NATION/WORLD
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 7A
80 million unexploded bombs after Vietnam War
Obama pledges help for Laos in irst presidential visit
“The remnants
of war continue
to shatter lives
here in Laos.”
By JOSH LEDERMAN
and KATHLEEN
HENNESSEY
Associated Press
VIENTIANE, Laos —
Declaring a “moral obliga-
tion” to heal the wounds of a
secret war, President Barack
Obama on Tuesday pledged
help to clear away the 80
million unexploded bombs
the U.S. dropped on Laos
a generation ago — more
than 10 for every one of the
country’s 7 million people.
Half a century ago,
the United States turned
Laos into history’s most
heavily bombed country,
raining down some two
million tons of ordnance in
a covert, nine-year chapter
of the Vietnam War. The
irst U.S. president to set
foot in Laos while in ofice,
Obama lamented that many
Americans remain unaware
of the “painful legacy” left
behind by a bombardment
that claims lives and limbs
to this day.
“The remnants of war
continue to shatter lives here
in Laos,” Obama said before
an audience of students,
businessmen and orange-
robed Buddhist monks who
held up cellphones to snap
photos of the American pres-
ident. “Even as we continue
to deal with the past, our
new partnership is focused
on the future,” he said.
To that end, Obama
announced the U.S. would
— Pres. Barack Obama,
to Laos citizens
AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasingh
Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachit, second right,
and U.S. President Barack Obama walk Tuesday at the
Presidential Palace in Vientiane, Laos.
double its spending on
bomb-clearing efforts to $90
million over three years — a
relatively small sum for
the U.S. but a signiicant
investment for a small
country in one of the poorer
corners of the world. Obama
plans to put a human face
on the issue when he meets
Wednesday in Vientiane
with survivors of bombs that
America dropped.
The president did not
come to apologize. Instead,
he called the conlict a
reminder that “whatever
the cause, whatever our
intentions, war inlicts a
terrible toll — especially on
innocent men, women and
children.”
Thanks to global cleanup
efforts, casualties from
tennis ball-sized “bombies”
that still litter the Laotian
countryside have plum-
meted from hundreds to
dozens per year. But aid
groups say far more help is
needed. Of all the provinces
in landlocked Laos, only one
has a comprehensive system
to care for bomb survivors.
“We’re incredibly proud
of the progress the sector has
made over the last ive years
in terms of the decline in
casualties and new victims,”
said Channapha Kham-
vongsa of the nonproit
Legacies of War. “But we
are concerned about the
upwards of 15,000 survivors
around the country that are
still in need of support.”
The $90 million to clean
up bombs joins another
$100 million the U.S. has
committed in the past 20
years. The Lao government,
meanwhile, says it will boost
efforts to recover remains
and account for Americans
missing since the war.
The
punishing
air
campaign on Laos was an
effort to cut off communist
forces
in
neighboring
Vietnam.
American
warplanes dropped more
explosives on this South-
east Asian nation than
on Germany and Japan
combined in World War
II, a stunning statistic that
Obama noted during his irst
day in Vientiane.
Obama was one of several
world leaders visiting Laos
to attend the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.
Taking its turn as chair of
the regional forum, Laos’
communist government is
seizing a rare moment in the
spotlight.
For Obama, the visit
serves as a capstone to his
yearslong effort to bolster
relations with Southeast
Asian
countries
long
overlooked by the United
States. The outreach is a
core element of his attempt
to shift U.S. diplomatic and
military resources away
from the Middle East and
into Asia in order to counter
China in the region and
ensure a U.S. foothold in
growing markets.
Yet Obama’s outreach
took an uncomfortable turn
just as he headed to Laos
from another summit in
China. The White House
called off a scheduled
meeting Tuesday with Pres-
ident Rodrigo Duterte of the
Philippine — a U.S. treaty
ally — after the brash new
leader referred to Obama as
a “son of a bitch.”
Duterte, who had been
expecting Obama to criticize
his deadly, extrajudicial
crackdown on drug dealers,
later said he regretted the
personal attack on the pres-
ident.
Obama illed the hole
in his schedule by meeting
with South Korean President
Park Geun-hye in a display
of unity a day after North
Korea ired three ballistic
missiles. Obama vowed
to work with the United
Nations to tighten sanctions
against Pyongyang, but said
the door wasn’t closed to a
more functional relationship.
Obama’s Asia project —
dubbed his pivot or rebal-
ance — has yielded uneven
results, as conlict in the
Middle East has continued
to demand attention and
China has bristled at what
it views as meddling in its
backyard.
So with just four months
left in ofice, Obama used
his historic trip to Laos to
reassert his aims. He touted
new military aid and U.S.
support for regional cooper-
ation in addressing maritime
disputes and made a plug for
the massive Trans-Paciic
Partnership free trade agree-
ment, the policy’s central
economic component that is
now stuck in Congress.
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