The objection to land mines never made much sense to me. They’re obviously a horrific weapon and when civilians stumble into them, even more so, but the campaign to dismantle land mines was based on the delusional notion that the age of war had ended, and land mines could be regulated to history.
Wars haven’t ended and land mines are useful again.
Finland has announced it’s leaving the Ottawa Land Mine treaty..Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are also stepping out and preparing to mine borders shared with Russia or its allies like Belarus. Considering that Russia’s current favorite tactic for invading Poland has been flying Iraqi Muslims into Belarus and guiding them across the border into Poland, land mines are bound to add an interesting twist.
Poland is currently prepping 1 million landmines. A bunch of NATO countries ‘mining up’ essentially marks the end of the land mine ban. And while the circumstances leading to that, a newly aggressive Russia, aren’t happy ones, despite what Princess Di may have claimed, land mines are not a bad thing.
Land mines are primarily a defensive weapon. Having land mines on your border makes an invasion less likely. The campaign to ban land mines was nonsensical 90s nonsense. Finland, Poland, and other nations are living in the real world by getting ready to use land mines again. The land mine campaigners aren’t.
Yes, what land mines can do is ugly. The same is true of every weapon. There’s no pretty way to kill someone.
“All countries have the right to protect themselves,” International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) Director Tamar Gabelnick complained. “But to do so by knowingly reaching for a weapon with such proven catastrophic impact on civilians is irresponsible and incomprehensible. Instead of making their population safer, Latvia, and potentially the other 3 countries who are also considering the same move, are seeking to litter their lands with hidden bombs that risk causing devastating, life-threatening injuries to their own people for decades.”
As opposed to what? Tank shells? Artillery? If managed correctly, land mines can be tracked and if no longer needed, dealt with. Does Tamar prefer the alternative of five years of bloody warfare?
