1、LIFESAVER HERO: JODY WILLIAMSOne of the greatest myths of modern times is that when wars end, the killing stops. Reality, however, is far more grim. Landmines, the silent sentinels planted in the ground by opposing armies in every war since World War I, continue to kill and maim long after the peace
2、 treaties are signed. Jody Williams, longtime activist and 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has spent more than a decade fighting this invisible scourge that no longer kills well-trained soldiers, but rather innocent and unarmed civilians.In 1981, Jody Williams was working for a temporary employment a
3、gency in Washington DC when a leaflet handed to her as she left a subway sparked a career in global activism. She began working on human rights campaigns in Central America, seeking to change U.S. policy in the region. She was soon exposed to activists in the veterans community who were trying to do
4、 more than simply refit landmine victims with prosthetic limbs. Acting upon the old homily, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, these veterans were trying to convince the worlds leaders that removing landmines before they harm innocent people was the most effective solution to this dead
5、ly problem. In the early 1990s Williams began the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). Within seven years, the ICBL had grown from two offices in as many countries to several hundred in over fifty nations around the world. The ICBL generated international headlines when the late Princess
6、Diana began championing the drive to ban landmines. It was the October, 1997 announcement that Williams and ICBL would share the Nobel Peace Prize, however, that firmly established the former temporary worker as a political force to be reckoned with. Soon after the announcement, President Yelstin of
7、 Russia agreed to join an international treaty to ban the future use of landmines. Ironically, one of the treatys holdouts is Williams own country. President Clinton repeatedly refused to sign the treaty. In 2002, according to the ICBL, President Bushs White House interagency policy review is expect
8、ed to revise former President Clintons executive directive that the U.S. will join the treaty by 2006 if certain military conditions are met. Recent media reports have suggested that the Bush Administration plans to abandon this timetable altogether, moving the US further away from ever joining the
9、international treaty. The ICBL publishes information about how individuals can get involved. The fight to rid the world of landmines is far from over. Every twenty minutes a landmine claims another victim somewhere around the world. One hundred million mines currently lie in the ground in areas where farmers harvest their crops and children play. However, the hope that this scourge will not continue to claim lives and limbs as the world enters the 21st century is being made a reality by the selfless work of heroes like Jody Williams.
