Containment’s Leaks

Throughout Southeast Asia the reminders of war are everywhere.  Bomb casings in Laos are used as household decorations (railings and such).  In Cambodia, one cannot go a day without seeing a person missing a limb.  Vietnamese sites of interest usually touch on one of the wars fought here in the last century.  And throughout the region signs warn visitors not to stray from well-trod paths–mines and unexploded ordanance litter the countryside.  The cause of these reminders of tragedy?  In many cases, the not-so-Cold War.

This blog doesn’t contain anything that hasn’t been written before.  But after spending the last month and a half in a state of semi-shame having seen the disasterous effects of my country’s policy, I feel compelled to recount this history. Not to do so seems foolish, and continues the opening of Pandora’s boxes of unintended consequences.

Relative Temperature: A Brief History of the Cold War

The term “the Cold War” was coined to describe the relations between the U.S and the U.S.S.R. Because the two countries never had direct military engagement, despite a large-scale military buildup, the war footing between the two was best described as cold. However, how cold that war was really depends on who you’re talking to, as hot proxy battles and wars were fought around the globe. These wars were the result of mis-employing political scientist George Kennan’s strategy of containment. The goal of containment, as put forth by Kennan, was to keep Communism pent up in its borders. Unfortunately, this wasn’t such a tidy concept as the war in Vietnam shows. The lines between communism and nationalism became blurred as many civilians preferred those fighting for communism to those colonial-like invaders who wanted to fight for their (multi-meaning pronoun use) freedom.

A Deadly Game of Dominoes

As the logic went, if one country in Southeast Asia fell to Communism, they would all fall–the so-called domino effect.  The focal point of this conflict became Vietnam.  Given Vietnams’ geography, which is a thin piece of land stretching North-South along both Laos’ and Cambodia’s Eastern border, it is inevitable, though not publicized, that these countries would become involved. 

To be fair, both the U.S. and the People’s Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF; Viet Cong) used both Laos and Cambodia as a side-show to the war.  For the PLAF, these countries were a handy route (the Ho Chi Minh Trail) from the North of Vietnam, where the Viet Cong ruled, to the South, where the U.S. was backing an anti-communist government.  Of course, the U.S. needed to sever these crucial supply lines, as well as the support that PLAF was giving to indigenous communists in Laos, and what better way than a bombing campaign.

And what a campaign it was.   Between 1964 and 1973, the number of bombs dropped in Laos during what has been dubbed “The Secret War” (it had to be. The U.S. helped develop the 1954 Geneva Accords respecting Laos’ neutrality) was roughly 3 million tons, the heaviest U.S. led bombing since WWII.   Laos is about 80% agrarian with sticky rice being a dietary staple. The bombs that riddled the countryside then, and still now, made going to work a dangerous proposition.  Over 350,000 civilians are thought to have been killed by the U.S. bombing campaign in those 7 years. That’s over 130 people per day, every day, for seven years out of a population of only 3 million. And the unexploded bombs continue to kill even today.

The Devil You Know

In Cambodia, similar bombing campaigns along the southern portion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail led to social and political upheaval. People angered by this seemingly inexplicable bloodshed and frustrated with the corrupt government of the U.S. backed Lon Nol, who was allowing the bombing (in 1965 the then King Sihanouk had allowed the North Vietnamese to establish bases and use Cambodia for supplies, provoking the U.S. bombing), walked into the open arms of the Khmer Rouge, an arm of Cambodia’s Communist party. Just as in Vietnam, political forces were more than communist vs anti-communist. In both countries the communist party doubled as a national party, one that was attractive because it was home-grown and against the so-called new colonial invaders. Who would you support?  A corrupt government backed by the U.S. who is bombing your country or communists preaching equality and national pride with the backing of your revered, deposed king?  Sadly, Cambodia, a country which desparetely wanted to remain neutral after gaining its independence from France in 1965 ended up having to chose between a domestic devil and a foreign one.  Unfortunately, the former won when the U.S. gave up in 1973, and genocide ensued killing between 1 and 2 million Cambodians. During the dropping of 2,756,941 tons of bombs, an estimated 150,000 people were killed.

Crystal Balls and Collateral Damage

All told, the U.S. escapades in Southeast Asia came at the cost of about 60,000 U.S. lives and roughly 2 million Laotion, Cambodian and Vietnamese lives (double that if you include the victims of the genocide. U.S. bombing in Cambodia contributed to the Khmer Rouge coming to power).  We have no way of really knowing what would have happened had the U.S. not pursued its policy of containment to such a degree. However, all signs point to the fact that neither China nor the U.S.S.R. were out for world domination. Difficult though that may have been to see at the time, it seems implausible that the worst-case scenario envisioned by politicians could have been any worse than the death and destruction that the wars in Southeast Asia brought at the risk of nuclear war.

And for what?  All three countries experienced communist governments after the U.S. left in the early ’70’s.  And the U.S. continued on, despite containment having not worked.

Lingering Heat

The fighting in Southeast Asia wasn’t the only hot part of the Cold War. Afghanistan, for example, was the U.S.S.R’s “Vietnam.” While the U.S. didn’t have official troops there, we were supporting and funding those fighting against the Soviets. And just to prove that history isn’t so tidy, those fighting against the Soviets included none other than Osama bin Laden.

Too often, it seems, we settle for our information in easily digested pieces. It’s what keeps the Vietnam War only in Vietnam for most people. It’s what ends the Cold War in 1989 and restarts a chapter in history in 2001. This compartmentalization is a dangerous habit for it seems to overlook connections and consequences. While the Cold War did not cause the rise of bin Laden, it did create the conditions for him to train and connect with other idealist Islamists. Just as the Vietnam War leaked into neighboring countries, so too does history leak from one era to the next, often with unforeseen consequences.

 

Plymouth Plantation? Savage Reservation?

One of the highlights of many visitors’ trips to Laos, Thailand, or other Southeast Asian countries is the opportunity to visit one of the local tribes. These opportunities range from a 10-minute pass-through to an overnight stay as part of a trek organized by tour companies ranging from the eco-conscious to the profit-hungry. Knowing full well that these visits have the potential to be both a trip to the human zoo in addition to an interesting cultural exchange, Ed and I signed up for a two-day trek through several villages with an overnight stay in one. The trek we chose was a new one–we were only the third group to go. In my mind, this might be better fodder for cultural exchange.

The village we stayed in, Ban Sida, is one of two Sida (ethnic group) villages in Laos. It is accessible only by foot– a good couple of hours from Luang Namtha, the provincial capital of the eponymous province (province population roughly 140,000!). We entered Ban Sida through fluorescent green rice fields punctuated by brown bamboo huts on stilts, passing along the way Sida women soundlessly wading through the small river gathering river weed to eat (it’s quite good, fried with garlic and accompanied with beer!). Up a hill, over a bridge consisting of a wooden plank, and into the village, colored in various shades of brown.

We visited the school and the rice stores, watched/participated in takraw (like volleyball) and stayed in the home of one of the chiefs with his wife and four kids. We learned that the town is essentially based on subsistence farming, growing enough rice to live on and supplementing their diet with plants gathered from the forest and their livestock (unbearably, this includes dogs in addition to pork and chicken). A few of the wealthier houses had tin roofs and one lightbulb. None had running water– the closest thing to running water was the pump in the center of the village, cold water only. Villagers wore a range of clothes, from local styles, to imported pants and shirts, all hard to keep clean in the dirt and dust. Many kids were in bare feet, a sharp contrast to my feet that were double-swathed in SmartWool socks.

The chief (one of three in the village) was beyond hospitable. He cooked dinner for us and ate with us, answering questions and asking a few of his own to the group (where are we from? married or single? children?). While our interaction with the village was limited mainly to the chief, due to translation difficulties (all tribes have their own language, though some know Lao), the villagers treated us with a mixture of blank curiosity (stares) and friendliness, as we did in return.

In my opinion, this type of tourism brings with it odd feelings. To its credit, it brings vital income to the villages, who are keen to access the amenities of modern life and provides for cultural meeting points between two equally curious cultures. Done right, it allows visitors to put their own lifestyle and abilities in context (who of us would be able to survive in the forest?) and give the villagers exposure to ideas and income beyond their tiny boundaries (many use the money to buy blankets as well as VCD players to watch movies).

However, this type of tourism seems unsustainable. Visitors will continue to demand an authentic tribal experience and villagers will pursue their quest to move on up. As a result these visits have the potential to devolve into cookie-cutter commercial ventures requiring villagers to be “authentic” in order to make the money and lifestyle that could move them beyond being a human curiosity, frustrating the anthropologically curious tourist in the process.

 

Life is a Highway

Outside of the U.S., Laos seems to have the biggest cars. This comes as a surprise because I thought that a poor country like Laos would be driving leftover Chinese cars. Not so– there are many pick-up trucks, some SUVs and I’ve even seen a hummer. While few people own cars (roughly 4/1000 people), those people and companies who do own opt for larger ones with 4 wheel drive out of necessity, it seems–driving anywhere in Laos requires off-roading.

The distance between Houei Xai (at the Thai border) and Luang Namtha (a few hours from China) is roughly 100 miles. The journey, taken by a top-heavy bus, weaves through through the jungle on a red dirt track where anything that moves kicks dust into the air. This 100 mile journey took seven hours to complete.  Yes, seven hours.  Yet this road is a vital step forward for Laos, as it will become an international highway linking China, Laos, Thailand, and Burma. Two decades from now, the sleepy town of Luang Namtha, where I disembarked, will likely be a booming trade city.

This road seems to epitomize Laos’ spring forward. Until the 1990’s, Laos was relatively isolated from the rest of the world. Only within the past decade has it begun experimenting with trade and tourism on a global scale. As a result, the country is remarkably under-developed, with hundreds of villages accessible only by foot or by boat. The road infrastructure is a combination of paved surfaces and bumpy dirt roads, with the latter being much more prevalent. Yet cutting through the country will soon be a major roadway that will cement Laos at the center of burgeoning regional trade.

Laos’ story could be a rags to riches one, and if it plays its cards right, it can learn from the mistakes of neighboring countries and become a relatively wealthy country without losing its pristine environment and laid-back character. Like the road system, the tourism industry is jumping from non-existent to major Southeast Asian destination. And the country seems wary of repeating the crass commercialism of high-volume tourism that has wrecked havoc on the nature and culture in parts of neighboring Thailand. Many of Laos’ major “cities” have eco-tourism operators, founded with the express purpose of harnessing the tourists’ lucrative dollars in a low-impact fashion. Relative to the number of stores in town, many cooperatives have been established, providing high-quality textiles and handicrafts produced by local artisans, including the handicapped.

Of course, it is impossible to control development, especially in Laos where people are hungry for dollars and the opportunities that they hopefully bring. For each eco-tourism office, there are others springing up, emulating the eco-tours in theory, just probably not in practice. However, for the discerning tourist, there are remarkable opportunities to put one’s money to good use.

As long as one can stand to journey by road…