Washington (AP) By supplying Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines, the United States is expanding the use of a weapon that has long been denounced by the international community for endangering innocent civilians. Additionally, it represents yet another change in American policy toward the contentious issue during the previous three decades.
The mines, according to U.S. officials, are necessary to assist Ukraine halt Russian advances on the battlefield, where Moscow’s forces are operating on the front lines in smaller foot units rather than in more heavily armored vehicles.
Throughout the conflict, Ukraine has received anti-tank mines from the Defense Department. The new approach, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, will provide Ukraine with safer nonpersistent antipersonnel land mines, since they gradually lose their ability to detonate.
According to Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the shift demonstrates that the Biden administration has evidently and belatedly become less risk averse as it watches concerning battlefield developments in Ukraine and worries about how U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia may change on January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Trump has pledged to put an immediate end to the conflict and attacked US assistance for Ukraine.
Due to the increased effectiveness of drone warfare in Ukraine, Russian forces moving in armored vehicles are more vulnerable to drone strikes and have been moving on foot, which makes them more difficult to target, Bowman said.
The United States’ position on antipersonnel mines and its implications are as follows:
MINES’ TYPES
Smaller, antipersonnel mines that are concealed just below the ground’s surface and detonate under the weight of a person are among the smaller, damaging mines that can destroy a tank.
Ukraine is receiving limited-capacity antipersonnel mines from the Biden administration. The so-called nonpersistent mines run on batteries and are electrically fused. They won’t explode when the battery runs out, and they may become inactive in as little as four hours or as long as two weeks.
According to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose internal discussions, the U.S. has asked the Ukrainians to commit to limiting injury to civilians. The mines would be used within Ukraine, but not in regions with a high concentration of civilians.
The United States has provided Ukraine with larger anti-tank mines throughout the conflict; these mines are battery-powered and will eventually become inactive. The anti-tank mines are part of an artillery shell called the Remote Anti-Armor Mine System, or RAAM.
It can harm armored vehicles by dispersing the mines when fired. In addition, the mines can be programmed to explode on their own in four or forty-eight hours.
A LAND MINES OUTLIER
The 1997 Ottawa Convention, which forbade the use, manufacture, and transfer of antipersonnel mines, is one of the few significant countries that the United States has not ratified.
The convention was approved or agreed to by 164 nations as of 2022. However, a number of powerful nations, like the US, China, and Russia, who have historically and currently produced land mines, chose not to sign on. India, Pakistan, and South Korea also declined to sign the treaty.
One major problem is that the mines are deployed extensively in both North and South Korea, especially in the demilitarized zone, and are a component of the American effort to prevent Pyongyang from invading the South.
For years, humanitarian organizations have urged the United States to sign the prohibition pact. The existence of 110 million land mines, which can lie dormant, hidden beneath the earth, for many years before being triggered, still affects about 70 countries and territories, according to NATO.
NATO claimed earlier this year that Ukraine is now among the world’s most mine-ridden nations as a result of Russia’s invasion.According to Human Rights Watch, mines are currently strewn across 11 of Ukraine’s 27 regions. Since most Russian mines are not ones that eventually become inactive, they are more lethal.
Amnesty International swiftly denounced Biden’s move, stating that even those mines pose a hazard to civilians.
This is a reckless decision and a deeply disappointing setback for a President who once agreed that land mines put more civilians at increased risk of harm, said Ben Linden, an advocacy director for Amnesty International USA. It is devastating, and frankly shocking, that President Biden made such a consequential and dangerous decision just before his public service legacy is sealed for the history books.
THE EVOLVING U.S. POLICY
PresidentBill Clintonhad a goal of limiting mine use and joining the treaty, but under PresidentGeorge W. Bush, the administration pulled back due to wide objections from military leaders. The policy under Bush was that the U.S. would use persistent mines ones that do not automatically become inert until 2010, and then not use them anymore.
PresidentBarack Obamaordered up a review of the U.S. policy and eventually prohibited the military from using any land mines anywhere in the world except in defense of South Korea.
In January 2020,President Donald Trump canceledthe Obama-era prohibition and eliminated geographic limits on the use of land mines that would become inert over time. Then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote at the time that commanders may authorize the use of nonpersistent land mines when necessary for mission success in major contingencies or other exceptional circumstances. The term major contingency was not explicitly defined.
When PresidentJoe Biden took office, the Trump policy was rolled back,and use of the antipersonnel mines was prohibited outside of the Korean Peninsula. The administration decision, announced in June 2022, said all mines not required for the defense of South Korea would be destroyed. At that time, there were an estimated 3 million antipersonnel mines in the U.S. stockpile, but officials would not say how many of those would be considered necessary to defend South Korea.
___
Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report.
The Associated Press, 2024. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. It is prohibited to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this content without authorization.
Note: Thank you for visiting our website! We strive to keep you informed with the latest updates based on expected timelines, although please note that we are not affiliated with any official bodies. Our team is committed to ensuring accuracy and transparency in our reporting, verifying all information before publication. We aim to bring you reliable news, and if you have any questions or concerns about our content, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!