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Landmines as Antipersonnel Weapons

Landmines are used as antipersonnel weapons in war. they are placed in the path of oncoming soldiers or vehicles, or where one army believes that the opposing army may be at some time. They are seen as a cheap way to protect territory and to undermine the enemy. However, they also an insidious weapon that is as likely to snare a civilian as a soldier, and another problem is that they remain in the ground long after a war may be ended. There are former battlefields all over the world, with many still mined and dangerous. Among the more dangerous parts of the world today in terms of landmines are parts of Africa, Bosnia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Proposals have been made to ban landmines so that such situations will not develop again. This is a movement parallel to one dedicated to removing the landmines that have already been left in the ground and that maim and kill thousands of civilians each year. The United Nations has been debating this proposal, which has also been circulated to member states for ratification. The United States has only recently joined in the demand for some sort of action, though the U.S. is balking at signing the proposed accord or at agreeing to ban landmine use completely.

A recent report from the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) was released on the eve of a UN conference in Vienna and stated that there were more than 100 million unexploded landmines buried around the world. The UN conference considered tightening the international treaty governing the deployment of landmines. The VVAF offered a 550page report stating that landmines claim 500 new victims around the world each week. It would cost an estimated $33 billion to remove them today, and at the same time the direct medical and rehabilitation costs to treat the world's landmine victims stands at $750 million.

The United States responded to the problem in 1992 with a ban on the export of antipersonnel landmin...

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Landmines as Antipersonnel Weapons. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 21:38, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1705193.html