Bombing of ISIS rekindles memories of Laos

American intelligence agencies have concluded that the multibillion-dollar, year-long bombing of ISIS by the U.S. and its subordinates, including Canada, has had little effect. There is a strategic stalemate during which ISIS is no weaker than before and, in fact, has expanded into Libya, Sinai and the tribal area known as Afghanistan. Over 10,000 people have been killed, if that is regarded as a measure of success.

That brings to mind for comparison the failure of the U.S. bombing campaign against Laos from 1964 to 1973, during the Vietnam War. The journal National Geographic has described graphically the experience of Laotians during the bombardment and their painful recovery over the last 40 years.

During that war, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was the vital North Vietnam military supply line to its forces in the south. A portion of the trail passed through Laotian territory. To stop it, the U.S. launched an aerial bombardment of Laos.

Two million tons of bombs were dropped on that primitive country, equivalent to a plan load every eight minutes for nine years. The U.S. dropped over 270 million cluster bomblets; four million big bombs. Millions exploded, millions did not and are still a danger in the ground. The U.S. spent $13 million a day on the Laotian air bombardment. It didn’t succeed. Supplies continued to flow along the trail throughout.

In retrospect, historians marvel that Americans thought they could win the war in Vietnam by indiscriminate destruction in Laos. One explanation was that this was the first supply-driven war. Such a huge arsenal of bombs had been manufactured, they just had to be dropped to keep the pipeline open.

Four decades later, Laotians now sell quilts and other works of art to tourists depicting bleeding children, terrified animals, burning landscapes and ruined villages. In 2014, the U.S. Congress allocated the magnificent sum of $12 million for removal of unexploded bombs in Laos. The new U.S. embassy in Laos cost $145 million.

There was one notable success from the bombardment of Laos. The U.S. military/industrial complex made a huge profit.

Owen Holmes

Lethbridge