Key developments since May 2002: In fiscal
year 2002, the US provided $76.9 million to international mine action programs
in 37 countries, a decline of nearly $5 million from the previous year. The
United States apparently did not use antipersonnel mines in Operation Iraqi
Freedom, though it stockpiled mines in the region for possible use. The
legislative moratorium on export of antipersonnel mines was extended six years
to 23 October 2008. The Bush Administration has not concluded its review of US
landmine policy, begun in June 2001. US forces are using minefields from the
Soviet era as part of their perimeter defense at locations in Afghanistan, but
the US has not reported how it is complying with its Amended Protocol II
obligations regarding those minefields. The Pentagon reported in May 2002 that
it “will not be able to meet” the 2006 target date to develop and
field alternatives to antipersonnel mines. The budget request for landmine
alternatives programs for FY 2003-2009 is $1.07 billion. The RADAM alternatives
program was cancelled in FY 2002. Thirty-one US soldiers were killed or injured
by landmines and unexploded ordnance in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first five
months of 2003.
Mine Ban Policy
The United States of America (US) has not acceded
to the Mine Ban Treaty, despite supporting the objective of a global ban of
antipersonnel mines since 1994. The Bush Administration has been reviewing US
landmine policy since June 2001. It is not known when a decision will be made
or what options are being
developed.[1] On 24 June 2003,
a Cabinet-level meeting of Bush Administration officials discussed the future of
US landmine policy for the first time, but no agreement was
reached.[2]
Since 1998, US policy has been based on Presidential Decision Directive 64,
which states that the US will adhere to the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006 if
alternatives have been identified and
fielded.[3] Human Rights Watch
reported in late November 2001 that the Department of Defense had recommended,
as its contribution to the review, that the US abandon the objective of joining
the Mine Ban Treaty.[4] In
addition to the Pentagon, the Department of State and the National Security
Council (NSC) are participating in the policy review, prior to a decision by
President Bush.
In 1998, the US pledged to end the use of all “pure”
self-destructing antipersonnel mines, except for in Korea, by
2003.[5] If the US maintains
this commitment, 8.4 million ADAM artillery-delivered antipersonnel mines would
not be eligible for use anymore, except in Korea. It would also remove from
service the Pursuit Deterrent Munition, a type of “pure”
antipersonnel mine used exclusively by US Special Operations Forces.
The use of non-self-destructing (“dumb”) antipersonnel mines was
prohibited, except for Korea, in May 1996. While the US maintains 1.5 million
of these antipersonnel mines for use in Korea, only five percent of this
stockpile is available for immediate use by US
forces.[6]
The final justification for not joining the Mine Ban Treaty has been the need
to retain “mixed systems” that contain both antipersonnel and
antivehicle mines. These constitute four percent of the overall US
antipersonnel mine stockpile.
The US did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings in 2002 or 2003.
It abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, as it has done
on every annual pro-ban UNGA resolution since 1997.
On 18 November 2002, Senator Susan M. Collins (R-ME) wrote to urge President
Bush to elimiate antipersonnel landmines from the US arsenal. On 4 February
2003, Congressmen Lane Evans (D-IL), Jack Quinn (R-NY), and Jim McGovern (D-MA)
sent a letter to President Bush urging him to prohibit antipersonnel mine use by
US forces in Iraq.
The US is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its
Amended Protocol II, and participated in the Fourth Annual Conference of States
Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 2002. It submitted its annual
national report under Article 13 of Amended Protocol II on 30 November 2002. In
the work of the Group of Governmental Experts, the US has taken the lead in
promoting a new protocol on “mines other than antipersonnel mines,”
but has opposed a legally binding instrument on “explosive remnants of
war.”
The US Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL), coordinated by Physicians for Human
Rights (PHR), engaged in numerous activities to affect the ongoing policy review
and to caution against any antipersonnel mine use by the US in Iraq in
2003.[7] In addition to other
media outreach, the USCBL organized meetings with newspaper editorial boards
throughout the country and convinced eight papers to publish pro-Mine Ban Treaty
editorials and op-eds.[8] The
USCBL also urged Mine Ban Treaty States Parties, such as the United Kingdom and
Australia, to press the United States not to use antipersonnel mines in Iraq or
Afghanistan.
Use
US forces have apparently not used antipersonnel
mines during combat operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan.[9] The US has not
publicly confirmed that it has not used antipersonnel mines in those
conflicts.[10] The Pentagon
refused to rule out landmine use in Iraq, saying its forces might use mines in
case they needed to prevent access to suspected chemical weapons storage
sites.[11] At least 90,000
antipersonnel mines were stockpiled in the region prior to the conflict. US
forces deployed Claymore directional fragmentation mines during combat
operations in Iraq.[12] The
Pentagon listed the war against terrorism as a justification for retaining mines
in November 2001.
Protective minefields from the Soviet era are incorporated into the perimeter
defense scheme at locations US forces currently occupy in
Afghanistan.[13]
Military advantage is derived from these minefields and the US is obligated to
comply with CCW Amended Protocol II requirements to mark and monitor these
minefields to ensure the effective exclusion of civilians. The US did not
detail its compliance when it submitted its annual national report for Amended
Protocol II in December 2002.
The United States last acknowledged using antipersonnel mines in 1991 in
Kuwait and Iraq, scattering 117,634 landmines mostly from
airplanes.[14] In a September
2002 report, the US General Accounting Office (GAO) stated that it did not
receive any data from the Pentagon to indicate, either directly or indirectly,
that any enemy casualties, equipment loss, or maneuver limitations were caused
by the use of mines by the
US.[15] The GAO also reported
that there was reluctance among some US commanders to use mines because of their
impact on mobility, fratricide potential, and safety
concerns.[16]
Production and Transfer
The US has not produced antipersonnel mines since
1997, but reserves the right to do so. It continues to produce antivehicle
mines.[17] US law has
prohibited the transfer of antipersonnel mines since 23 October
1992.[18] The legislative
export moratorium, set to expire on 23 October 2003, was extended until 23
October 2008.[19] The Clinton
Administration announced in January 1997 that the US “will observe a
permanent ban on the export and transfer of [antipersonnel
mines].”[20] At the end
of February 2003, in the Conference on Disarmament, the US discussed a global
prohibition on the export of non-self-destructing
landmines.[21]
The transfer of M14 antipersonnel mines to Canada sometime in 2001 or early
2002, presumably for testing of demining gear and technologies, has not been
explained by the US Department of State, which has statutory responsibility for
the enforcement of the export
moratorium.[22]
The practice of US forces providing seized arms to armed groups in
Afghanistan was reported to have ended in late October 2002. One report noted
that antipersonnel mines were part of a weapons cache discovered near the town
of Urgun. Referring to this incident, Colonel Roger King, a US military
spokesman in Bagram Airbase said, “this is cut and dried: it [seized
weapons] either goes to the Afghan National Army at the Kabul military training
facility...or its
destroyed.”[23]
Programs to Develop Alternatives to Landmines
The programs to identify and field alternatives to landmines have been in
limbo, pending the completion of the policy review. In 1998, the President
established 2006 as the date where, if alternatives have been identified and
fielded, the US would cease use of all antipersonnel mines and join the Mine Ban
Treaty. The Pentagon reported to the General Accounting Office in May 2002 that
it “will not be able to meet” the dates established by the 1996 and
1998 executive orders to develop landmine
alternatives.[24]
Compliance of the landmine alternatives with the Mine Ban Treaty has never
been an explicit
requirement.[25] Language
contained in the conference report accompanying the fiscal year 2003 defense
appropriations bill attempts to rectify this for one longer-term alternatives
program: “The conferees direct that the Army clearly define the
requirements for a next generation intelligent minefield and ensure compliance
with the Ottawa Treaty, and report back to the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees with detailed plans for such a
system.”[26]
The Bush Administration budget request for fiscal years 2003-2009 included
$1.07 billion for five landmine alternatives
programs.[27] From
FY1999-FY2002, the US spent $182 million on landmine alternatives. This
spending is detailed in the following table.
Funding for Programs To Develop Alternatives to Antipersonnel
Landmines[28] ($ in millions)
Name
FY 99 actual
FY 00 actual
FY 01 actual
FY 02 actual
FY 03 est
FY 04 request
FY 05
FY 06
FY 07
FY 08
FY 09
Totals
Track 1
RADAM
0
8.187
0.000
3.900
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
12.087
Track 1
NSD-A
13.856
14.834
36.088
1.114
27.005
22.522
44.696
91.368
127.966
132.492
126.867
638.808
Track 2
Self Healing Minefield, Tags
6.971
6.971
10.522
10.281
8.180
5.000
5.000
0
0
0
0
52.925
Track 3
Mixed Systems Alternative
0
0
22.879
13.538
30.591
31.471
67.059
98.042
99.742
0
0
363.322
Track 3
Component Technologies
0
19.054
2.292
2.845
2.796
3.015
2.996
3.381
3.981
4.460
4.843
49.663
Intelligent Mines
0
0
0
8.842
0.0
27.026
30.507
12.704
12.105
21.081
24.511
136.776
Totals
20.827
49.046
71.781
40.52
68.572
89.034
150.258
205.495
243.794
158.033
156.221
1,253.581
The RADAM program, which would have combined existing antipersonnel and
antivehicle mines into a new “mixed system” that would not have been
compliant with the Mine Ban Treaty, was cancelled in fiscal year 2002. The
program cost $12.1 million, but no RADAM munitions were
produced.[29]
A munition called “SPIDER” is being developed under the
Non-Self-Destruct Alternative (NSD-A)
program.[30] In fiscal year
2005, 2,600 SPIDER munitions will be produced to equip Army units in Korea by
2006 for a cost of $34.8 million. A total of 290,000 SPIDER munitions will
eventually be produced through fiscal year 2009 for a total of $513
million.[31] On 24 September
2002, the team of contractors producing this alternative, Alliant Techsystems
and Textron, was awarded $53.8 million for continued development and
demonstration of the system.[32]
Early in its development, NSD-A contained a feature that removed the
“man-in-the-loop” and allowed for target-activation – a
so-called “battlefield override” switch. It is not known if this
feature, which would not be compliant with the Mine Ban Treaty, is still part of
the system.
The Self Healing Minefield concept, developed by the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under Track 2 of the alternatives program, has
advanced to the prototype stage. These antivehicle mines will have the ability
to detect attempts at breaching, communicate with each other, and rearrange
their locations to prevent an enemy clearing the minefield. This capability
would obviate the need for antipersonnel mines to protect the antivehicle mines.
A total of 50 mine prototypes are being built and tested. While DARPA is
planning to transition the Self Healing Minefield to the Army for further
development, it will continue research on landmine alternatives under its
collaborative munitions
program.[33]
There are several more long-term programs to develop concepts and components
to replace landmines altogether. The program to replace the antipersonnel mine
in mixed systems or to replace the entire mixed system continued to develop and
evaluate several concepts. The Pentagon is seeking $327 million to continue
this research through fiscal year 2007, but has not allocated any further
funding beyond that time.[34]
The research and development effort to develop components included work in 2002
on improvement in sensors, communication equipment, and
munitions.[35]
A new effort to develop “intelligent mines” has been included in
a broader effort to provide the US Army with improved close combat capabilities.
This effort is described as an “Intelligent Munitions System” to
“significantly enhance minefield effectiveness through coordinated
attack/tactics and elimination of overwatch
forces.”[36]
Stockpiling
The US stockpiles 10.4 million antipersonnel
mines, giving it the third largest stockpile of antipersonnel mines
globally.[37] Of this
stockpile, 84 percent of the mines are equipped with features designed to
“self-destruct” or “self-deactivate” the mine after a
period. Mixed systems that contain both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines
constitute only four percent of the overall stockpile. The numbers and
types of antipersonnel mines stockpiled by the US are detailed in the following
table, which contains different information than previously reported by Landmine
Monitor:
Landmine Monitor has previously reported that the US has stored antipersonnel
mines on the territory of at least twelve countries (Bahrain, Germany, Greece,
Japan, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, and the
United Kingdom at Diego Garcia). But it is not possible to confirm current
locations or numbers of US antipersonnel mines in foreign countries, following
the significant movements of equipment and ammunition during the military
build-up in the Persian Gulf region preceding the invasion of Iraq in March
2003. For example, on 5 September 2002, Secretary of the Army Thomas White
disclosed that in July 2002 one set of equipment and ammunition that was
identified as containing artillery-delivered antipersonnel mines, was moved from
Qatar to Kuwait.[39]
Four of the presumptive host countries (Germany, Japan, Qatar, and the UK)
are States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. Stockpiles are also located in
Greece, a treaty signatory, and Turkey, which have jointly initiated the
procedures to become States Parties. US stockpiles were removed from Norway in
November 2002. Previously, US stockpiles were removed from Italy and Spain,
both Mine Ban Treaty States Parties.
The US did not publicly report destroying any stockpiled mines in fiscal year
2002, but landmines may have been included in the 5,994 tons of submunitions
destroyed.[40]
Mine Action Assistance
In fiscal year 2002, the US provided $76.9 million
to international mine action programs in 37
countries.[41] The US remains
the largest single country donor worldwide. The total for fiscal year 2002 was
nearly $5 million less than the previous year’s total of $81.8 million.
This marks a $23.7 million reduction in US mine action funding over the past two
fiscal years, primarily because of a dramatic decline in Pentagon humanitarian
mine action spending. The estimated mine action funding for fiscal year 2003 is
$77.9 million, and the funding request for fiscal year 2004 is $83.3 million.
The US has provided approximately $560 million in mine action assistance
between fiscal years 1993 and 2002, nineteen percent ($107 million) of which was
for Defense Department demining research and development. These figures do not
include funding for mine victim assistance programs because the US government
does not identify mine victim-specific funding, as opposed to more general war
victim assistance. But the Leahy War Victims Fund, which in part provides aid
to mine victims, totaled $96 million from fiscal years 1989-2002, including $10
million in fiscal year 2002.
US Mine Action Funding, Fiscal Years 2000-2004 ($ in millions)
The US mine action coordination mechanism, policies, roles, and missions did
not significantly change in this reporting
period.[46] The mine action
policy coordination group met on 14 June 2002, 3 October 2002 and 13 March 2003.
The source of US funding for the Slovenian International Trust Fund (ITF) for
Demining and Mine Victims Assistance changed from the Pentagon to State
Department beginning in fiscal year 2003 (as of 1 October 2002). The Office of
Humanitarian Demining Programs of the Department of State will continue to
administer this program as it has in previous years.
In fiscal year 2002, the US supported mine action programs in six countries
through the ITF: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia
FYR, and Serbia and
Montenegro.[47] The countries
that received US State Department NADR mine action funding and the amount of
assistance provided in fiscal year 2002 are presented in the following
table.
Recipients and Amounts of State Department NADR Mine Action Funding, FY
2002[48]
In addition to programs in individual countries, NADR funding also supports
“cross-cutting initiatives,” landmine impact surveys, demining
research and training, and administrative expenses. Furthermore, NADR funding
sponsored deployments of the Mozambican-based Quick Reaction Demining Force
(QRDF) to Sri Lanka and Sudan in fiscal year 2002. A portion of the QRDF was
deployed to Iraq in May 2003.
In fiscal year 2002, State Department NADR and ITF demining assistance was
applied to the following types of activities in programs in these countries (see
individual country reports for
details):[51]
Mine Clearance: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia FYR, Mozambique, OAS, Oman, Rwanda,
Somalia (Somaliland), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Yemen, and Zambia.
Mine Detecting Dogs: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea,
Lebanon, Mozambique, OAS, and Oman.
Training and Equipment: Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Ecuador, Eritrea, Estonia, Jordan, Macedonia FYR, Namibia, OAS, Peru, Rwanda,
Thailand, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Support to National Demining Offices/Mine Action Centers: Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Chad, Laos, Lebanon, Mozambique, and Zambia.
Mine Risk Education: Afghanistan, Laos, Mozambique, OAS, Peru, Rwanda.
Landmine Impact Surveys: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
Vietnam.
The Department of Defense provided mine action assistance in fiscal year 2002
in Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chad, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt,
Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Mozambique, OAS, Oman, Peru,
Vietnam, and Zambia.[52] The
majority of this assistance involves US Special Operations Forces providing
training and equipment to host country deminers.
Additionally, since 1995, the Department of Defense has tested demining
equipment and technologies in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia,
Chile, Croatia, Cuba (at Guantánamo Bay), Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala,
Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Namibia, Nicaragua, and
Thailand.[53] It goal is to
provide equipment for “the international demining community to assess
equipment capabilities in actual demining conditions. Equipment developed under
this program also has many uses for military applications as several pieces of
equipment are being evaluated under the Joint Area Clearance Advanced Concept
Technology
Demonstration.”[54]
Mine Action in Iraq
On 30 August 2002, the State Department was authorized to begin providing
assistance for mine action in northern Iraq. The Department of State’s
Near East Bureau awarded funding grants to Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) to support their existing mine action
programs in Iraqi Kurdistan.[55]
Following the conflict in March and April 2003, US troops began clearing
mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in various areas of Iraq for both protective
and urgent humanitarian purposes. US Army Central Command has provided data on
the locations of 2,500 minefields in Iraq to the Humanitarian Operations Center
in Kuwait and other mine action agencies.
The US Department of State is developing a three-year plan for $12.6 million
in mine action funding for Iraq, taken from supplemental emergency funding. The
first phase is underway with mine risk education technical advisors provided to
UNICEF and a grant to the Mines Advisory Group (MAG).
The Mozambican-based Quick Reaction Demining Force was deployed on 2 May 2003
to conduct high-priority mine and UXO clearance in areas of Hilla and Baghdad.
The US will also assist in establishing a national mine action authority in Iraq
and will begin to train and equip Iraqi mine clearance
teams.[56]
Landmine Casualties
In 2002, five US soldiers were killed and seven
injured in landmine and UXO incidents in
Afghanistan.[57] Another three
US Marines were injured in a landmine explosion during a training exercise in
Kuwait.[58] In July 2002, a US
aid worker with the Danish Refugee Council suffered light injuries when his car
hit a landmine in Chechnya.[59]
In the first five months of 2003, the number of mine and UXO casualties
increased markedly. In Afghanistan, in January, two US soldiers were injured in
separate mine incidents, and three more US soldiers were injured in February and
April.[60] Between mid-March
and the end of May 2003, at least five US soldiers were killed and 21 injured in
mine, cluster bomb and UXO incidents in
Iraq.[61] One US Army Special
Operations soldier was killed and two others injured in a training accident with
a Claymore mine in Puerto
Rico.[62]
There were 103 US military landmine casualties (14 killed and 89 injured)
between 1990 and 2001 (81 in Iraq, 10 in Germany, seven in South Korea, three in
the US, and two in
Egypt).[63]
Survivor Assistance
US government funding for landmine survivor
assistance is distributed through the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF),
administered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Among
other things, the LWVF provides prosthetic devices for amputees who have lost
limbs because of landmines and other war-related injuries. Between fiscal year
1989 and fiscal year 2002, the LWVF has provided $96 million in support. In
fiscal year 2002, $10 million was allocated for LVWF programs in twelve
countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Laos, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Funding was also
provided to the ICRC, and
PAHO/WHO.[64]
Funding for survivor assistance is also provided through the ITF. In
calendar year 2002, $738,873 of US funds was spent on mine victim assistance
programs in the Balkans.[65]
Landmine Monitor has identified fifteen organizations in the US that fund or
operate survivor assistance programs in mine-affected countries: ADRA
International, American Red Cross, American Refugee Committee, Clear Path
International, Center for International Rehabilitation, Health Volunteers
Oversees, International Institute for Prosthetic Rehabilitation of Landmine
Survivors, International Rescue Committee, Landmine Survivors Network, Peace
Trees Vietnam, Project RENEW (Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund), Refugee Relief
International, Save the Children-USA, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation,
and the World Rehabilitation Fund. Some rely entirely on private charitable
sources; however, most are using a mix of private and public funds in their
programs.
The “International Disability and Victims of Warfare Civil Strife
Assistance Act of 2003” was introduced in the US Congress on 27 March
2003. This was essentially a reintroduction of similar legislation, the
“International Disability and Victims of Landmines, Civil Strife and
Warfare Assistance Act of
2001.”[66] Both the House
of Representatives version of the legislation (HR 1462) and the Senate’s
(S.742) were referred to the appropriate committee for
action.[67]
[1] In the absence of a Bush Administration
policy, Clinton-era Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 48 of 26 June 1996 and
PDD 64 of 23 June 1998 are the two executive orders governing US landmine
policy. [2] Notes taken by Landmine
Monitor (HRW) on remarks made by Donald “Pat” Patierno, Director,
Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs,
US Department of State, during a humanitarian mine action panel at the National
Forum on the United Nations, Washington DC, 27 June
2003. [3] President Clinton committed
the United States in 1998 to cease using antipersonnel mines, except those
contained in “mixed systems” with antivehicle mines, everywhere in
the world except for Korea by 2003. By 2006, if alternatives have been
identified and fielded, the United States will cease use of all antipersonnel
mines and will join the Mine Ban
Treaty. [4] Human Rights Watch press
release, “Pentagon Mine Policy Rollback,” 21 November
2001. [5] These are antipersonnel mines
that are not packaged together with antivehicle
mines. [6] Human Rights Watch press
release, “Almost Half of Korea Mines in US,” 3 December
2001. [7] See, for example, Peter Slevin
and Vernon Loeb, “Bush Urged to Limit Weapons in Iraq,” Washington
Post, 27 December 2002, p. A12. [8] See,
for example, “Don't Heed Pentagon On Mines,” Hartford Courant, 11
March 2002; “No Going Back on Landmines,” San Francisco Examiner,
11 March 2002; “US Must Sign Landmine Treaty. They Cause American
Casualties, Too,” San Jose Mercury News, 5 March 2002; “US Should
Support Ban on Landmines,” San Antonio Express, 2 April 2002; The Killing
Fields: Bush Shouldn't Back Out of a Landmine Pact,” Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, 4 April 2002; Bob Keeler, “US Loses Moral Ground on Land
Mine Ban,” Newsday, 21 October
2002. [9] Two publications have alleged
US use of antipersonnel mines in Afghanistan. Richard Matthew and Ted Gaulin,
“Time to Sign the Mine Ban Treaty,” Issues in Science and
Technology, Spring 2003, p. 72, states that “special forces
units...regularly deployed self-deactivating APLs and antitank systems to
augment their defenses.” Michael Byers, “The Laws of War,
US-Style,” London Review of Books, Vol. 25: 4, 20 February 2003, states,
“In 2001, Canadian soldiers operating in Afghanistan were ordered by their
American commander to lay mines around their camp. When they refused to do so,
US soldiers–who were not subject to the restrictions–laid the mines
for them.” [10] According to Arms
Control Today, in response to email questions, US Central Command Public Affairs
stated that US forces did not use or deploy antipersonnel mines in Iraq. Wade
Boese, “US Military Did Not Use Landmines in Iraq War,” Arms Control
Today, July/August 2003. [11] US
Department of Defense, “Background Briefing On Targeting,” 5 March
2003. [12] US Central Command,
“CENTCOM Operation Iraqi Freedom Briefing,” 31 March 2003. Use of
Claymore mines in command-detonated mode is permitted under the Mine Ban Treaty.
Since 1996, US landmine policy and doctrine restricts the use of Claymore mines
with victim-activated tripwires to
Korea. [13] Landmine Monitor (HRW)
conducted several interviews in 2002 and 2003 with US and international military
personnel, US civilian officials, and international mine action personnel who
have visited US air bases at Bagram and Kandahar. In both locations, US
defensive positions on the perimeter of these facilities are behind Soviet-era
minefields. US Central Command has not responded to inquiries. US officials
are unwilling to provide on-the-record comment on the
issue. [14] Of these, 27,967 were
antipersonnel mines and 89,667 were antivehicle mines. A total of 98 percent of
the antipersonnel mines and 99 percent of the antivehicle mines used were
delivered together as part of GATOR cluster bomb units. The Marine Corps used a
small number of artillery-delivered antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, 432 of
each, as a defensive measure during an Iraqi attack. US General Accounting
Office, “GAO-02-1003: MILITARY OPERATIONS: Information on US Use of Land
Mines in the Persian Gulf War,” Washington, DC, September 2002, pp.
8-9. [15] US General Accounting Office,
“GAO-02-1003: MILITARY OPERATIONS: Information on US Use of Land Mines in
the Persian Gulf War,” Washington, DC, September 2002, p.
10. [16] Ibid., p.
3. [17] The US Army will buy the last of
191,000 M87A1 Volcano antivehicle mine canisters in December 2003. The Volcano
system once was produced with antipersonnel mines, but this was changed in 1996.
It is described by the US Army as “Ottawa compliant” and has been
developed to “replace the use of hand emplaced conventional
minefields.” Department of the Army, “Committee Staff Procurement
Backup Book, Procurement of Ammunition, Army,” February 2003, pp.
365-368. [18] Mine Export Moratorium,
Public Law 102-484, Section 1365; 22 United States Code, 2778
note. [19] Public Law 107-115, Section
548, 10 January 2002. [20] The White
House, Office of the Press Secretary, Fact Sheet: “US Initiatives on
Antipersonnel Landmines,” 17 January
1997. [21] Statement titled “The
Commitment of the United States to Effective Multilateralism” delivered by
US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen G. Rademaker to the
Conference on Disarmament, 13 February
2003. [22] Requests for information on
this matter to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant Secretary of State
for Political-Military Affairs Lincoln Bloomfield remain unanswered. It is not
known if the State Department has re-interpreted the Mine Export Moratorium or
revised the instructions it promulgated on 18 November 1992 to implement it.
[23] Chris Hawley, “US Stops
Arming Afghan Warlords,” Associated Press, 25 October
2002. [24] US General Accounting Office,
“US Use of Land Mines,” September 2002, pp.
53-54. [25] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 412. [26] US House of
Representatives, “Report 107-732, Making Appropriations for the Department
of Defense for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2003, and for Other
Purposes: Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 5010,” 9 October 2002, p.
256. [27] The US fiscal year is 1
October to 30 September (e.g., FY 2002 is 1 October 2001 to 30 September
2002). [28] For Track 1 (NSD-A): Office
of the Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller),
“Descriptive Summaries of the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation
Army Appropriation, Budget Activities 4 and 5,” February 2003, p. 848; for
RADAM: Department of the Army, “Committee Staff Procurement Backup Book,
Procurement of Ammunition, Army,” February 2003, p. 324; for Track 2,
“Department of Defense FY 2004-2005 Budget Estimate, Research,
Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide, Volume 1 Defense Advanced
Research Project Agency,” February 2003, pp. 151-152; for Track 3 (Mixed
Systems): Office of the Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and
Comptroller), “Descriptive Summaries of the Research, Development, Test
and Evaluation Army Appropriation, Budget Activities 4 and 5,” February
2003, p. 853; for Track 3 (Sensors and Components): Office of the Secretary of
the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), “Descriptive Summaries of
the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Army Appropriation, Budget
Activities 1,2, and 3,” February 2003, p. 461; for Intelligent Mines,
Office of the Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller),
“Descriptive Summaries of the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation
Army Appropriation, Budget Activities 4 and 5,” February 2003, pp.
49-53. [29] Department of the Army,
“Committee Staff Procurement Backup Book, Procurement of Ammunition,
Army,” February 2003, p. 324. [30]
The NSD-A program will result in a “hand emplaced munition developed to
meet the mission requirements formerly accomplished by M14 and M16 non
self-destruct antipersonnel mines.” The NSD-A system consists of a
munition with a modified sensor/fuze package, a signal repeater unit, and a
control unit to activate the munition once the target has been confirmed as a
combatant by a U.S. soldier (“man-in-the-loop”).
“Anti-Personnel Landmine Alternatives (APL-A),” a briefing delivered
by Colonel Thomas Dresen, the Project Manager for Mines, Countermine, and
Demolitions to the National Defense Industrial Association’s Forty-third
Annual Fuze Conference, 7 April 1999, slide
10. [31] Department of the Army,
“Committee Staff Procurement Backup Book, Procurement of Ammunition,
Army,” February 2003, p. 389. [32]
US Army Tank Automotive Command, Armament Research and Development Engineering
Center, Contract Award Announcement DAAE30-02-C-1118, 24 September
2002. [33] “Department of Defense
FY 2004-2005 Budget Estimate, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation,
Defense-Wide, Volume 1 Defense Advanced Research Project Agency,” February
2003, pp. 151-152. [34] Office of the
Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), “Descriptive
Summaries of the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Army Appropriation,
Budget Activities 4 and 5,” February 2003, pp.
853-854. [35] Office of the Secretary of
the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), “Descriptive Summaries of
the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Army Appropriation, Budget
Activities 1, 2, and 3,” February 2003, p.
461. [36] Office of the Secretary of the
Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), “Descriptive Summaries of the
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Army Appropriation, Budget Activities
4 and 5,” February 2003, pp.
49-53. [37] These figures are different
than those reported in previous editions of Landmine Monitor Report, which
identified an inventory of about 12 million antipersonnel mines. Before this
current edition, Landmine Monitor had been using stockpile totals compiled
before 1999 through freedom of information act requests and other sources. The
new stockpile information was provided by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines
to the General Accounting Office in 2002. The GAO lists 1.15 million fewer ADAM
and about 570,000 fewer Claymore mines. See, US General Accounting Office,
“US Use of Land Mines,” September 2002, Appendix I, pp. 39-43. The
US also stockpiles 7.5 million antivehicle
mines. [38] US General Accounting
Office, “US Use of Land Mines,” September 2002, Appendix I, pp.
39-43. [39] Charles Aldinger, “US
Army moved arms near Kuwait in mobility exercise,” Reuters (Washington
DC), 5 September 2002. [40] Department
of the Army, “Committee Staff Procurement Backup Book, Procurement of
Ammunition, Army,” February 2003, p.
507. [41] The US Department of State in
its fourth annual publication chronicling US demining programs (“To Walk
the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian
Demining,” September 2002) contains a funding history of US mine action at
variance with totals compiled by Landmine Monitor. For fiscal year 2002, the
State Department cites an estimate of $115.7 million, including: $40.3 million
for the State Department NADR appropriation, $22.2 million for the Pentagon
OHDACA appropriation, $8.4 million for the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund
administered by the USAID, $22.5 million for the Slovenian International Trust
Fund, $13.5 million for Pentagon research and development, $5 million for the
Center for Disease Control, and $3.7 million categorized as “all
other.” Landmine Monitor calculates its cumulative total of US
humanitarian mine action funding using audited budget materials, reflecting
actual expenditures, submitted by the implementing agency to the US Congress as
part of the President’s annual budget request released in February 2003.
Landmine Monitor’s knowledge is limited regarding some programs within the
US Government, like those within the USAID and Centers for Disease Control, that
have some element of mine action included within a larger international
assistance program, but are not identified as such or do not receive specific
mine action appropriations. [42]
Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related programs (NADR)
appropriation, US Department of State, “Congressional Budget
Justifications: Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2004 - Bilateral Economic
Assistance - State, Treasury, Complex Foreign Contingencies, Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief, Famine Fund,” 3 February 2003, pp.
124-128. [43] Overseas Humanitarian,
Disaster and Civic Aid (OHDACA) appropriation, Office of the Secretary of
Defense, “Operations and Maintenance Overview, FY 2004 Budget Estimates,
Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid,” April 2003, p.
82. [44] US Department of State,
“Congressional Budget Justifications: Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2004
- Bilateral Economic Assistance - State, Treasury, Complex Foreign
Contingencies, Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Famine Fund,” 3 February
2003, pp. 124-128. [45] Office of the
Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 2004-2005 Budget
Justification Materials, RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian
Demining,” February 2003. [46] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp.
766-772. [47] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety, “September 2002, p.
58. [48] US Department of State,
“Congressional Budget Justifications: Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2004
- Bilateral Economic Assistance - State, Treasury, Complex Foreign
Contingencies, Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Famine Fund,” 3 February
2003, pp. 124-125. [49] Includes
emergency response funding separate from
NADR. [50] Organization of American
States (OAS) program includes efforts in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and
Nicaragua. [51] For further details, see
US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” September
2002. [52] Office of the Secretary of
Defense, “Operations and Maintenance Overview, FY 2004 Budget Estimates,
Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid,” April 2003, p.
82. [53] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” September 2002, p.
56. [54] Office of the Under Secretary
of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 2004-2005 Budget Justification Materials,
RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining,” February
2003. [55] US Department of State,
Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “Fact Sheet: Humanitarian Mine
Action Subgroup Minutes of October 3, 2002 Meeting,” 31 October
2002. [56] US Department of State,
Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “Fact Sheet: The US Humanitarian
Demining Program in Iraq,” 2 July
2003. [57] “US Soldier Injured by
Land mine in Afghanistan,” Reuters, 12 February 2002; Vernon Loeb,
“Land Mine Kills Navy SEAL,” Washington Post, 29 March 2002, p. A-6;
Matthew Cox, “Booby-Trap Might Have Killed EOD Soldiers,” Army
Times, 29 April 2002; “US soldier wounded in demining accident in central
Afghanistan,” Associated Press, 27 August 2002; Michael Tarm, “US
Military restarts mine clearance after brief halt following injury,”
Associated Press, 11 January 2003. [58]
Diana Elias, “3 Marines Injured in Kuwait Blast,” Associated Press,
10 October 2002. [59] "US aid worker's
car hits landmine in Chechnya," Agence France Presse, 9 July
2002. [60] “Afghan Land Mine
Injures US Soldier, Associated Press, 4 January 2003; “American Soldier
Loses Foot in Mine Explosion,” American Forces Press Service, 10 January
2003; “GI Loses Foot in Afghan Land-Mine Blast,” Fox News, 19
February 2003; “US probes Afghan mine blast,” BBC, 20 February 2003;
“US troops kill one, detain seven in Afghan raid,” Reuters, 22 April
2003. [61] Landmine Monitor analysis of
10 media reports for the period 19 March to 7 June
2003. [62] Frank Griffiths, “US
Soldier in Puerto Rico Dies,” Associated Press, 27 January
2003. [63] Data provided to the US
General Accounting Office by the US Army Safety Center. US General Accounting
Office, “US Use of Land Mines,” September 2002, p. 20, footnote
13. [64] Fax to Landmine Monitor (HIB)
from Sandy Jenkins, Leahy War Victims Fund, Washington, 17 June
2003. [65] Email to Landmine Monitor
(HIB) from Sabina Beber, International Trust Fund for Mine Victims Assistance,
16 July 2003. [66] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2002, p. 773. [67] Bill status
from US Congress online (http://thomas.loc.gov/), accessed on 21 July
2003.
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