[CPEO-MEF] Laos struggles to clear leftover US bombs

[mervtano@iiirm.org]

Laos struggles to clear leftover US bombs
By Simon Ingram
Special to The Christian Science Monitor

XIENG KHOUANG PROVINCE, LAOS

Inch by tortuous inch, the bomb clearance team edges its way up the stony
hillside. Each sweep of the electronic detectors produces a series of
high-pitched squawks, indicating the presence of metallic objects hidden in
the soil.

Just about anywhere else, the objects in question would probably be
harmless. But this is the Plain of Jars - the high, remote plateau in
northeastern Laos that, during the Vietnam War, earned the unenviable
distinction of being the most heavily bombed place on earth. It's been 28
years since the United States ended its air war on Laos - a bombardment in
which, as guidebooks remind you - American B-52s and other aircraft dropped
more munitions here than fell on all of Europe during World War II.

For the rest of the story see:
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/01/04/fp1s4-csm.shtml



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