Cambodia and Laos have first-hand experience of the aftermath of the US cluster bombs now being used on the battlefield in Ukraine.
- cluster munitions for Kiev’s troops: The US give the desire of Ukraine after
- Follow to this day: USA dropped countless bombs in the “secret war”.
- warnings necessary: cluster munitions in Ukraine war could permanently endanger the civilian population
- This article is available in German for the first time – the magazine first published it on August 14, 2023 foreign policy.
Last month, the Biden administration granted the request of the Ukraine relented and decided to supply cluster bombs to Kiev. Fifteen years ago, many countries around the world agreed to ban those controversial weapons that scatter bomblets indiscriminately over a large area, and decades later one particular danger to the civilian population represent never to use again. Neither Ukraine nor the United States are signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but the move drew dismay from US allies such as Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Political leaders in countries still grappling with the aftermath of cluster bombs on their soil were also forced to comment. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called for both US President Joe Biden as well as the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on not using the weapons “because the real victims will be the Ukrainians”. The Laotian Foreign Ministry called Laos the “world’s top victim of cluster munitions” in a statement that did not name Kiev or Washington, but expressed “deep concern” about the possible use. Former US ambassadors to both countries joined the outcry.
Cluster munitions in the Ukraine war: warnings from Asia
Southeast Asia has much to learn and experience to share: Southeast Asia is one of the most heavily contaminated regions by landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) and has been struggling with the aftermath for decades. Most of the remains are from the Vietnam War and the US bombing campaigns in Cambodia and Laos. For local communities, the effects of the conflict are far from over. Duds – including cluster munitions – continue to kill and maim civilians each year, making the area unsafe for generations to come.
Biden called sending cluster bombs to Ukraine a “difficult decision” after the White House had previously slammed Russia for using these controversial weapons since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. However, the Pentagon defended the delivery of cluster bombs to Kiev, saying the prospect of Moscow winning the war would be “the worst thing for the civilian population in Ukraine”. Ukraine is still waiting for tanks and other munitions promised by the United States, but the cluster bombs arrived promptly. According to the Ukrainian military, they have already proven themselves on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s decision has sparked fears among supporters of the disposal of unexploded ordnance in Southeast Asia. Sera Koulabdara, executive director of Legacies of War, a US-based group campaigning for a bomb-free Laos, is leading this year’s Cluster Munition Coalition US, part of a global campaign to eliminate these weapons. She criticized the US decision: “We are helping to contaminate new territory while we have not even been able to clean up the mess we have caused elsewhere,” she said. Koulabdara also fears that supplying cluster bombs to Ukraine could set a precedent for future conflicts, despite years of progress towards outlawing these weapons.
Consequences to this day: USA dropped countless bombs in the “secret war”.
Koulabdara has had her own experience with cluster munitions. Born more than a decade after the last bomb was dropped in southern Laos, she moved to the United States with her family in 1990. However, she vividly remembers how her father, a surgeon, treated people wounded by duds and amputated limbs, often operating on children like her. During the US bombing campaign between 1964 and 1973 – dubbed the “secret war” because it was not disclosed to the American public at the time – US jets dropped the equivalent of a planeload of bombs on Laos every eight minutes for nine years. According to the Lao government, more than 50,000 civilians have been killed or injured by unexploded ordnance over the past few decades, many of them after the war ended. Although the number of annual casualties had dropped to fewer than 50 by 2022, most accidents are still fatal; almost half of the victims are children.
Advocates also fear that international funding for the disposal of unexploded ordnance could dry up before the entire country is cleared. Faced with the seemingly insurmountable task, some people working on the issue are no longer pushing for the complete elimination of duds, but instead have the goal of reducing the number of casualties to zero. Regardless, the argument that Ukrainian territory would have to be cleared of Russian munitions anyway – with or without Ukrainian cluster munitions – sounds cynical to those with direct experience of cluster bomb remnants.
Regardless of how the munitions are deployed in Ukraine, “the effects of cluster bombs will be long-lasting and will affect innocent civilians,” said Heng Ratana, director-general of the Cambodia Mine Clearance Center (CMAC), a government agency involved in the disposal of US bomb debris and other duds from the country’s civil war. Mine clearance operations have been carried out in Cambodia for more than three decades and the organization already has 30 victims in 2023. Organizations like CMAC have valuable experience to share with Ukraine.
Warnings needed: Cluster munitions could permanently endanger civilians in Ukraine
Education about mine risks in Southeast Asia has reduced the number of victims for decades. Ratana recommends that the Ukrainian civilian population – and especially children – must be warned about the often seemingly harmless submunitions of cluster bombs for a long time to come. With demining ongoing in parts of Ukraine, Cambodia has already offered its expertise in clearing areas. In January, the CMAC hosted a team of Ukrainian minesweepers for training on a new Japanese minesweeping technique. Experts from both countries also met in Poland last month for training, and future cooperation with Ukraine is under discussion.
Despite their experience with unexploded ordnance, neither Cambodia nor Vietnam are signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, citing that neighboring countries such as China and Thailand have also declined to sign. The news that the United States plans to send cluster bombs to Ukraine has drawn renewed attention to the fact that the countries have not signed the convention. Norwegian People’s Aid, a humanitarian group working to clear former war zones, took the opportunity to encourage all countries that have not yet signed the Convention to sign up and give new impetus to efforts to ban these weapons worldwide .
Still, many people in Ukraine welcomed the US decision to supply cluster bombs. The Ukrainian media seem to question how dangerous the guns really are to civilians. There is already evidence of this nearby. Before Washington began supplying cluster bombs, Kiev drew on its own stockpile of Soviet-era cluster munitions and fired them at Russian-held territories. Human Rights Watch documented incidents of civilians being killed or wounded by Ukrainian cluster munitions near the town of Izium (the Ukraine Ministry of Defense denies these allegations). The Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Ukraine has also reported casualties in civilian areas.
Former US officer warns of cluster munitions
Of course, war involves tough decisions. “When you’re fighting for your life, you want any kind of weapon; I understand that,” said Mike Burton, a former US Air Force officer involved in the mission to drop cluster bombs on Laos and now on the board of Legacies of War. But for him, the end doesn’t justify the means when it comes to using cluster bombs, no matter how they’re deployed. Burton added that he never expected the US government to supply its cluster bombs to Ukraine. “Will the US also be there to clean up the mess, provide prosthetic limbs and help people blinded by blasts?
In Laos, disability activist Phongsawat Manitsong witnessed the aftermath of the US bombing first-hand. In 2008, he lost his eyesight and both hands when his friend put a bomb in his hand, which he thought was a toy. Today he advises others on how to deal with the aftermath of similar disabilities – from coping with flashbacks to using a cell phone. Many of his surviving colleagues have difficulty finding work.
“Ukrainians need to realize how many people are being injured, not only now but also after the war,” Phongsawat warned. He is concerned that the cluster bombs that have disfigured his homeland are being used again with US support: “There are so many disabled people in Laos who cannot lead normal lives and who would need US support, but they don’t receive. (Vera Holzl)
To the author
Verena Holzl is an independent journalist based in Bangkok. Twitter(X): @verenahoelzl
We are currently testing machine translation. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on August 14, 2023 in “ForeignPolicy.com“ was published – as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to the readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.
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