Photo Album Illustrating the Completion of the First Phase of the Iraq Landmine Impact Survey

Following is a collection of photographs that illustrate some aspects of the recently completed first Phase of the Landmine Impact Survey in Iraq. To learn more about this Survey, see the related U.S. Department of State Media Note, "Completion of First Phase of Landmine Impact Survey for Iraq" at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/aug/91076.htm.

An Iraqi Landmine Impact Survey team leader interviewing villagers during the first phase of this three-year, $4 million dollar project that was funded by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. The Survey was implemented by the Veterans for America's (VFA) Information Management and Mine Action Program (iMMAP) under a grant from the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. (The Veterans for America were formerly known as the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.) The European Commission, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), RONCO Consulting Corporation, and MAG (Mines Advisory Group), also made valuable contributions to this massive project. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

Iraqi survey data collectors speak with a village elder during the course of the first phase of the Landmine Impact Survey. Although the word "landmine" is used for these sorts of Surveys, the known or suspected presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) is typically investigated as well. In this particular Landmine Impact Survey, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement ensured that the presence of abandoned ordnance that had been stored by the forces of Saddam Hussein in caches located in and near homes, schools, mosques, and health clinics, posing a terrible danger to civilians, was also addressed. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

Iraqi survey data collectors during a training session before they conducted actual surveys, learn to use Global Positioning System (GPS) instruments in order to accurately plot all minefields, unexploded ordnance sites, and caches of abandoned ordnance that they would discover during the course of the actual survey. Women as well as men were employed during this Survey. In addition, the surveyors represented a microcosm of every religion and ethnic group in Iraq. They carefully surveyed every sector of the thirteen provinces during the first phase, regardless of the religious or ethnic make-up of the inhabitants. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A suspected hazardous area by a river side, believed to be affected by landmines that were emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces. Any man, woman, or child who wanted to draw water, bathe, or graze animals in this area, had reason to fear for their lives as several villagers had already been injured and killed here. VFA's iMMAP surveyors determined that landmines were still present, and provided this information to humanitarian mine action organizations operating in the area such as MAG, and local and national Iraqi authorities so that this site could be cleared of these "hidden killers." [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

During the course of their work, the VFA iMMAP surveyors came across this crop of precious unharvested wheat. The presence of landmines originally emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces prevented its cultivation by Iraqi farmers. The surveyors reported this information to local Iraqi humanitarian mine action authorities so that they could clear the mines and enable the farmers to safely work in this field. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A surveyor creates a sketch map that allows local villagers -- who are the most knowledgeable about the explosive threats they face -- to clearly identify where landmines and unexploded ordnance are located in relation to their community. Creating such sketch maps is part of an extensive community interview process that takes place during Landmine Impact Surveys, which ensures that all known or suspected contamination, and the problems faced by the villagers due to this contamination, can be recorded and reported. Later, the data collected during this visit and a scanned copy of this sketch map would be uploaded to the Iraqi government's landmine/unexploded ordnance database. Thus, the sketch map and all related data are now available to responding deminers, and to Iraqi government and international planners and donors. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

MAG humanitarian deminers methodically clear a minefield sown with landmines emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces. As the survey was conducted, suspected and known mined areas whose humanitarian impact on the neighboring population was high, were reported immediately to Iraqi humanitarian mine action authorities, rather than awaiting the results of the entire survey, in order to immediately save lives. Vietnam is one of the other UXO/landmine-affected countries in the world where concurrent rapid response explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) of unexploded ordnance and landmines that threaten villagers and that are brought to the attention of surveyors is integral to the Landmine Impact Survey that is being conducted in the central provinces there. That Survey is also implemented by the VFA's iMMAP under a grant from the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. The EOD response component of that particular survey is being conducted by the Vietnamese Army Engineering Command's Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN). Photographs that illustrate that survey and rapid EOD response may be seen in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs' "Pictorial Report on Some Humanitarian Mine Action Projects in Vietnam That Are Supported by the U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement" at www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/b/86884.htm. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A surveyor chats with Iraqi children in a village that was suspected to contain abandoned ordnance deliberately cached among the population by Saddam Hussein's forces before they fled from Coalition forces. Indeed, abandoned ordnance that could have eventually caused a terrible tragedy in this village was discovered by the surveyors as the next picture illustrates. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A cache of deadly artillery shells abandoned by Saddam Hussein's forces when they retreated from this village. These shells, if tampered with by adults seeking to sell their casing for scrap metal, or played with by curious children, or that might have spontaneously detonated due to deterioration and heat, could have produced a catastrophic explosion that would have devastated the entire village and killed much of its population. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

The men, women, and children of a village participate in a survey conducted by an Iraqi data collector employed by the VFA's iMMAP program. Broad community participation in critical interviews such as these is the norm during Landmine Impact Survey data collection in the field. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

VFA iMMAP Iraqi data collectors discuss a suspected hazard area just outside the village with a local woman. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

VFA iMMAP Iraqi surveyors (squatting) interview Kurdish village elders about known and suspected areas in and around a village affected by landmines emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

Iraqi Landmine Impact Survey workers employed by the VFA iMMAP estimate distance and take a compass bearing to the center of a suspected hazard area that was believed to pose a threat to a nearby village. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

VFA iMMAP data collectors interview more Kurdish villagers about known and suspected hazardous areas around their village. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A humanitarian deminer with the "Iraq Mine/UXO Clearance Organization" (IMCO), carefully removes the fuse from a minimal-metal anti-vehicle landmine, a type that was among those favored by Saddam Hussein's forces as they are difficult for deminers to find using the normal metal detectors employed by deminers worldwide. The VFA iMMAP Iraqi surveyors had determined that this particular mine and minefield had a high humanitarian impact on the neighboring community, which is why IMCO was brought in to clear it immediately even before the survey was completed in the 13 provinces. It should be noted that in January 2005, as part of its new landmine policy, the United States banned the use of non-detectable mines by its armed forces, determining that the limited military value of such mines was more than outweighed by humanitarian considerations after combat has ended. This action by the United States surpassed the relevant provisions of Amended Mines Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) to which the United States is party. To learn more about the United States ban on non-detectable mines and the CCW, see these U.S. Department of State Media Notes: www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/40193.htm and http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/76271.htm. [Photo courtesy of RONCO Consulting Corporation].

IMCO deminers carefully remove a batch of anti-vehicle landmines that were emplaced in southern Iraqi oilfields by Saddam Hussein's forces and determined to be particularly hazardous to local inhabitants and oil field workers during the course of the Landmine Impact Survey. The mines were safely destroyed in a special pit. [Photo courtesy of RONCO Consulting Corporation].

These anti-vehicle mines found during the course of the survey were carefully prepared for a controlled demolition to utterly destroy them so that they would never again pose a threat to innocent civilians or be used against the Iraqi government or its allies. [Photo courtesy of RONCO Consulting Corporation/Greg Phillips].

These artillery shells, abandoned by Saddam Hussein's forces and exposed to the elements, posed a threat to a nearby village. They were discovered during the course of the Landmine Impact Survey and subsequently safely disposed of. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

Yet more dangerous ordnance abandoned by Saddam Hussein's forces near an Iraqi Kurdish village, discovered during the Survey, and that posed a threat to villagers seeking firewood and to children playing in this field. Thanks to the first phase of this Landmine Impact Survey, this threat was subsequently removed. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

This is an abandoned Iraqi artillery shell that local farmers vainly sought to dispose of by placing it in a stream. At the time that it was discovered by the VFA iMMAP surveyors, it still posed a deadly threat to villagers who needed to use this important water point. Thanks to the Survey, the shell was cleared and the villagers may now safely draw water from this stream. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

Deserted houses inside a suspected hazardous area. The inhabitants fled from this village because they were unable to farm the land due to the perceived threat posed by persistent landmines and unexploded ordnance in the vicinity. Similar scenarios take place in many other landmine/UXO-impacted countries too, whereby people are forced to abandon their homes and livelihood, are displaced or become refugees, and must then be supported by governments and the strained resources of the international relief and development communities. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

An area in Iraq that was mined by Saddam Hussein's forces and that could not be safely farmed or used for grazing herds by the local inhabitants. Note the "MAG" logo on the mine warning sign: it signifies that this particular area was being cleared by MAG (Mines Advisory Group), a non-governmental organization based in Manchester, United Kingdom, which has extensive demining experience in Iraq and other mine and UXO-affected countries around the world. The U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement has given MAG grants to conduct humanitarian mine action operations in Iraq, Lebanon, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sudan, and other countries. MAG also conducts small arms/light weapons destruction projects for the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A military post established by Saddam Hussein's forces once occupied the mountain peak in the center of this photo. The area immediately surrounding it remains infested with landmines. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A fruit orchard on the slopes below a former military outpost established by the forces of Saddam Hussein. At the time of the Survey, it was still infested with landmines emplaced by those forces. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

During the course of the project, the VFA iMMAP Iraqi surveyors came across pastures such as this one that were still infested by landmines emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces. Such contamination deprives farmers of their main source of livelihood, stressing local economies to the breaking point, and, as is the case in Iraq, displaces rural inhabitants. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

An unplowed suspected hazardous area, feared to be infested with landmines emplaced by Saddam Hussein's' forces, is clearly visible inside the surrounding fields that are under cultivation. [Photo courtesy of  VFA’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs].

A minefield emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces adjacent to a road. Note the triangular landmine warning sign on a metal pole to the immediate right of the road. Unfortunately, not all minefields and suspected hazardous areas are so well marked in Iraq or, for that matter, other mine-affected countries. Even when proper signs are emplaced, weather and other factors can destroy or remove them. In other words, the absence of minefield warning signs in mine-affected countries cannot be taken as a license to wander freely by the local inhabitants or by surveyors, aid providers, or relief workers. [Photo courtesy of  Mines Advisory Group].

An IMCO deminer installs a warning sign, one of many, to clearly demarcate a minefield emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces along both sides of a road in the south of Iraq. These mine fields were determined to have a serious humanitarian impact on Iraqis in the area and were cleared by IMCO soon afterwards. [Photo courtesy of  RONCO Consulting Corporation].

IMCO deminers laboriously place red bricks to demarcate a safe lane that has been cleared within an extensive minefield emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces in the south. [Photo courtesy of  RONCO Consulting Corporation].

An advance first aid/medical trauma station and a medic at the entrance to a safe lane that has been created in a minefield originally emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces in southern Iraq. A well-trained and well-equipped IMCO medic waits in the foreground as his IMCO demining colleagues proceed through the safe lane to work on their demining tasks. All mine action programs that are supported by the U.S. Department of State or by other Federal agencies that participate in the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program adhere to International Mine Action Standards. Among other things, these standards mandate the on-site presence of qualified medical personnel and a proper medical evacuation capability to deal with any medical emergency that might occur when the deminers are clearing landmines and UXO. IMCO, VFA iMMAP, RONCO Consulting Corporation, and MAG are among the organizations that operate to IMAS standards. To learn more about IMAS, visit www.mineactionstandards.org/.  [Photo courtesy of RONCO Consulting Corporation/Greg Phillips].

One man, one lane. An IMCO deminer carefully sweeps for landmines emplaced by Saddam Hussein's forces in pastureland near an electric transmission tower in southern Iraq. [Photo courtesy of RONCO Consulting Corporation/Greg Phillips]. 

For more information about the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement's humanitarian mine action programs in Iraq and other countries, and to learn more about the inter-agency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program -- the largest such program in the world -- visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra.