It was a normal day in Laos. Children went to school, adults went to work. All of a sudden, a plane flew over and dropped weirdly shaped items out of the belly. One by one, the items started to explode. Nobody knew why. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the supply line for offensives of the actual war going on between the North Vietnamese Army, U.S., Thai, and South Vietnamese forces. There are many causes that made the United States decide to bomb Laos. Laos was bombed with millions of tons of bombs, but, they are being given money to take care of removing the bombs.
It all began in March of 1964, a normal day in Laos. The United States president, Lyndon B. Johnson, declared the CIA to drop bombs over Laos to stop the supply. This was, and still is, known as the Secret War. American warplanes dropped over 270 million bombs over the country, with a third not exploding, otherwise being known as unexploded ordnance. The bombings were part of this war to support the Royal Lao government against the Pathet Lao and to prohibit traffic along Ho Chi Minh Trail; the United States, along with several other countries, were called the Cold War Superpowers.
The CIA dropped over 2.5 million tons of munitions, coming to 260 million cluster bombs. Cluster bombs contain roughly 600-700 small bombs, also known as “bombies” (MAG …show more content…
The number of casualties has decreased drastically; there are at least 50 new casualties per year, down 310 in 2008. The money given to Laos to use to clear the bombs has come to an average of 4.9 million dollars per year from 1993-2016. The United States government will spend 30 million dollars each year for the next three years, coming to a total of 90 million dollars; in which, we are going further into debt, with a debt of 19.5 trillion. Since 1992, the U.S. has spent 118 million on clearing the UXOs. The total cost after all the bombs have been removed will come to 16 billion
It all began in March of 1964, a normal day in Laos. The United States president, Lyndon B. Johnson, declared the CIA to drop bombs over Laos to stop the supply. This was, and still is, known as the Secret War. American warplanes dropped over 270 million bombs over the country, with a third not exploding, otherwise being known as unexploded ordnance. The bombings were part of this war to support the Royal Lao government against the Pathet Lao and to prohibit traffic along Ho Chi Minh Trail; the United States, along with several other countries, were called the Cold War Superpowers.
The CIA dropped over 2.5 million tons of munitions, coming to 260 million cluster bombs. Cluster bombs contain roughly 600-700 small bombs, also known as “bombies” (MAG …show more content…
The number of casualties has decreased drastically; there are at least 50 new casualties per year, down 310 in 2008. The money given to Laos to use to clear the bombs has come to an average of 4.9 million dollars per year from 1993-2016. The United States government will spend 30 million dollars each year for the next three years, coming to a total of 90 million dollars; in which, we are going further into debt, with a debt of 19.5 trillion. Since 1992, the U.S. has spent 118 million on clearing the UXOs. The total cost after all the bombs have been removed will come to 16 billion