Hegseth Reverses US Landmine Ban, Rescinds $5B+ Humanitarian Demining Program

What Happened

On December 2, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo that reversed decades of bipartisan progress toward eliminating antipersonnel landmines. The memo, first reported by the Washington Post on December 19, made two sweeping changes:

1. Reversed the US landmine ban: The Biden-era policy prohibiting US use of antipersonnel landmines outside the Korean Peninsula was rescinded. Combatant commanders were given authority to deploy antipersonnel mines anywhere in the world, without geographic restriction, at their discretion.

2. Rescinded the US Humanitarian Mine Program: The decades-old government initiative that had provided over $5 billion in assistance to more than 125 countries to find and destroy unexploded landmines since 1993 was terminated. Mine-clearing nonprofits funded by the program were ordered to cease operations "effective immediately."

The United States was the world's largest global donor to mine-clearing actions in 2024. The rescission of funding cuts off not only US government demining efforts but also the extensive network of nonprofits that depended on US funding to clear mines in post-conflict zones worldwide.

Hegseth's Justification

The memo described the policy as providing US warfighters with a "force multiplier," stating the US military is in "one of the most dangerous security environments in its history." Hegseth's memo authorized the use of what the Pentagon calls "non-persistent" mines — landmines equipped with self-destruct and self-deactivation mechanisms. However, these weapons are still banned under the Ottawa Treaty, and their self-destruct mechanisms have historically proven unreliable, leaving unexploded mines in the field that function as persistent threats to civilians.

The Inherent Problem With Landmines

Antipersonnel landmines are inherently indiscriminate weapons. They cannot distinguish between a soldier and a child. Once placed, they remain active for years or decades, long after conflicts end. According to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, civilians made up 90% of all recorded landmine casualties in 2024. Children are disproportionately affected, as they are less likely to recognize minefields and more vulnerable to the injuries mines cause.

Legal Analysis

Ottawa Treaty: While the United States has never signed the Ottawa Treaty, US policy had been progressively aligning with the treaty's goals under administrations of both parties. The Obama administration restricted use to the Korean Peninsula in 2014. Biden reinstated those restrictions in 2022. The Hegseth reversal moves US policy in the opposite direction, away from the international consensus held by 164 nations.

IHL prohibition on indiscriminate weapons: International humanitarian law prohibits weapons that cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians. Antipersonnel landmines are the paradigmatic indiscriminate weapon — they detonate when any person steps on them, regardless of whether that person is a soldier, a farmer, or a child.

Enabling classification: The policy reversal does not itself cause casualties, but it enables future harm by authorizing the deployment of weapons that are designed to kill indiscriminately and by dismantling the world's largest demining program. The combination of authorizing new mine use while halting mine clearance creates a multiplier effect on civilian risk.

Why This Is Classified Severe

This incident receives a severe severity classification because:

• Reversal of decades of progress: The policy undoes bipartisan progress spanning five administrations toward eliminating a weapon that kills thousands of civilians annually.
• Destruction of demining infrastructure: The rescission of the $5B+ humanitarian mine program — and the immediate halt of funding to nonprofits — dismantles the operational capacity to clear existing minefields worldwide.
• Indiscriminate weapon: Landmines cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians. 90% of victims are civilians.
• Global norm erosion: The US reversal provides political cover for non-signatory states and undermines the Ottawa Treaty regime that 164 nations have joined.
• Dual harm: Simultaneously authorizing new mine deployment while ending mine clearance creates compounding risks to civilian populations.

International Law Violations

The following international law provisions are implicated:

1. Ottawa Treaty (Mine Ban): While the US is not a signatory, the reversal moves policy away from the international consensus and undermines the treaty regime.
2. IHL Prohibition on Indiscriminate Weapons: Landmines are inherently indiscriminate — they cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians.
3. IHL Principle of Distinction: Deploying weapons that cannot distinguish targets violates the fundamental obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians.
4. Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xx): Employing weapons of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering is a war crime. Landmines cause devastating injuries disproportionate to any military purpose.
5. CCW Amended Protocol II: Even under the less restrictive CCW framework, mine use is subject to restrictions including self-destruction requirements and warnings to civilian populations.