Laos: “no place to hide”

Abstract

If the U.S. intervenes in the third world in the next decade it is likely to model its actions on experience in Laos rather than to duplicate the frustrations of Vietnam. While the two wars are similar in terms of destruction and dislocation of civilian populations (with Laos having sustained even greater devastation than Vietnam), the strategies directing them differ significantly. For in Laos, without introducing its own combat troops, the U.S. has secretly waged a more extensive war on foreign soil than any other nation in history. Incorporating the lessons of Vietnam, synthesizing previous Western experience in counter-insurgency, and operating almost exclusively through executive decrees, the American military in Laos has devised a pattern of warfare likely to become the quintessential model for future attempts to fight localized guerilla conflicts.