Things I didn't know I didn't know : The CIA's destruction of Laos.
I learned something tonight watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations travel show.
During the Vietnam war, Laos was caught in the middle between the US and Vietnam. The CIA, without any support or knowledge of the American people, created a secret war in Laos by recruiting the hill tribe people in the east to fight the Communist North Vietnamese troops in Laos. When it was all over, the U.S had turned a tiny Laos into a second moon face of the earth.
The U.S. bombing of Laos was unprecedented. The U.S. Air Force carried out 580,000 missions against the country. That breaks down to about one planeload of bombs dropped every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years. According to the experts, the U.S. dropped over 2 million tonnes of bombs in Laos, more than all of the bombs dropped by all warring countries during World War II. U.S. pilots were "encouraged" to dump unused bombs on return flights from Vietnam bombing runs.
Today, both land and people all walks of life are still suffering from the legacy of heavy U.S. bombing during the 1960s and '70s.
The children and farmers are most likely to be blown up by the unexploded ordinances (UXO) that scattered all over the north, northeast and southern parts of Laos. Some experts claim that it will take decades if not centuries, a lot of money and resources to clear all unexploded bombs.
In addition to 2 million tonnes of 'regular' bombs, the United States dropped 260 million cluster bomblets on Laos too. Up to 30% did not explode leaving 78 million scattered across the country today -- 15 of Laos' 18 provinces are contaminated with UXO. In the northern Xiengkhouang province, grazing water buffalo have eaten dud submunitions and exploded.
Savannakhet, a province of 721,500 in southern Laos, was hit hardest from the American B-52s. Until today, no one really knew exactly how many Lao peoples were killed during the indiscriminate bombing raids.
The United States spent $9 million a day (in today's dollars) bombing Laos for 10 years.
In 2003 it contributed $1 million to the detection and removal of UXO.
During the Vietnam war, Laos was caught in the middle between the US and Vietnam. The CIA, without any support or knowledge of the American people, created a secret war in Laos by recruiting the hill tribe people in the east to fight the Communist North Vietnamese troops in Laos. When it was all over, the U.S had turned a tiny Laos into a second moon face of the earth.
The U.S. bombing of Laos was unprecedented. The U.S. Air Force carried out 580,000 missions against the country. That breaks down to about one planeload of bombs dropped every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years. According to the experts, the U.S. dropped over 2 million tonnes of bombs in Laos, more than all of the bombs dropped by all warring countries during World War II. U.S. pilots were "encouraged" to dump unused bombs on return flights from Vietnam bombing runs.
Today, both land and people all walks of life are still suffering from the legacy of heavy U.S. bombing during the 1960s and '70s.
The children and farmers are most likely to be blown up by the unexploded ordinances (UXO) that scattered all over the north, northeast and southern parts of Laos. Some experts claim that it will take decades if not centuries, a lot of money and resources to clear all unexploded bombs.
In addition to 2 million tonnes of 'regular' bombs, the United States dropped 260 million cluster bomblets on Laos too. Up to 30% did not explode leaving 78 million scattered across the country today -- 15 of Laos' 18 provinces are contaminated with UXO. In the northern Xiengkhouang province, grazing water buffalo have eaten dud submunitions and exploded.
Savannakhet, a province of 721,500 in southern Laos, was hit hardest from the American B-52s. Until today, no one really knew exactly how many Lao peoples were killed during the indiscriminate bombing raids.
The United States spent $9 million a day (in today's dollars) bombing Laos for 10 years.
In 2003 it contributed $1 million to the detection and removal of UXO.
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