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

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

Opponents of the U.S. landmine policy said they were surprised.

“It is a disturbing development,” said Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch. “The administration never said a policy review was under way.”

Goose said the decision to leave the policy in place is at odds with the administration’s professed commitments to international agreements and humanitarian issues.

“The international treaty against landmines has made a a huge difference and it is a very strong deterrent,” Goose said. “It has to have been a very fast and cursory review.”

The United States will attend an international conference on landmines next week in Cartagena, Colombia, sending an inter-agency delegation from the State and Defense departments as observers.

Kelly said the United States continues to work with governments as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to help remove landmines.

“The U.S. is proud to be the world’s single largest supporter of humanitarian mine action,” Kelly said. “Since 1993 the U.S. has provided more than $1.5 billion worldwide dedicated to building new partnerships with more than 50 post-conflict countries and supporting efforts by dozens of NGOs to promote stability and set the stage for recovery and development through mine clearance and conventional-weapons destruction programs.”

The United States is the only member of NATO that will not sign the landmine treaty, Goose said. Russia and China also have not joined the 156 nations that have endorsed the ban, he said.

http://www.cnn.com/

Related Content

• September 14, 2009 -- Barack Obama starts talks with North Korea and Iran
  President Barack Obama has approved plans for the US to start direct talks with both North Korea and Iran, in a significant shift in policy....
• January 12, 2010 -- DARPA: Seeks Means to Manipulate Lightning
  China and Russia try to control rain clouds and the Dutch use technology to keep low-lying inland areas from flooding, so why shouldn’t the ...
• December 8, 2009 -- Brazil: Police Killed More Than 11,000 People In Past 6 Years, Many Execution-Style
  NEW YORK - Brazil has recently generated positive headlines with its 2016 Olympic bid victory, as well as its increased economic and politic...
• November 9, 2009 -- Cyber Warfare: 60 Minutes ‘Sabotaging The System’ (Video)
  60 Minutes discusses the threat of 'cyber war'. Must watch video....
• September 24, 2009 -- Videos/ LIVE AUDIO: G20 Protests In Pittsburgh, Police Audio Feeds LIVE 9/25
  Live video and audio feeds!...
• September 16, 2009 -- Read/Watch: ‘We may have to attack Iran by Dec.’ – Israel
  "Israel will be compelled to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if Western powers do not impose serious sanctions against Teheran by the end o...
• January 18, 2010 -- United States: The War on Drugs Coming to an End
  "After 40 years of defeat and failure, America's "war on drugs" is being buried in the same fashion as it was born – amid bloodshed, confusi...
• January 12, 2010 -- The World: Gears Up To Help Quake-Stricken Haiti
  PORT-AU-PRINCE — The United States, France, Canada and governments across Latin America were gearing up to help Haiti, after a massive 7.0 e...
• December 9, 2009 -- U.S. Government: Refuses Biological Weapons Inspections
  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to announce a new policy on Wednesday to curb the spread of biological weapons, but it will reaf...
• December 8, 2009 -- 10 Signs: Failed Drug War Is Finally Ending
  2009 will go down as the beginning of the end of the United States drug war. I have worked at the Drug Policy Alliance promoting alternative...