Our troops are better served by being equipped with the best anti-mine technology available, not by more land mines. The GI's of World War II, after all, went into battle with gas masks, not mustard gas. A ban that is honored by one hundred other nations is hardly unilateral. The United States is a powerful and a great nation. But power and greatness are not the same.
Different leaders use different tools.
Powerful leaders rely on fear or force to work their will. Great leaders rely on the moral authority of their character and example. Such moral authority comes not from urging others to do what is easy but that which involves sacrifice. Banning land mines is the right thing to do. Our nation can and should be a moral leader on this issue.