Is there a way to get rid of mines?

Answer 1

How Do You Get Rid of Land Mines?
There are movements by the UN, military and civilian groups (about 300 groups in total) to ban the manufacture and use of land mines. The chances are good of convincing First World countries of a ban, but the facts are that the most heavily mined countries are a result of dirty wars, not major conflicts. The majority of land mines have been planted in the last 20 years. Currently, 36 nations build land mines and most countries use them. These countries produce about 10 to 20 million units a year. About 2 million new land mines are laid each year depending on what conflicts are raging. The U.S. budgeted $89 million for land mine warfare in 1996.

The first task a newly stabilized country faces is cleaning up land mines. Traditional land mines are cleared in a variety of ways. In large open areas, tracked vehicles with flailing chains can clear most mines. In less accessible or poorer areas, the old-fashioned metal detector is used. Some new Scheibel-type models can detect many plastic versions. Some countries use the old-fashioned method of probing at a shallow angle with knives. Sniffing dogs can be used, along with a raft of new high-tech methods employing radar, sonar, thermal neutron, microwave, and even satellites. For now, most mines are detected and dug up the old-fashioned way, by hand or the painful way; by foot. Wildly speculative estimates on the costs to remove the world's land mines come in at about $33 billion.

In Cambodia, an on again/off again adventure travel destination, estimates hover around US$12 million annually for 10 years to remove the 10 million land mines left from the war. There are a few groups like HALO working in Cambodia, but they still have to put up with being kidnapped and harassed by roque Khmer Rouge bandits. There are 60,000 victims of land mines in Cambodia today, with every 237th Cambodian an amputee. But it is not the pain and disfigurement that ultimately kills. The reality is that unlike handicap-friendly America, losing a limb in the Third World is a fast ticket to poverty, begging, sickness and death.

Land mines can be found in Angola, Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Falklands, Iraq, Iran, Laos, Mozambique, Somalia, Thailand, Kuwait and Vietnam. In addition to carefully planted land mines, there is a significant amount of unexploded ordinance in Europe, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Don't get smug because you think you know your mines and your history. One mine clearance expert told us they are digging up British Land mines in Mozambique because Qaddafi had his folks dig them up in Libya and sell them to rebels. For those who need to know, there is an excellent book by Eddie Banks titled Anti-Personnel Mines, A Recognition Guide ($120, 512 pages, ISBN!-85753-228-7) sold by Brassey's [phone], FAX [phone].

One Small Step...
If you can't dig them up and you can't stop them from planting them, what can you do to help? First, write your local and federal politicians to make them aware that the U.S. and its allies manufacture these insidious killers. If you have experience in explosives or mine clearance, read the "Dangerous Jobs" section to contact a number of mine clearance companies. If you would like to donate money or time to help the innocent victims of mines, contact EMERGENCY, via Bagutta 12, 20121 Milan Italy (% 39-2-7600-1104, or FAX [phone]),


There were 7 million land mines laid in Iraq and Kuwait before and during the Gulf War. Kuwait spent $800 million clearing out land mines after the Gulf War.

It costs between $500 and $2000 per mine to remove them. A few years ago, 80,000 - 100,000 mines were removed around the world at a cost of $100 million. To remove all the mines in the world would cost $58 billion. Unfortunately, 2 to 5 million mines are put in the ground every year.

A DP reader who spends much of his time in mined areas while working for the U.N. Rapid Response Unit has sent in these tips:

Wheel of Misfortune:
How to Avoid Land Mines
1. Never take a trip on a mined road before 9 or 10 a.m. Most mines are laid at night to surprise regular convoys or patrols. Try to follow heavy trucks. Keep at least 200 yards behind but do not lot lose sight of the truck.
2. Never take point. (Let others start walking or driving before you.) Keep a distance of at least 60-100 feet to avoid shrapnel. If someone is wounded by a mine, apply a tourniquet immediately to the damaged limbs to prevent death by blood loss.
3. When possible, follow local vehicles or stay on fresh tracks. If a mine goes off, DO NOT RUN. Stay where you are, and walk backwards in your own tracks.
4. Always stay on the pavement. In heavily mined areas, NEVER leave the pavement (even to take a leak). If you must turn your vehicle around, do so on the pavement.
5. If you have a flak jacket or bullet-proof vest, sit on it when driving.
6. Know the mining strategy of the combatants. Do they place mines in potholes (as in northeastern Somalia) or on the off-road tracks made by vehicles avoiding potholes (as in Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire)?
7. If you think you may have strayed into a mined area, go back on your tracks. Mines are usually planted at a shallow depth with their detonators requiring downward pressure. As a last resort, mines can be probed with a long knife or rod at a very shallow angle and a very gentle touch. Do not attempt to remove the mine, but mark it for later removal or detonation.
8. Never touch unusual or suspicious objects. They may be booby-trapped.
9. Travel with all windows open. Preferably with doors off or in the back of pickup trucks. This will release some of the blast if you hit a land mine.
10. If you have reason to believe that there has been mine activity (new digging, unusual tire tracks and footprints), mark the area with a skull and crossbones and the local or English word "MINES." Notify local and/or foreign authorities.

Answer 2

Like land mines? Yeah, there are personnel who do that. They are E.O.D. guys and I don't envy their jobs. They basically crawl around in suspected mine fields and poke the ground with a metal rod every few inches. When they get contact they defuse the mines.

Answer 3

the old way of removing mines involved either digging it out and disarming it, or setting it off. Scotland has this new machine called a flail. it works just like the medieval flails with the ball and chain. the new flail usually just crushes the mine, but they still go off sometimes.

Answer 4

You ask everyone from the country to evacuate.You set of an E.M.P on the place and every land mine would explode.

Answer 5

yes they have these machines, that dig up mines with huge chain-whip thingies, and they have a blast shield to protect them. but i think they only work with anti-personal mines, not so sure about the anti-tank ones.

Answer 6

Send John Kerry on point with a rake!!!!!!