| U.S Legacy in Laos Scarred by war, the nine-year-old girl was wounded and partially blinded when an antipersonnel bomblet exploded belatedly, killing her brother and two other children. 
|
During the Vietnam war between the United States of America and Vietnam, Laos was caught in the middle. That unprecidented war drew the Soviet Union (Russia), China, Thailand and many other countries into the horrible conflicts. The CIA without any support of the American people created a secret war in Laos by recruiting the hill tribe people in the eastern part of Laos 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 during the World War II. 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 that scattered all over the north, northeast and southern parts of Laos. Some experts claim that it will take decades, a lot of money and resources to clear all unexploded bombs. The United States dropped 80 million cluster bomblets on Laos. Ten percent to 30% did not explode, leaving 8 million to 24 million scattered across the country; 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, which spent $9 million a day (in today's dollars) bombing Laos for 10 years. Last year (2003) contributed $1 million to UXO Lao. Douglas Hartwick, U.S. ambassador to Laos, says he wishes the United States could pay more... (Source: USA Today, 12/11/2003) UXO: Unexploded ordnance. A bomb or munition that is dropped, fired or launched but does not explode as intended. UXO can pose a hazard to civilians years after a war is over. * Many tourists who have visited Laos especially the Americans have encountered nothing but the friendliness, kindness, generosity and the hospitalities of the Lao people. Lao people aren't bitter about all the killing and damages done by Americans during the war. That was the past and the Lao people have already moved on. This map shows where the US unloaded millions of bombs on Laos The U.S. dropped millions of bombs on Laos
Laos - U.S. Relations / News
 
|
