Laos - the most bombed country in the world: It is a land locked country of only 6 million people - very small in comparison to its neighbours like Vietnam with 80+million people. It's communist in name only as the government seems to be an autocracy that doesn't seem to do a lot for its people. For example neither education nor health care is free, people can own property and run a business and they pay taxes on land and businesses. Getting clean water is challenging for them. It's very mountainous, beautiful but poor. Many people are farmers who grow rice, raise cattle, water buffalo, chickens and ducks.
The very sad story of Laos is what was done to it in the 1960s and 70s. According to the Huffington Post (and other sources), "as part of its efforts during the Vietnam War, the United States began a nine-year bombing campaign in Laos in 1964 that ultimately dropped 260 million cluster bombs on the country -- the most heavily bombed country in history. That's more than 2.5 million tons of munitions -- more than what the U.S. dropped in World War II on Germany and Japan combined." They did this covertly and went against agreements that stated no bombing would take place in Laos which had recently switched from being a monarchy to communist rule. Naturally the United States was rather paranoid about what was going on in Laos plus they were lazy and often dropped bombs on Laos when they had to abort missions to north Vietnam and wanted to lighten their load on the way back to bases in Thailand.
Now the average person in the street in Laos or rather peasant in the rice field did not know why the USA were bombing them. They just got the short end of the stick when it came to "Air America" and the CIA's secret operation.
Cluster bombs are really a terrorist weapon. They are meant to maim and kill people. Cluster bombs are small explosive bomblets carried in a large cannister that opens in mid-air, scattering them over a wide area. The bomblets may be delivered by aircraft, rocket, or by artillery projectiles.
"The CBU (cluster bomb unit) 26, which was widely used in Laos, is an anti-personnel fragmentation bomb that consists of a large bombshell holding 670 tennis ball-sized bomblets, each of which contain 300 metal fragments. If all the bomblets detonate, some 200,000 steel fragments will be propelled over an area the size of several football fields, creating a deadly killing zone."
When the bombs hit the ground, many of them did not blow up as designed but instead remained hidden -- waiting for an unsuspecting farmer, child or livestock. 75 million bombs failed to detonate. At least 25,000 people have been killed or injured by these bombs in the 35 years following the end of the bombing campaign. Today, an average of 300 Lao people are injured or killed every year by these weapons.
The economy has become a casualty, too. Laos' economy is almost entirely agricultural (rice, in particular) yet one-third of the land remains littered with unexploded ordnance. Clearance costs and security concerns continue to pose a barrier to farmers large and small, leaving fertile soil untilled.
Now people are destroying ordinance and leading education programs throughout the country. The bomb-removal program in Laos is effective but it is expensive - and more funding is needed now to prevent more casualties. Cluster bombs should be outlawed but they are still used today in many of the world's conflict zones.
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| Shots from rest stop while biking in mountains |
The very sad story of Laos is what was done to it in the 1960s and 70s. According to the Huffington Post (and other sources), "as part of its efforts during the Vietnam War, the United States began a nine-year bombing campaign in Laos in 1964 that ultimately dropped 260 million cluster bombs on the country -- the most heavily bombed country in history. That's more than 2.5 million tons of munitions -- more than what the U.S. dropped in World War II on Germany and Japan combined." They did this covertly and went against agreements that stated no bombing would take place in Laos which had recently switched from being a monarchy to communist rule. Naturally the United States was rather paranoid about what was going on in Laos plus they were lazy and often dropped bombs on Laos when they had to abort missions to north Vietnam and wanted to lighten their load on the way back to bases in Thailand.
Now the average person in the street in Laos or rather peasant in the rice field did not know why the USA were bombing them. They just got the short end of the stick when it came to "Air America" and the CIA's secret operation.
Cluster bombs are really a terrorist weapon. They are meant to maim and kill people. Cluster bombs are small explosive bomblets carried in a large cannister that opens in mid-air, scattering them over a wide area. The bomblets may be delivered by aircraft, rocket, or by artillery projectiles.
 |
| Unexploded cluster bombs |
"The CBU (cluster bomb unit) 26, which was widely used in Laos, is an anti-personnel fragmentation bomb that consists of a large bombshell holding 670 tennis ball-sized bomblets, each of which contain 300 metal fragments. If all the bomblets detonate, some 200,000 steel fragments will be propelled over an area the size of several football fields, creating a deadly killing zone."
When the bombs hit the ground, many of them did not blow up as designed but instead remained hidden -- waiting for an unsuspecting farmer, child or livestock. 75 million bombs failed to detonate. At least 25,000 people have been killed or injured by these bombs in the 35 years following the end of the bombing campaign. Today, an average of 300 Lao people are injured or killed every year by these weapons.
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| This is what happens when a child finds a tennis ball size cluster bomb and either plays with it or steps on it accidentally. |
The economy has become a casualty, too. Laos' economy is almost entirely agricultural (rice, in particular) yet one-third of the land remains littered with unexploded ordnance. Clearance costs and security concerns continue to pose a barrier to farmers large and small, leaving fertile soil untilled.
Now people are destroying ordinance and leading education programs throughout the country. The bomb-removal program in Laos is effective but it is expensive - and more funding is needed now to prevent more casualties. Cluster bombs should be outlawed but they are still used today in many of the world's conflict zones.
 |
| Our Laos guide, La, takes us on a walk through the Plain of Jars (soon to be a UNESCO World Heritage site once they can clear more cluster bombs) near Phonsavanh in north Laos. You can see white markers and we are to walk between them because the trail has been cleared of unexploded ordinance. Outside those markers anything could be there and for as far as the eye can see there is danger |
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