'Bombies'

The Secret War was not so secret over here in Laos. On average a bomb was dropped every 7 minutes for 7 years, 2 tonnes of ordnance for every man, woman and child living in the country, making it the most bombed country in history. The American people and congress were oblivious. The southern strip of Laos was bombed because it had jungle tracks that facilitated the transportation of Vietnemese troops and supplies, the north was bombed to quash rebel uprisings. These attacks cost 2.2 million dollars a day and there were approximately 560,000 missions.

One particularly sad story that stays with me is of an entire village hiding in a cave from the continual air attacks starving and afraid for 5 years. One day an American pilot fired a missile into the cave and incinerated all 457 of them leaving just one guy who wasn’t in the cave at the time. He lost every single person he’d ever known in seconds and still finds their bones scattered in the cave today.

Cluster bombs, an incredibly evil invention, contain 300 tennis ball sized ‘bombies’ or bomblets that scatter everywhere whilst the bomb is falling. They are supposed to explode on contact with the ground but many do not.

In fact 30% of the bombs dropped still remain unexploded and many years of tireless work from various aid organisations has cleared only 0.19% of them. It is estimated that it will take well over 100 years to complete the task at the current rate. The bombs are everywhere and crop up in school playgrounds, under houses, in trees….farmers trying desperately to make a living risk their lives every time they plough their fields. Thousands of Laosians are killed and maimed every year by the bombs, America is doing very little to help.

The people of Laos seem to accept the bombs as part of everyday life. They are happy and smiling and do not seem to bear any kind of grudge.