Between 1964 and 1973, America turned Laos into the most heavily bombed country on earth – all in the name of stopping Communism. Some 580,000 bombing missions were staged. Each delivered an average of 100 bombs, ranging from massive 500-pounders to insidious cluster munitions which disperse hundreds of hand-grenade sized 'bombies".
Up to 30 per cent of these failed to detonate – and since the end of the Vietnam War unexploded ordnance, or UXO, has killed 13,000 Laotians, half of them children.
Bomb Harvest follows Australian bomb-disposal expert Laith Stevens as he trains and tests Laotians in how to rid their land of these UXOs. As a documentary, this is straight-forward and simple.
Director Kim Mordaunt lets Laith come across as the knockabout bloke he is. He loves his work, is good at what he does, and if he’s sometimes tough on his students, it’s because the slightest mistake defusing a bomb can turn them into 'pink mist".
Bomb Harvest uses US military archival footage and Laith’s voiceover to describe the American bombing campaign. We see the repercussions of this ruthless, inhumane war strategy, which continues to inflict death and dismemberment indiscriminately.
The film also shows the vicious cycle in which farming is made dangerous by the presence of UXOs – and faced with poverty, it’s tempting for kids to dig up bombs to sell for scrap metal. It makes you wonder why scum like Henry Kissinger haven’t been put on trial for war crimes.
This is a balanced documentary but I would like to have heard what Laith Stevens thought about how America has treated Laos.
What’s insane is that the US spent $10m a day for 10 years to make this mess but in 2003 contributed just $1m to the clean up. And proving nothing’s being learned, they’re using the same sort of cluster bombs right now in the Middle East.
As a sad documentary that’ll make your blood boil, this rates four stars.
