The UXO Tragedy

It is impossible to visit the Plain of Jars without acknowledging the wanton damage caused by American cluster bombs leftover from the Vietnam War. Indeed, the jar sites are pockmarked with bomb craters. Because much of the Ho Chi Minh Trail - the logistics supply route of the Vietnamese communist forces - went through Laos, the US bombed Laos heavily. To make matters worse, bombers which had not discharged their payload over Vietnam indiscriminately dropped them on Laos as they could not land safely in their bases in Thailand with the bombs on board. As the US had not declared war on Laos, the military wasn’t bound by the same rules of engagement as in Vietnam.

This confluence of factors meant that Laos became the most heavily bombed nation (on a per capita basis) in the world. Xiang Khoung province, where Phonsavan is located, was one of the worst hit areas. It is estimated that 270 million explosives were dropped on Laos, of which 30 percent did not detonate. This means that there may be as many as 80 million unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos.

Many of the UXO are from cluster bombs - several hundred little tennis ball-sized “bombies” packed into a larger bomb casing. The larger bomb casing is designed to come apart in midair, scattering the bombies. Many cluster bombs from low flying aircraft - especially those dumping their payload to land safely in Thailand - did not have enough time to come apart and properly scatter.

Obviously, having lots of UXO is bad. Today, over 40 years later, people are still getting killed and maimed while doing their day-to-day activities - playing, ploughing fields, lighting a cooking fire, etc. This keeps people in the cycle of poverty because they fear setting off UXO if they expand their arable land. Children get killed or hurt when they play with bombies because they look like toys. People try to gather the bombs to sell as scrap metal, leading to casualties. Even lighting a fire to cook a meal can set off a bomb buried underneath.

Phonsavan houses two information centers - one run by the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and one run by a Quality of Life Association for UXO survivors. The MAG center focused on UXO detection and disposal. There, I watched two films - one about the extent of the UXO problem and the other about how MAG trains local people to detect and dispose of UXO. I watched the films with Pam and Turong from the tour and then had dinner with them later. The UXO Survivor Center focuses on how UXO survivors and their families cope and how the center assists them. It was staffed by a UXO survivor who was missing a forearm. Both centers were sobering. I walked out deeply ashamed of what my adopted country had done. I also left wondering how the US is involved in cleaning up this mess. The Western MAG staff shown in the films were all Australian, the UXO Survivors’ Center was a local initiative, and NZAID appears to have contributed as well. There was no overt evidence of US assistance.

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