Trump OKs Land Mine Use, Reversing Obama Administration Policy

President Trump Friday canceled an Obama administration policy on the use of land mines, authorizing the military to use the explosive devices “in exceptional circumstances.”

“The Department of Defense has determined that restrictions imposed on American forces by the Obama Administration’s policy could place them at a severe disadvantage during a conflict against our adversaries,” the White House said in a statement.

It adds: “This policy will authorize combatant commanders, in exceptional circumstances, to employ advanced, nonpersistent land mines specifically designed to reduce unintended harm to civilians and partner forces.”

“Land mines are one of many other important tools that our commanders need to have available to them on the battlefield to shape the battlefield and to protect our forces,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters.

“At the end of the day, we want to make sure that we have all the tools in our toolkit that are legally available and effective to ensure our success and to ensure the protection of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.”

The United Nations adopted a resolution in 1997 prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of land mines, but the U.S. was not among the signatories. In 2014, then-President Barack Obama announced a ban on the use of land mines outside the Korean Peninsula.

Land mines kill or maim more than 5,000 people annually, 42% of them children, according to Minesweepers, which is working toward eliminating the devices. The group estimates 110 million land mines are scattered across Central and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and the cost of removing them is estimated at as much as $100 billion.

There are believed 23 million mines left over from World War II contaminating the northern coast of Egypt and its Red Sea coast and in the Sinai, left over from hostilities with Israel between 1956 and 1973, making it the nation with the most mines per square mile. The contaminated areas cover 22% of Egypt’s total surface, affecting the energy and agriculture industries, as well as endangering wells and other water sources.

Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, told the Associated Press the policy shift is “unnecessary and dangerous.”