Testimony By Distinguished Four-Star Generals Appears To Persuade Key Senator Of The Folly Of A Complete Ban On Landmines

(Washington, D.C.): Powerful testimony delivered today by three of the Nation’s most
respected
retired four-star generals seemed to have dissuaded Senator Charles Robb
(D-VA) from
supporting a total ban on anti-personnel landmines (APLs). The witnesses were: former
Marine
Corps Commandant General Carl Mundy, former Commander of the U.S.
Army, Europe
General Frederick Kroesen, and former Assistant Commandant and
Congressional Medal of
Honor recipient General Raymond Davis.⁽¹⁾

Each made a strong case that the U.S. military must retain the latitude to use
self-deactivating/self-destructing APLs for the foreseeable future. In response to questions from
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Sen. Robb,
each of the
generals made a critical distinction between long-duration (so-called “dumb”) anti-personnel
landmines and these “smart” APLs. They strongly supported the U.S. government’s decision to
use the former exclusively in the No Man’s Land near the Korean Demilitarized Zone — where
there is negligible chance of civilian casualties and where they are performing an important
deterrent function to a North Korean attack.

Sen. Robb, a decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, was visibly impressed by the
power
of the generals’ arguments. As a co-sponsor of legislation introduced last year by Senator Patrick
Leahy (D-VT), it is of enormous significance that he concluded his part in today’s hearing with
the observation that “There is more agreement than many realize [about the landmine issue].
There is confusion about what is a ‘dumb’ landmine.”

Gen. Schwarzkopf Endorses ‘Smart’ APLs

One bit of confusion cleared up in the course of the hearing was the view of General Norman
Schwarzkopf, the field commander of Operation Desert Storm. Although he has been
systematically exploited as a kind of poster-child for the landmine abolitionists by dint of a letter
favoring an APL ban that he signed last spring, Gen. Kroesen noted that Gen.
Schwarzkopf
subsequently told the Baltimore Sun that he actually favors retaining “smart”
landmines —
which he described as a “military capability we can use” — as opposed to “dumb” ones
(whose banning he supports).⁽²⁾

Sen. Robb Seems to Concur

With these words, Sen. Robb seemed to be signaling an appreciation that the United States
can
responsibly at this point go no further than to: dispense with the use of long-duration landmines
except in Korea (until such time as an alternative could be fielded); continue to utilize
short-duration APLs where necessary elsewhere in a manner that effectively precludes unintended
harm
to civilians; and support concerted mine-clearance operations where such harm is being done by
“dumb” landmines laid by others. This is essentially the approach now being pursued by
the
Clinton Administration, with the strong support of the U.S. military.

In fact, in the course of his own appearance today before another Senate committee,
Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry Shelton unveiled his posture statement for Fiscal Year
1999. In it he addressed himself specifically to the Leahy legislation, saying: “I am concerned
about any APL legislation that is more restrictive than the President’s policy. Such
legislation is
unlikely to significantly improve our already robust de-mining efforts and may endanger
the lives of our troops.”

The Bottom Line

As the attached excerpts from the testimony delivered by
Generals Mundy, Kroesen and Davis
make clear, the last point weighs heavily on the minds of all those responsible for the safety and
military effectiveness of America’s uniformed personnel — as, indeed, it should. It is very
much
to be hoped that other Senators who have heretofore endorsed the landmine ban will join
Sen. Robb in reassessing the wisdom of either multilateral or legislated prohibitions
on the
future use of APLs, prohibitions that might needlessly waste American lives and
compromise future U.S. military operations.

The Center for Security Policy applauds Chairman Helms for creating an opportunity for
today’s
impressive testimony. Moreover, it echoes Gen. Davis’ appeal that similar opportunities be
afforded by this and other relevant committees of the Congress to secure testimony from past and
present senior commanders about other arguably even more problematic arms control schemes —
notably the idea of denying U.S. forces the ability to control space and the
initiatives that would
de-alert or otherwise denuclearize the American deterrent.

– 30 –

1. Due to illness, a fourth former senior commander, General John
Merritt (USA, Ret.) was
unable to appear as anticipated in a Decision Brief issued yesterday. See
Profiles in Courage:
Top Generals Testify Against Defective, Dangerous Bans on Anti-Personnel
Landmines (No.
98-D 19, 2 February 1998).

2. See the Center’s Decision Brief entitled
New Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Draws
Line in the Sand: No Exceptions, No Military ‘Chop’ on Landmine Ban (<a
href=”index.jsp?section=papers&code=97-D_136″>No. 97-D 136, 16
September 1997).