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BREAKING
Local sources: Civilians, including children and women, were injured in the al-Maqous neighborhood of Sweida, in Syria, as a result of ongoing clashes
Israeli media outlet: Security incident reported in the Gaza Strip
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson: No new date or venue has been set for the meeting between Araghchi and Witkoff, and no negotiations will take place until the outcome is guaranteed
Palestinian platforms: Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque complex under the protection of the occupation police
Palestinian platforms: The IOF detonated a booby-trapped robot east of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Syrian Defense: We call on all parties in Sweida to cooperate with security forces and exercise restraint
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed

Ukrainian civilians probable victims of Biden's landmine approval: RS

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Responsible Spacecraft
  • 21 Nov 2024 17:38
  • 2 Shares
3 Min Read

Ukrainian civilians will pay the price for the Biden administration's approval of sending anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, which the US Defense Secretary falsely claimed are safe.

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  • In this photo provided by the Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade press service on Nov. 19, 2024, Ukrainian soldiers attend a training in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine. (AP)
    In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade press service on November 19, 2024, Ukrainian soldiers attend a training in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine. (AP)

A report by Responsible Spacecraft stated that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's claim that the anti-personnel landmines supplied by the Biden administration to Ukraine are safe is entirely false.

The Biden administration has authorized providing Ukraine with anti-personnel landmines for domestic use, reversing previous efforts to reinstate President Obama's ban on the use, production, transfer, and storage of indiscriminate weapons beyond the Korean Peninsula.

According to a US official to The Washington Post, the intention behind this reversal is to "contribute to more effective defense." 

The landmines, prohibited in 160 countries under an international treaty, are likely to be deployed mainly in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces are fighting to hold off the continuous advance of the Russian military, as reported by Responsible Spacecraft. 

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The report emphasized that similar to the Biden administration's controversial decision to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs—an indiscriminate weapon whose unexploded ordnance can maim and kill civilians, especially children, for decades after use—this move may offer limited military upside. However, according to the report, this could pose substantial risks to Ukrainian civilians and is unlikely to shift the war's outcome in Ukraine's favor.

Austin revealed this policy shift to reporters during a visit to Laos, a country that the United States helped make the most heavily bombed nation in the world per capita, as per the report. 

The Responsible Spacecraft report pointed out that despite the irony of making this announcement in a country where 30% of its land is still contaminated with unexploded ordnance from the US military, Austin brushed off humanitarian concerns regarding the weapon transfer.

He claimed that landmines are "not persistent" and emphasized that "we can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it far more safer eventually."

According to the report, arms control experts from the Committee on National Legislative Affairs have cautioned that the distinction between permanent and non-permanent landmines is "dangerously misleading", pointing to the well-documented failures of the self-destruct and self-disable features designed to make these weapons "safer" for civilians who may encounter them years after the conflict.

It added that the "smart mines" deployed by the United States during the Gulf War failed at a rate 150 times higher than the Department of Defense had reported.

  • United States
  • Biden administration
  • anti-personnel landmines
  • Kiev
  • Ukraine
  • Joe Biden
Russia & NATO

Russia & NATO

As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

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