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What is the problem with landmines?
Landmines are inhumane because, by design, they inflict brutal damage to the human body that kills or create life-long injuries. Once planted, landmines don’t go away until they are removed. Landmines sown during the First World War are still causing death and destruction in parts of Europe and North Africa.
Why are landmines banned in war?
International treaties The use of land mines is controversial because they are indiscriminate weapons, harming soldier and civilian alike. They remain dangerous after the conflict in which they were deployed has ended, killing and injuring civilians and rendering land impassable and unusable for decades.
Is it illegal to own landmines?
Anti-personnel landmines are prohibited under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (or Mine Ban Convention), adopted in 1997. More than 150 countries have joined this treaty.
Are there any minefields in the US?
The United States does not have any of these land mines in its inventory, defense officials said. In recent decades, the United States has produced “smart” or nonpersistent mines that can be set to self-destruct in a certain number of minutes, hours or days after they are deployed.
Did the US use landmines in Vietnam?
The M14 mine blast-type anti-personnel mine used by the United States during the Vietnam War was known as the “toe popper.” Earlier examples of the toe-popper were the Soviet-made PMK-40 and the World War II “ointment box.” The United States also used the M16 mine, a copy of the German “Bouncing Betty”.
Are there minefields in America?
“We don’t have landmines in the United States. Landmines have remained part of the battlefield landscape throughout virtually every U.S. and international conflict since. When the presence of what were then known as “torpedoes” became a problem for Civil War Union Gen.