the.com/landmine
a patient murderer that waits decades for a footstep it never forgets
means A landmine is an explosive device buried in or laid on the ground, designed to detonate when a person or vehicle passes over or near it.
from A plain compound of "land" and "mine," stitched together in the 19th century. The "mine" half is the older, stranger word: it comes through French from Latin, originally meaning a tunnel dug to undermine an enemy's walls — sappers would burrow beneath fortifications, hollow out a chamber, and pack it with gunpowder. That underground charge was the first "mine." When such buried explosives migrated from the depths of siege tunnels to the surface of open ground, the name came with them, and "landmine" distinguished the earthbound kind from the floating "sea mine."
- the leftovers
- 110 million still buried across 60-plus countries
- the victims
- most casualties are civilians, often children
- the price gap
- costs $3 to plant, $1000 to clear
- the heroes
- trained rats sniff them out for treats
- the ban
- 164 nations signed; major powers still abstain
anti-personnel mine ban treaty — ottawa treaty signed 1997 by 164 countries banning landmines, though us, russia, china never signed
cambodia landmine crisis — estimated 4-6 million mines remain from khmer rouge era, killing ~300 people yearly as of 2000s
angola mine clearance — post-civil war country with estimated 15 million mines, one of world's highest amputee rates per capita