The Real Weapons of Mass Destruction
The Defense Monitor, July 1996 - Center for Defense
Those whose business it is to defend the use of weaponry offer
the argument that weapons, in and of themselves, are neutral,
that they are not good or bad but can be used to either end depending
on the will of their owner. There is one weapon that can truly
be called "evil": landmines. They are known as hidden
killers, weapons of mass destruction in slow motion, or the perfect
soldier which never sleeps or misses. They have killed or maimed
more people than have been killed by nuclear, biological, and
chemical weapons combined. Unlike other weapons, most mines are
designed to maim.
It is the only weapon in existence which kills more people
after a conflict ends than while it is fought. A mine has no target
and recognizes no cease-fire. Unable to distinguish between the
steps of a combatant or an innocent civilian it lies in wait,
or self-destruction. Disarming them silent and hidden, to kill
and maim. all would cost from $20 to $30 billion. Every week approximately
500 It is estimated that there are also an people around the world,
almost all additional 100 million mines in of them civilians,
are killed or maimed stockpiles around the world. by antipersonnel
The UN estimates that 100 million mines, or more, may be deployed
in 62 nations. That's one mine in the ground for every 50 humans
on earth. The vast majority of landmines in use today have no
means of self-neutralization or self-destruction. Disarming them
all would cost from $20 to $30 billion. It is estimated that there
are also an additional 100 million mines in stockpiles around
The three nations with the largest landmine problem today
are Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia. Collectively, they are
besieged by an estimated 28 million mines and suffer 22,000 casualties
every year (85% of the world total). The Cambodian conflict may
be the first war in history in which mines claimed more victims,
both combatant and civilian, than any other weapon.
The problem is greatest in Africa where mines have been used
extensively. Approximately 20 million mines are strewn across
nearly one half of Africa's countries, killing over 12,000 people
The large number of amputees in some mine-infested countries
create entire societies which can be described as handicapped.
In one district of Afghanistan, 1.95% of the population were killed
and a further 3.5% suffered injury from landmines in a 2-year
period; one in every 18 persons. By comparison, in the United
States there is one amputee for reasons of trauma or disease per
Mines also affect refugee populations by causing death and
injuries on the way home and they make earning a living and reestablishing
a normal life much more difficult. The estimated 30 million mines
in Angola, Mozambique, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Cambodia inhibit
and endanger the return and reintegration of 11.5 million refugees
and internally displaced people.
Mine warfare began as the practice of digging underneath fixed
military fortifications to cause their collapse. Technological
advancement shifted mine warfare from attacking fixed targets
to stopping moving troops and vehicles, particularly tanks. Mines
were first used this way on a broad scale in World War I. Mine
warfare was firmly established in World War II, when the landmine
in its common form--encased explosives fitted with fuses or firing
devices for activation by the victim-- was used by all sides.
During the war mines were laid by the millions. As a result massive
mine contamination still persists today. Minefields in Europe
and Egypt and Libya, for example, still remain a danger. There
is no record of WWII participants assisting contaminated nations
to effect large-scale mine clearance. The same applies to other
major conflicts since then such as Korea, Vietnam, and parts of
In the post-WW II era the nature of mine warfare changed.
No longer were mines laid in static, relatively well-marked fields.
What we have seen increasingly over the past several decades is
that mines have changed from being primarily a defensive, limited
theater weapon to a weapon that is used offensively in a strategic
sense, where it is used to create refugee flows, or to empty vast
stretches of territory, or to deny a population its food supply.
These offensive uses directed primarily against civilians are
outlawed under the laws of war.
The Vietnam War crystallized the change. The Vietcong used
mines to intimidate selected local populations. They mined roads
nightly, making mine clearance a daily task. Used in a manner
and scale never before seen by U.S. forces mines became a significant
cause of American casualties. Of approximately 41,840 U.S. ground
forces killed in battle during the Vietnam war, approximately
16% were killed by mines or grenades. In some units mine casualties
were even greater. In the last half of 1968, for example, 57%
of all casualties in the US. 1st Marine Division were attributed
to mines and booby traps. It is not only mines laid by the enemy
that are a threat. Mines laid by US. forces often backfire. General
Gray, a former commandant of the Marine Corps, said he's seen
more Americans killed by our own landmines than enemy forces killed
by U.S. mines.
This trend was accelerated by the use of scatterable mines,
delivered by air, artillery, or tank weapons. Speed and remote
delivery greatly increased their offensive potential. However,
the greater ability to deliver mines has made mine clearance much
more difficult. Accurate marking and recording of minefields is
impossible. With the advent of high-volume dispensing systems,
responsibility for mine use has been decentralized to other army
units, eroding the role of engineers. The smaller size and lethality
of scatterable mines have also increased the density of minefields,
further increasing the danger to civilians.
It has long been taken as gospel that mines have a legitimate
military purpose and as such play an indispensable role in land
warfare. But such assertions are questionable. One recent study
of 26 conflicts since World War II, by retired British Brigadier
and former U.N. demining expert Patrick Blagden, found that "even
when used on a massive scale, they have usually had little or
no effect on the outcome of hostilities. No case was found in
which the use of anti-personnel mines played a major role in determining
the outcome of a conflict."
It is not well appreciated that international law allows nations
to impose legal limits on the weapons used by armies engaged in
conflict. Weapons bans are based on two general rules which have
evolved over the years and are incorporated into the body of international
law related to armed conflict. The most recent and authoritative
statement of these rules is in the Protocols Additional to the
Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, adopted in 1977.
The first rule is that certain forms of harm to soldiers are
unnecessary or superfluous. This notion goes back to the 1868
St. Petersburg declaration; a document often described as the
cornerstone of the laws of war. From this document evolved the
notion that permissible means of injuring the enemy are not unlimited.
Now, the 1977 Additional Geneva Protocol I states, in part:
2. "It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and
material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous
injury or unnecessary suffering."
The second rule prohibits the use of indiscriminate weapons.
Again, Protocol I prohibits "indiscriminate attacks,"
including 'those which employ a method or means of combat which
cannot be directed at a specific military objective" and
"those which employ a method or means of combat the effects
of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol"
and, consequently, are of a nature to strike military objectives
and civilians or civilian objects without distinction."
Types of Antipersonnel mines
Broadly speaking AP mines fall into two main categories, blast
mines and fragment mines. Blast injuries are caused by the explosion
and the expansion of heated gases with a rapid transfer of energy
to body tissues. Fragmentation mines deliver small pieces of penetrating
metal or even metallic spheres, i.e., shrapnel.
Blast mines are usually buried or laid on the surface of the
ground and are triggered by foot pressure. The blast can kill
if the explosive charge is large enough; otherwise it blows off
the foot or leg of the person who steps on the mine, causing a
traumatic amputation with varying degrees of injury to the other
leg, genitals, buttocks, and even the opposite arm.
Fragmentation mines are placed immediately above the ground
or spring up into the air before exploding and are usually set
off by a trip-wire. Shrapnel is either projected outward in a
circle or, in a directional mine, spewed over a defined arc. These
mines are almost always lethal to those who set them off. The
shrapnel can tear a body to shreds at a distance of up to 50 or
even 100 meters.
Mine wounds are dirty and contaminated. Fragments from the
mine casing or its components and secondary fragments of surrounding
dirt or gravel, pieces of footwear, or even the victim's own bones
are also driven into surrounding body tissues causing further
contamination and injury.
New Mine Technologies
Landmine technology is also changing. They have come a long
way from the relatively large plate-shaped devices that were buried
by hand. Today, many mines are so-called plastic mines, making
detection extraordinarily difficult. These mines have such a small
metal content that it is very, very difficult to detect them with
any type of mine-detecting technology. They are also becoming
increasingly difficult to disarm. They have now been fitted with
anti-handling devices which can detect even a five degree tilt
in the mine. If you tilt it that much, it'll blow up in your face.
Production and export of AP mines
There are at least 350 types of anti-personnel mines around
At least 56 nations have produced landmines. About 36 countries
are or have been exporters. In recent years, China, Italy, and
the former Soviet Union have been the world's biggest exporters
It is estimated that five to ten million landmines are produced
annually. It is difficult to track where a landmine is manufactured.
Some are the product of multiple manufacturers, often in different
countries. The most destructive, such as the US Claymore mine,
are regularly copied and produced by other nations.
Consequences of mine warfare
The use of mines in wide regions of rural countryside, far
from cities and means of communications, means that large numbers
of victims are alone and isolated when they are injured. If they
are accompanied by others, the persons with the victim must take
care while hurriedly rushing to the rescue, for they too will
be entering the minefield and risk being killed and injured. The
number of people that die in this fashion every day will never
Even if help arrives difficulties continue. Transportation
in developing countries is often difficult, even in peacetime.
Death through hemorrhaging and infection often awaits victims
as they are being evacuated to hospitals
The horrific nature of landmine injuries places huge burdens
on medical staff and facilities. The surgical work is demanding
and time-consuming. Many doctors are ill-prepared or simply untrained
from their civilian practice to deal with mine wounds. Victims
require more operations, typically as many as six to eight operations.
Their average hospital stay is longer. They have a greater need
for blood transfusions and the amount of blood needed per transfusion
is far greater; over six times as much in the case of landmine
amputees. Providing safe blood, free of infectious agents, in
sufficient quantities is often not possible.
Rehabilitation of Victims
Successful surgery does not begin to deal with the problems
of mine victims' rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
The long-term effects in terms of cost, loss of income, and socio-economic
dependency are dehabilitating both to the individual and society
as a whole. Rehabilitation begins with physiotherapy and provision
of an artificial limb. Each prosthesis must be individually fitted
and replaced every 3 to 5 years and every 6-12 months for a growing
child. Prostheses are expensive and the cost of those used in
developed countries is beyond the reach of most victims. A child
injured at the age of 10 years, with a life expectancy of another
40 to 50 years, will need 25 appliances during his or her lifetime.
At approximately $125 per limb this totals more than $3,000. In
most countries where average per capita income is $15 to $20 per
month it is easy to understand why most people can only afford
Besides physical trauma, mine victims also bear the psychological
trauma of a radical change in self-image, especially for young
adults. Their reduced capabilities can seem unbearable to the
individual involved. Unemployment, divorce, poor marriage prospects,
and social ostracism are just some of the insults which follow
the original injury.
Social and Economic Costs
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
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
Landmines are a continuing drag on the world economy. Mines
which can cost as little as $3 on the open market can cost up
to $1,000 each to clear. In Afghanistan it is estimated that $5,000
is required for treatment and rehabilitation for every survivor.
The fragile economies of many mine-plagued countries cannot support
the cost of either mine clearance or victim rehabilitation.
The cost in foregone economic development is matched by the
cost of defusing the danger. The UN estimates that the average
cost for removing a landmine can range up to $1000. The average
yearly per capita income in Cambodia is about $280. To completely
de-mine Cambodia would require every one of Cambodia's 10 million
people to devote every single penny earned to demining for the
next 3.5 years. While this is clearly impossible, it highlights
the fact that landmines cripple economic development long after
the fighting stops.
Caring for the victims of antipersonnel mines challenges every
part of a public health care system at every stage of its development,
and the problem is most severe in countries least able to bear
U.S. Landmine Policy
Since 1992, the United States has observed an export moratorium
on APL that came about as a result of legislation sponsored by
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). In 1994, in his United Nations General
Assembly address, President Clinton called for the eventual elimination
of APL. Since then, the UN General Assembly has adopted annually
a resolution supporting this goal.
The setback in Washington occurred on May 16, 1995 when the
Clinton Administration released its "new" landmine policy.
In a White House briefing the Administration used some of its
highest ranking officials, including Secretary of State Warren
Christopher, Secretary of Defense William Perry, U.S. Ambassador
to the United Nations Madeline Albright, and members of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff. This policy was stimulated, in part, by a previous
high level review done by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Another impetus
was the publication of a letter to the President in the April
3 New York Times signed by 15 high-ranking, retired U.S. military
officers urging support for a permanent and total international
ban on the production, stockpiling, sale and use of antipersonnel
land mines. They found such a ban "militarily responsible"
and noted that "antipersonnel landmines are not essential."
The signers includes such notables as Gen. David Jones, former
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf,
Commander of Operation Desert Storm.
However, despite the positive opportunity generated by that
letter the Administration's "new" policy was essentially
a continuation of the status quo. The President ordered the Pentagon
to stop using dumb mines by 1999 but allowed two important exceptions;
allowing the continued use of dumb mines along the Korean Demilitarized
Zone, and troop training. The US. reserves the right to use "smart"
mines, subject to the revised CCW restrictions. The only "dumb"
mines which will have to be removed are those around the US. base
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The policy does allow the Pentagon to destroy five million
dumb mines but companies stopped making such mines years ago and
existing stocks were already scheduled to be destroyed.
Furthermore, the "new" policy conflicts with a bill
President Clinton signed into law on February 12, 1995, which
calls for a 1-year moratorium on antipersonnel landmine use, starting
in 1999. The policy, according to Sen. Patrick Leahy (DVT) who
sponsored the legislation, would violate that law. But the Administration
defended its decision on the grounds of military necessity. However,
some military officials are not convinced of the need for mines.
In a background briefing held just two hours before the Administration
made its announcement, a senior defense official, speaking of
Sen. Leahy's legislation said "we can live with that 1-year
The President's decision to take no meaningful steps stands
in stark contrast to the recent action of other nations. Forty-one
nations, from Afghanistan to Uruguay, have now stated their support
for an immediate and comprehensive ban on antipersonnel mines.
Twenty-four nations have renounced use of AP mines. Eleven nations
are now destroying part or all of their stocks of antipersonnel
landmines. Twenty-one nations have prohibited production of antipersonnel
mines. In January, Canada suspended all production and use of
antipersonnel mines, effective immediately. In April, Germany
renounced all production and use of antipersonnel mines, effective
immediately. On May 3, the last day of the recent UN review conference,
France, Portugal, Malta, Angola, and South Africa called for an
In announcing his policy President Clinton is failing to fulfill
his September 1994 pledge to eliminate antipersonnel landmines.
He is yielding to the wishes of his most hawkish military advisers,
while ignoring the protestations of many in the State Department,
Agency for International Development, and other branches of government
who are most familiar with the humanitarian and socio-economic
disaster caused by mines.
A stated goal without a stated deadline is no goal at all.
President Clinton's declaration for the elimination of antipersonnel
landmines is empty rhetoric until a definitive deadline is added
to that goal.
The Clinton Administration promises the US will work for the
elimination of long-lived landmines and will promote the use of
short-lived landmines. Short- or long-lived, all landmines are
indiscriminate and especially injurious weapons of terror. Long-lived
mines inflict lifetimes of suffering on innocent people for years
after the conflicts end. Continued promotion and production of
any antipersonnel mines legitimize their continued use. Continued
use of short-lived mines will complicate verification of a comprehensive
ban. Survivors of war will still be prevented from rebuilding
their lives and communities.
A landmine by any other name is still a landmine. To use landmines
is immoral and should be made illegal. Present policies and actions
of the U.S. government fail the humanitarian cause of protecting
civilians from the scourge of landmines.