To travel is to be inspired. It is to be excited. To be invigorated and challenged. To be faced with parts of the world and yourself you may not have expected or been prepared for. Travel can also be humbling when faced with your own ignorance of the world.
Let me ask you a question. Can you tell me which is the most heavily bombed country in the world? What do you think - Japan? Iraq? Yemen? Ukraine? Given recent events, maybe Palestine’s in there amongst your first answers. If you answered South Vietnam, you’d be on the right track. But of course, South Vietnam is no longer a country in the 21st century.
Any final answers? No? Let me tell you.
It’s Laos.
Laos is the most heavily bombed country still in existence in our modern world. Even when you include countries no longer in existence, Laos still ranks second behind South Vietnam.
But why, you may be asking? I certainly did. Here are the facts:
Between 1964 and 1973, 270 million cluster bombs were dropped on Laos by the US military. Laos was targeted in order to disrupt Communist supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to Vietnam. Following Eisenhower’s ‘Domino Theory’ that if one country was ‘lost’ to Communism then others would soon follow, Laos’ subjugation was seen by those siding with the US as a key to victory. So they dropped 270 million cluster bombs on a neutral country without consequence. They dropped more bombs on one country than exploded over every other nation during World War II. All other nations. Combined. To put this into context, that’s the equivalent of one bomb being dropped every eight minutes, twenty four hours a day, for nine years. Nine whole years.
During those 9 years, an estimated 30,000 people were killed by falling bombs. Of those bombs, 30% failed to explode. Instead they lay still active in patches of land up and down the country. That is until being discovered and triggered by an unsuspecting civilian. A farmer tending their field accidentally hits a bomb whilst tilling the land. A parent desperately trying to feed their family triggers it whilst harvesting scrap metal. A child finds it, thinks it’s a ball, and picks it up ready to play. Since 1973 these bombs have killed a further 20,000 people and the number is still growing insidiously behind undisclosed headlines. It is estimated that the finding, removal, and mapping of remaining UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) could take upwards of a century to complete. Meanwhile, more people will be killed. Have been killed. Are being killed.
Maybe I shouldn’t say that these people were ‘killed’. It’s more accurate to say they were murdered. By men in planes. Men in government buildings. People behind design desks filling a metal casing with ball bearings designed to tear through flesh and maximise casualties. Even if anyone caught in the bomb’s explosion radius manages to survive, they are likely to live out the rest of their lives severely incapacitated - losing sight, limbs, and most importantly hope.
To design such a thing… What kind of breakage in basic empathy had to occur for the cluster bomb’s creation?
I like to think of myself as someone who believes in the goodness of humanity. And generally I do, I’m a very positive person, some would say toxic even. But when I found myself in Laos’ capital Vientiane a couple of weeks ago staring at clusters of bombs and images of human destruction in the COPE visitor centre I can’t deny I felt disgusted at what we’ve become.
Let me get one thing straight, there is no justifying this. War is one of humanity’s greatest failings, and there is never any justifiable reason for it to occur. I really do believe this. If I as a teacher can say to my students that violence is the coward’s way out of conflict then I think I am within my rights to say the same of the (usually) grown men who have started most wars throughout history. In every case, if someone thinks it’s okay to kill another country’s people or overtake their culture then there has been a serious failing in both empathy and communication on the part of everyone involved. And I know this is very complicated. I know that geopolitics and the human psyche is deeper than setting up a Zoom meeting to talk everything out and send the minutes round in an email later. I do know that. But in a Globalised world where trade deals, embargoes, and communication technology exist in their currently evolved state, there seems to be something mediaeval about a perceived need for bloodshed to prove a point.
The sickness I felt seeing those metal balls filled with explosives and ball bearings is a natural, normal response. The worst thing about their existence is creation itself. These machines do not come into existence on their own, but through the minds of humans desensitised to the suffering of others. And if anyone thinks that Laos or any other countries perceived to be ‘developing’ right now are in such a state due to a failure of their own people then I must call them at best ignorant or at worst idiotic.
But the thing about ignorance is that it can be easily quashed through education. I am grateful to have been a recipient of it on my travels, and now I must do my best to spread this knowledge to those of you who can’t just pop over to Laos for a few weeks. This might not have been the jaunty travel account you might have expected, and is definitely a little dark for my August post. But some things just need to be talked about.
If anything I’ve written about today has resonated with you, and you’d like to find out about the ‘Secret War’ on Laos, then I’ve linked a couple of sites. The UXO Visitor Centre aims to educate on the legacy and present reality of UXO destruction. COPE's website documents its mission to support those injured through rehabilitation and providing custom-made prosthetic limbs. Both of these organisations are well worth your engagement and, if you have the capacity, your donation.
The legacy left in Laos by the US is one of suffering, grief, and destruction. We must now try our damnedest to ensure other countries do not have to face a similar future. I am linking Operation Olive Branch, a non-profit organisation committed to providing financial aid to Gazan families. Here you can donate to support their direct aid efforts, and here you can find financial and non-financial means of supporting real-life people who are suffering. Please, even a little time or money will help distance a future like Loas’ or worse.
Travel is a humbling thing. The world is beautiful and terrifying, just like the people who live in it. August has made me feel very lucky indeed to be who I am. Where I am.
I hope in future that people are kinder, and that luck will catch.
Stay safe and well stars. All mine,
Char xxx
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