Hybrid warfare is as old as they go

[abomvubuso]

Recently relevant case in point: Laos. Obama did try to heal old wounds while visiting the South-East Asian country. He was actually the first US president to visit Laos - ever. Still, the country has half a century old grudge with the US. The American invasion in Laos had all the features of a horror thriller movie from the Vietnam War times. One

Comments

[ddstory]

It's not just the cluster bombs, it's the napalm as well. Even 40 years after that war, the scars on the land are still visible.

The resilience of the locals is remarkable. They've learned to live with the millions of unexploded ammo in their ground. They use the material for all sorts of purposes, from cutlery to decoration for their cattle. But still, 200+ people die of those explosives every year. And nobody has done anything to help them. Especially the US.

[htpcl]

Let's not pretend that the steps the US is currently making for warming up with Laos are dictated by some sort of good feelings or compassion, or anything like that. It's part of the Pivot to Asia, the effort to contain China geopolitically, as China is starting to assert its position in the region by show of force. The old Grand Chessboard strategy is at play here too: contain the Heartland by holding the Maritime Periphery. And Laos is part of that game.

Winning Laotian hearts and minds would not be easy, mind you. Perhaps starting to clean up the mess the US had created, would be a good first step in that direction - but I ain't seeing it happening.

Good overview, btw.

[dexeron]

"Perhaps starting to clean up the mess the US had created, would be a good first step in that direction"

It's less starting, and more finishing. We have been paying money towards the goal of cleaning up Laos, a total of $74 million by 2014 - but 40 percent of that was all since 2010. Obviously it was not seen as much of a concern by lawmakers and politicians until more recently. (The Legacies of War group and other NGOs have done a lot to bring this cause to people's attention and light some fires under lawmakers asses.)

This additional $90 million that Obama is promising is a good start towards really tackling the problem on the scale required, but I don't know if even that is close to enough. (And of course there are larger geopolitical reasons why Washington is now more willing to address this, as opposed to all the decades they mostly ignored it. My hope is, regardless of the reason, smart people will push through what they can, while the iron is hot, and get the people in Laos that actual help they need cleaning up our

[htpcl]

Not likely to happen with Trump in office.