US de-mining expertise is key to solve landmine crisis. Department of State 2000 (Report Narrative. http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/perfrpt/2000/1902.htm)
The Department's Humanitarian De-mining Program has assisted 37 countries on five continents in confronting the direct and indirect effects of landmines. U.S. humanitarian de-mining assistance has reduced landmine casualties, restored agricultural land to productive use, returned refugees to their homes, and provided health care for mine victims and their families. Humanitarian Victim Assistance The Department also managed, within 24 hours, interagency approval of DOD drawdowns for flood victims in Venezuela and southern Africa. In addition, the Department worked with non-governmental organizations and the Department of Defense for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the victims of natural and manmade disasters The Department provided assistance on the floods in Mozambique in the Spring of 2000. The floods were devastating and generated a multilateral response that included US forces. The Department assisted by using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and declassified intelligence data to match up radar-based calculations of flood zones with population distribution, highlighting areas where there would be concentrations of vulnerable groups. These maps were provided to US diplomats and posted on the United Nation's ReliefWeb site. In January 2000, the Department launched an extensive web site on refugee and migration issues to provide reports on USG initiatives with NGOs and International Organizations, legislative and treaty underpinnings for activity in this area, and updates on special refugee situations from Sudan to Afghanistan.
The US created the a research and development program to solve landmines. Humanitarian De-mining 07 (Landmine threats: Global Problem.
http://www.humanitariandemining.org/threats/proliferation.asp) The landmine has been an accepted weapon of war for over a century. Since World War II, numerous conflicts in Europe, Africa, Central and South America, the Middle East and Asia resulted in the planting of millions of landmines. Unfortunately, these mines remain in the ground long after the conflict ends, killing and maiming civilians and making large area of land unusable for agriculture or development. Approximately 55 million landmines in nearly 60 countries cause over 10,000 casualties each year. The U.S. created the DoD Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program specifically to help solve this problem.
The US is the world leader for de-mining activites. American University, May 15, 1996 [ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; CASE NUMBER: 295; CASE
MNEMONIC: LANDMINE; CASE NAME: ANGOLA'S LANDMINES; http://www.american.edu/TED/LANDMINE.HTM] The U.S. leads the world in addressing the many problems that land mines pose. It has set up the Demining Assistance Program to provide mine awareness training and mine clearance training to nations plagued with mines. It has also developed cost effective forms of mine clearance techniques. In that vein president Clinton, in a September, 1994 address to the U.N. General Assembly called for the eventual elimination of antipersonnel landmines and the creation of an international control regime to regulate the production, export and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines. The regime idea was clearly styled after the International Atomic Energy Agency with the hope of emulating its past success in limiting the number of countries with nuclear weapons capabilities. However, the production and distribution of antipersonnel landmines is a much more difficult task. Unlike nuclear weapons, landmines are cheaply manufactured and maintained, require no sophisticated technology, are easily transported and are difficult to track and monitor.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key- Tech
131 Landmines Aff
US technological leadership and research advancement make it the best actor for solvency Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) As long as the United States is the pre-eminent world power, it will be looked to for leadership in mine clearance. About 10 years ago the United States joined the fledgling humanitarian mine clearance effort around the world. Since that time we have generally expanded our effort by simply doing more of what was done before. While that approach got mines out of the ground, it will not suffice to meet President Clinton's goal and the world's expectation of us. The May 1998 Washington Conference acknowledged that 110 million mines may be a counterproductive overestimation. The conference attendees agreed to revise and lower the estimate. This decision acknowledges that the number of mines is not as central to the issue as the number of victims. The "one at a time" clearance method of the past requires technological augmentation to reach the President's goal. The problem is further complicated by the profusion of areas that are declared minefields but are in fact only "suspected" or may consist of only one mine, the one that exploded. A two-part enhanced technology effort is emerging as a cornerstone of the U.S. approach to mine clearance. First, use technology to cut the problem down to size; and second, use technology to find and clear the mines. Highly accurate surveys are needed to separate suspected from confirmed areas and, further, to limit the actual mined areas to their real boundaries. Some currently available satellite and global positioning satellite (GPS) technology may, with further development, be useful. Using this technology to reliably rule out suspected areas, much land can be returned to use without the expense of painstakingly clearing each square foot. With suspected areas ruled out, further development of fast, cheap clearance should be the remaining priority. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing, among other projects; computer-assisted technology to mimic the processing a dog's nose and brain do to differentiate smells. This research is promising and may result in very low risk mine clearance. Further research in this area coupled with highly accurate surveys could make the concept of land mines in war obsolete.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key- Tech Development
132 Landmines Aff
Only the US should enact the plan, they are key Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) While global APL casualty reduction by the year 2010 is a worthwhile goal, its achievement under U.S. leadership requires a change in current philosophy and an intensively managed follow-through. A good start has been made which, with public and private support, can broaden into a program encouraging economic development while promoting stability and peace. The United States should concentrate on rapidly achieving breakthroughs in research and development, applying these technological advances to surveying to quickly confirm or deny suspected minefields, and limiting the problem to its true size. Efforts should be redoubled to develop medical and rehabilitative infrastructure because the United States is one of the few countries which can do so.
The US is hands down the most important solvency mechanism, they work the best Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) The Departments of State and Defense should collaborate in order to change U.S. strategy to achieve the President's goal by the year 2010. That strategy should promote America's ability to do that which it does best. The United States can research and develop faster and better than any other nation in the clearance effort. It is important to continue removing mines by every means possible because each mine removed is potentially a life saved. While other countries continue their efforts, the United States should concentrate its greater technological capability on high speed, increased reliability surveys. This would allow more land to be declared mine-free and returned to use. We should stop funding limited benefit "train the trainer" type missions while increasing contracts with the most reliable private mine clearance companies for operations. Our superior medical technology can be applied to victim assistance. New partnerships between public and private sectors should be encouraged. Finally, a public information campaign is needed to increase support for this humanitarian cause in the United States. The United States has also led the world in the effort to remove existing land mines, again not with talk, but with action that has saved lives. Our experts have helped to remove mines from the ground in 15 nations. They have trained and equipped roughly one-quarter of all the people who work at this effort around the world. These efforts are paying off.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key- Local Reliance
133 Landmines Aff
The US solves the best, the recipients of landmine assistance trust them and rely on US supplies Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) While this research is carried out, casualties are still occurring at an alarming rate. The United States is actively trying to alleviate APL dangers until the new technology is available. DOD sends uniformed service members to teach indigenous troops or citizens mine clearance and related subjects. An unwritten policy from Capitol Hill requires that U.S. instructors not accompany indigenous personnel in minefields during actual mine removal. The impact of this is obvious. U.S. instructors are teaching mine clearing from a theoretical point only, since they have never cleared actual mines under peacetime conditions. Wartime mine-breaching operations are different from peacetime clearance because in war there is no concern for preserving the agricultural quality of the soil. Mine-afflicted countries know that U.S. instruction is not as credible as that from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). These NGOs have hands-on experience and are willing to go into the field with their trainees. However, U.S. administrative and logistical support is still highly regarded. The United States has the reputation in many mineafflicted countries of providing reliable equipment, adequate training for that equipment, and adequate availability of spare partsall serviced by honest and friendly personnel. Further, most recipients of U.S. military aid in general know that the United States lives up to its written agreements. Other U.S. government agencies also contribute. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has a seat on the Inter-Agency Work Group for Humanitarian Demining, but has a small budget for demining project support and does not routinely consult on each demining mission. The link between mine clearance and economic development could be maximized by closer cooperation among U.S. government agencies throughout the process, to include evaluative follow-up, once mine clearance has been completed.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key- Local Reliance
134 Landmines Aff
The US solves the best, the recipients of landmine assistance trust them and rely on US supplies Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) While this research is carried out, casualties are still occurring at an alarming rate. The United States is actively trying to alleviate APL dangers until the new technology is available. DOD sends uniformed service members to teach indigenous troops or citizens mine clearance and related subjects. An unwritten policy from Capitol Hill requires that U.S. instructors not accompany indigenous personnel in minefields during actual mine removal. The impact of this is obvious. U.S. instructors are teaching mine clearing from a theoretical point only, since they have never cleared actual mines under peacetime conditions. Wartime mine-breaching operations are different from peacetime clearance because in war there is no concern for preserving the agricultural quality of the soil. Mine-afflicted countries know that U.S. instruction is not as credible as that from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). These NGOs have hands-on experience and are willing to go into the field with their trainees. However, U.S. administrative and logistical support is still highly regarded. The United States has the reputation in many mineafflicted countries of providing reliable equipment, adequate training for that equipment, and adequate availability of spare partsall serviced by honest and friendly personnel. Further, most recipients of U.S. military aid in general know that the United States lives up to its written agreements. Other U.S. government agencies also contribute. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has a seat on the Inter-Agency Work Group for Humanitarian Demining, but has a small budget for demining project support and does not routinely consult on each demining mission. The link between mine clearance and economic development could be maximized by closer cooperation among U.S. government agencies throughout the process, to include evaluative follow-up, once mine clearance has been completed.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key - Quick Reaction Demining Force
135 Landmines Aff
US demining forces are capable of solving landmine disastersthe Quick Reaction Demining Force in Mozambique proves.
Roberts 04 (Hayden, JMU, Frazure-Kreuzel-Drew Fellow, The Quick Reaction Demining Force: The United States' Response to Humanitarian Demining Crises http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/8.1/focus/roberts/roberts.htm) Humanitarian crises, particularly crises in which landmines are involved, may occur without warning and require an immediate response. Examples of such crises include Hurricane Mitch, which struck Central America in 1988, the rapid, post-air war return of refugees to mine-infested Kosovo in 1999, and tropical cyclones Hudah and Eline that ravaged Mozambique in 2000, displacing thousands of landmines. To respond to such emergency situations quickly and efficiently, the United States developed a Quick Reaction Demining Force (QRDF). Overview of the QRDF In April 2001, the U.S. Department of State's Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs (now the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement) in cooperation with the Republic of Mozambique established the QRDF as a result of lessons learned from the immediate post-conflict situation in Kosovo, where threats to returning refugees existed. The QRDF is a permanent, professional humanitarian demining group composed primarily of four 10-man teams of Mozambican mine clearance specialists augmented by eight mine detection dog (MDD) teams of one dog and handler each. The teams can be deployed worldwide within 14 days of activation to provide immediate demining assistance in emergency humanitarian situations. The QRDF is deployed to demining crisis situations as directed by the U.S. government. The force incorporates proven demining procedures, including the use of MDDs and specially designed mechanical equipment, and is outfitted with demining-specific tools and materials. Once deployed, the teams locate, identify, map, record and destroy landmines, UXO and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) found in the areas designated for clearance. The United States oversees recruitment, provision of equipment, training and supervision of QRDF personnel within and outside the Republic of Mozambique. The United States has also established an independent management unit in Maputo to manage QRDF operations in coordination with Mozambican authorities. In between deployments outside Mozambique, the QRDF engages in humanitarian demining in support of Mozambique's National Demining Institute, which allows the QRDF to both perform valuable service in that mine-affected nation as well as keep its professional skills finely honed.
US demining forces solvetheyve reduced the number of casualties to landmines in Mozambique. Jenny Lang, U.S. State department Fellow, April 2003 (The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program: Helping
Countries Get on Their Feet, Journal of Mine Action, Issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/lange/lange.htm) Based on lessons learned from the Kosovo experience, the United States established a Quick Reaction Demining Force (QRDF) to respond to immediate post-conflict situations. Presently based in Mozambique, the QRDF is deployed to conduct emergency or special demining operations to assure the safety of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) or to facilitate the peace process. When the teams are not deployed in short-term, predefined missions, they perform demining missions in Mozambique. Established in 2000, the QRDF executed its first deployed missions in Sri Lanka and Sudan in 2002. As of November 2002, the force had returned 122,348 square meters of land to safe use in Sri Lanka, destroying 980 mines and 141 pieces of UXO in the process and allowing thousands of IDPs to safely travel throughout the country as they return to their homes. In Sudan, the QRDF conducted operations for close to six weeks, creating safe conditions for the public and reducing the number of casualties due to landmines.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US key to Demining
136 Landmines Aff
The U.S. should be to prominent leader in demining, its progress spills over into other programs Anderson 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Kenneth Anderson director of the
Arms Project of Human Rights Watch Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 22 pg. 60-61) As the nature of the land mine problem has evolved, so have U.S. efforts to understand and address it. The development of U.S. initiatives is best understood in the context of a learning process. The United States was among the first to assume a leadership role in focusing attention on the problem and in allocating resources to address it. In the 1992 Defense Authorization Act, Congress asked the president to produce a report on international mine-clearing efforts in situations involving repatriation and resettlement of refugees and displaced persons. This task, delegated to the secretary of state, resulted in the report Hidden Killers, 1 the very first country-by-country, global survey of the land mine problem. Hidden Killers succeeded in helping to raise awareness of the problem in the U.S. government, in other governments around the world, and among many nongovernmental organizations, providing the baseline data that all could rely on and refer to. It bears stating, however, that awareness and understanding of the problem have been very uneven around the world. Indeed, initial U.S. efforts to sensitize others to the growing land mine problem evoked little attention. As recently as 1993, most of the world did not take this problem seriously. Fortunately, that is changing, but the point is that just as the U.S. approach to the land mine problem is evolving, so is that of the rest of the world.
US demining programs are key to success Anderson 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Kenneth Anderson director of the
Arms Project of Human Rights Watch Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 22 pg. 62) American demining programs educate local populations about how best to cope with land mines until they can be permanently removed. They also help train personnel in effective, safe demining techniques. Such "train the trainer" programs have proved most effective because they enable land mine-plagued countries to address the problem themselves. Given current technologies, this is the most cost-effective way to approach the situation and the only way, in these countries, to bring to bear the numbers of deminers that are needed.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US key- Generic
137 Landmines Aff
US Solves Best Patierno 00(Donald F. "Pat" Patierno, Director, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs U.S. Department of State Remarks at the Unitarian Church, Bethesda, Maryland April 2, 2000 http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/f4dec004b138bcb0c12568c000438d0f) Our principal goal is to remove the threat landmines pose to civilians. However, removing landmines has other significant benefits. It helps restores vital land to productive use, assists the reconstruction of bridges and roads, and fosters economic and social stability. The preferred means to achieve these objectives is to help the mine- affected country establish its own sustainable demining capability. A typical U.S. program involves helping to set up a mine action center to coordinate all demining activities, establishing a mine awareness program to teach people about the danger of mines and how to report their locations to authorities, and conducting a demining training program so that the hostnation's people will have the technical know- how to clear the mines themselves safely and efficiently. U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) teach mine awareness programs and train the host-nation's nationals to clear the landmines. The Department of Defense also provides a limited amount of the initial demining equipment. For a variety of reasons, it sometimes happens that U.S. Special Operations Forces are unable to go into certain countries, such as Afghanistan. In such situations, U.S. assistance is provided by a commercial firm which performs the same "training and equip" functions provided by the U.S. SOF.
US programs are key to long-term demining solvency Patierno 00(Donald F. "Pat" Patierno, Director, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs U.S. Department of State Remarks at the Unitarian Church, Bethesda, Maryland April 2, 2000 http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/f4dec004b138bcb0c12568c000438d0f) Once the training phase is complete, the Department of State's Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs provides additional funding to support the program, usually with equipment and service contracts, until it reaches the sustainability phase. Other Department of State organizations involved in humanitarian demining include the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). USAID, through the Senator (Patrick) Leahy War Victims Fund, provides comprehensive medical support to landmine victims and their families. PRM helps the resettlement of refugees and internally displaced persons forced to leave their homes because of the presence of landmines.
The US campaign against Landmines has empirically worked Patierno 00(Donald F. "Pat" Patierno, Director, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs U.S. Department of State Remarks at the Unitarian Church, Bethesda, Maryland April 2, 2000 http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/f4dec004b138bcb0c12568c000438d0f) As of March 17 this year, the Campaign has adopted 46 minefields in five of the most heavily mineaffected nations in the world: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bosnia, Croatia, and Mozambique. The total cost for these adoptions is almost $1.5 million. In Afghanistan, the Campaign is clearing 6 minefields in both urban and residential areas as well as clearing roads and restoring agricultural lands to productive use. The Campaign has adopted the sixteen most dangerous minefields in Cambodia as identified by the UN. All these minefields are located in the center of villages making a normal way of life impossible for their inhabitants. The clearing of the eight minefields in Bosnia will enable a primary school to re-open, electric power to flow once again, and agricultural land yield life-giving crops once more. The Campaign has adopted seven minefields in Croatia and once they are cleared refugees will be able to return to their homes, to worship in their churches, to drink potable water, and to plant seeds whose fruit will produce good wine. Finally, clearing of the nine minefields in Mozambique which the Campaign has adopted will restore agricultural land to productive use and provide access to potable water.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key-General
138 Landmines Aff
Only the US should enact the plan, they are key Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) While global APL casualty reduction by the year 2010 is a worthwhile goal, its achievement under U.S. leadership requires a change in current philosophy and an intensively managed follow-through. A good start has been made which, with public and private support, can broaden into a program encouraging economic development while promoting stability and peace. The United States should concentrate on rapidly achieving breakthroughs in research and development, applying these technological advances to surveying to quickly confirm or deny suspected minefields, and limiting the problem to its true size. Efforts should be redoubled to develop medical and rehabilitative infrastructure because the United States is one of the few countries which can do so.
The US is hands down the most important solvency mechanism, they work the best Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) The Departments of State and Defense should collaborate in order to change U.S. strategy to achieve the President's goal by the year 2010. That strategy should promote America's ability to do that which it does best. The United States can research and develop faster and better than any other nation in the clearance effort. It is important to continue removing mines by every means possible because each mine removed is potentially a life saved. While other countries continue their efforts, the United States should concentrate its greater technological capability on high speed, increased reliability surveys. This would allow more land to be declared mine-free and returned to use. We should stop funding limited benefit "train the trainer" type missions while increasing contracts with the most reliable private mine clearance companies for operations. Our superior medical technology can be applied to victim assistance. New partnerships between public and private sectors should be encouraged. Finally, a public information campaign is needed to increase support for this humanitarian cause in the United States. The United States has also led the world in the effort to remove existing land mines, again not with talk, but with action that has saved lives. Our experts have helped to remove mines from the ground in 15 nations. They have trained and equipped roughly one-quarter of all the people who work at this effort around the world. These efforts are paying off.
US Humanitarian Demining Assistance provides crucial support for countries Holmes 97(Civil Affairs: Reflections of the FuturePrepared remarks by H. Allen Holmes, assistant secretary of
defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, at the Worldwide Civil Affairs Conference, Volume 12, Number 32 Chicago, June 6, 1997. http://www.specialoperations.com/Literature/Articles/Civil_Affairs.htm) Humanitarian demining is one of the most fundamental humanitarian missions that the United States - and special operations forces, including civil affairs -- can be involved in and is a high priority for the Clinton administration. The goal of our demining effort is to help countries establish long-term, indigenous infrastructures capable of educating the population to protect themselves from land mines, eliminating the hazards posed by land mines and returning mined areas to their previous condition. The program assists the host country in development of all aspects of mine awareness and mine clearance procedures, with the caveat that no U.S. personnel will clear land mines or enter active minefields. Under the auspices of my office, DoD is pursuing a vital role in humanitarian demining while improving the readiness of U.S. forces through the unique training opportunities and regional access afforded by demining activities. Example: civil affairs in Cambodia.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Key- US Leadership
139 Landmines Aff
US special forces in civil affairs provide necessary skills for demining Holmes 97(Civil Affairs: Reflections of the FuturePrepared remarks by H. Allen Holmes, assistant secretary of
defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, at the Worldwide Civil Affairs Conference, Volume 12, Number 32 Chicago, June 6, 1997. http://www.specialoperations.com/Literature/Articles/Civil_Affairs.htm) Special operations forces are the primary U.S. military resource for the training programs. When we met this time last year, our civil affairs personnel had only recently been incorporated into demining teams. Now, our civil affairs soldiers are beginning to play a key role in our humanitarian demining program. Civil affairs personnel serve as liaisons among our demining teams, the host government, the Civilian Mine Action Center and the U.S. Embassy. Moreover, the civil affairs forces provide the necessary skills to train host nation personnel to develop indigenous demining entities and maintain selfsustaining, long-term programs, which is the ultimate goal of this critical program. Our civil affairs personnel create immediate, direct, tangible benefits in host countries around the world: Roads and schoolhouses are built, wells are dug, mined fields are made safe, governments are stabilized, chaos and confusion are diffused, and order is re-established. By making a difference in the lives of the local populace, our civil affairs personnel are also helping to strengthen the good will of the United States in the eyes of the world -- clearly, our civil affairs forces are invaluable diplomacy multipliers.
Civil Affairs personnel Key to Hegemony Holmes 97(Civil Affairs: Reflections of the FuturePrepared remarks by H. Allen Holmes, assistant secretary of
defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, at the Worldwide Civil Affairs Conference, Volume 12, Number 32 Chicago, June 6, 1997. http://www.specialoperations.com/Literature/Articles/Civil_Affairs.htm) As we look to the future, it is critical that we maintain a presence and develop relationships in regions that are important to our national interest. Our challenge is to maintain an effective military presence throughout the world within a tighter budgetary environment. In order to do so, we must avoid highcost solutions and seek greater international cooperation. Our civil affairs personnel allow us to do just that.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Solves Empirical Africa
140 Landmines Aff
US funding key to demining effortstraining, materials, sign postings and deminers. Department of State 03 (US Humanitarian Demining Programs in Africa.
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs Washington, DC. July 2, 2003. http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/22173.htm Fact) The majority of funding was provided by the Department of State. Other funding was provided by the Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Centers for Disease Control. In FY 2003, the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs is funding the following countries: Angola, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Zambia. Mine awareness training and materials, such as various media/sign postings, have helped to reduce landmine casualties. U.S. Department of Defense personnel have trained a minimum of 1,700 deminers and medical technicians in at least 10 countries. Hundreds of thousands of landmines/UXO have been destroyed in Africa. Deminers have cleared millions of sq. m of land and thousands of km of roadway, enabling hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their homes. The United States has conducted or assessed implementation of mine-detection dog (MDD) programs in several African countries, including Eritrea, Rwanda, and Mozambique.
Angola shows empirical evidence of the US being able to take out landmines. Government of Angola, 05 Jul 2005[press releases, Angola: Partnership with US landmines-related
NGOs;http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ACIO-6DZSB5?OpenDocument&Click=] Luanda, 07/05 - The Angolan Government today in Luanda established a new partnership with the US Non-Governmental Organisations "Roots of Peace" and "Conservation International" in the field of landmine removal with the aim to allow the return of elephants in the country`s Southeast region. This was said at a press conference by the founder of "Roots of Peace", Heidi Kuhn, who added that the project is intended for the removal of landmines, in order to make the land arable again for agriculture. "At a time that the attentions are focused on Africa, we would like to help clear landmines in Angola", she said.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 US Solves Balkans Prove
141 Landmines Aff
US Humanitarian demining program solvesBalkans prove Matt Murphy, Republican State Senator from Illinois's 27th district, 2000 (The U.S. Humanitarian Demining
Program in the Balkans, http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/4.1/balkan.htm) As a result of years of conflict in the Balkans, countless landmines have been laid in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Bosnia-Herzegovina's landmine problem is severe, with an estimated 750,000 landmines and an undetermined quantity of unexploded ordnance infesting some 186 square miles of land. These hidden killers have killed and maimed hundreds, vastly impeded the return of refugees to their homes and hindered international efforts to help people in the region. Since 1996, the U.S. government has provided over $40 million to remedy the problem and has joined with the government of Slovenia to support demining and mine action assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United States has also partnered with the Slovenian International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victim Assistance in the Balkans, which has proven to be one of the outstanding success stories in humanitarian demining assistance. Although the U.S. humanitarian demining program in Bosnia-Herzegovina has reached the sustainment phase through the International Trust Fund (ITF), the United States will continue to support demining efforts there, as well as in other countries. U.S.- Bosnia-Herzegovina bilateral accomplishments include: the setting up of a U.N. Mine Action Center; the establishment of three regional demining centers; training and equipping three civilian demining forces, a total of 180 men and 27 mine-detection dogs; and setting up three military centers that have trained and equipped 1000 deminers and 70 instructors. U.S. support of the ITF is an excellent example of regional and international cooperation and an effective mechanism for addressing the landmine problem throughout the Balkans. In Croatia, for example, the United States funded, through the ITF, six demining projects in communities that welcome the return of ethnic minority residents. These projects support U.S. and Croatian policies to re-establish a multi-ethnic society in Croatia. The United States is also supporting the cleanup effort in Kosovo. Once that conflict ended, the United States worked with the United Nations and other countries and international donors, to implement an operation that provided mineawareness education, mine-survey operations and mine-clearance support. Altogether, U.S. fiscal 1999 assistance for demining in Kosovo amounted to almost $3 million. Assuming other donor nations deposit funds into the ITF and the United States matches the funds, the United States plans to deploy similar demining teams in Albania and Macedonia to resolve landmine problems in those two countries. Thanks to the initial U.S. funding assistance for humanitarian demining, the subsequent infusion of Slovenian International Trust Fund monies and the support of other international donors, mine-affected Balkan nations are making great progress toward the eventual elimination of their landmine challenges.
142 Landmines Aff
****Solvency****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency Public Health Approach
143 Landmines Aff
A utilitarian approach to de-mining contributes directly to economic development and political stability Wolf and Barmazel 200 [Daniel H. Wolf, President, and Steven Barmazel, Publications Director, Terra Segura International, The Necessity of Implementing a Public-Health Approach to Humanitarian Demining, 2004,
http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/5.2/notes/danielwolf.htm] Notwithstanding the humane concern underlying all public-health programs, economic rationality and practicality govern attacks on everything from typhus epidemics to airplane crashes because it is impossible to protect everyone completely in a world with finite resources.
To end a typhus epidemic, for example, officials divide funds and efforts among acute care, programs of prevention and behavioral change, and construction of sanitation infrastructure. Similarly, to reduce airplane accidents, officials simultaneously promote safety in design, manufacture and operation. Attempting to eradicate all flies that carry typhus at the expense of other variables would be an ineffective (and Sisyphean) strategy, as would spending all available funds to build a "perfect" airplane while leaving flight operations unregulated. In both cases, working to eliminate a single risk factor results in more deaths than a strategy of risk reduction that is optimized but incomplete.
Striving to achieve a perfect solution for a single aspect of public-health problems wastes resources. The fundamental premise is that the whole population is better off (i.e., stays healthier and lives longer) if all people are protected to some degree than if a few are protected completely. Instead of focusing resources on a small portion of the population, public-health workers apply a significant proportion of their resources in a relatively thin layer over large groups, perhaps even entire populations. So it should be with demining. Every day, people and livestock stray into unmarked and unfenced mine fields, and every day, dozens of people succumb to the odds they face there. Reducing aggregate threat levels (i.e., reducing the odds of encountering a mine in all populated areas) would reduce death and injury more than the present practice of expending almost all resources on eliminating mines completely in only a few places. This method would also contribute more to economic development, political stability and tax generation.
Wolf and Barmazel 200 [Daniel H. Wolf, President, and Steven Barmazel, Publications Director, Terra Segura International, The Necessity of Implementing a Public-Health Approach to Humanitarian Demining, 2004,
http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/5.2/notes/danielwolf.htm] In mined countries, poverty is the rule, and devastation is both cause and effect. Most land has low economic value relative to land in rich countries, and expected revenues are small. This makes most demining economically irrational and therefore unsustainable. Mine clearance depends on philanthropy, a funding stream that is presently inadequate and possibly subject to erosion. Changing this picture will require careful but dramatic action. Better humanitarian demining is justifiable on the basis of faster casualty reductions at lower cost. But the benefits go far beyond this. As demining costs fall and investments in land remediation increase, economic activity of all kinds will recover and expand. The result will be more prosperity and political stability, reduced reliance on economic assistance, fewer economic causes of conflict, and less need for foreign military interference and peacekeeping.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Integrated Program
144 Landmines Aff
Journal of Public Health Policy 1998 (Removing Landmines: One Limb at a Time? Journal of Public Health Policy, Issue 19.3, pp. 261-266, JSTOR) Returning to his home base in Northern Arizona, where he and the Peace and Justice Network were instrumental in local education and advocacy over the past year, David Gowdey elaborated on this concept. An integrated program is needed, involving ( I ) actual mine clearance, using new technologies being developed, (2)surveying and marking major mined areas to remind people to avoid them, (3) emergency clearance of all mines near hospital units and other key areas, (4)widespread mineawareness training, including programs in the schools, and ( 5 ) medical support and rehabilitation for landmine incident survivors and surviving relatives of victims. An Integrated Approach is the best way to solve Pritchard 99(An Integrated Approach to Providing Humanitarian Aid: The Humanitarian Demining
Development Response Program in Saurimo, Angola Amanda Pritchard Acting Director of Strategy and Service Development Mine Action Information Journal Volume 3, No.1 Spring 1999 http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/3.1/profiles/hmd_pritchard/hmd_pritchard.htm) The immediate benefits of an integrated approach are threefold: shared personnel, shared information and greater impact. Shared Personnel. A single project manager ensures consistency of approach and has provided continuity and control through the first crucial months of the project. The advantages of this are most strikingly illustrated by the paramedics. Six paramedics are employed by HMD Response to work in the minefields. To maintain their skills through constant practice, they rotate through the hospital emergency room. In addition to developing their competence, this has the effect of raising standards in the hospital, which benefits the entire local population and ensures that skilled paramedic support is available to the deminers both in the field and, in case of emergency, in the hospital as well. Shared Information. Information is crucial to the success of any humanitarian program, and HMD Response benefits from the ability to gather information from many different sources. Information gathered through mines survey and mines awareness work, as well as through actual clearance, is added to that provided by the patients attending the hospital who report on the location of mines and UXO as well as on UNITA or banditry attacks. This information can then be used in planning the next steps in the program. It can help set immediate priorities and, obviously it can be disseminated throughout the local population as part of HMD Response's overall concern to improve their safety. Greater Impact. The HMD Response Program has a far greater impact on the local population as a result of its integrated approach. People have learned to recognise the HMD Response name and look upon it with great respect. The reception HMD Response receives is doubly encouraging as the name is evidently associated with both demining and health improvement. For example, it is now the norm for HMD Response to be called by the hospital's staff if a mine victim arrives. Similarly, it is clear from hospital records that victims of landmines, UNITA, or banditry attacks are increasingly travelling long distances to get to that hospital as its reputation for the provision of emergency services has grown.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - USAID
145 Landmines Aff
USAID provides successful aid to de-mining effortsNamibia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe prove. Department of State 03 (US Humanitarian Demining Programs in Africa.
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs Washington, DC. July 2, 2003. http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/22173.htm Fact) USAID has assisted several African countries by providing funding and training for prostheses services to fit over 7,000 amputees with prosthetic devices. Since FY 2000, the Department of State has provided an emergency medical air evacuation capability in Chad from remote field operations to the capital city, the location of the only hospital in the country capable of performing life-saving surgery. Namibia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe have reached the sustainment phase in their humanitarian demining programs, the capability to conduct their own programs either independently or with minimum outside assistance. The Djibouti humanitarian demining program was initiated in February 2001 and the U.S. Government has provided over $2.7 million to the program. Djibouti should be able to declare itself mine safe by the end of 2003. The Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs is currently planning to significantly reduce funding to nine African countries in the next two years due to those countries reaching mine safe status or sustainment.
USAID is the most effective agency to provide landmine and victim assistance Feinberg 06 (Lloyd Feinberg, US Agency for International Development, USAIDs Perspective: The
importance of Social and Economic Development Strategies for Humanitarian Mine Action, Journal of Mine Action, Vol 9, No 2, February 2006, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/9.2/feature/feinberg/feinberg.htm, 11 July 2007) USAID finds the most effective approach to addressing the needs of landmine survivors is including them within the larger population of people living with disabilities, providing for their participation in national reconstruction efforts and giving them access to the opportunities national reconstruction provides. These opportunities relate directly to the objectives mentioned above, insofar as all members of mine-affected communities and countries need to regain the self-reliance and self-respect they have lost as a result of conflict. They also need to be able to take advantage of social and economic services that will help them be productive members of society. This requires access to meaningful education, skills training, appropriate health care and medical services, and opportunities that allow them to earn a livelihood.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Technology Key to Demining
146 Landmines Aff
Technology is critical to demining operations Rand Review 03 (a nonprofit institution to improve policy through research and analysis, Spring, $50 million
needed for landmine detection, Vol 27, No 1) A major research and development program costing about $50 million over five to eight years is needed to sharply accelerate efforts to remove landmines that kill thousands of civilians each year in 90 nations, according to a RAND report. "There is a desperate need for better landmine detection equipment," said Jacqueline MacDonald, an engineer and coauthor of the report. "Technology is available to create better tools to remove landmines, but nothing will be developed unless there is investment in a wellorganized, focused research program." The report said research is needed to develop new technology that can replace the World War II-era equipmentthe mainstay of worldwide efforts to remove landmines. Researchers cited the need for a new generation of landmine detectors that would be more accurate and reliable to speed landmine removal. Today's landmine detection equipment is primitive, relying on technology that results in a high number of false alarms, according to researchers. Landmine detectors used today operate via a technology that is unable to distinguish landmines from other metallic materialsby far the greatest limitation of the process.
Technology is critical to any demining operation. It increases safety, efficiency, and effectiveness Caison 02 (Greg, Humanitarian Force, Mechanically Assisted Mine Clearance Operations,
http://www.maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.2/features/craigcaisontemphide/craigcaison.htm) Mechanically assisted mine clearance operations have proven to be extremely effective in the global effort to remove landmines. Force XX1 believes the use of mechanical clearance techniques, in many instances, is a valuable tool that will enhance any mine action program that uses traditional manual clearance techniques, and it offers a viable alternative to meeting unique, non-traditional nuisance situations encountered in mine action operations. Force XX1 Solutions International has recently finished a three-year effort helping the Namibia Mine Action Program neutralize 401 mined berms using mechanically assisted methods. During this period, Force XX1, working together with the Namibian deminers, successfully cleared the berms and removed approximately 3,904 mines with no injuries or loss of life. Force XX1 is a firm proponent of establishing sustainable programs that can be maintained by any nation executing mine action operations. Accomplishing this requires dependable equipment that can be repaired and modified in the field. Most often the best approach to meet this requirement is to implement a program using traditional (low-tech) manual techniques. However, our experience in Namibia has led us to also believe that some countries and certain situations can best be served by implementing mechanically assisted mine clearance techniques in concert with manual programs. Mechanically assisted mine action operations serve three purposes: to enhance safety, to improve the rate of progress, and to meet unique and important environmental challenges. When used in concert with manual techniques, mechanically assisted clearance techniques may be used as a tool for area reduction and vegetation clearance, which are very time consuming and laborious processes for deminers using traditional manual clearance techniques. While more complex than traditional manual mine clearance techniques, this process can be executed at a remarkably low cost in any country that has access to the necessary equipment. Each host nation situation is different; but generally, Force XX1 believes that it is critical to use commonly available commercial equipment not only to stay on the lowtech low-maintenance end of the spectrum, but also to add to the host nations ability to support other developmental programs. The equipment Force XX1 uses can serve a dual purpose and may be used in many other capacities by the host nation (i.e., agricultural use or any civil engineering-related project). Many of the mechanical devices being developed today cannot be used or sustained by a host nation because they are too specialized, require high maintenance and serve only a single purpose within the scope of humanitarian mine action.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Technology Key to Demining
147 Landmines Aff
We need tech to be able to solve the growing problem, its the only way Hays 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis W Patrick Blagden former demining
expert at the United Nations Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 123) The mine clearance problem is grave, and getting rapidly worse, and to arrest the deterioration, we need to make a quantum jump in our capability to locate and remove land mines swiftly and cheaply. In practical terms this cannot be achieved by making a commensurate jump in the numbers of mine clearers; for reasons of economy, practicability, and safety, improved technologies must be found. We are learning more about these technologies and their potential for mine clearance. Now a concerted effort is needed to establish mechanisms for technology development and funding so that we may put these technologies to work as soon as possible.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Adv
148 Landmines Aff
US Policies on Mine Victims are key to economic and political stability Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) U.S. efforts focus on alleviating the personal and economic burdens caused by APLs by helping afflicted states address medical and financial problems while also training local citizens to neutralize APLs. Mine Clearance Policy Goals to promote human welfare through mine awareness and training, and to promote U.S. foreign policy, security, and economic interests. Mine Clearance Policy Objectives reduction of civilian casualties, development of medical infrastructure, enhancement of host country stability, establishment of sustainable indigenous demining programs. These goals and objectives recognize the connection between APL victims, their local economy, and the logical need for afflicted nations to work the hardest to provide their own solutions. When a medical infrastructure is developed that is sustainable and can meet all the requirements for rehabilitation, victims can retake their place in productive society. As economies develop, with the return of arable land and capable people, regions and countries become more stable. Stable economies promote political stability. U.S. national interests of peace and stability are complemented.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Radar=effective
149 Landmines Aff
Using radars is more effective in finding landmines because they are faster, more accurate, and penetrate further the ground. Claudio Bruschini and Bertrand Gros, Feb 1998 [A Survey of Research on Sensor Technology for
Landmine Detection; http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/2.1/bruschini.htm; The Journal of Humanitarian Demining, Vol. 2] GPR emits into the ground, through a wideband antenna, an electromagnetic wave covering a large frequency band. Reflections from the soil caused by dielectric variations (such as the presence of an object) are measured. Moving the wideband antenna reconstructs an image that represents a vertical slice of the soil; further data processing allows the display of horizontal slices or three-dimensional representations (Daniels, 1996). Used for about 15 years in civil engineering, geology, and archeology to detect buried objects and to analyze soil, this technology is well-researched (GPR Conference, 1996)(WebGPR). This abundant research, however, does not include GPR systems that use automatic recognition algorithms, a feature important to applying GPR to mine detection. Researchers need to investigate the application of GPR to mine detection. Although promising, this technology has limitations. In particular, the resolution needed to detect small objects involves GHz frequencies, which decreases soil penetration and increases image clutter. Another constraint is cost. Compared to other technologies, especially the ones currently used, GPR systems are expensive: beyond the budget of most demining operations. Specific GPR Systems Many GPR options are available. Many outfits, such as FOA (Sweden) (Ericsson and Gustafsson, 1997), GDE (GDE Homepage), and Coleman Research (Barrett, 1995) (both financed by the US Army), develop portable solutions. Offering a vehicular-based radar, targeted at AT mines, is the company ELTA (ELTA Home Page). To decrease the size and price of GPR, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) developed and patented the Micropower Impulse Radar (MIR). The small footprint of the antennas (less than 50 cm2) might allow a faster and more simplified scan of a minefield (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 1995). Other GPR-like variations, using modulated microwave retinas and tomography imaging, have been pioneered by SATIMO (Garreau et al., 1996). A possible future application of GPR involves discerning complex resonances, specific to each target type, in the spectrum of the reflected signal. A study conducted in the 1970s at Ohio State University has already demonstrated the possibility of recognizing targets buried in 30cm of clay (Peters, Daniels, and Young, 1994). The university, in collaboration with Battelle, developed portable standoff equipment that focuses the radar beam through a parabola (Shubert, 1996). Conducting research in the same direction are EG&G (Sower and Cave, 1995) and FOA (Sweden)(Web page at (Ericsson, 1997). Raton Technology Research exploited variations of the frequency of a resonant cavity to detect buried objects and yielded encouraging initial results.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Infrared=effective
150 Landmines Aff
Infrared detectors are more effective because it catches the heat given off by the mine for many weeks. Claudio Bruschini and Bertrand Gros, Feb 1998 [A Survey of Research on Sensor Technology for
Landmine Detection; http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/2.1/bruschini.htm; The Journal of Humanitarian Demining, Vol. 2] Mines retain or release heat at a rate different from their surroundings. Infrared (IR) cameras create images that reveal the thermal contrast between the soil immediately surrounding a buried mine and the top layer of soil. When this contrast results from the presence of the buried mine (alteration of the heat flow), it is a volume effect. When the contrast results from the disturbed soil layer above and around the mine (because of burial), it is a surface effect. The surface effect is detectable for weeks after burial and enhances the mines signature. A thorough explanation of the various thermal mechanisms affecting the temperature contrast is given in (Simard, 1996).
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Nuclear=effective
151 Landmines Aff
Nuclear detecting methods will be effective. Claudio Bruschini and Bertrand Gros, Feb 1998 [A Survey of Research on Sensor Technology for
Landmine Detection; http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/2.1/bruschini.htm; The Journal of Humanitarian Demining, Vol. 2] Besides techniques for detecting trace explosives, interest is growing in techniques for detecting bulk explosives. These techniques are used in security (screening airport luggage (Novakoff, 1992) or mail) or Non-Destructive Testing. Applying these techniques to mine detection, which requires one-sided sensor configurations, operator security, equipment portability, and extensive soil penetration, is a challenge. However, some techniques, such as nuclear methods and NQR (Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance) appear promising. Nuclear methods include thermal neutron activation, neutron backscatter, and X-ray backscatter. They are reviewed in (Gozani, 1996) and, with emphasis on military applications and the detection of AT mines, in (Department of the Army, 1985) and (Department of the Army, 1991). ( Defence Research Establishment, 1991) also provides thorough information about nuclear methods.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Solvency - Mine Action Education

Mine Action education saves lives, resources, and development problems Labon 02 (Michael, Independent Consultant, Mine Awareness, Journal of Mine Action 6.1,
152 Landmines Aff
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.1/features/labon/labon.htm) Poor information had two severe consequences. First, the lack of knowledge in communities led to casualties caused by people doing things they should not have done, and going places (or sending their livestock to places) where they should not have gone. The vast majority of casualties I have encountered, in every mine/UXO risk area I have knowledge of except Afghanistan, have come from people touching/tampering with UXO. This is closely followed by people touching or going into mined areas about which they knew nothing. Invariably, casualties are caused by ignorance (ignorance being simply a lack of knowledge). Secondly, mine fields that do not exist but are firmly believed to exist retard progress in the same ways known mine fields do. This applies equally to suspicious devices that are actually car parts (Mozambique), old stoves (Kosovo) or the grave of a tortoise (Somaliland), all of which halted progress in some manner. In addition, both of these information failures hamper the external relief effort. (Hereafter, the term external will be used to refer to all actors outside of the benefiting community, be they professional, commercial or NGO clearance, MA organizations, or aid, development, and relief agencies, etc.). Suspect areas and mine fields that are not known cannot be dealt with. This is the smaller problem, as invariably, someone in or around the community has information on every suspect area, and eventually this will come out. Reasons why this is not shared with the rest of the community are numerous. The larger problem for the externals are the mine fields that do not exist. In most cases, it takes as long to clear an area with no mines as it does to clear a heavily mined area. The major factor slowing clearance is vegetation coverage. Therefore, good information gathering during the survey stages can lead to early discrediting of suspect areas, which in turn frees resources for other tasks. Good information leads to a greater impact for the beneficiaries.
Mine Information allows for development and clearing Labon 02 (Michael, Independent Consultant, Mine Awareness, Journal of Mine Action 6.1,
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.1/features/labon/labon.htm) The benefits of having an information network, as with coping mechanisms and the database, must be understood, and the community made to understand. The primary reasons for involving the community returns to information. If the community is involved, there will be better information coming from the individuals. The involvement of the community leads to better priority setting. This is further enhanced if there is a development project linked with the concept. Involvement of the community in priority setting also provides an incentive, which feeds the information cycle. As resources available will not solve the communities mine problem (hence the formation of this concept), they must be made aware that they will have to cope. Therefore, there must be community participation if mine fields are to be left. And there will always be a residual threat, much as there is from WWI in Europe. If the community is made aware and can see that better information leads to better utilization of resources and hence increased benefits to the community that also feeds the information cycle. It must be pointed out that benefits range from the direct onesmore area cleared, devices removed, bogus mine fields eliminated without clearance, etc. to the indirect onesboreholes, clinics, schools, roads, agricultural projects; all the kinds of development work that stays away because externals are afraid of the mine threat.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Solvency Presses
153 Landmines Aff
Public health approach solves perfect the enemy of the good Wolf and Barmazel 200 [Daniel H. Wolf, President, and Steven Barmazel, Publications Director, Terra Segura International, The Necessity of Implementing a Public-Health Approach to Humanitarian Demining, 2004,
http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/5.2/notes/danielwolf.htm] Striving to achieve a perfect solution for a single aspect of public-health problems wastes resources. The fundamental premise is that the whole population is better off (i.e., stays healthier and lives longer) if all people are protected to some degree than if a few are protected completely. Instead of focusing resources on a small portion of the population, public-health workers apply a significant proportion of their resources in a relatively thin layer over large groups, perhaps even entire populations. So it should be with demining. Every day, people and livestock stray into unmarked and unfenced mine fields, and every day, dozens of people succumb to the odds they face there. Reducing aggregate threat levels (i.e., reducing the odds of encountering a mine in all populated areas) would reduce death and injury more than the present practice of expending almost all resources on eliminating mines completely in only a few places. This method would also contribute more to economic development, political stability and tax generation. Public-health programs and methodologies vary considerably by disease and social setting. Some methods are primarily epidemiologicalidentifying causes. Others are sociological; (e.g., working to change hygiene habits) or public-works-oriented (building sanitary water and sewage systems to interrupt disease cycles). All programs share two goals: 1. to implement the most effective strategic attack on the epidemic in order to stop it in its tracks and 2. turn it around and to maximize effectiveness per dollar invested. Not coincidentally, the second goal flows from the first. Good public-health programs exploit the weaknesses of their disease adversaries and reinvent themselves as they confront new conditions. Using tools from the fields of epidemiology, economics, sociology and political science, among others, programs analyze not only the disease but also the social and technical advantages and impediments faced in the struggle against disease. Public-health officials are not magicians but pragmatists. They attempt to maximize organizational effectiveness and optimize use of available resources in order to minimize aggregate death and injury. This requires constantly analyzing and tinkering with organizational functioning; developing, testing and refining improvements; integrating new technologies; and continually attending to stakeholders at all levels. Ignoring any single element threatens optimization efforts.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Demining is Dangerous
154 Landmines Aff
Demining accidents are extremelt rare. Andy Smith, AVS mine action consultant, April 2003 (IMAS and PPE Requirements, Journal of Mine Action,
Issue 7.1, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/smith/smith.htm) Anyone considering the risks in demining should be aware that demining accidents are rare. While I do not have all of the relevant data, I have been able to make a statistical study of the frequency of demining accidents for some theatres in some years. To make this study you must have reliable information about the numbers of deminers and supervisors actually working in mined areas, the hours worked and the accidents suffered. My limited investigation showed that severely disabling accidents occur at the rate of one for each 30+ person-years of actual demining. I believe that this is a worst-case figureand that accidents in most demining theatres are much rarer than this.
US demining de-mining protection technology is extremely advanced Col. George Zahaczewsky (U.S. Army Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and
Furthermore, NVESD worked with Andy Smith to develop PPE that could be locally produced in a mineaffected country. The U.S. demining technology development program endorses both approaches, i.e., development of commercially available PPE for demining organizations and donors who can afford to buy it as well as locally manufactured body armor for countries wishing to establish an indigenous capability. The caveat in this endorsement, of course, is that both meet minimally acceptable standards of protection. Finally, the further services of Andy Smith were retained to gather field data pertaining to deminer injuries. Due primarily to his significant interest in PPE as well as his access to and knowledge of several demining theaters, it was felt that Smith had an extremely useful insight and perspective on deminer injuries.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Number mines small
155 Landmines Aff
Demining efforts alleviate the fear of mines, in addition to actual mines which allows stabilization and self sufficiency Pritchard 99(An Integrated Approach to Providing Humanitarian Aid: The Humanitarian Demining
Development Response Program in Saurimo, Angola Amanda Pritchard Acting Director of Strategy and Service Development Mine Action Information Journal Volume 3, No.1 Spring 1999 http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/3.1/profiles/hmd_pritchard/hmd_pritchard.htm) One of the consequences of two decades of the haphazard and zealous laying of landmines is confusion and fear. While there is a very real existence of mines in the region preventing access to water and land and precluding safe travel on road, there is also a parallel problem created by the fear of mines, whether they are actually there or not. Mines survey and mines awareness combined with UXO clearance can open up areas rapidly and effectively by differentiating between those areas where fear alone is the enemy, and those areas where mines themselves present the real danger. HMD Response has the capability to carry out basic mine surveys and awareness activities, but it also has the capacity to conduct actual clearance operations. Where there is doubt about the presence of mines, or their existence has been positively confirmed, HMD Response can still help the local community by clearing safe routes to vital resources. The effect of this work is to improve the ability of the family to feed itself and gain access to clean water, and to improve the ability of the community to engage in trade through improved access to resources and markets. Ultimately the effect of this work is to improve the ability of the local population to become self-sufficient and regenerate itself.
Vines 98 (Alex, research associate at Human Rights Watch, FROM DEFENCE TO DEVELOPMENT Redirecting Military Resources in South Africa, Edited by Jacklyn Cock and Penny Mckenzie, http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-68075-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html) The ongoing threat created by live land-mines can prevent civilians from living in their homes and using their fields, and can seriously threaten the ability of an entire country to rebuild long after war has ended. Fear of land-mines, whether present or not, denies land and homes to people who are hesitant to return. In Mozambiques Maputo province, the village of Mapulenge, which had been the centre of a community of 10 000 people, was deserted for four years because local people had been told it was mined. A mine clearance operation in 1994 took three months and uncovered only four mines; these, and the spreading of rumours, had been sufficient to depopulate an area for four years. Four anti-personnel mines, costing US$40, resulted in years of fear and tens of thousands of dollars spent, before the community felt safe to return. In Mozambique, the United Nations concluded a contract for the clearance of 2010 kilometres of roads in 1994. Many of these roads had been closed for years, yet the clearance produced only 28 mines; other less hazardous ordnance items were also uncovered.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Smart Mines

Smart mines fail Oppong and Kalipeni 05
156 Landmines Aff
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse]
Countries that produce, use, and/or proliferate landmines have generally assumed that antipersonnel landmines are indispensable as weapons of war, and that their indiscriminateness can be moderated through compliance with military doctrine and the rules of international humanitarian law (Maslen 2001; Priest 1997; Prokosch 1995). As shown in figure 2, these countries include the United States, the current sole superpower in the world; yet a study that examined the military case for continued use of landmines based on their employment in twenty-six actual conflicts concluded that few instances can be cited where antipersonnel-mine use has been consistent with international law or, where it exists, military doctrine (Coupland 1998; Maslen 2001). Even the much-touted "smart mines" produced by the United States and used in Iraq during the Gulf War have problems: the failure
rate of the smart mines to explode on their own after 48 hours of being dropped was extremely high (see Maslen 2001). Historical evidence indicates that during hostilities, mines are rarely used "correctly," whether by "developed" armies, "third-world" armies, or ragtag insurgents, and that their effects cannot be limited so easily as law and doctrine assume.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Landmine Monitor Indicts

Oppong and Kalipeni 05
157 Landmines Aff
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] Perhaps the most dependable information on landmines is that produced by Landmine Monitor. Established in June 1998 by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Landmine Monitor is a civil-societybased reporting network, which systematically monitors and documents compliance with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the humanitarian response to the global landmine crisis. It complements existing statebased reporting and compliance mechanisms by producing an annual report, periodic fact sheets, and periodic country reports. The annual reports released from 1999 to 2003 are vital documents. Data used in this research are
corroborated by sources such as the ICRC and other published sources.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Landmines Good
158 Landmines Aff
Landmines dont work and are strategically unsound for military purposes Vines 97 (Still killing: Land-mines in Southern Africa Alex Vines Head of Africa Programme Chatham House,
Royal Institute of. International Affairs, IRDC, Human Rights Watch, 1997:1-16 http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-68075201-1-DO_TOPIC.html ) One of the key arguments against a ban on anti-personnel land-mines is that these are weapons of high military value and that the indiscriminate effects can be moderated through compliance with military doctrine and the rules of international humanitarian law. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) surveyed the actual use and effectiveness of these weapons in conflicts. The study concluded that there were few instances where anti-personnel land-mines have been used according to international law. Mines are rarely used correctly, whether by developed armies, Third World armies or insurgents and their effects cannot easily be limited as law and doctrine presume (ICRC, 1996:7). The study argued that it is unwise to justify the continued use of anti-personnel land-mines on the premise that they will be deployed in a carefully controlled manner. The following conclusions were drawn about land-mines placed in a traditional manner in marked minefields: Establishing, monitoring and maintaining an extensive border minefield is time-consuming, expensive and dangerous. These minefields have not proved successful in preventing infiltration. Effective marking and mapping of land-mines is extremely difficult under battlefield conditions. The cost to forces using anti-personnel mines in terms of casualties, limitations of tactical flexibility, and loss of sympathy of the indigenous population is higher than has been generally acknowledged. The evidence suggests that, even when used on a massive scale, anti-personnel land-mines had little or no effect on the outcome of hostilities. No case was found in which the use of anti-personnel land-mines played a major role in determining the outcome of a conflict.
159 Landmines Aff
****AT: CPs*****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Local CP
160 Landmines Aff
The affected countries need money to destroy their landmines. Environmental News Services, December 2, 2004 [Countries Gather to Lighten the World's Burden of
Landmines; NAIROBI, Kenya, (ENS); http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2004/2004-12-02-03.asp] Together, the Parties have destroyed more than 37 million landmines since the Ottawa Convention took effect. From a financial perspective, the five year review acknowledges that some States Parties, particularly developing countries, do not possess the financial means to destroy their stockpiles of antipersonnel mines given pressing needs in other areas. "It should be recognized that while an investment of typically less than US$1 per mine will destroy a stockpile of mines, the costs to clear emplaced mines are hundreds or thousands of times higher," the review document says.
Local groups are incapable of demining properly. Eritrea and Ethiopia prove Kudyba 02 (Bob, Ethiopia and Eritrea Mine Action Coordination Center, Journal of Mine Action v6.1
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.1/focus/kudyba/kudyba.htm, Operations Officer for MACC) In addition to the residual threats posed by landmines and UXO from old conflicts, the recent conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea (19982000) poses a significant threat throughout the conflict area. This threat is primarily confined to the no mans land that runs between the trenches along the confrontation lines (May 1998 and MayJune 2000). These mine fields contain a mixture of AT and AP mines that are laid mainly in conventional military patterns. Additionally, unmarked and unrecorded nuisance mine fields and point targets can be expected outside the trench lines through the conflict area. Although large numbers of mines have been reportedly removed or destroyed by both forces, either during the conflict or immediately after it, neither side has the technical means to conduct mine clearance to international humanitarian standards. Subsequently, a significant residual risk remains. In addition, UXO has increased the contamination in the conflict area, particularly in the trench and other battle areas.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Ban Landmines CP No Solvency
161 Landmines Aff
Bans on landmines wont solve for decades Pearn 97 (John, Professor Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, British Medical Journal, Recent advances
in paediatrics: IIchildhood and adolescence, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7087/1099#Landmines) Medical journals, international agencies, and governments have called for a total ban on the sale and use of antipersonnel landmines. Even if such a ban37 were enacted this year, it would take many decades for many countries to be rendered safe for children. The unanswered threat of antipersonnel landmines, like resurgent drug resistant malaria, is one of the urgent themes in preventive paediatric medicine.
Landmines are products of civil wars in Africa- international treaties fails to solve Isebill V. Gruhn (Land Mines: An African Tragedy The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 34, No. 4.; Dec., 1996, pp. 687-699; http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022278X%28199612%2934%3A4%3C687%3ALMAAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W) As disputes erupt into wars, the multi-dimensional destructive capability of mines spreads like a cancer, and arms-control policymakers must grapple with what must be one of the most noxious weapons ever invented. The use of poison gas in warfare was prohibited by the Geneva Protocol of 1925, as was the development, production, and stockpiling of bacteriologically toxic weapons by the Biological Convention of 1972. These international treaties are designed to deal with inter-state conflicts, as is the 1980 United Nations Convention on the Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects, known as the CCW Convention which addresses land mines in its provisions. But their deployment in Africa has been mainly in the context of civil wars, and controlling their use among conflicting parties in a sovereign state raises additional obstacles to formulating international agreements.
Landmines are rarely used correctly under conditions of International Law Oppong and Kalipeni 05
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] Countries that produce, use, and/or proliferate landmines have generally assumed that antipersonnel landmines are indispensable as weapons of war, and that their indiscriminateness can be moderated through compliance with military doctrine and the rules of international humanitarian law (Maslen 2001; Priest 1997; Prokosch 1995). As shown in figure 2, these countries include the United States, the current sole superpower in the world; yet a study that examined the military case for continued use of landmines based on their employment in twenty-six actual conflicts concluded that few instances can be cited where antipersonnel-mine use has been consistent with international law or, where it exists, military doctrine (Coupland 1998; Maslen 2001).
Even the much-touted "smart mines" produced by the United States and used in Iraq during the Gulf War have problems: the failure rate of the smart mines to explode on their own after 48 hours of being dropped was extremely high (see Maslen 2001). Historical evidence indicates that during hostilities, mines are rarely used "correctly," whether by "developed" armies, "third-world" armies, or ragtag insurgents, and that their effects cannot be limited so easily as law and doctrine assume.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT Ban CP Norm Now
162 Landmines Aff
Status Quo solves - The Ottawa Treaty has created norms that non-signers already follow Wexler 03 (Lesley, he International Deployment of Shame, Second-Best Responses, and Norm Entrepreneurship: The Campaign to Ban
Landmines and the Landmine Ban Treaty, Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, JD w/ honors, lexis)
While empirical data on the effects of the Landmine Ban Treaty is difficult to acquire, the Landmine Monitor reports suggest widespread compliance with treaty mandates as to transparency, production, transfer, stockpiles, and use. 248 First, the overwhelming majority of state parties have complied with initial transparency requirements. 249 This early compliance is important as it makes ongoing verification of treaty compliance easier by providing clear baselines of comparison. Second, landmine production has been significantly reduced. Forty-one states, including "eight of the twelve biggest producers and exporters over the [*593] past thirty years," have completely eliminated the production of APMs. 250 This leaves only thirteen producing states. 251 Third, landmine exports have been almost entirely eliminated. Since the Landmine Ban Treaty, there have not been any verified shipments of landmines between countries. 252 Moreover, there has been "a virtual absence of mines -legitimate or otherwise -- at arms shows and military equipment exhibitions this year . . . even the nonsignatories to the Mine Ban Treaty seem to feel the need to appear politically correct." 253 All nations, except for Iraq, formally state that they do not export landmines. 254 Of non-signatories, many have official export moratoriums or bans in place. 255 Russia and China both allow exports as consistent with the CCW, but their last known significant exports were in 1995. 256 Fourth, major stockpile reductions are also underway. Approximately 27,000,000 AP landmines have been destroyed in recent years. 257 Between state parties and signatories, about 16,000,000 to 18,000,000 more landmines are slated for destruction. 258 Only seven state parties have not begun the process, whereas several states have already completed destruction of their stockpiles. 259 Finally, the overall use of landmines has been reduced compared to the early 1990s and the trend is toward further reductions. 260 In the last reporting period, the Landmine Monitor has only confirmed landmine use by one treaty signatory. 261 Even such important non-signatories as Israel and Kyrgyzstan did not use landmines in the last reporting period. 262 Given the extensive use of landmines prior to the treaty, establishing a complete and immediate taboo against [*594] their use would be an impossible task. 263 However, the implementation of the treaty's mandates suggests strong support exists for the development of a norm against landmine use, production, stockpile, and transfer. These changes described above also demonstrate a real commitment to the longevity of the Landmine Ban Treaty. The combination of stockpile reductions and export restrictions increase the costs to state parties to break out of the treaty. In a world with a treaty, states no longer have easy access to landmines; rather they must incur greater political and economic costs to acquire them. While landmines once accompanied security assistance packages, 264 previous recipients must now invest in self-production, and if they are members to the treaty, they must do so covertly. Raising the costs effectively reduces the attractiveness of landmine use. 265 The treaty also takes the decision whether to use landmines away from militaries and subjects it to the democratic process. 266 Third, now that the ban is in place, producers of foam, antitank landmines, and other possible APM replacements have a greater incentive to aggressively develop those alternatives. The combination of these factors suggest the durability of the Landmine Ban Treaty and the norm against landmines.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT Ban CP US Signature Not Necessary
163 Landmines Aff
Groups are already being pushed towards banning mines. Whether or not the US signs is irrelevant Wexler 03 (Lesley, he International Deployment of Shame, Second-Best Responses, and Norm Entrepreneurship: The Campaign to Ban
Landmines and the Landmine Ban Treaty, Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, JD w/ honors, lexis)
The ICBL realized the importance of garnering acceptance for its norms [*573] at every level from landmine component workers, to company heads, to heads of states. Unlike some NGOs that had separated raising issue awareness from the support for specific actions, the ICBL implemented an integrated strategy in regard to landmine manufacturers. For instance, Human Rights Watch simultaneously informed the American public about the relationship between U.S. companies and landmine production 91 and prompted many companies into renouncing that relationship. 92 By exposing the forty-seven companies involved in landmine manufacturing, Human Rights Watch debunked the Department of Defense's claim about limited domestic production. 93 The report issued by Human Rights Watch, Exposing the Source, also launched the ICBL's "stigmatization" campaign, which was designed to shame companies into voluntarily ending their involvement in the landmine trade. 94 In compiling data about domestic landmine production, letters were sent to each company urging that it immediately renounce any future involvement in the production or assembly of landmines and landmine components. 95 The report directed supporters to lobby companies by writing letters, submitting shareholder resolutions, and holding vigils. 96 Companies that had already renounced landmine use were encouraged to develop industry-wide codes of conduct opposing landmine production, pressure non-compliant companies, and limit the award of demining contracts to non-mine producing companies. 97 The United States Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) also issued Stigmatization Campaign Updates identifying specific producers and urging concerted action. 98 The stigmatization campaign achieved immediate results. The mere investigation into the companies' practices prompted seventeen producers to immediately renounce any future involvement in the landmine trade. 99 By the close of 1997, two more companies ended their landmine production. 100 The stigmatization campaign also sent a strong signal to global producers that [*574] companies, not just states, would be targets of the campaign against landmines. The creation of like-minded organizations soon followed with the development of stigmatization campaigns in other countries. The Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines (ItCBL) persuaded workers from one of the largest global landmine producers to issue a statement of their support for a landmine ban. 101 ItCBL led a march to the Valsella production facility and held a rally there. 102 Capitalizing on the theme of children's innocence, four women at the Valsella plant held a banner declaring that they should not have to produce weapons that kill others' children in order to feed their own. 103 This resulted in the town council in Castenedolo joining the ban campaign. 104 This type of internal struggle took on added significance since landmine producers often lobbied the governments to avoid regulation. 105 The stigmatization campaigns demonstrated the power of transnational norm entrepreneurs. Rather than waiting for possible regulation, companies changed their behavior in response to a newly developing norm against landmines. Their wish to avoid being labeled landmine producers suggests the strength of the ICBL's norm promotion.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Ban Mines CP Doesnt solve the Aff
164 Landmines Aff
The Ottawa treaty is uniquely worse. Vehicle mines are still allowed, and they last forever. Garwin 04 (Richard, Beyond the Ottawa Treaty, International Herald Tribune, http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/03/20/edgarwin_ed3_.php,
Physicist/Chaired the Arms Control and Non-Prolif Adv Board)
But the new U.S. policy on land mines addresses the humanitarian problem far more effectively than any alternative, including the Ottawa Convention. The states that signed the Ottawa treaty should adopt the U.S. initiative on antivehicle land mines. The Ottawa Convention is not a "mine ban treaty." In reality there are two partial bans. Each bans some mines and permits others. The Ottawa Convention bans antipersonnel mines but permits antivehicle mines without restriction. Ottawa-compliant antivehicle mines can be persistent that is, they may remain lethal for decades after emplacement. They can be made with little or no metal, to evade detection by humanitarian mine-clearance teams. They can have antidisturbance features so that they explode if a person walking along accidentally tilts one. The main difference between antipersonnel mines and antivehicle mines is that the permitted mines are more powerful. They can wait undetected for decades, fully compliant with the Ottawa Convention, and then kill several people at once, regardless of whether they are on foot, in a school bus, or on a tractor. The new U.S. policy is very different. It treats antipersonnel and antivehicle mines alike. It bans all mines that are either nonmetallic or persistent. It permits mines that are detectable and not persistent that is, mines with timing mechanisms that self-destruct the mine in 30 days or less (usually four hours for present U.S. mines). Permitted mines must also be self-deactivating that is, they must be powered by a battery which will exhaust
itself in 120 days or less if self-destruction fails. But such failure is most unlikely. In more than 65,000 tests under a wide variety of conditions, no activated U.S. self-destructing mine has failed to self-destruct. Failure of self-deactivation is even less likely; batteries always die. This is not to say that it is impossible that an activated U.S. mine will not somewhere, sometime fail to terminate on schedule. But we know that all the persistent antivehicle mines stockpiled by Austria and other members of the Ottawa Convention are designed to sit ready to kill for decades after emplacement. To illustrate the difference between the two regimes, imagine that two minefields are now laid next to each other on the site of the summit meeting of the Ottawa Convention that Wolfgang Petritsch is scheduled to chair in Nairobi this November. One minefield consists of a representative group of Ottawa-compliant Austrian mines. It will be deadly the day it is laid, equally deadly at the time of the November conference, and will remain deadly for decades after that. The other minefield consists of a representative group of the U.S. mines permitted under the new policy. Within four hours, most will be gone. Long before November, all activated mines will be gone. I am not challenging Petritsch to hold his meeting in a field where Austrian mines were laid eight months previously, while I take my lunch next door in a field of U.S.-compliant mines. But the concept illustrates the difference between the two regimes. Petritsch speaks of a "mine-free world"
and "elimination of antipersonnel mines" as if they were synonymous. They are not. The post-combat threat to civilians is determined not by whether a mine is an antipersonnel mine, but by whether it is persistent. All land mines threaten civilians when they are first laid. But some do it after the battle, and some do not. The U.S. policy draws the line between the two; the Ottawa Convention does not. The most humanitarian course for the Nairobi
conference would be to discuss how soon the members of the Ottawa Convention can move to the higher standard that the United States has set.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Ban Mines CP Doesnt Solve
165 Landmines Aff
Banning landmines is pointless and idealistic. Banning them doesnt help remove them. Greiner 97 (Richard, Why Landmines? Why Not Just Ban War, The Washington Times, October 17, columnist)
And in 1927 high-minded leaders of the age finally decided they'd had enough of this penny ante stuff - treaties providing for disarmament but which left the idea of war intact. What they should really do was go the whole hog and abolish war itself. Suddenly taken with the idea, French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, in an address to the American people, declared France was prepared to enter into an agreement with the United States to outlaw war. The press leapt at the idea. "the outlawry of war" And in August, 1928, the Pact of Paris (the Kellogg-Briand Pact) was signed by America and 14 other leading powers, all of whom officially renounced war as "an instrument of national policy." The U.S. Senate, if reserving the right of self-defense, approved 85 to one. So you see? All we needed was to get together a few responsible people willing to do some serious talking, and the whole business was taken care of. When Mussolini invaded Abyssinia, and Japan seized huge parts of China, and in 1939 when Hitler launched his stunning lightning war in Poland, people must have been simply forgetful. Because I'm sure that if any serious person had told Hitler that what the Wehrmacht was doing in Poland was illegal, he would have ordered his army out of Poland immediately. And so it's encouraging to note that Vermont's own Jody Williams, winner of the latest Nobel Peace Prize, is continuing in this grand idealistic tradition - although one wonders why she's so steamed up about making landmines illegal as war itself has been illegal since 1927, and her efforts are really redundant. Also curious is her peculiar shunning of actual land-mine clearance, as according to her delirious figures it would take 1,000 years to clear all the world's landmines, and it would be best if we halted all landmine activity now while we're ahead - or rather behind by only 1,000 years. As you might have noticed before this, agitators with sublime ideals are often impervious to eighth-grade math. Anyway it's interesting to note that Miss Williams' highpublicity, righteous campaign hasn't saved the life or limbs of one single landmine victim. Nor will it.
Banning landmines doesnt do anything to clear them Greiner 97 (Richard, Why Landmines? Why Not Just Ban War, The Washington Times, October 17, columnist)
The estimate put out by her tiny International Campaign to Ban Landmines is that there are 119 million landmines in the world, whereas my figure for the seven countries where the leading British demining charity works is only 1.7 million. The placing of all lobbying emphasis on the "Princess Diana" campaign to ban the manufacture and placing of landmines - while quite ignoring the problem of clearing them away - is somewhat baffling. The behavior of the George Soros Foundation is typical, in that it has donated $3 million to the ban-the-landmines campaign but will give nothing for landmine clearance as it considers the job hopeless.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Ban CP - US Policies Solve Mines

Current US policies solve Land Mine problems Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 04 (Landmine Policy White Paper, US Dept of State,
166 Landmines Aff
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/30047.htm) To reduce these humanitarian hazards to the lowest possible level, while at the same time protecting our ground forces and the civilians they may be sent to defend, the United States will now implement the following policy: Persistence: After the year 2010 the United States will no longer use persistent landmines of any type, antipersonnel or anti-vehicle. Every landmine we use will meet or exceed the specifications for self-destruction and self-deactivation of the Amended Mines Protocol to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (AMP/CCW). Alternatives to Persistent Landmines: The U.S. will develop alternatives to current persistent landmines, both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle, that incorporate enhanced self-destructing/self-deactivating (SD/SDA) technologies. Non-detectable mines: After one year the United States will no longer use non-metallic or lowmetallic landmines of any type, anti-vehicle or anti-personnel. This completes a process the United States started years earlier, by converting non-detectable anti-personnel landmines into detectable ones. Every landmine we use will meet or exceed the specifications for detectability in the CCW's Amended Mines Protocol. Increase funding for Humanitarian Mine Action: The new policy will increase the funds available to support the State Departments portion of the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program by an additional 50% over FY03 baseline levels to $70 million annually. Sale or export: In implementing this policy, the United States will seek an international agreement that prohibits the sale or export of landmines that do not self-destruct. Consistent with existing U.S. obligations, we will seek appropriate limited exceptions for training personnel engaged in demining or countermining operations. This initiative complements existing provisions in the Amended Mines Protocol that already prohibit the transfer of non-detectable anti-personnel mines as well as remotely delivered mines that do not self-destruct and self-deactivate. In a separate effort, we are pursuing a protocol in the CCW that would, among other things, ban the use of non-detectable anti-vehicle landmines.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Ban Mines CP
167 Landmines Aff
Rogue forces will always use landmines. Bonnart 97 (Frederick, Sorry, Banning Land Mines Is Not A Good Idea, International Herald Tribune,
http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/08/22/edfred.t_0.php) Land mines are a highly effective defensive weapon. They are light, easily transported and concealed, quickly laid and difficult to detect. Covered by gun fire, they can create a formidable obstacle. Although modern warfare is increasingly mobile, positions would still have to be held in combat. Mines provide a powerful means for troops to protect themselves rapidly. No major conflicts are on the horizon, and mine fields have no application in peacekeeping operations. But nations still spend a significant part of annual income on defense, for which they continue to acquire lethal equipment. It would be illogical to exclude land mines. In addition to
the former battlefields where their widespread use now causes such spectacular damage to innocent by-standers, they were laid in more recent conflicts in Bosnia, in the Gulf War, in the Falklands. Unlike nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, which
require scientific and technical knowledge and capabilities, as well as large-scale manufacturing and storage facilities, basic land mines are easy and cheap to manufacture. Regardless of any ban, rogue regimes or irregular forces will always acquire and use them if they feel they need them. Regular forces of law-abiding nations bound by a treaty would be deprived of them. So it is not surprising that military establishments responsible for the defense of such countries advocate their retention. As a result, it may not be possible to obtain an
agreed treaty.
Land mines are necessary force multipliers for effective defense Ottawa Citizen 07 (The Benefits Of Landmines, Feb 9, lexis)
On the national level, the hypocrisy is usually somewhat less obvious and the effects longer term. But the answer is clear on the "Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction" (otherwise known as the Ottawa Treaty). The treaty was primarily signed by countries with no serious military capability or security responsibilities. The major non-signatories (the United States, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and the Koreas) doubtless have larger armed forces than the sum total of all the signatories combined. In effectiveness, it is akin to a covey of doves declaring that eagles should be declawed. The treaty was driven by the federal government during its "soft power" infatuation under former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy. I recall making the point with Canadian diplomats that antipersonnel landmines were of real military value, particularly to the U.S. in defending South Korea from attack across the Korean demilitarized zone. Antipersonnel mines were not created to blow the feet off "poster children," nor to provide photo-ops for the late Princess Di, but inter alia to prevent infiltration, secure fortifications and guard posts, protect antitank mine fields, "channelize" enemy movement from hard-to-observe or attack routes into areas where they could be seen, and reduce the number of your forces necessary to secure terrain and defend routes of attack. However, in the early 1990s, when the Canadian landmine treaty diplomatic effort was in full swing, there were no Canadian soldiers at risk and hence no need for Canadians to benefit from antipersonnel mines; tough luck on the U.S. if it happened to hinder our ability to defend ourselves or other allies. Canadians could be blithe when we Americans were doing the dying. But that was then, and this "now" is the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. And now we have Foreign Minister Peter MacKay recently remonstrating with the Pakistanis for employing mines and barbed wire in key infiltration corridors on the Pakistani border. Let us make Mr. MacKay's position perfectly clear: He has been urging Islamabad to suppress terrorists in sanctuaries just inside Pakistan and secure the border. This is an incredibly difficult job in an area where central authority lies very lightly on the land. But Mr. MacKay objects to the Pakistanis attempting to secure their border against Taliban terrorists seeking to enter Afghanistan. These Taliban infiltrators are exactly those who will be engaging and killing Canadian troops in Afghanistan later this year. The routes being mined are not being used by little old ladies planning a day trip to see grandchildren in Kandahar.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT; Ban Mines CP - New US Mines Safe
US Mine persistence policies are fail safe Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 04 (Landmine Policy White Paper, US Dept of State,
168 Landmines Aff
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/30047.htm) Ending the use of persistent landmines of all types is the most significant component of the new policy. The humanitarian danger posed by any landmine is directly proportional to its persistence. Mines that remain active long after their military use is finished pose an unnecessary risk to civilians -- and the longer they linger, the greater the risk. Persistency, not size or weight, is what creates humanitarian risk. This new policy ensures that the United States addresses this issue directly and comprehensively. Although persistent landmines fulfill a unique military requirement on the battlefield, self-destructing landmines provide the valuable capability of allowing our own forces greater freedom of maneuver. Also, unlike persistent mines, self-destructing landmines defeat enemy attempts to recover these mines to use against us, or to recover mine explosives and fuses to employ in improvised explosive devices. U.S. forces already take extensive measures to ensure their use of landmines does not contribute to the global landmine problem. This policy will provide further safeguards to ensure that this will continue to be the case. To achieve this, U.S. landmines rely on the combination of two features: Selfdestruction (SD) uses a timing device to explode the mine after a period of time. This time can be a fixed time period incorporated into the design of the mine itself or it can be set to any of several options before the mines are emplaced. Current U.S. SD mines self-destruct between four hours and fifteen days, well within the specified limits set by the CCW's Amended Mines Protocol. Future U.S. systems will continue to meet or exceed this standard. Selfdestruction of U.S. landmines is extremely reliable. 100% of the electronics of every mine are nondestructively tested before it is accepted. More than 67,000 SD/SDA mines have been tested under a wide range of conditions including shock, vibration, high and low humidity, high and low temperature, and exposure to chemicals including salt and sulfuric acid. Throughout these tests, the self-destruct mechanism has not failed. Thus, unreliability of self-destruction of activated U.S. mines is statistically too low to measure. Note that the United Nations standard for humanitarian mine clearance is 99.6%. U.S. SD reliability alone -- without the additional selfdeactivation capability -- exceeds this standard. Self-deactivation (SDA) is a backup process that would occur in the unlikely event that an activated mine failed to self-destruct. Unlike SD, it is not a specific mechanism. Rather, it is an inevitable and deliberate result of the design of the batteries' electric charge. All U.S. SD/SDA mines contain batteries that have been designed with a limited life span of 90 days. So as a back-up to the selfdestruct feature of U.S. SD mines, 90 days after emplacement the mines' batteries are completely exhausted, rendering them incapable of detonation. This 90-day limit is well within the 120-day requirement specified by the CCWs Amended Mines Protocol. It is impossible that an activated U.S. SDA mine would not self-deactivate, since the battery will die. The vast majority of U.S. landmines already incorporate both SD and SDA. After 2010 all U.S. landmines will incorporate both features.
US mines are detectable and easy to clear Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 04 (Landmine Policy White Paper, US Dept of State,
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/30047.htm) It is possible to make a mine of wood, plastic, and other nonmetallic materials so that standard metal-sensing detectors cannot reliably detect it. Many mines around the world are so constructed. Such mines pose special challenges for humanitarian mine clearance. While techniques do exist to find so-called minimum metal mines, these methods are difficult and costly. Humanitarian mine clearance is inherently time-consuming, expensive, and hazardous. It becomes much more so if the mines are essentially invisible to standard metal detectors. The key point with respect to detectability is that the new policy represents a permanent commitment on the part of the U.S. to end the use of non-detectable landmines of all types within one year. The CCW Amended Mines Protocol already prohibits use of non-detectable mines. A proposal to extend this to cover anti-vehicle mines is under discussion in CCW meetings, and has been endorsed by fifteen nations. The U.S. is working hard to gain worldwide acceptance of the existing CCW treaty and the new proposal.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Ban Mines CP - AT Hurts Joint Operations
169 Landmines Aff
Failure to sign doesnt undermine joint operations Jacobs 04 (Christopher, Taking the Next Step: An Analysis of the Effects the Ottawa Convention May Have on the Interoperability of
United States Forces with the Armed Forces of Australia, Great Britain, and Canada, Military Law Review, Major, lexis)
The Ottawa Convention represents an attempt by the international community to eliminate the catastrophic consequences caused by the indiscriminate use of APL through an outright ban on APL. While supporting the humanitarian ideals behind the Ottawa Convention, the United States was unable to sign or accede to the convention because the convention failed to account for two issues indispensable to the United States' ability to satisfy its security obligations. Most allies of the United States, to include every member of NATO, have ratified or acceded to the convention. In spite of the prohibitions of the Ottawa Convention, the United States has continued to engage in joint operations with its allies. This article focused on three such nations: Australia, Great Britain and Canada. By dividing the concept of "joint operations" into eleven factors, this article analyzed the operational effects of the Ottawa Convention on joint operations involving U.S. forces and forces of the three named countries. The operational effects were slightly different for each studied nation. The differences were due to the manner in which each country interpreted key provisions of the Ottawa Convention, as described in national implementing legislation and policy pronouncements. While varying in minor respects, the cumulative effect appears to be de minimus--each country has developed methods to enable it to continue to engage in joint operations with U.S. forces. These methods take the form of narrow interpretations of key provisions within the Ottawa Convention. The provisions are, for the most part, interpreted in such a manner that the prohibited conduct is either rendered permissible, or is acknowledged without assent. Joint operations have been affected due to the additional constraints placed on allied forces for the use of landmines. Through detailed planning, however, taking into consideration the national differences identified in this article, the United States will be able to continue to operate successfully with its Allies in joint operations.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Ban Mines CP Neo-Colonialism
170 Landmines Aff
The underlying ideal of the Ottawa Convention is that it has as its foundation the support of a global civil society and humanitarian justice that is open to all. Of course, the only people who can participate in this liberal hope are those who can access it via extensive networking. In this way the Ottawa Convention reaffirms the authoritative and exclusive voice of civilization against the voice uncivilized. Beier 03 (Marshall, Emailed Applications Are Preferred, Third World Quarterly v24 n5 2003, Teaches in Dept of
Pol Sci McMaster University) The stock narrative of what has come to be known generically as the Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel (AP) landmines has it that the convention's origins reside not in any state action or initiative, but in civil society--in particular, with committed activists and interested non-governmental organisations (NGOs).2 To be sure, there is much to recommend this account, since most states actually came quite late to the process that saw the treaty inaugurated with 122 initial signatories in December 1997.3 Accordingly, the prevailing view of the ban has found its origins not in the traditional workings of diplomacy but in the co-ordinated efforts of a range of civil society actors who first brought the humanitarian crisis wrought by these weapons fully to light and then worked to propel the issue onto government agendas.4 Taking full advantage not only of personal mobility but also of the possibilities unlocked by new real-time information and communications technologies, activists and NGOs built a transnational network of advocacy and engagement, enabling them to seize the initiative and lead the process toward a mine ban in new political spaces transcendent of state borders and relatively free from the fetters of conventional diplomatic practice. The dissemination of campaign information via the internet also helped in moving governments to act to the extent that it helped forge broad popular consensus that the humanitarian crisis wrought by AP landmines outweighed any military utility that might be claimed for them. This origins narrative has invested considerable moral authority in the movement to ban landmines, the Ottawa Convention itself and, no less, ongoing efforts to universalise the ban. In particular, all have been at least rhetorically marked apart from whatever suspicions might otherwise be aroused by cynicism regarding the underlying aims of self-interested states. That is to say, no ulterior motive on the part of the actual signatories to the Ottawa Convention can reasonably be linked to the founding moment of the ban. Instead, legitimacy inheres in the idea that in its founding the landmines prohibition derived not from the foreign policy imperatives of some state(s), but from actors untainted by allegiances other than to mine victims themselves and, more broadly, to widely held principles of humanitarian justice. Moreover, its apparently global franchise seems to have insulated ongoing mine action from charges of incipient neocolonialism of the sort levelled against, for example, liberalinspired development discourses spoken from the privileged and authoritative North over and against voices in the South. Consequently, questions about the ethics of mine action turn vitally on the rendering of the ban as an initiative rooted in an emergent global civil society transcendent of states and, therefore, of their more parochial interests. While there is little room seriously to question the pivotal role played by civil society-based actors in the campaign to ban landmines, the rather less modest claim to the effect that the campaign is best understood as an initiative of global civil society may not as easily withstand critical scrutiny. The most serious implications of this reside in the legitimising function performed by the global civil society rhetoric that has been such a central element of the origins narrative of the Ottawa Convention and the mine ban movement more generally. Inasmuch as reference to global civil society has therefore been a vital enabling factor in the movement's successes to date, it can be read as a progressive rhetoric yielding tangible practical improvements in the lived realities of people in mine-affected areas. More generally, the liberal-inspired hopes bound up in the idea of global civil society imbue it with a decidedly emancipatory flavour--it bespeaks an open, democratic space wherein the aspirations of the globally disempowered might hope to find meaningful expression in concrete political action. The basis of such optimism is, of course, the expectation that transnationalised civil society networks are broadly accessible, such that a full range of voices can be raised through them irrespective of whether they speak from sites of privilege or margin. And it is in this view and the sense of broad franchise to which it gives rise that the legitimacy of the campaign to ban landmines inheres most fundamentally.
171 Landmines Aff
The global civil society of the Ottawa Convention asks us to transform in the name of humanity. But notice how the only people who get to participate in this society are the people who have a high level of education, speak English, and know how to use computers? Civil society doesnt represent the world; it only serves as the legitimization for the actions of the North and the exclusion of the South from political space. Beier 03 (Marshall, Emailed Applications Are Preferred, Third World Quarterly v24 n5 2003, Teaches in Dept of
Pol Sci McMaster University) The 1997 Ottawa Convention banning the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel landmines has been widely hailed as a triumph of an emergent global civil society--a claim that has done much to underwrite the legitimacy of the ban, efforts to extend it and ongoing mine action more generally. Transcending limitations of space, a watershed aspect of the mine ban movement was its use of new information and communications technologies to forge a transnational activist network and raise a global groundswell of popular sentiment pushing states to accede to the ban. While the centrality of civil society actors to this process is beyond dispute, the idea that the campaign is appropriately regarded as an initiative of global civil society may not as easily withstand scrutiny. It is precisely in many of the world's most mine-affected areas, for example, that access to email and the Internet can least be taken for granted. To the extent that majority populations in these locales are effectively excluded from equal participation in its transnational networks, then, the global civil society rhetoric of the larger mine action movement may ring rather hollow. It is argued that this circumstance poses a serious challenge not only to ethical practices in mine action but to the notion of global civil society as well. In late 2000 the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) announced that it was seeking applicants to fill two paid positions. The job postings, one for an Advocacy Co-ordinator and the other for a Government Relations Co-ordinator, listed among the required qualifications a university degree, strong oral and written communication skills in English, and a high degree of computer literacy. Applicants were invited to forward their curriculum vitae, letter of application, a writing sample and a list of references to the ICBL at a Washington, DC address. Significantly, the postings concluded parenthetically with the following advice: 'Emailed applications are preferred'.1 Although it might easily have escaped the notice of any who applied for these jobs, both the required qualifications and the preference for electronic submission of application documents were quite revealing of the relative privilege of the sites from which candidates for positions such as these were likely to be drawn. More particularly, this aspect of the postings begs to be read as an allegory of the effective inaudibility of some voices (notably from many of the world's most mine-affected areas) in the realm of mine action. This, in turn, is suggestive of the potential for ethical dilemmas to be masked by uncritical acceptance of the widespread idea that the ICBL is an expression of global civil society--a claim that, implying broad franchise, has done much to underwrite the legitimacy of the movement to ban landmines and of ongoing mine action, even though its rhetorical weight might turn out considerably to exceed its material foundations in some important respects.
172 Landmines Aff
The civil society of the Ottawa Convention may represent the transcendence of the boundaries drawn by states, but what does it replace them with? Global civil society isnt the elimination of all boundaries, but the creation of new political spaces based upon similar social and cultural relationships. Although it allows us to act under the pretence of humanity, the only people who can participate are those who already share our ideals about development and civilization. Beier 03 (Marshall, Emailed Applications Are Preferred, Third World Quarterly v24 n5 2003, Teaches in Dept of
Pol Sci McMaster University) In general, the origins story of the movement to ban landmines has met with precious little in the way of critical scrutiny. Indeed, renderings of the landmine ban as the product of an emergent or already functioning global civil society have characterised much of the popular, activist and even scholarly literature on the subject. While this has sometimes been cast quite broadly, it is the central role of NGOs in particular that has most often been emphasised. According to Stefan Brem and Ken Rutherford, for instance, NGOs played a 'critical role ... in instigating and facilitating the landmine ban'.8 Celina Tuttle concurs, describing the content of the Ottawa Convention as having been 'arrived at by the sustained and concerted efforts of non-governmental organizations ... and international agencies concerned about the social and economic devastation caused by AP mines, working closely with like-minded governments'.9 What is more, she continues, 'it is a disarmament treaty whose very existence is rooted in an intensive, global grass-roots effort, strongly supported by the will of people around the world'.10 Similar claims abound, invoked even as empirical evidence in studies concerned with the oftproclaimed changing nature of global governance more generally. In one such study Craig Warkentin and Karen Mingst characterise the campaign to ban landmines as a 'victory' of global civil society.11 Maxwell A Cameron concurs, situating the origins of the Ottawa Convention in 'a grassroots campaign n that originated in global civil society'.12 Moreover, according to Cameron, whatever its centrality to the process, 'Canada's initiative would not have been possible without a civil society movement of global reach'.13 From this perspective global civil society was not only vital to the founding of the mine ban movement, it remained essential to its successes even after interested states like Canada took up the cause in earnest. What, then, is this emergent or extant (the extent of the claim varying from one narrative to another) global civil society that has figured so prominently in dominant accounts of the campaign to ban landmines even as the latter has been invoked as evidence of its very existence? In an influential and pioneering analysis of what are increasingly regarded as important changes in the nature of local and global governance, Ronnie D Lipschutz contrasts global civil society with the sharply delineated and discrete political spaces long marked out by separate nation-states, each containing its own civil society. It is the transcendence of precisely these boundaries, Lipschutz argues, that gives concrete expression to the idea of a global civil society: The spatial boundaries of global civil society are different, because its autonomy from the constructed knowledges of the state system also allows for the construction of new political spaces. These political spaces are delineated by networks of economic, social and cultural relations, and they are being occupied by the conscious association of actors, in physically separated locations, who link themselves together in networks for particular political and social purposes ... While the participants in the networks of global civil society interact with states and governments over particular policy issues, the networks themselves extend over levels of analysis and state borders, and are not constrained by the state system itself.14 It should be understood that these global civil society networks do not replace nation-states as important sites of political action. Rather, they signal an enlarged political terrain populated by a wider range of meaningful actors than is suggested by the traditional preoccupation with the conduct of selfinterested states. In Lipschutz's view, what we are witness to is 'the emergence of a parallel arrangement of political action, one that does not take anarchy or self-help as central organising principles, but is focused on the self-conscious constructions of networks of knowledge and action, by decentred, local actors, that cross the reified boundaries of space as though they were not there'.15
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Civil Society is simply the dissemination of state power onto the individual. The same neocolonialism conducted by modern governments is replaced by NGOs and transnational organizations which function under the purview of humanity as whole. This only recreates the export of acceptable western norms under the guise of an open global society. Beier 03 (Marshall, Emailed Applications Are Preferred, Third World Quarterly v24 n5 2003, Teaches in Dept of
Pol Sci McMaster University) Clearly, then, the remarkable achievements of the campaign to ban landmines must be the result of more than just the willingness of NGOs to become actively engaged in the cause. Lipschutz argues that the emergence of global civil society has been occasioned less by large-scale political activism--which, as noted above, is not a new phenomenon--than by a confluence of transformative trends that include the diminished inclination and/or ability of national governments to provide public goods and social welfare, as well as the 'leaking away of sovereignty from the state' towards both supra- and sub-national institutions.17 In combination with these developments, the spread of liberal norms and values-- which find the locus of sovereignty in individuals rather than states--has undermined the state's claim to be sole mediator between the 'secured' inside and 'dangerous' outside of the domestic/international dichotomy of human sociopolitical interaction. This has occurred at a time when the unprecedented destructive potential of weapons technology has made traditional military solutions to the problem of security seem less viable.18 The result has been an opening up of political spaces such that both legitimacy and discursive authority have been conferred upon civil society voices, making them audible in realms that were once the exclusive preserve of those appointed to speak on the state's behalf. Of course, while these developments are all significant, they tell us more about why it is that voices from civil society can now be heard than how it has become possible for them to speak. That is to say, these too are necessary but not sufficient causes of the new possibilities for global governance seen in the campaign to ban landmines. Equally significant are the practical bases upon which transnational networks of political action are built and sustained. The vital infrastructures of these civil society-based networks are expressed in technologies that produced the late-twentieth century revolutions in personal mobility, communications and information handling. Writing on the eve of the boom in personal computing and widespread internet
connectivity, Lipschutz places the emphasis on the mobility made possible by the advent of relatively inexpensive commercial air travel that has accompanied the dramatic expansion of carrier capacity since the middle of the last century. 'Travel', in his view, 'is more than just a means of getting about, it is a process of knowledge exchange ... that allows all kinds of political and social transactions to take place outside of the purview or control of governments.'19 In this sense it is a critical infrastructure of global civil society, facilitating the
construction of transnational communities and the maintenance of civil society-based networks unbounded by the rigid territoriality of states. And more particularly, personal mobility has proved indispensable to the sort of transnational
political activism enabled by these networks to the extent that members of civil society-based groups are empowered to make their presence felt at key sites of international decision making at decisive moments. In the case of the campaign to ban landmines members of the engaged NGO community lobbied state diplomats directly in the corridors of international arms-control and disarmament fora. Mobility also played a part in the ICBL's coalition-building efforts as it worked to broaden its own membership base, mounting NGO conferences around the world and establishing a presence in mine-affected areas. Arguably of even greater significance to the campaign to ban landmines, however, was the unprecedented capacity to mobilise and co-ordinate a large transnational movement by making use of new information and communications technologies. Although the mobility of key members of the campaign was important, the raising and co-ordination of a mass movement was enabled more by the emergent 'wired world' of the mid-1990s. The ability to communicate effortlessly and inexpensively in
real time as well as to distribute (email) or make available (websites) vast amounts of information to an international audience unlocked the potential of transnational activist networks as a potent force in global political processes. Much more than a mere conduit through which an essentially passive audience might receive information, the internet opened up interactive channels of communication through which virtual communities of activists and supporters could be forged around shared objectives.20 Richard Price notes that this also endowed civil society actors with a 'surveillance capability', carving out a role for them in the monitoring of state 'compliance with desired norms of behaviour'.21 Indeed, cyberspace furnished a new realm for political action wherein neither the fixity of territorial boundaries nor the privileged speaking positions of governments and diplomats could contain civil society-based networks of activism. According to Warkentin and Mingst, 'the nature and possibilities of the World Wide Web combined with those of an emergent global civil society to create a new international political environment, one in which state sovereignty was constrained and NGOs--as key actors in civil society--were able to work in novel and notably effective ways'.22 Moreover, they argue, an important effect of new communications technologies, one that was quite unmistakable in the campaign to ban landmines, is that they have 'collapsed political time' by accelerating the pace at which transnational mobilisations can be made.23
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Movements by civil society to ban land mines justify their actions by their open and universal nature. The premise, however, is that everyone who wants to speak CAN speak. The fact that those in the third world have not dissented must mean that they are in-line with our goals. Thus, only the voices of the North are allowed to define what the world should look like. This threatens to suppress the voices of those whom we believe we are trying to help in the name of a vision of the world which they may not necessarily support Beier 03 (Marshall, Emailed Applications Are Preferred, Third World Quarterly v24 n5 2003, Teaches in Dept of
Pol Sci McMaster University) The sort of transnational activism exemplified in the campaign to ban landmines is aptly characterised as an instance of what Paul Wapner calls 'world civic politics'.24 Taking on what is undeniably an issue belonging to the ambit of 'world politics', the mine ban movement originated from and was articulated through the realm of social life known as 'civil society': the 'complex network of economic, social, and cultural practices based on friendship, family, the market, and voluntary association'.25 That the campaign to ban landmines is rightly regarded (at least in its origins) as a civil society-based movement, then, seems not to be in serious question. Similarly, the 'global' nature of the particular political problem to which the movement addressed itself is not at issue--after all, even if the pernicious effects of AP landmine use are not universally felt, mines themselves have nevertheless long been a near-ubiquitous staple of states' military arsenals. To concede that the campaign to ban landmines is identifiable as a civil society-based initiative in world politics is not, however, to make the more extravagant claim that it is appropriately rendered as an initiative of global civil society. Here, a more stringent test is in order: one that is signalled by the legitimising effect of the notion of broad franchise imparted in the global civil society rhetoric of the mine ban movement's origins story. As Ann Marie Clark, Elisabeth J Friedman and Kathryn Hochstetler have argued, 'to describe the social relations among nongovernmental actors as global is to assume that ... global civil society is widespread enough that actors from all over the world are involved in the interactions'.26 Globality, they note, 'raises the stakes considerably' because it implies 'geographically diverse' representation in the transnational processes of civic politics.27 Obviously, in order for the global civil society rhetoric discussed above to contribute to the legitimacy of mine action, this representation must be meaningful in comprehensiveness, in depth and in terms of the practical possibilities for affecting the mine action agenda. The last of these, in particular, is not to be overlooked--the relative (in)ability of those speaking from sites of margin to participate fully in the fashioning of political praxis is, after all, the litmus test by which the validity of the global civil society rhetoric must ultimately be judged. But, as with other liberal discourses, the Achilles heel of the more optimistic renderings of global civil society lies in the apparent assumption that the formal right to speak is one with the practical ability to raise a voice. The best hopes and intentions of formal equality, however, are too often subverted by the exigencies of real inequality. Under these circumstances, there is a danger that emancipatory designs spoken from sites of relative privilege will work violence of their own by dictating the terms of emancipation over and against less audible voices speaking from the margins, despite the fact that the latter's well-being may be most directly at stake. Moreover, to the extent that such discourses bear pretensions of universality, they perpetuate the inaudibility of dissenters in marginal locales who might imagine the needs of their own salvation in terms different from or even contrary to those used without. Particularly instructive in this regard is Chandra Talpade Mohanty's celebrated critique of some strands of Western feminism that stand on universalised claims about the sources of women's oppression in ways that are profoundly disempowering of 'Third World' women.28 In a similar vein, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak reveals how even a radically emancipatory politics can have the effect of suppressing marginal voices in its very midst.29 More broadly, from the liberal-inspired institutions of global governance to radical development discourses, enduring structures of inequality frustrate emancipatory designs by authorising and enabling privileged voices whose universalist discourses subject marginal voices to erasure.30 This is something that ought to be taken seriously vis--vis ethical practices in mine action, since the global civil society rhetoric from which mine action derives some measure of its legitimacy professes universality. It should be empahasised, however, that to raise this point is not to question the humanitarian motives of those engaged in mine action from sites of relative privilege. Rather, it is to draw attention to the unfortunate circumstance that even the most well intended and thoughtfully conceived emancipatory projects become ethically problematic when largely spoken into a given locale from without.
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Although civil society may collapse the control of the state over politics, the political space still remains unchanged. The only people who can communicate within the new global community are those of privilege, leaving the same dichotomy of North/South intact. If the voices of the marginalized cannot be heard, global civil society only recreates the same neocolonialist authority that existed before. Beier 03 (Marshall, Emailed Applications Are Preferred, Third World Quarterly v24 n5 2003, Teaches in Dept of Pol Sci McMaster
University)
Equally significant is the matter of where the various member organisations of the ICBL are based geographically and how this maps with the specific roles that they play in the campaign to extend the ban and in ongoing mine action more generally. The ICBL is, as noted above, able to boast a membership list made up of NGOs from over 90 countries. But somewhat belying this apparently global franchise, its founding members are all based in Northern countries, none of which are mine-affected, with the ICBL itself headquartered in the USA.33 Certainly, member NGOs that are based in mineaffected countries have been indispensable to the campaign and to mine action in general, but it is noteworthy that theirs is typically a local role: implementing humanitarian de-mining and victim rehabilitation 'on the ground' and, variously, lobbying their own governments to support the ban. They are thus characterised by a vertical insertion between their own local contexts and the larger campaign. It is the co-ordinating body of the ICBL and some of the larger Northern member NGOs, operating across many national contexts, that reach out horizontally across the global, with the result that theirs are the privileged voices of mine action--a fact reflected in their increasingly close partnering with the United Nations on mine action initiatives.34 As campaign organisers Jody Williams and Stephen Goose recall, 'large-scale expansion of the campaign throughout Asia and Africa did not occur until the ICBL network had been consolidated in the North and political momentum had begun to build'.35 Nevertheless, there are, without a doubt, very good practical reasons for the leading role of Northern NGOs. Jackie Smith suggests that, although the disproportionate basing in cities like London and New York 'in part reflects global inequalities ... it also results from strategic organizational choices'. Among the important considerations, according to Smith, is the reality that 'telecommunications are more reliable and often cheaper in more
industrialized regions and transport to and from these places far more convenient, thus facilitating transnational organization'.36 While there is no disputing this, the point should not be missed that these practical realities also reflect global inequalities. Moreover, the very fact of unequal access to mobility and new information and communications technologies calls into some question the idea of a meaningfully global civil society. In the case of the landmines campaign, as we have seen, accessible air travel and, more importantly, access to the internet were essential to the forging of a transnational activist movement. It is primarily in the developing South, however, that these requisites of effective civil society mobilisation are not as readily available to majority populations, which means that people living in many of the world's most mine-affected areas are effectively disenfranchised from equal participation in transnational networks of mine action. Since the 1990s activist communities have seen important
changes in both the breadth and depth of their membership bases, as internet connectivity has enabled ordinary people in the more developed parts of the world to reach beyond local contexts to communicate with and even participate directly in transnational groups and movements.37 Although activist organisations in the developing world do not enjoy the same quality and degree of access to the internet as their counterparts in the developed North, neither are they cut off from it entirely. Moreover, transnational coalitions of related organisations are themselves networks through which 'information-poor' groups receive support from those who are more privileged, even to the extent of developing direct internet access.38 But in a world where the global poor tend also to be the 'information-poor',39 ordinary people in many mine-affected areas are more likely to be left on the disadvantaged side of the so-called 'digital divide'. According to Manuel Castells,40 the diffusion of internet access, though impressive, overwhelmingly favours urban centres over the rural areas where so many of the world's estimated 100 million mines are sown. Catherine Frost points out that while internet connectivity is a possibility wherever telephony is available, 'it should be remembered that there are still plenty of places where you can't take basic telephone service for granted'.41 Proceeding from the claim that the internet has enabled ordinary people to become informed about issues such as landmines and to make their views known instantly to their governments, Warkentin and
Mingst call attention to the collapsing of political time made possible by new information and communications technologies.42 Asking who these ordinary people are, however, yields a different sense of the situation because, while political time might have been compressed, political space, or at least the unequal division of it, remains relatively unchanged. In other words, voices of influence and authority still issue from more or less the same locales of privilege. Ironically, the rhetorical connection of the movement to ban landmines with the idea of
an emergent global civil society is most profoundly unsettled by the ICBL's own job postings. Even leaving aside the qualifications sought in applicants, the preferred means of application further restricts the pool of potential candidates: the majority of those living in most of the world's mine-affected areas are, after all, much less likely to have access to email. In the light of this and taking account of the 'local' experience of the landmines issue in mine-affected areas, the idea of global civil society is destabilised by the confirmation that, from here, marginal voices cannot be heard. There are important senses in which they cannot 'hear' either, residing as they do beyond the pale of the internet-based outreach efforts of the campaign.43 That those whose daily lived experiences are most intimately tied to the landmines issue are
effectively excluded from full participation in the broader political mobilisation that it has brought about is also illustrative of the problems of unequal power and material relations imposed by the legacy of colonialism and ongoing conditions of dependency--all of which poses a serious challenge not only to ethical practices in mine action but to the
notion of a global civil society as well.
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Civil Society legitimizes the same colonialist action against the third world that existed before under the guise of global humanism. But because civil society fails to equalize political power, it excludes those who do not already share similar Western ideals from shaping the world themselves. Beier 03 (Marshall, Emailed Applications Are Preferred, Third World Quarterly v24 n5 2003, Teaches in Dept of Pol Sci McMaster
University)
Just as there are good organisational and strategic reasons for the basing of NGOs in major cites of the North, so too does the list of desired qualifications identified in the ICBL's job postings issue from practical considerations that are not easily ignored. Indeed, the duties listed for each position and the very fact that the ICBL interfaces with states and with the United Nations clearly necessitated that applicants should possess good computer skills, be fluent in English, and so forth. Arguably, the requirement for a university degree is a more arbitrary
measure (especially in the light of the fact that no particular discipline was specified), and one that is likely to have had greater exclusionary effect beyond the North. But it is the advice that 'emailed applications are preferred' that most clearly highlights how sites of privilege are reflected and unwittingly reproduced through the campaign to ban landmines. Admittedly, it is a preference that is indicated here, and applications could still have been forwarded by regular post. But, as argued above, privileged voices find their relative advantage not through the formal exclusion of marginal ones but because of structural inequalities that limit access to audible speaking positions. Underscoring this, the online job postings themselves would never have been seen in the first place by persons lacking internet connectivity. As they are most
commonly articulated, the progressive and emancipatory hopes bound up in the idea of global civil society-those of political liberalism-- suggest a universal wherewithal to engage directly in political action and, consequently, a franchise that is potentially boundless. Unfortunately, such wherewithal is not evenly apportioned, and this should move us to sustain critical inquiry into whose emancipation is at stake and according to whom. These are the sorts of imperative self-reflective questions that are obviated by the claim that the mine ban movement and ongoing mine action are appropriately read as an initiative of global civil society. It turns out that what we are witness to might more rightly be characterised as transnationalised elements of civil society-- perhaps globalising elements of Northern civil society. The importance of distinctions such as these is that they highlight whose voices can be heard in the new political spaces opened up by, for example, information and communications technologies. Again, this is to suggest neither that the ICBL's jobs might easily have been less exclusive nor that they were deliberately so. But, whatever its sources, there is an exclusionary effect that calls for some reflection upon its potential implications for ethical practices in mine action. Besides conferring legitimacy, the global civil society rhetoric of the mine ban movement has a tendency to depoliticise mine action. This is something that must be selfconsciously problematised and resisted inasmuch as the realities of deep structural inequality in the global political economy are such that opportunities for meaningful participation in transnational civil society-based networks and practices are not at all equally apportioned across geopolitical space. This does not mean that ethical practices of mine action are a chimera, however. Rather, it enjoins us always to bear well in mind that even the best-conceived practices must be implemented across contexts that are shot through with persistent structures of inequality that can work to frustrate their aims. As a discourse of legitimation, the global civil society origins narrative of the campaign to ban landmines has worked to great practical effect. However, the foundational claims bound up in it, whether implicit or explicit, should not be allowed to escape critical interrogation in deference to political expediency.
To be sure, civil society networks of activism have shown themselves to be a potent force in contemporary global governance, and the experience of the mine ban movement stands as a compelling expression of this. Most unprecedented in this regard is the demonstrated ability of ICBL activists to make effective use of new information and communication technologies, enabling them to lead the political agenda well enough to bring over a hundred states to a binding AP landmine prohibition in the remarkably short span of just a few years. But while this clearly
bespeaks a compression of political time, the disposition of political space remains largely unaltered. It is this enduring reality that is most profoundly mystified by the unqualified invocation of global civil society rhetoric. A more nuanced understanding of transnational civil society initiatives and the inequality of opportunity for their meaningful engagement by people occupying different political spaces both unsettles this rhetoric and yields a repoliticised account of mine action. At the same time, it calls into question the extent to which the mine ban movement is itself appropriately taken as unproblematic evidence of a functioning global civil society. In the light of these significant implications, we would do well not to allow a preoccupation with what is new in global governance to obscure from view the enduring influence of those things that remain essentially unchanged.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Ban Mines CP No Compliance
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Countries that ban mines only comply when its convenient Greiner 97 (Richard, Why Landmines? Why Not Just Ban War, The Washington Times, October 17, columnist)
Another detail apparently too subtle for Miss Williams is that, even aside from countries like China and India which have declined to sign the ban, there's doubtless not a single signatory that would hesitate for a second to violate the ban if it were ever in its national interest. And I invite Miss Williams to come with me to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, near where Seoul - a few miles to the south - was stormed and taken by force of arms four times during the Korean War, twice in each direction. Without landmines, how are we to protect the 37,000 U.S. troops we have deployed south of the DMZ against still another invasion from what's now a starving, desperate, unstable Stalinist regime with a million-man army? But I'm forgetting. We could simply notify the North Koreans that an invasion would be completely illegal. And then, if they stormed into the South once again, we'd know in our hearts that they were quite wrong.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: International $ CP US tech key
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US money isnt enough, We must send demining technology Cepolina 06 (Professor University of Genova Italy, Aug, Power Tillers and Snails for Demining in Sri Lanka,
Journal of Mine Action, http://maic.jmu.edu/Journal/10.1/notes/cepolina/cepolina.htm) There is a common understanding that research into humanitarian demining technology has not yet provided the positive results initially expected. In the last 1015 years, hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars1 have been spent on research, and promising technologies have been developed and tested. However, there has been very limited introduction and integration of new mechanical technologies into common demining practices in the field. This observation is supported by results from a field study conducted last year in collaboration with the European project, European Union in Humanitarian Demining 2 (EUDEM2), of which I was a part. Our research focused on collecting information about machines and technologies created for use in the field of humanitarian demining, as well as the efficiency of these tools and end-users feedback about them. We found 16 demining machines in use by nine organizations working in the four countries we visited, while the total number of sensor technologies in use by the same organizations was 1,081.2 Such a discrepancy in the number of machines and sensors employed by demining organizations is surprising. In fact, while sensors are considered part of equipment assigned to personnel and therefore each deminer has one, the number of machines employed by each organization was generally very low, usually between zero and two items. One exception was a single organisation that was using nine different machines.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: UN CP
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The UN only funds for a short period of time, and has no control over NGOs anyway. Andy Smith, 2001 [Mine-clearance support designer/technician/trainer; Current Situation and Perceived
Needs for Head and Face Protection in Humanitarian Demining; The Journal of Humanitarian Demining, Vol. 2] Having started in most areas as a response to a humanitarian emergency, demining is often only funded in the short term. Aid agencies, other NGOs and the UN may all move into an area without any coordination or long-term strategy. In Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola and Afghanistan, it has become the UNs role to act as coordinator, even though they often lack the authority to control the activity of those demining groups they do not fund. They seek to establish a working system, with SOPs, conditions of employment, and insurance, which the national government can take over as soon as it is able. The ability or willingness of national governments to take over demining with largely humanitarian aims cannot be guaranteed. Those governments may have another agenda, especially after the high priority areas, such as roads, power lines and industrial areas have been made safe.
The UN has never been able to enforce standards before. Andy Smith, 2001 [Mine-clearance support designer/technician/trainer; Current Situation and Perceived
Needs for Head and Face Protection in Humanitarian Demining; The Journal of Humanitarian Demining, Vol. 2] Most observers would agree that it should be the UNs role to impose minimum standards in humanitarian demining activity, so protecting the impoverished recruit to demining from unnecessary dangers or exploitation. Unfortunately, the UN has not been effective at agreeing on (never mind establishing) standards across the industry. That statement could be justified with examples of the discrepancy between any UN recommended demining standard and the field practice of UN teams. In this context, I will limit my discussion to the UN published standards for head, face, and eye protection.
UN Programs are considered inefficient and ineffective Faulder 99 (Dominic Faulder, staff writer, An International Minefield: A scandal blows up under the demining
agency, Asiaweek Magazine, 17 September 1999, Vol 25, No 37, http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/magazine/99/0917/cambodia.html, 13 July 2007) The government has done some housecleaning. CMAC director-general Sam Sotha has made way for threestar general Khem Sophoan, whose heart appears to be in the right place. "He is an honest, simple gentleman," says a CMAC adviser. As the general struggles to win back confidence, donors will be putting heavy pressure on the U.N. Development Program, which coordinates foreign involvement, to institute a properly consolidated budget with oversight mechanisms. There will also doubtless be a review of the role played by foreign technical advisers. In March an outside report was sharply critical of around $9 million that foreign donors spend each year on 60 advisers whom it dubbed "inefficient" and "extremely cost-ineffective." So who is more guilty of waste - the Cambodians or the donors? Whatever the answer, CMACmust move beyond mutual recriminations Nobody disputes that the body is fundamentally worthwhile and desperately needed by ordinary Cambodians. The challenge now will be to forge a fresh collaborative spirit - and get back to what CMAC was all about in the first place.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: AU CP
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The AU cannot de-mine Africa by itself, and needs the cooperation and resources of other nations. Geofrey Mugumya, 20 January 2007 [Director of Peace and Security of the Africa Union Commission; The
Problems of Landmines and Small Arms; Presentation to the AU-EU Security Dialogue: Towards a Common Agenda For De-mining and Disarmament; http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/AMMF72JH22/$FILE/au-landmines-jan2007.pdf?OpenElement] The challenges facing the AU in the area of landmines and small arms proliferation are enormous, and we are well aware that we cannot do this alone. Thus the AU is relying on the support of the international community to meet its obligations to its citizens and to the international community itself, particularly with respect to making Africa a landmine-free zone. Cooperation with all stakeholders the UN, partner governments, especially those in the European Union, regional organizations, CSOs and Non state actors - is absolutely necessary if we are to meet our goals.
The AU is an inefficient agency and lacks proper infrastructure to solve for the landmines issue Dagne and Everett 04 (Ted and Bathsheaba, specilalists in international Relations, Foreign Affairs,
Defense, and Trade Division, Sudan: The Darfur Crisis and the Status of the North-South Negotiations, CRS Report for Congress, 22 October 2004, http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL32643.pdf, 13 July 2007) The limited mandate of the AU force, logistical and financial troubles of the organization, and the size of the force have made the AU mission inefficient, according to many observers. The deployment of the AU force, albeit small, took more than four months after the signing of the agreement. Moreover, even the limited mandate of monitoring of the cease-fire agreement has not been effective. The mandate does not have any enforcement mechanisms aside from reporting the violations to the Joint Commission. Since the signing of the cease-fire agreement and the deployment of the AU mission, there have been many violations and only a limited number of the violations have been reported to the Joint Commission. Moreover, no corrective measures have been taken by the AU to end these violations. In September, Secretary General Kofi Annan reported that It is clear that the ceasefire is not holding in many parts of Darfur. Clashes were reported from 8-12 September in Sayyah, north of El Fasher, and Government aligned militia attacked the SLA in Abu Dalek on 7 September.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 A2: EU CP
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The EU is currently ineffective in demining Italian Presse Agency 03 (EU Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution in Africa, 2003,
http://www.international-alert.org/pdfs/euafricarome.pdf, 13 July 2007) The EU should continue to work with the AU in putting in place effective mechanisms for the monitoring of peace agreements including support for peacekeeping. Financial and technical assistance especially in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration are areas that have long been identified as pertinent to the implementation of peace agreements. An element that has understandably received inadequate support is that of de-mining in conflict situations; yet there are areas, which enjoy relative stability that can also benefit from de-mining programmes.The de-mining programme in Southern Sudan is one such example.The moral of the story in this respect is that responding to conflicts sometimes requires breaking new frontiers. This calls for peace programmes that are bold in character and effective in impact.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 A2: NGO CP
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While NGOs can solve, the DOD provides critical components that boost solvency Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) The suitability of Humanitarian Mine Clearing in an era of constrained resources is debated in DOD, even as Capitol Hill reflects a reluctance to risk U.S. soldier's lives unnecessarily. Advocates of mine clearing point out that such a new role for the U.S. military ensures relevance, and promotes stability and peace through economic development. In the final analysis, however, DOD is judged on its ability to win war, not by how many hectares of foreign soil have been cleared. Private contractors or NGOs could be used to provide mine clearing instruction, support, and services. Conduct of actual mine clearance could be further outsourced in this manner. DOD could continue its support, with U.S. defense attaches, augmented by Army engineer experts, providing quality control through spot checks of cleared areas. This would provide certain Army elements, notably special operations forces, with exposure to foreign languages and culture. This arrangement provides diplomacy, leadership, technical expertise and safety.
While NGOs can solve, the DOD provides critical components that boost solvency Sahlin 98(Global Mine Clearance: An Achievable Goal? Carl T. Sahlin, Senior Military Fellow at INSS
Number 143, August 1998 Jr. SF Banner http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/SF143/forum143.html) The suitability of Humanitarian Mine Clearing in an era of constrained resources is debated in DOD, even as Capitol Hill reflects a reluctance to risk U.S. soldier's lives unnecessarily. Advocates of mine clearing point out that such a new role for the U.S. military ensures relevance, and promotes stability and peace through economic development. In the final analysis, however, DOD is judged on its ability to win war, not by how many hectares of foreign soil have been cleared. Private contractors or NGOs could be used to provide mine clearing instruction, support, and services. Conduct of actual mine clearance could be further outsourced in this manner. DOD could continue its support, with U.S. defense attaches, augmented by Army engineer experts, providing quality control through spot checks of cleared areas. This would provide certain Army elements, notably special operations forces, with exposure to foreign languages and culture. This arrangement provides diplomacy, leadership, technical expertise and safety.
183 Landmines Aff
*****AT: Disadvantages*****
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Militarism

Nothing symbolizes militarism so much as landmines do Faulkner 97
184 Landmines Aff
[Frank, Policy Analyst for the New Zealand International Review, September 1st 1997, Anti-personnel landmines a modern day scourge, Highbeam] The worldwide preoccupation with militarism is perhaps no better exemplified than by the trade in antipersonnel landmines. Since the onset of the Second World War, more than 400 million antipersonnel mines have been sown, of which an estimated 65 million plus have been deployed since the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons. Conservative estimates suggest that there are 110 million landmines currently infesting 64 countries, mostly in the developing world, with approximately 100 million stockpiled and awaiting future use.(4) The problem grows progressively more acute with between two and five million more landmines being deployed annually.(5)
Landmines are both a cause and effect of global militarism Social Funds 2000 [No Author Cited, GE Shareholder asks company to renounce landmines, February 29th 200, http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/175.html]
Landmines maim or kill 26,000 people a year. Most of these people are civilians, up to 40 percent of them children, living in countries trying to rebuild their society after the horrors of war. General Electric was a supplier of integrated circuit components and other parts from 1989 through 1993, or possibly later, and has refused to join a Human Rights Watch initiative to renounce further involvement in landmine production. "Land mines are a significant cause of the harmful effects of global militarism and therefore a significant piece of the larger picture of military contracts," said Regina Murphy, Director of the Militarism and Violence program at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). ICCR is a coalition of religious, institutional, and individual investors committed to promoting corporate responsibility through shareholder activism.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Landmines Outweigh Disadvantage
185 Landmines Aff
Landmines kill more people than nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons combined Oppong and Kalipeni 05
[Oppong; an associate professor of Geography at the University of North Texas. Kalipeni; associate professor of Geography and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Geography of Landmines and implications for health and disease in Africa; a political ecology approach, 3-25, Africa Today 52.12005, Project Muse] Most of these victims are civilians killed or injured after hostilities have ended. Of the sixty-five countries reporting new landmine casualties from January 2002 through June 2003, forty-one were at peace, not war, and 85 percent of reported casualties were civilians (Landmine Monitor 2003). Between 1941 and 1996, landmines caused more deaths and injuries than nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons combined (ICRC 1996). A United
Nations report projected that if the use of landmines were stopped immediately, it would take eleven hundred years and $33 billion to clear, at current rates, those already in place.
Landmines are the continuance of war, adding an extra dimension to terror and instability; the aff should always prevail over the impact they are claiming Anderson 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Kenneth Anderson director of the
Arms Project of Human Rights Watch Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 17) War is always terrible, but the use of antipersonnel land mines in many of the international and internal conflicts prevalent in the world today adds an extra dimension of terror and instability. 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." 1 Every time they go off the known "safe" path or into their fields, these people risk losing life or limb to injuries caused by minesleft and forgotten from some long ago battle, or left by some patrol making camp for the night, or deliberately placed by armies in order to drive civilians out of the area years before. Land mines are aptly described as weapons that cannot distinguish between the boot of a soldier and the footfall of a child. And the most common types of mines in use today remain active and ready to kill for decades, silent sentinels lying in near permanent ambush. Their prey all too frequently turns out to be civilians gathering firewood or plowing a field.
Landmines are slow motion WMD o/w DA White 02 (Jerry, co-founder and executive director of the Washington-based Landmine Survivors Network, Jan
24, San Diego Tribune, http://www.banminesusa.org/news/983_afghan/982_afghan.html) Bush has pledged to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Land mines are weapons of mass destruction in slow motion. They have killed more people than nuclear, chemical and biological weapons combined. Tens of millions of these silent killers have been left as military litter in more than 80 countries. Mines daily threaten innocent civilians, including thousands of children. Ninety percent of the survivors of land mines do not receive medical care or rehabilitation.
Landmines have killed more people than all the cold war weapons of mass destruction combined. Journal of Public Health Policy 1998 (Removing Landmines: One Limb at a Time? Journal of Public
Health Policy, Issue 19.3, pp. 261-266, JSTOR) An individual woman peasant farmer seeks to prepare her field for planting . . . and loses a leg in a landmine explosion. A couple of children, playing, lose their lives as their game takes them into an area of landmines. A mine clearance expert, risking his life to help stop the carnage, ends up in a hospital and requires prosthetic assistance. The statistic of 25,000 per year casualties worldwide is composed of such individual cases. In too many African nations, nearly everyone knows a victim or a survivor of such unnecessary tragedy. With ~oo,ooo,ooo landmines yet to be removed, several million more are being added each year. Anti-personnel landmines, easily held in one hand and scattered by various means, have killed more people than all the cold war weapons of mass destruction combined.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Landmines Outweigh Disadvantage
186 Landmines Aff
Landmines should be evaluated on the same level as all other WMDs White 02(Ridding The World of Landmines Jerry White co-founder and executive director of the Washingtonbased Landmine Survivors Network January 24, 2002 San Diego Union Tribune http://www.banminesusa.org/news/983_afghan/982_afghan.html) In his inaugural address, President Bush said, "Where there is suffering, there is duty. All of us are diminished when any are hopeless. And I can pledge our nation to a goal: When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side." But globally, the roads to many Jerichos have become minefields. Bush has pledged to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Land mines are weapons of mass destruction in slow motion. They have killed more people than nuclear, chemical and biological weapons combined. Tens of millions of these silent killers have been left as military litter in more than 80 countries. Mines daily threaten innocent civilians, including thousands of children. Ninety percent of the survivors of land mines do not receive medical care or rehabilitation.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Dogs DA
187 Landmines Aff
Bees can be used to seek out specific landmine sites. USA Today 2000 (Tracking Land Mines with Honeybees - using honeybees to seek out explosives, Aug,
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2663_129/ai_63986743/pg_1) The latest in fashion for bees this summer--a high-tech tracking backpack--may help find millions of land mines scattered throughout the world. If honeybees can be trained to seek out the chemical components of explosives, the ability to track the insects and analyze their hives could help pinpoint land mines or unexploded ammunition on firing ranges or old battlefields. Engineers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash., have modified commercially available radio-frequency tags for bees to "wear" so they can be identified. Special electronics and software designed by Pacific Northwest are mounted on man-made beehives to "read" the identification of each bee from the tiny tags. Researchers hope that, while the bees are out foraging for pollen, they will pick up traces of the chemicals found in explosives that leak from land mines into soil and water. "Bees are like flying dust mops. Wherever they go, they pick up dust, airborne chemicals, and other samples," explains Jerry Bromenshenk, an entomologist at the University of Montana, Missoula, who is coordinating the project. He has pooled resources from three Federal agencies and three national laboratories to conduct the research, which is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense.
Using dogs to find landmines is ineffective. Claudio Bruschini and Bertrand Gros, Feb 1998 [A Survey of Research on Sensor Technology for
Landmine Detection; http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/2.1/bruschini.htm; The Journal of Humanitarian Demining, Vol. 2] One way to identify mines is to detect the explosive material within them. A common method of detecting explosives is through trained dogs. Dogs can reliably detect 10- 12 to 10-13 g of explosives. Exactly how dogs detect explosives remains a mystery. We do not know whether dogs use senses other than the olfactory sense. Also unclear is the substance that dogs detect, vapors or trace particles, and the concentration of the substance they detect. Although dogs effectively detect the presence of mines, they cannot determine a mines precise location. The odor of an explosive penetrates the ground and the vegetation up to 10 meters from the actual mine. Another hindrance to locating mines with dogs is the scattering of race explosive particles far from the actual mine. Finally, a mines vapor-release rate changes significantly over time. One way to compensate for these hindrances is to cover an area with several different dogs. Identifying the precise location of mines is not necessary for vast stretches of land, however. Dogs accurately detect the general mined areas within these stretches. Deminers collect samples (possibly filtered to increase the concentration of any explosive material), then take them to the dogs for evaluation. Once the dogs identify the contaminated areas, deminers can concentrate on those areas with technologies that locate individual mines. To this respect, Figure 6 and Figure 7 illustrate MEDDS (Mechem Explosives and Drug Detection System) long used to verify whether a given area contains mines. In Figure 6 dogs assess MEDDS vapor absorbent filters, filled along a road. The filters shown on a stand represent 2.4 km of roads. Several dogs inspect each batch of filters. Results indicating a mined area are confirmed by a free running dog (a dog roaming the suspected mined area), as shown in Figure 7. Although somewhat effective, mine detection with dogs poses obstacles such as time and money costs for training dogs, the dogs quickness to tire, and their sensitivity to environmental conditions.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Dogs DA
188 Landmines Aff
MEDDS allows dog sample sniffing to happen in laboratories, your arguments are wrong Stone 03(Wand United Nations Report Lane Stone Education Fund Chair Wand UN July 18, 2003 Delegate
http://www.wand.org/issuesact/un-rpt-july18-03.html) A new technology in de-mining called the Mechanical Explosive Dog Detection System (MEDDS) is being used in Afghanistan. Instead of taking the mine dogs to the minefield, samples from the contaminated area are brought to the dogs who work in a laboratory. Using a vapor suction method, samples are collected from the surface of the ground and sent to a laboratory in Kabul. Sampled areas are marked using GPS to record where the sample is from. The dogs can detect vapor and particles from landmines and unexploded ordinance by sniffing the samples. Teams with dogs go back to manually de-mine the areas which are shown to be contaminated. This method allows de-miners to cover 5 kilometers a day, whereas manual demining covers one square kilometer a day.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Animal Rights
189 Landmines Aff
Animals are on the same level as humans, and do not deserve rights. Those who argue in favor of animal rights are causing dehumanization and self-hatred in humans Schulman 95 (J. Neil, Well published author against animal rights, The Illogic of Animal Rights,
http://www.pulpless.com/jneil/aniright.html) "Animal rights" do not exist in either case. Even though I personally believe we were created by God, unlike advocates of the JudeoChristian tradition I do not rely upon the question of whether humans have a "soul" to distinguish humans from animals. Like secular rationalists, I'm content to resolve the issue of the nature of human beings, and the nature of animals, by scientific means -- observation, experiment, and the debate of paradigms.
Each of these criteria is simply a proof of intelligence and self-consciousness: 1) Being observed as producing or having produced technological artifacts unique to that species; 2) Being observed as able to communicate from one generation to the next by a recorded language unique to that species; 3) Being observed as basing action on abstract reasoning; 4) Being observed as engaging in inductive and deductive reasoning processes; 5) Being observed as engaging in nonutilitarian artistic activity unique to that species. I'm sure there are other criteria we could use, but these are obvious ones that come
to mind immediately. None of them speculates about the unobservable functioning of a neural network; all of them are based on observable effects of intelligence and self-consciousness. Conclusively, we are of a different nature than other animals we know. Neither cetaceans nor other higher mammals, including the higher apes, qualify as "human" under these criteria. We do not observe these significations of intelligence and self-consciousness in any other species we know, such criteria being neither necessarily anthropocentric nor even terracentric. By the "survival of the fittest" which is the law of raw nature, no animal has rights: only the tools to survive as best it can. The chicken has no right not to be eaten by the fox. The wildebeest has no ethical recourse against the lion. If we are merely animals, no other animal has any ethical standing to complain against the human animal for eating them or wearing their skins. But, if we are superior to other animals - if our nature is of a different kind than other animals -- then why should we grant rights to species who can not talk, or compose symphonies, or induce mathematical equations, or build satellites which send back television pictures of other planets? Why shouldn't we humans simply regard lower animals as things which may become our property? We may be kind to animals if it is pleasing to us to do so, but we should not grant animals an equal stature that nature has not given them. Respect for nature requires a respect for the nature of what things are ... and we are better, stronger, smarter, than the animals we hunt, ranch, farm, fish, trap, butcher, skin, bone, and eat. They certainly have no ethics about us, for they are just animals. Nor are any "animal rights" activists themselves merely animals. There is no organization called Porpoises for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It is People who make those demands of other People. Those who argue for animal rights argue that since animals
are living and feel pain, that therefore nature gives them a right not to be treated cruelly. This is an argument that could only work on a being capable of empathy -- and that requires an elevated consciousness. It is true that animals can feel pain, and that esthetically requires that we not be cruel in our treatment of them. But what is cruelty? Beating a horse that won't pull a wagon? Making animals fight each other for sport? That's no longer the issue, is it? The issue is ranching minks to skin them for fur; castrating and slaughtering steers to eat them; hunting and shooting deer, ducks, and elks; testing cosmetics on animals; doing medical experiments on animals to advance medical knowledge.
Do we have a moral obligation not to use animals for human utilitarian purposes, which is another way of asking whether animals have the right not to be treated as objects to be exploited for their usefulness? The idea of a right means that which has rights may not be treated as a utilitarian object for the fulfillment of the purposes of others. Animal rights would mean animals would be immune from being used to fulfill any human purpose.
PETA has it exactly correct. If animals have rights, then we may not ethically use them for our own selfish purposes, no matter how necessary we think that use or how humanely we assert we do it to them. This is, in fact, the logical conclusion of "animal rights." If animals have rights then we need not make any distinction between an unnecessarily cruel use of animals (pick one: cock- fighting, animal testing for beauty products) or eating animals, because if animals have rights then we are not morally entitled to put them to utilitarian use, period. Let me make it clear: I am not questioning the humaneness or cruelty of any particular practice. My point is that the interests of those who assert that the lower animals have rights is not to protect animals against cruel
Those who assert that animals or even "habitats" have rights do so to destroy individual human rights to control what I term the anthroposphere: the human habitat. It is the individual human right to control our private spheres of action -- our individual habitats -- which they oppose. Some "animal rights" activists, basing their thinking on pantheism, equate humans with the rest of nature by
treatment. That can be done merely by an appeal to our consciences. saying that we are all share a divine consciousness. But equating humankind as no more divine than inanimate objects or other animals isn't raising nature but lowering humankind. Pantheists believe that everything is sacred, including the inanimate. Yet, I don't notice them picketing Mount St. Helen's volcano for spewing its lava, burning trees and killing wildlife. It's only human action to which animal rights activists object. So where do we find ethics here? If we look to nature, we see only that the strong use the weak for their own purposes -- and we are obviously the master of all other animals by that standard. If we look to the center of all human ethics, the Golden Rule, we are told to treat others as we would wish to be treated. But what others? Animals can't treat us as we wish to be treated because they don't have the wit to entertain ethics at all. Which leaves us esthetics, which exists only in individual humans. Since lower animals don't have rights, we humans need to make judgments on humane versus cruel treatment of lower animals not by treating animals as if they have rights but instead must rely on our esthetic values -- our consciences. But, after seeing treespikers, people throwing
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Animal Rights
190 Landmines Aff
paint on fur coats, and Kentucky Fried Chicken being equated with Auschwitz, it's now apparent that the effect of trying to give animals the same ethical immunities as humans is that all esthetic distinction between cock-fighting and eating meat is lost. The effect of "all or nothing" in our uses of animals is to blunt our consciences, which makes us crueler to animals, not less cruel. Those people among us who would give lower animals human rights do not do it because they love other animals. They do it because they hate humankind. They hate the fact that their own superior nature as intellectual beings gives them superior challenges which they shrink from by attempting to deny the superiority of their human nature. "Animal rights" is just one more diabolic scheme for promoting government control over human lives by destroying our right to private property. It is the logical tactic of those who hate the individual creative ability and wish it replaced by the anti-human jackboots of collectivism. "Animal rights" activists use the tools of rationality which are uniquely available to the human species in order to deny the distinct nature of their own rational faculties. They raise up animals in an attempt to lower humankind.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Econ DA
191 Landmines Aff
Farmer 03 (Paul, Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, p. 245 - 46, Questia) Claims that we live in an era of limited resources fail to mention that these resources happen to be less limited now than ever before in human history. Arguing that it is too expensive to treat MDRTB among prisoners in Russia, say, sounds nothing short of ludicrous when this world contains individuals worth more than $100 billion. 77 Arguments against treating HIV disease in precisely those areas in which it exacts its greatest toll warn us that misguided notions of cost-effectiveness have already trumped equity. Arguing that nominal civil and political rights are the best we can hope for means that members of the healing professions will have their hands tied, forced to stand by as the rights and dignity of the poor and marginalized undergo further sustained and deadly assault in what is essentially an undeclared war on the poor. Because it is undeclared, we need to declare against whom, for whose benefit, and how it is being waged. Naturally, prosecuting such a stealthy war requires a considerable investment in propaganda and psy ops. Passivity and shortsightedness are invaluable to those who would keep the war undeclared. To argue that human rights abuses occurring in Haiti, Guatemala, or Rwanda are unrelated to our surfeit in the rich world requires that we erase history and turn a blind eye to the pathologies of power that transcend all borders. Perpetuating such fictions requires dishonest, desocialized analyses that maskwhether through navet or fecklessness or complicitythe origins and consequences of structural violence. The argument of this book has been that it is time to take health rights as seriously as other human rights, and that intellectual recognition is only a necessary first step toward pragmatic solidarity, that is, toward taking a stand by the side of those who suffer most from an increasingly harsh new world order.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Econ DA
192 Landmines Aff
Mines cant be fiscally valued. Intangible benefits outweigh the costs Litzelman 02 (Michael, Benefit/Cost Analysis of US Demining In Ethiopia and Eritrea, Journal of Mine Action
6.2, http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.2/focus/michaellitzelman/michaellistzelman.htm) This study was only able to quantify selective primary and secondary benefits, and other benefits that are non-quantifiable were considered. Costs saved due to eliminating deaths are what actually drive the costs of the landmines. The data and analysis indicate that demining is not an appropriate subject for benefit and cost study. Although costs have come early, which is typical for B/C analysis, benefits only exceed costs in two situations. Using the present value methods of comparing future costs and benefits (primary and secondary), i.e., lives and injuries of HN personnel, indicates that benefits do not exceed costs in either country regardless of the discount rate or years in operation (one to 30 years). Benefits do not exceed costs in Ethiopia and Eritrea at any point in this study. In terms of benefits and costs, the U.S. demining program should not expect benefits to exceed costs within 30 years. However, if human lives and quality of life are to be taken seriously, this humanitarian benefit should be enough for the United States to contribute a demining program to these countries. In terms of these lives, something should be done in order to prevent the potential loss of life and limb. The following table lists the benefits and costs of the U.S./HN demining program. The non-quantifiable benefits for the United States appear to vastly outweigh the costs ($6 million) of the demining program. For the HN, quantifiable and non-quantifiable benefits far outweigh the costs, especially if one takes into account the primary and secondary benefits of Ethiopia. For a demining operation, one could determine the winners and losers. Losers of the program could include the American taxpayer, if one were to just count the U.S. quantifiable benefits. If one were to take into account the U.S. non-quantifiable benefits, the American taxpayer would be a winner (see above list). The United States may eventually be able to gain many of these benefits while only supporting the start-up of the program. One unforeseen benefit from American assistance to Ethiopia was support from the country at a crucial time when U.S. vital interests were at stake. After the United States supported communist Ethiopia during their devastating droughts in the 1980s, Ethiopia in turn voted for a critical American resolution in the UN Security Council to support a military build-up after the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Nuclear War = Extinction
193 Landmines Aff
No risk extinction Moti Nissani, writer who has examined the reception new scientific discoveries have received in history, 1992
(Lives in the Balance: the Cold War and American Politics, 1945-1991, http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/PAGEPUB/CH2.html ) VIII. Extinction? Extinction of humankind is often mentioned in this context. However, based on what we know now of the effects of nuclear war, extinction is highly improbable: under any likely set of assumptions, it seems that some of our kind will be able to pull through the hardships and survive. But because extinction cannot be completely ruled out, and because it is the worst imaginable outcome of nuclear war (actually I find it hard to imagine at all-no people walking this earth-forever), it should be rendered even more improbable by reducing the risk of nuclear war.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Aid Trade Off - NADR Key to Anti-Terrorism
194 Landmines Aff
NADR funds all anti-terrorism programsit is critical to sustain and further the counterrorism agenda Department of State, 2004 (Non Proliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs,
http://search.state.gov/search?q=cache:V6UeWHyAMkIJ:www.state.gov/documents/organization/28971.pdf+docu ments%2Forganization%2F28971.pdf&access=p&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=utf8&lr=lang_en&client=stategov_front end&site=stategov%7Coig%7Cfpc%7Cbmena%7Cusawc%7Cmepi%7Ctravel%7Cexchanges%7Ccareers%7Cfoia %7Caiep%7Cpepfar&proxystylesheet=stategov_frontend&oe=UTF-8) The NADR account also supports a comprehensive approach to preventing and countering terrorist attacks on U.S. citizens and interests and to minimize the impact of any attacks that may occur, whether at home or abroad. NADR funds the Anti-terrorism Assistance (ATA) program, Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP), Counterterrorism Engagement with Allies, and Counterterrorism Financing. ATA provides technical training and equipment to assist foreign countries in protecting facilities, individuals, and infrastructure. The TIP improves countries capabilities to prevent the transit of terrorists and their materials between borders. CT Engagement programs build international political will leading to concrete steps in the war on terrorism and enable senior level foreign officials to develop plans in the event of an actual incident. Counterterrorism Financing assists foreign countries efforts to identify, freeze, and prevent the use of financial institutions, businesses, and charitable organizations as conduits for money to terrorist organizations. The FY 2005 request will support ongoing core ATA programs and the development of new courses and activities to meet the evolving terrorist threat, new TIP countries efforts to interdict terrorists, and U.S. efforts to sustain and further the counterterrorism agenda in the international arena
NADR is key to anti-terrorism efforts Department of State, 2004 (Non Proliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs,
http://search.state.gov/search?q=cache:V6UeWHyAMkIJ:www.state.gov/documents/organization/28971.pdf+docu ments%2Forganization%2F28971.pdf&access=p&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=utf8&lr=lang_en&client=stategov_front end&site=stategov%7Coig%7Cfpc%7Cbmena%7Cusawc%7Cmepi%7Ctravel%7Cexchanges%7Ccareers%7Cfoia %7Caiep%7Cpepfar&proxystylesheet=stategov_frontend&oe=UTF-8) The Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR) account supports a broad range of U.S. national interests by funding critical, security-related programs. NADR programs serve as an important tool for working with foreign nations to reduce transnational threats to Americas security, as well as to mitigate local threats that cause regional instabilities and humanitarian tragedies. The FY 2005 request reflects the funding needed to support U.S. efforts to reduce threats posed by international terrorist activities, landmines, and stockpiles of excess weapons, as well as by nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, missiles, and their associated technologies. The NADR account supports U.S. efforts in four areas: nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, regional stability, and humanitarian assistance. The success or failure of the United States in dealing with problems in each of these areas will have implications for maintaining U.S. security and military superiority; efforts to promote reconciliation and stability in the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific Rim; and access to critical resources and markets.
NADR funds are key to anti-terrorism programs GAO, April 2004, (Report to the Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate: Department of State:
Nonproliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs Follow Legal Authority, but Need Some Reassessment, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04521.pdf) The Department of States anti-terrorism programs funded through the NADR account are designed to help achieve U.S. national security interests by providing foreign countries with training and technical capabilities that enhance their ability to prevent terrorist activities. There are two major anti-terrorism programs funded through the NADR account: the Antiterrorism Assistance Program and the Terrorist Interdiction Program. In addition to these two major programs, the NADR account also includes funding for additional anti-terrorism activities that are more narrowly focused.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Aid Trade Off NADR Key to Anti-Terrorism
195 Landmines Aff
NADR funding is key to the global war on terrorismprevents leaders of antiterrorism forces from being forced into retirment. Institute for Intelligence Studies, 2007 (Middle East/North Africa (MENA) Regional Key Findings,
http://nie.wikispaces.com/Middle+East+North+Africa+key+Interests) Infectious and chronic disease is likely to have a marginal impact (2.37) on the US strategic interest of support for the global war on terrorism in 80 percent (8 out of 10) of the countries in the MENA region over the next 10-15 years. The healthcare systems of these countries, when looked at collectively, all are near or just below western standards. The biggest risk to the US strategic interest of support for the global war on terrorism comes not from diseases like HIV/AIDS or Malaria, but rather primarily from general cardiovascular disease (CVD). When compared to the US, all seven of the eight countries with interests in the global war on terrorism have CVD rates far greater than that of the US. With such a high risk from CVD, many of the leaders of antiterrorism forces and security forces are likely to be forced into retirement within the next 10-15 years. To prevent the loss of valued expertise in the fighting of terrorism as the leaders are replaced by a younger population, the US grants its support to the MENA region by way of Non-proliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related (NADR) programs. Specifically this includes anti-terrorism assistance (ATA), terrorism interdiction program (TIP) assitance, export control and related border security (EXBS) assistance, counterterrorism financing assistance (CTF), and humanitarian demining (HD).
Continued NADR funding in FY 2008 is key to future global war on terrorism efforts International Affairs, 2007 (Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request,
http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2008/fy2008cbj_highlights.pdf) NADR funding snapshot (For a complete list of all programs funded under this account, please refer to the tables at the back of this volume.) Non-proliferation activities -- $192.8 million $53.5 million for Global Threat Reduction Program (formerly the Nonproliferation of WMD Expertise program) to support specialized programs aimed at reducing the threat of terrorist or proliferant state acquisition of WMD materials, equipment, and expertise. $50.0 million for voluntary contributions to the International Atomic Energy Agency to support programs in nuclear safeguards, safety, and security. $41.3 million for the global Export Control and Related Border Security program, which is designed to help prevent and interdict the proliferation of WMD, missile delivery systems, and advanced conventional weapons. $30.0 million for the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and advanced conventional weapons systems, with particular emphasis on denying such weapons to terrorists. Funds alsosupport the destruction of existing weapons. $18.0 million for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Preparatory Commission to pay the U.S. share for the ongoing development and implementation of the International Monitoring System. Anti -Terrorism Programs -- $150.0 million $124.3 million for the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program to support the global campaign against terrorism by providing strategic, operational, and technical training and equipment. The FY 2008 request includes new in-country programs in Iraq and continues funding for programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines and Colombia. $18.3 million to expand and strengthen the Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP) in highest priority countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Kenya.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Aid Trade Off -NADR Budget Terror Module
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Congress is putting pressure on the NADR budget MCCONNELL 05 (Mitch, Senator from Kentucky, Report to the Appropriations Committee, FOREIGN
OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATION BILL The Committee notes that several country recipients of demining funds from the NADR account also receive large amounts of assistance from the ESF, SEED, or FSA accounts. The Committee is concerned with pressures on the NADR budget which contains a limited amount of humanitarian demining funds and believes that demining programs in these countries should be funded jointly from both NADR and these other accounts.
NADR ATA program is likely to be cut if budget pressures continue Daley 03 (Mathew P, assistant secretary, bureau of east asian and pacific affairs, u.s. department of state, u.s.
policy toward southeast asia, http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/archives/108/86081.pdf) As part of our Anti-Terrorism Training Assistance Program, funded through the Non-Proliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR) account, we are assisting the Indonesian National Police (INP) in the formation of a counterterrorism unit. Once established, this unit will substantially enhance the Indonesian Governments capability to neutralize terrorist cells and conduct terrorism- related criminal investigations. We are concerned that conference report language in the FY 03 budget assigning all ESF monies to AID could eliminate our critical police training program, thus undercutting our highest priority effort to improve police human rights performance and their ability to deal with terrorism. We are examining the problem to see if there is any way out and may well approach the Congress again
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AT: Aid Trade Off -War On Terrorism BadLeads to Terrorism

The war on terrorism has sacraficed human rights for security, perpetuating the violence that led to terrorist acts in the first place and undermining the international cooperation necessary for effective anti-terrorism efforts. Paul Hoffman, Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International; civil rights and human
rights lawyer with the Venice-based law firm of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP; professor of human rights law at USC Law School and Oxford U, 2004 (Human Rights and Terrorism, Human Rights Quarterly, 26.4, pp. 932-955, Project Muse) The human rights vision of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the body of human rights norms it spawned, is even more relevant and important today than it was on 10 September 2001. The fulfillment of universal human rights is essential to building a world in which terrorism will not undermine our freedom and security. The human rights framework does not inhibit legitimate and effective efforts to respond to terrorist attacks. The limits that international human rights law places on certain forms of executive power (e.g., the prohibition against torture) embody profound agreements about the values the international community in all of its diversity accepts as fundamental.4 History shows that when societies trade human rights for security, most often they get neither. Instead, minorities and other marginalized groups pay the price through violation of their human rights. Sometimes this tradeoff comes in the form of mass murder or genocide, other times in the form of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, or the suppression of speech or religion. Indeed, millions of lives have been destroyed in the last sixty years when human rights norms have not been observed.5 Undermining the strength of [End Page 934] international human rights law and institutions will only facilitate such human rights violations in the future and confound efforts to bring violators to justice.6 Also, a state's failure to adhere to fundamental human rights norms makes it more likely that terrorist organizations will find it easier to recruit adherents among the discontented and disenfranchised and among the family and friends of those whose human rights have been violated. Human rights violations in the name of fighting terrorism undermine efforts to respond to the threats of terrorism, making us less rather than more secure in both the short and long run. Failure to respect universal human rights norms not only undermines our shared values, it undermines the international cooperation and public support so crucial to developing effective antiterrorism efforts. No nation, no matter how powerful, can solve the problem of terrorism on its own. All governments need the voluntary cooperation of every segment of its society to be effective in preventing acts of terrorism. Without adherence to [End Page 935] international human rights standards, such cooperation will be more difficult, if not impossible, to obtain at the international, national, and local levels. This article examines the threat to the human rights framework posed by the "war on terrorism."7 The focus is primarily on actions taken or initiated by the United States because of its leadership role in the "war on terrorism," and also because its actions have been used to justify a variety of antiterrorism measures around the world that also pose a threat to the human rights framework.8 Section II considers briefly the definitional problems that plague discussion and action on these issues. In Section III, the human rights consequences of the way in which the "war on terrorism" is being waged are surveyed. In Section IV, the relevance of the human rights framework, and the peril of ignoring it, are discussed.
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AT: Aid Trade Off - War on Terrorism BadUndermines Security

Bushs war on terrorism is worse than terrorism itselfits deviation from human rights law threatens human security Paul Hoffman, Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International; civil rights and human
rights lawyer with the Venice-based law firm of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP; professor of human rights law at USC Law School and Oxford U, 2004 (Human Rights and Terrorism, Human Rights Quarterly, 26.4, pp. 932-955, Project Muse) The United States-led "war on terrorism" is premised on the notion that the events of September 11 should be seen as a wake-up call that the world has changed. The international community needs new tools and strategies, perhaps a new normative structure, to deal with these dire threats to the world's security.3 In the absence of international agreement about the new tools, strategies, and norms, the "war on terrorism" is being waged on its own imperatives regardless of existing norms. The way this "war" is being waged is itself a threat to human security. By challenging the framework of international human rights and humanitarian law, so painstakingly developed over the last several decades, the "war on terrorism" undermines our security more than any terrorist bombing. The [End Page 933] horror of the September 11 attacks understandably overshadows the human rights consequences of the "war on terrorism" in the public's consciousness. It is time to restore the balance between liberty and security provided by existing international human rights and humanitarian standards.
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AT: Aid Trade Off -War On Terrorism BadHuman Rights Abuses

War on terrorism methods violate human rights in the name of security Paul Hoffman, Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International; civil rights and human
rights lawyer with the Venice-based law firm of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP; professor of human rights law at USC Law School and Oxford U, 2004 (Human Rights and Terrorism, Human Rights Quarterly, 26.4, pp. 932-955, Project Muse) Since the September 11 attacks, the United States, with the support of many governments, has waged a "war on terrorism."15 This "war" puts the human rights gains of the last several decades and the international human rights framework at risk. Some methods used in detaining and interrogating suspects violate international human rights and humanitarian norms in the name of security. Throughout the world, governments have used the post- September 11 antiterrorism campaign to crack down on dissidents and to suppress human rights. These actions are documented by Amnesty International and many other human rights groups.16
Bushs war on terrorism has justified human rights abuses in China, Russia, and Egypt. Paul Hoffman, Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International; civil rights and human
rights lawyer with the Venice-based law firm of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP; professor of human rights law at USC Law School and Oxford U, 2004 (Human Rights and Terrorism, Human Rights Quarterly, 26.4, pp. 932-955, Project Muse) Since the September 11 attacks, China has sought to blur the distinctions between terrorism and calls for independence by the ethnic Uighur community in the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in order to enlist international cooperation for its own campaign, begun years earlier, to eliminate "separatism." . . . The police have claimed success in cracking down on terrorists, arresting over 100 of the more than 1,000 Chinese Muslim Uighurs identified by authorities as having fought with the Taliban. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, IN THE NAME OF COUNTER-TERRORISM: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES WORLDWIDE: A HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH BRIEFING PAPER FOR THE 59TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 10-11 (2003), available at www.hrw.org/un/chr59/counter-terrorism-bck.pdf. The same trends are happening in Egypt: Since September 11, 2001, [the government] has arrested hundreds of suspected government opponents, many for alleged membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned but non-violent group, and possession of "suspicious" literature. Many of those arrested, including professors, medical doctors, and other professionals, have been referred to military courts or to emergency and regular state security courts whose procedures do not meet international fair trial standards. Id. at 12. After September 11, Russia went to great lengths to link the war in Chechnya to the global campaign against terrorism. On September 12, 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that America and Russia had a "common foe" because "Bin Laden's people are connected with the events currently taking place in our Chechnya," and on September 24 said that the events in Chechnya "could not be considered outside the context of counter-terrorism," glossing over the political aspects of the conflict. . . . While Russia has described its actions in Chechnya as a tightly focused counter-terrorism operation, it has produced vast civilian casualties. . . . This cycle of abuse, well established before September 11, continues to this day. Hundreds of people have "disappeared" since that date after being taken into Russian custody. Increasingly, Russian forces conduct targeted night operations, in which masked troops raid particular homes, execute targeted individuals, or take them away, never to be seen again.
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US Led war on terrorism justifies innumerable human rights abuses in Pakistan. Amnesty International, September 29, 2006 (Pakistan: Human Rights Ignored in the War on Terror,
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa330362006) In its pursuit of the US-led "war on terror", the Pakistani government has committed numerous violations of human rights protected in the Constitution of Pakistan and in international human rights law. They include the right to life and the security of the person; to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (ill-treatment); to be free from enforced disappearance and to challenge the lawfulness of detention. Victims of human rights violations in the "war on terror" include Pakistani and non-Pakistani terror suspects, men and some women, children of terror suspects, sometimes held as hostages, journalists who have reported on the "war on terror" and medical personnel who allegedly treated terror suspects.(2) Irrespective of the "war on terror", the people of Pakistan suffer widespread violations of their civil and political rights. In Pakistan, torture and illtreatment are endemic; arbitrary and unlawful arrest and detention are a growing problem; extrajudicial executions of criminal suspects are frequent; well over 7,000 people are on death row and there has recently been a wave of executions. Discriminatory laws deny the basic human rights of women and of minority groups. To this dismal human rights record, Pakistans actions in the "war on terror" have added a further layer of violations. Hundreds of people suspected of links to al-Qaida or the Taleban have been arbitrarily arrested and detained. Scores have become victims of enforced disappearance (for a definition see section 6); some of these have been unlawfully transferred (sometimes in return for money) to the custody of other countries, notably the USA. Many people have been detained incommunicado in undisclosed places of detention and tortured or ill-treated. Their families, distressed about the lack of information on the whereabouts and fate of their loved ones, have been harassed and threatened when seeking information. The right to habeas corpus has been systematically undermined as state agents have refused to comply with court directions or have lied in court. The fate of some of the victims of arbitrary arrest, detention and enforced disappearance has been disclosed some have been charged with criminal offences unrelated to terrorism, others have been released without charge, reportedly after being warned to keep quiet about their experience, while some have been found dead. However, many have been unlawfully transferred to other countries, without any judicial or other procedures, and in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits people being sent to countries where they face serious human rights abuses. Some were transferred to US custody and have ended up in the US Naval Base at Guantnamo Bay (Cuba), Bagram airbase (Afghanistan) or secret detention centres elsewhere. Others have been unlawfully returned to their countries of origin, where they may be at risk of further abuse. However, many remain unaccounted for their fate and whereabouts are unknown.
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Bushs War on terrorism upholds human rights abuses such as torture. Amnesty International, March 2003 (Human Rights Abuses Forgotten in USAs War on Terrorism,
http://web.amnesty.org/wire/March2003/usa) Bisher Al-Rawi and Jamil Al-Banna were arrested on 8 November 2002 with two other men on suspicion of links with al-Qa'ida when they arrived in Banjul, Gambia. The two men, one an Iraqi and one a Jordanian with refugee status, had travelled from the UK where they were resident. Questioning was initially conducted by Gambian security agents, but was quickly taken over by US agents. At least one of the men was alleged to have been threatened by the US agents that if he did not cooperate he would be handed over to the Gambian police who would rape and torture him. The two men were held incommunicado in undisclosed locations in Banjul for about two months, before being transferred to the US airbase in Bagram, Afghanistan, in January 2003. The detention, interrogation and transfer of Bisher Al-Rawi and Jamil Al-Banna flouted international human rights law. They were denied access to defence counsel or the courts to challenge the legality of their detention and subsequent transfer into US custody. Gambian and US officials refused to confirm their whereabouts or the reason for their detention. Since the attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001, more than 3,000 people who are alleged to be al-Qa'ida "operatives and associates" have been arrested in over 100 countries, according to the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The USA is likely to have had some involvement in many of those detentions. The USA continues to hold detainees in Afghanistan. In an article in December 2002, The Washington Post alleged that certain detainees in the US airbase in Bagram were subject to CIA "stress and duress" techniques, such as hooding, blindfolding, forced prolonged standing or kneeling, 24-hour lighting and sleep deprivation. The exact number of detainees at the base is not known but it is thought to be between 40 and 60. All are held without charge and with no opportunity to challenge the basis of their detention. Over the past 18 months, AI has repeatedly raised with the US government allegations that it has transferred suspects for interrogation in third countries with less stringent safeguards against torture or ill-treatment than exist in the USA. Countries mentioned in this regard include Jordan and Egypt.
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AT: Aid Trade Off -War On Terrorism BadRacial Profiling

War on terrorism upholds racial profilingthousands of Arab nationals and Muslims have been detained for no reason other than their backgrounds. This racial profiling seriously undermines human rights efforts and is counterproductive to antiterrorism efforts. Paul Hoffman, Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International; civil rights and human
rights lawyer with the Venice-based law firm of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP; professor of human rights law at USC Law School and Oxford U, 2004 (Human Rights and Terrorism, Human Rights Quarterly, 26.4, pp. 932-955, Project Muse) One of the features of the "war on terrorism" so far is that minority groups have paid most of the cost for antiterrorism efforts, presumably undertaken for the benefit of society as a whole. Such discrimination is not only unfair, it is corrosive to legitimate security efforts. In this section, the focus is again on US examples, but there are examples in many other contexts which could be cited. In the aftermath of September 11, thousands of Arab nationals and Muslims have been rounded up and detained in the United States in a massive form of preventive detention. These detentions were undertaken in secret, and the government opposed bail for post-September 11 detainees as a matter of course. Detainees were kept in harsh conditions, often with those charged with criminal offenses. Contacts with family and lawyers were heavily circumscribed.39 Government investigative reports confirm that widespread abuses of noncitizens were perpetrated during the course of these activities.40 In addition to detainees picked up in the immediate aftermath of September 11, the government continues to arrest and detain persons from these cultural backgrounds. Additionally, the government conducted a special registration program limited to nationals of only certain backgrounds and has engaged in other activities considered viably to be racial profiling, thus, exacerbating feelings of exclusion and anger. [End Page 946] Almost all of the detainees have been held on minor immigration law violations, which ordinarily would not warrant detention or deportation. One commentator reports that only three of the estimated 5,000 noncitizens detained by these efforts have been charged with any offense remotely related to terrorism, indicating the ineffectiveness of such strategies.41 Yet, these activities make life within the United States insecure for thousands of vulnerable noncitizens based on their national or religious background. These transgressions on immigrant communities are just a part of the "collateral damage" of the "war on terrorism." International norms clearly prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, or religion. There is a growing recognition of the harms caused by discrimination in the social fabric of our communities. By targeting immigrant communities, the government fosters the discrimination and exclusion that human rights law has struggled so hard to eradicate, making it all the more difficult to engender understanding and cooperation between communities in the fight against terrorism.
And, the racial profiling doesnt workit decreases the cooperation necessary to prevent terrorism. Paul Hoffman, Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International; civil rights and human
rights lawyer with the Venice-based law firm of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP; professor of human rights law at USC Law School and Oxford U, 2004 (Human Rights and Terrorism, Human Rights Quarterly, 26.4, pp. 932-955, Project Muse) Discrimination is also counterproductive in the fight against terrorism. The statistics showing that such dragnet arrests and detentions have produced virtually no terrorists indicate the extremely limited utility of using such tactics in the fight against terrorism. Instead, it has been demonstrated that such tactics create enmity between law enforcement authorities and the affected communities. The voluntary cooperation so essential to uncovering and to preventing terrorist actions is now less likely to occur. Why would Arab nationals or Muslims in the United States or targeted minority groups in any country voluntarily assist the same governmental authorities who take arbitrary action against their innocent relatives, friends, and co-religionists? In this sense, adherence to human rights standards is not only the right thing to do, but it is necessary to enlist the entire community in the effort to achieve greater security for everyone.
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AT: Aid Trade Off -War on Terrorism BadRacial Profiling

The war on terrorisms use of racial profiling is dehuminizing, ineffective, and counterproductive. Sikh Coalition.Org, 2006 (Security or Survival, http://www.sikhcoalition.org/essay2006/essay_nr_2006.pdf)
The issue of profiling is not new, it has been prevalent for decades; the Global War on Terrorism has exacerbated the existing divisions within our society and enflamed the passions of leaders on every side of the issue. Although combating terrorism and crime are goals worthy of government attention, the use of racial and ethnic profiling, in an attempt to solve social ills and prevent catastrophe, is inherently dehumanizing, ineffective, and counterproductive: profiling reifies stereotypes, generates fear, and alienates the very communities whose cooperation is needed for any lasting solvency.
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AT: Aid Trade Off -Racial Profiling BadNo Value to Life

Racial profiling kills the value to life by trading one ethnicitys rights for anothers. Sikh Coalition.Org, 2006 (Security or Survival, http://www.sikhcoalition.org/essay2006/essay_nr_2006.pdf)
The second assumption, that discrimination based on ethnicity is justified in the context of security, is a symptom of a worldview in which life has no value. The logic becomes circular: violations of the human rights of members of society is justified in order to defend those same rights; and if questioned regarding what makes society worth defending at such cost, the answer is surely to be the liberties and freedoms of its members. Profiling violates rights in order to secure them. This seemingly paradoxical reasoning becomes clear when brought into context: ethnic profiling does not violate our (white, Christian) rights in an effort to secure us; it violates their (Middle Eastern, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, etc) rights, not to secure their freedoms, but to deliver ours. We are no longer facing a question of trading our liberty for safety, which as Benjamin Franklin once said, would leave us deserving of neither; we now trade their liberties for our safety. It is an infinitely more simple decision to sacrifice the rights of others for personal gain than it is to sacrifice equally. This outlook values the lives of some over those of others based on ethnic characteristics and thus is inherently racist whatever its goals. Even if racial profiling were proven to be successful in preventing terrorism any potential greater good would be mooted by its racist means. Every atrocity ever committed has been the result of dehumanization.
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Farmer 03 (Paul, Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, p. 224-26, Questia) Exposing such constrictions calls for critical scholarship. Yet it is difficult merely to study human rights abuses. We know with certainty that rights are being abused at this moment. That we can study, rather than endure, these abuses is a reminder that we too are implicated in and benefit from the increasingly global structures that determine, to an important extent, the nature and distribution of assaults on dignity. Ivory-tower engagement with health and human rights can reduce us to seminar-room warriors. At
worst, we stand revealed as the hypocrites that our critics in many parts of the world have not hesitated to call us. Anthropologists have long been familiar with these critiques; specialists in international health, including AIDS researchers, have recently had a crash course. 35 It is possible, usually, to drown out the voices of those demanding that we stop studying them, even when they go to great lengths to make sure we get the message. But social scientists with more acute hearing have documented a rich trove of graffiti, songs, demonstrations, tracts, and broadsides on the subject. A hit record album in Haiti called International Organizations has a title cut that includes the following lines: International organizations are not on our side. They're there to help the thieves rob and devour. International health stays on the sidelines of our struggle. 36 In the context of longstanding international support for sundry Haitian dictatorships, one could readily see the gripe with international organizations in general. But international health? The international community's extraordinary largesse to the Duvalier regime has certainly been well documented. 37 Subsequent patterns of giving, addressed as they were to the various Duvalierist military juntas, did nothing to improve the reputation of U. S. foreign aid or the international organizations; such aid helped to arm murderous bands and line the pockets of their leaders. Haitians saw international health aid either as originating from within institutions such as the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) or as part of the same bureaucracy that shored up dictators. Now that there is at long last a democratically elected government, however, the U. S. government has decided to pass its aid (and influence) through nongovernmental channels. The Bush administration has exercised its authority to veto already approved aid loans from the InterAmerican Development Bank. Although few outside Haiti seem to be paying attentionnotably, human rights organizations have had nothing to say about the hypocrisy and disregard for rights apparent in such decisionsthere is widespread awareness within Haiti of what it means to be so generous to dictators and military juntas and to subsequently block a series of loans for clean water, education, and health care. Such critiques are not specific to Haiti, although Haitians have pronounced them with exceptional frankness and richness of detail. Their accusations have been echoed and amplified throughout what some are beginning to call the global geoculture. 38 A full decade before the recent debates over AIDS research in poor countries, it was possible to collect a bookful of such commentary. 39
It is in this context of globalization, growing inequality, and pervasive transnational media influence (which both exposes and exacerbates such inequality) that the new field of health and human rights emerges. Context is particularly salient when we think about social and economic rights, as Steiner and Alston point out: An examination of the concept of the right to development and its implications in the 1990s cannot avoid consideration of the effects of the globalization of the economy and the consequences of the near-universal embrace of the market economy. 40 This context defines our research agenda and directs our praxis. We are leaving behind the terra firma of double-blinded, placebocontrolled studies, of cost-effectiveness, and of sustainability. Indeed, many of these concepts end up looking more like strategies for managing, rather than challenging, inequality. What, then, should be the role of the First World university, of researchers and health care professionals? What should be the role of students and others lucky enough to be among the winners in the global era? We can agree, perhaps, that these centers are fine places from which to conduct research, to document, and to teach. A university does not have the same entanglements or constraints as an international institution such as the United Nations or an organization such as Amnesty International or Physicians for Human Rights. Universities could, in theory, provide a unique and privileged space for conducting research and engaging in critical assessment. In human rights work, however, research and critical assessment are insufficient. No more adequate, for all their virtues, are denunciation and exhortation, whether in the form of press conferences or reports or harangues directed at students. To confront, as an observer, ongoing abuses of human rights is to be faced with a moral dilemma: does one's action help the sufferers or does it not? As Chapter 8 argued, the increasingly baroque codes of research ethics generated by institutional review boards will not help us out of this dilemma, nor will medical ethics, so often restricted to the quandary ethics of the individual. But certain models of engagement are relevant. If the university-based human rights worker is in a peculiar position, it is not entirely unlike that of the clinician researcher. Both study suffering; both are bound to relieve it; neither is in possession of a tried-and-true remedy. Both the human rights specialist and the clinician researcher have blind spots, too.
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Even in the face of risks, we must engage in combineing theory and praxis in responding to health crisis
Farmer 03 (Paul, Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, p. 230, Questia) What is to be done? It's the oldest question around. Sometimes it's posed in a way calculated to discourage discussion, the subtext being that misery and unfairness are so ubiquitous that only hopeless romantics would discern opportunities for effective intervention. But even more often the question is asked by people of good will. I know, for example, that students often seek opportunities to play a part in diminishing structural violence or its symptoms. Too often, their contributions are diluted when they become ensnarled in institutionsfoundations, aid agencies, government-affiliated groups, universities, political parties, even organized laborthat put sharp limits on activism. On the other side of the ledger are the purists, who recognize the fundamentally conservative nature of such institutions and see themselves as too good, really, to rub shoulders with those who are engaged in providing services. How can we build an agenda for action that moves beyond good analysis? If solidarity is among the most noble of human sentiments, then surely its more tangible forms are better still. Adding the material dimension to the equationpragmatic solidarityresponds to the needs expressed by the people and communities who are living, and often dying, on the edge. When we move beyond sentiments to action, we of course incur risks, and these deter many. But it is possible, clearly, to link lofty ideals to sound analysis.
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Landmines stop agriculture and development, create economic drains on communities and countries, and prevent access to health services LandMines.org 06 (Impact of Landmines, http://www.landmines.org.uk/268.php, 2/14)
Most mine-affected countries are agrarian societies whose economies are predominantly defined by the quality and quantity of their agricultural production. The peoples of these largely developing countries rely on the land for their food and livelihood. However, the presence of mines in agricultural fields renders large tracts of fertile soil unusable. Farmers and peasants are unable to safely cultivate their land and livestock feeding off the land are frequently killed by mines, constituting grave economic losses for their owners. These cattle, goats, and other farm animals are often villagers' only possessions. Mine contamination causes local and national economies to suffer and entire populations to become dependent on external food aid and other forms of international assistance. Mines destroy national infrastructures and impede economic development and reconstruction efforts. Transportation networks, power lines, and water resources are damaged and inaccessible. The production and distribution of fundamental goods and services is disrupted. Tourism markets, an important source of income in many countries, suffer greatly. In addition, mine clearance programs divert financial resources from critical development and reconstruction projects. The direct and indirect costs of landmine accidents also have a profound economic toll on most mine-affected countries. Medical care is expensive and often unavailable. The costs of surgery, prostheses, and psychosocial rehabilitation deplete a country's already scarce resources, and families often cannot afford to pay for necessary treatment. And because many landmine victims are unable to return to work after their accidents, they frequently become a financial burden on their families and communities. One of the long-term consequences of landmines is that mine-affected countries become heavily dependent on the international community for humanitarian and development assistance. However, funding for international aid projects is not always adequate or evenly distributed among needy countries. Furthermore, where funds or aid are available, relief organizations are frequently unable to reach their intended destinations because infrastructures, including roads and bridges, have been mined. The inability to provide adequate food, shelter, medical supplies, and government services perpetuates the cycle of despair endured daily by millions of people worldwide.
Mines hurt agriculture, make countries dependant on foreign aid, and create financial burdens for communities King 01 (Elizabeth, Danger in the Earth, The Canadian Landmine Foundation,
http://www.canadianlandmine.org/greenteacherarticle.cfm) At the same time, landmines make fields unsafe for farming - a problem since most of the most mine-affected countries rely heavily on agriculture. Such countries often become dependent on external aid. Worse, economic necessity often forces farmers to return to their fields despite the peril, and as such, subsistence agriculturists are the most common victims of landmines. The earth becomes not a provider, but a danger. This threat also discourages tourism and foreign investment, again hitting the economy of a mine-affected country. The problem is not easy to solve. Landmine clearance is expensive, difficult, and dangerous, especially for a wartorn country. In the social sphere, landmine injuries drastically affect the lives of victims and their communities. The work and play of amputees are oftentimes forever changed. Due to their lack of mobility, survivors frequently become dependent on others. They may be unable to resume their previous tasks, such as working in agrarian societies, and become financial burdens on their families. Furthermore, survivors are often stigmatized. In many countries, for example, women amputees are considered "unmarriable". Of course, these physical impacts can induce severe psychological distress including depression, lack of confidence, and suicidal tendencies. There is unfortunately a lack of psychological help available in most mine-affected countries. It is important to remember that all those that live in a mine-affected society share, to different extents, a life of fear. The medical impacts of landmines are also far-reaching. Many landmine survivors are unable to make it to medical facilities, as they are too far, and die before reaching help. Those that do make it usually require amputations, many are poorly done, and patients thus require a second amputation. Much blood is needed, and the risk of infections is high. Many materials need be imported, doctors require special training, and medical infrastructure need be improved. The amputations, prosthetics, and other healthcare required for a landmine survivor are extremely costly and needed for a lifetime.
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Mines create dependency on foreign aid Berhe 06 (AA, The Contribution of Landmines to Land Degradation, Ecosystem Science Division, UCB,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112748670/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) Aid Dependency. When the land becomes off-limits or disrupted and its productivity is reduced the rural, subsistence populations are forced to live with aid from different humanitarian institutions (Harpviken, 2000). International aid for landmine assistance is critical, but when it is ineffectively handled it has the capacity to inadvertently cause more harm than good by undermining local strengths and endorsing aid dependency (Anderson, 1999; Harpviken and Millard, 1999). Fear of returning to previously mined areas along with an unhealthy dose of aid dependency created problems of underreporting in Mozambique, while efforts were made by communities in Cambodia in an attempt to delay the departure of de-mining teams. Harpviken (2000) and Millard (2000) also reported similar events where de-mined communities have been accused of laying new mines in order to attract other mine action programmes to their areas. It is plausible to point out that repeated problems of such kind can lead to donor fatigue, in which case the affected communities would be left to fend for themselves.
Landmines prevent reconstruction keeping developing countries undeveloped. Okun and Vance 95(Clearing The Fields Solutions to the Global Land Mines Crisis Herbert S. Okun former
ambassador to the United Nations, Cyrus Vance former U.S. secretary of state Published by Basicbooks and The Council on Foreign Relations New York. 1995, questia pg. 22 pg. 200) Moreover, even after the fighting has stopped and troops have gone home, land mines remain a major obstacle to postconflict peace and reconstruction. In addition to impeding the return of refugees and displaced persons, the presence of land mines causes loss of manpower, exhaustion of medical and rehabilitation services, destruction of infrastructure, environmental damage, and loss of agricultural land. Since most land mines are found in the developing world, where resources to respond to these problems are scarce, the international community will continue to bear the costs of demining and rebuilding these countries, if it is to be done at all.
Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Compassion Fatigue K

Increased support doesnt result in donor fatigue Mansfield 02 (Ian, The Role of the United Nations in Mine Action, Journal of Mine Action v6.1
210 Landmines Aff
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.1/focus/buse/buse.htm) IM: All the figures indicate that global funding for mine action has grown slowly over the past few years. To
be honest, it didnt start very high on a list of donor priorities when Afghanistan appealed for money in 1988, many donors believed that demining should be a military issue and that the army should clean up after a war. But then, in the early 1990s, awareness of the huge impact of landmines was raised due to the situations in Angola, Kuwait, Cambodia and Afghanistan and the like. Along with the Ottawa Treaty and factors like the involvement of Princess Diana, and the Nobel prize, world attention became more focused on the issue and donor consciousness was raised. At the moment, the number of countries that contribute to the UN mine action efforts stands around 24, although only about 15 of them are regular donors. The other thing was that in the early days, most donor countries didnt know much about mine action, so
theyd put their contributions in a Trust Fund and let the UN use it. Now though, as interest and knowledge of the issue increased, theres been a corresponding increase in bilateral funding. Some donors feel that they get more visibility this way. Unfortunately, the other side of the problem is that the list of countries seeking assistance has increased faster then the list of donors. In the mid 1990s, the UN was assisting six countries with mine action. Now its nearly 30. In some cases too, its hard to sustain interest in a programme or country if conflict continues or mines are still being laid. MB: So does that mean theres donor fatigue? IM: Actually, I dont agree with the notion of donor fatigue it is such a negative concept to talk about. I think if you have a well-run programme, and you can demonstrate a need, you will get funding. "Fatigue" will only set in if theres mismanagement or you cant demonstrate that the work youre doing is useful.
211 Landmines Aff

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Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 1/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 2/12

OBSERVATION TWO: AGRICULTURE

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 3/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 4/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 5/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 6/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 7/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 8/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 9/12

Thus the plan:

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 10/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 11/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 1AC 12/12

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T Public Health: K of T

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T - Public Health AT: Prevention Only

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T Public Health - Demining

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T Public Health: Victim Assistance

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 T: Public Assistance = USAID Funding

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Funding = NADR Appropriations

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Funding = NADR Appropriations

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 DOD Funds Demining

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Africa Needs Demining

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Africa Needs Demining

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Africa Needs Demining

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Africa Needs Demining

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 AT: Landmine Numbers Decreasing

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency US Demining Funding Down

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency US SQ Assistance

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Demining Assistance Decreasing

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Landmine Health Care

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Inherency Landmine Health Care

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

****Health & Human Rts****

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW - Landmines

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health & Human Rights FW - Landmines

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Suffering

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Suffering

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Children

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Health Services

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Structural Impacts

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Landmines instability

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Conflict Resolution

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Peace

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Demining Peace

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees I/L

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees I/L

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees = AIDS/HIV

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Refugees = Sexual Exploitation

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria I/L

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impacts - Death

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impacts Millions Deaths

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impacts - Deaths and economy

Gonzaga Debate Institute 2007 Malaria Impact - children

Health & Human Rts