The Patriot Post® · Landmine Call a Step in the Right Direction

President Donald Trump recently loosened some overly burdensome restrictions imposed by the previous administration on a vital institution of the United States. U.S. military forces not in the Korean peninsula can now use anti-personnel landmines in “exceptional circumstances,” according to the new policy developed by then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis. It’s a good start, but not yet as much as what the troops need.

We have covered at length how our troops are hindered by decisions made far from the battlefield. We also have questioned whether America has pulled too many punches in the Global War on Terror. The new guidelines on landmines, while better than before, may be repeating that mistake.

One of the reasons: The current generation of landmines is capable of deactivating and/or self-destructing after a certain period of time. For instance, the mines used in the CBU-89 GATOR cluster bomb, the BLU-91 anti-tank mine, and the BLU-92 anti-personnel mine, have adjustable timers.

These mines won’t be lying around for years, either. A Government Accountability Office report notes that these times can vary from four hours to 15 days. The self-destruct feature works 99.99% of the time. Self-deactivation, caused by the battery running out of juice, works 99.99% of the time, per the GAO.

According to the Military Times, the decision to use landmines must be made by a four-star commander with ultimate approval coming from the secretary of defense. While we can respect the expertise of these senior officers, these sorts of decisions should be made a bit closer to the front than a stateside combatant command headquarters. We remember the injustice suffered by Clint Lorance — jailed because those who had hours and days to second-guess his split-second decision chose to court-martial him.

Lorance eventually received his life back thanks to a pardon by President Trump. But there is no presidential pardon that can restore a life. There is no commutation for the effects of a lost limb or traumatic brain injury. No presidential order can make PTSD go away. The fact of the matter is that the commander on the scene should be the one making this call. Higher-level commanders should be informed that the mines are being used, but micromanaging troops from Washington — with a several-hour time difference from the combat theaters in the Middle East, just for one example — is a good recipe for unnecessary casualties.

Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy criticized this decision, claiming it was “as perplexing as it is disappointing, and reflexive, and unwise.” We can’t help but notice that Leahy, like those who eventually prosecuted Lorance, is far removed from the battlefield where the consequences of this Washington micromanaging are felt. We admit we’re not privy to all that those in Washington know on matters like this. But landmines are not nuclear weapons (or other weapons of mass destruction) and have plenty of legitimate battlefield uses.

Bottom line: Our troops should be allowed to use the tools they need to in order to win with a minimum of micromanagement and second-guessing from those far removed from the battlefield.