Obama pledges help clear away 80 million unexploded bombs in Laos

[TomSea]

Obama pledges help clear away 80 million unexploded bombs in Laos

U.S. dropped more than 2 million tons of ordnance during Vietnam War

VIENTIANE, Laos —

Declaring a "moral obligation" 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 first U.S. president to set foot in Laos while in office, 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 president. "Even as we continue to deal with the past, our new partnership is focused on the future," he said.

Read More At: http://www.wpbf.com/article/obama-pledges-help-clear-away-80-million-unexploded-bombs-in-laos/2287035

Cost apparently will be something like $90 million.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-obama-laos-clear-bombs-video-20160906-premiumvideo.html