THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE CIA’S WAR IN LAOS

CIA activities in Laos had their beginnings in the 1950s. In 1959, US Special Operations Forces (military and CIA) began training some Laotian soldiers in unconventional warfare techniques as early as the fall of 1959 under the code name "Erawan". As Ahern (2009) rightly points out is that under this code name, General Vang Pao, who served the Lao royal family, recruited and trained his Hmong and Iu-Mien soldiers. The Hmong and Iu-Mien were targeted as allies after President John F. Kennedy, who refused to send more U.S. soldiers into battle in Southeast Asia, took office. Instead, he called on the CIA to use its tribal forces in Laos and "do everything possible to launch guerrilla operations in North Vietnam with its Asian recruits." General Vang Pao then recruited and trained his Hmong soldiers to ally with the CIA and fight against North Vietnam. The CIA itself claims that CIA air operations in Laos from 1955 to 1974 were the "largest paramilitary operations ever undertaken by the CIA." (p.8-10). However, the actions taken during this intervention by U.S. forces are not widely known in the public sphere, so not many people are familiar with this historical process. Based on this premise, we present the documentary "The Untold Story of the CIA's War in Laos", in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of this event.

REFERENCES

Ahern, T. (2009). Undercover Armies: CIA and Surrogate Wardare in Laos. Central Intelligence Agency.