[CPEO-MEF] Congress Presses for 'Safer' Land Mines

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Congress Presses for 'Safer' Land Mines  
 
Mines can be activated/deactivated by remote control    
 
 
Dateline: 05/15/02

The U.S. military will hasten its deployment of land mines posing little 
or no threat to civilians, under a proposal approved last week by the 
House Armed Services Committee.  

The newly developed land mines can be activated or deactivated remotely, 
while still in the ground, via laptop computers. Should field commanders 
determine the enemy no longer threatened an area, the mines would simply 
be deactivated, thus protecting anyone who came into contact with them. 
The mines could just as easily be reactivated should the enemy return. 
Once hostilities end, the deactivated mines could be quickly and safely 
removed.

U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-Rhode Island 2nd) pressed for inclusion of a 
provision requiring the U.S. military to accelerate its use of the new 
'safer' land mines in the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 
(H.R. 4546). Now cleared by the Armed Services Committee, the bill 
should be debated and voted on by the full house before the end of May.

"While the safety of our men and women in uniform must always be a top 
priority, the United States should make every effort to minimize threats 
to innocent people throughout the world,? said Rep. Langevin, a member 
of the House Armed Services Committee. ?Land mines are responsible for 
hundreds, if not thousands, of maimings or deaths each year in war torn 
areas. Thanks to new technology, the United States can protect its 
troops while preventing such tragedies."

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa051502a.htm

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