According to a report from The Washington Post on Saturday, the Trump administration is reversing course on a Biden-era policy that “prohibited the use of antipersonnel land mines except on the Korean Peninsula.” The paper of record cited Pentagon documents, including a “previously unreported memo” that was signed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on December 2.

It should be noted that the United States is not a signatory to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or the Ottawa Convention, which has prohibited the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines (APLs). As noted by the Arms Control Association (ACA), 164 countries had “ratified or acceded to the treaty”—but the non-signatories included most major military powers like China, India, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States.

In 2022, the Biden administration reverted to an

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