For all the hi-tech military gadgetry the US has at its disposal in Iraq, a shift in tactics by insurgents seems to be pushing it towards using a simpler weapon that three-quarters of the world's countries have banned - landmines. That is a worrying prospect for anti-mine activists, who fear the consequences would roll back gains so far made in ridding the world of an armament they have termed 'evil' and 'inhumane'.
Since the enactment of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty in 1999, 152 of the world's 191 nations have agreed to abide by its conditions and in the process destroyed 62 million of the known 260 million stockpiled landmines. The US, although not a signatory, has nonetheless not produced the weapons since 1997 or used them in combat since the Gulf war in 1991.
In an era where laser-guided missiles and smart bombs have become everyday weapons, landmines have seemed outdated. That is the view of Washington's partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and dozens of other nations such as Australia and Japan, which have consigned their stockpiles to history.
Of the estimated 200 million still in arsenals, 90 per cent are in the hands of just five nations, none of which have signed up to the treaty: China, with 110 million; Russia, 50 million; the US, 10.4 million; Pakistan, six million; and India, about five million.
Developments in Iraq appear to be pushing the US to again deploy the weapon and perhaps to put new designs into production, bucking the global trend.
That may already have happened, as the Pentagon has yet to confirm or deny media reports that the US army in May began sending to Iraq a new remote-controlled landmine system called Matrix, which relies on technology developed for another device spoken of in Pentagon circles - Spider.
Mounting casualties among US soldiers in Iraq in the past few months have been blamed by the Pentagon on a new breed of landmine being used by insurgents. More powerful than devices which have killed hundreds of soldiers in roadside bombings in the past two years, these devices can penetrate the armour of US military vehicles.