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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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[Narrator] The President's press

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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conference from the new state department

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auditorium, March 23rd, 1961.

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[crowd chattering]

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[John F. Kennedy] I want to make a brief statement about Laos.

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These three maps

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show the area of effective communist domination

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as it was last August and now from December 20th,

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now to the present date, near the end of March,

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the communists control a much wider section of the country.

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The position of this administration

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has been carefully considered.

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We have sought to make it just as clear

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as we know how to the governments concerned.

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[rising music]

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The security of all Southeast Asia will be in

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dangered if Laos loses its neutral independence.

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[music]

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[music]

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[music]

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[Narrator] From June 1964 to March 1973,

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the US dropped at least two million tons of bombs

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at a small landlocked Southeast Asian country

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in what would become the largest bombing campaign in history.

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The equivalent of one planeload every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day

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for 9 years, more than were dropped

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on Germany and Japan during World War II.

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Borders the Mekong River and quite obviously,

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if Laos fell into Communist hands,

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it would increase the danger

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along the northern frontiers of Thailand.

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We signed the Declaration of Neutrality of Laos

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and respect for the neutrality and independence of that little country.

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The president handed over the war effort in Laos to the CIA.

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This nation, key to the entire peninsula is threatened

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by a red military takeover as it was last May.

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America's intervention here in Laos

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was a secret to the American people.

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The people of Laos have suffered tremendously

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from the war that was not known as a war.

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[explosions]

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[music]

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Laos is littered with as many as 80 million bombies or

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bomblets, baseball-sized bombs found inside cluster bombs.

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Up to 80 million of these failed to detonate

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and just 1% of them have been cleared.

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Again, the amount of bombs that we’re talking about

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that were dropped on this tiny country.

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What they say today is that

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they want to put the war behind them

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and they want to grow in the future

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and they would love the help of the United States government

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in doing that.

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[music]

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[birds chirping]

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[wind blowing]

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[music]

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[music, singing]

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[boat scraping on sand]

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[splashing]

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[splashing, birds]

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[music]

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[airplanes]

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[crickets]

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[music]

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[lighter clicking]

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Just when the United States

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is gradually pulling out of Vietnam,

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there is a rush of concern that Laos

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may become another Vietnam.

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Not so says the administration and says why.

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Well, the president won't let it happen, that's why.

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We have learned one lesson

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and that is that we're not going to fight any major wars

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in the mainland of Asia again.

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We're not going to send American troops there.

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We certainly are not going to do it

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unless we have the American public

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and the congress behind us.

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There are no American comeback forces in Laos.

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We have been providing logistical support

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and some training for the mutualist government

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in order to avoid Laos falling under communist domination.

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As far as American manpower in Laos is concerned,

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there are none there at the present time on a combat basis.

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[explosions]

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[music]

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[music]

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[engine revving]

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[music]

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[music]

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[music]

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[cooing]

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[music]

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[airplanes]

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[explosions]

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As to the general view on Laos,

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this matter is a big concern to us.

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The Unites States is anxious that there'll be established in Laos,

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a peaceful country, an independent country.

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Not dominated by either side

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but concerned with life within the country.

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They are anxious that that situation will come forward

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and that the United Staes is using its influence to see

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if that independent country,

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peaceful country and committed country

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can be established under

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the present very difficult circumstances.

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[music]

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[music]

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[metal detector whistling]

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[metal detector whistling]

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[rustling]

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[shovel scraping]

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[clanking]

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[clanking]

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[music]

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[rising music]

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We do have aerial reconaissance.

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We do have perhaps some other activities,

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I won't discuss those other activities at this time.

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[music]

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There are no American combat forces in Laos.

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[explosion]

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[music]

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[water splashing]

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[airplanes]

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[explosion]

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[peaceful music]

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[laughing, shouting]

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[music]

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[music]

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[music]

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[water dripping]

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[rainfall]

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[music]

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[music]

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To the government and the people of Laos,

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thank you so much for the kind welcome

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that you've extended to me and my delegation.

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I am very honored

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to be the first American president to visit Laos.

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Thank you.

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I realized that having a US president in Laos

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would have once been unimaginable.

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Six decades ago, this country fell into civil war.

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Your neighbors and foreign powers,

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including the United States intervened here.

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At the time,

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the US government did not acknowledge America's role.

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There was a secret war.

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For years, the American people did not know.

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Even now, many Americans are not fully aware

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of this chapter in our history

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and it's important that we remember today.

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Over nine years, from 1964 to 1973,

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the United States dropped more than 2 million tons of bombs

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here in Laos.

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War inflicts a terrible toll,

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especially on innocent men, women, children.

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Today, I stand with you in acknowledging

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the suffering and sacrifices on all sides of that conflict.

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I also know that the remnants of war

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continue to shatter lives

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here in Laos.

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Today I'm proud to announce a historic increase

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in these efforts.

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The United States will double our annual funding

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to $90 million over the next three years

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to help Laos expand its work.

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[plane engine]

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[music]

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President Obama just made history

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by being the first sitting US president to visit Laos.

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Obama has so far refused to issue a formal apology

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for the secret US bombing campaign in Laos

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during its war on Vietnam.

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The US secretly dropped 270 million bombs on Laos,

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in part to cut off North Vietnamese supply routes.

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Again, Margaret Brennan,

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$90 million or so to help clean up undetonated bombs

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still in the country.

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What are the details?

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Well, this is $90 million over three years

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to clean up what's called unexploded ordnance.

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These are bombies, they look like little balls.

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Little kids pick them up

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and often become victims of these bombs

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that were dropped nearly 40 years ago

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in a war that this country was never technically a part of.

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Up to 80 million of these failed to detonate

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and just 1% of them have been cleared.

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Obama's $90 million for bomb clearance in Laos.

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It's not enough.

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We bombed Laos so much

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it is officially the most heavily bombed country

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per capita in all of human history.

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The $90 million that Obama pledged at first sounds like a lot.

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The numbers that everybody talks about

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and that you brought up they're accurate as far as we know.

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That said, we also know that that is the low estimate of it.

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Large numbers of airplanes that were sent to do bombing runs

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in Vietnam, for example, came back over Laos

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to bases in Thailand and on their way back,

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would randomly drop their loads in Laos.

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We have no records whatsoever of those loads that were dropped.

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We don't actually know how much was dropped in the first place.

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We know it's more than the numbers that we talked about.

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Experts say the President's visit shows

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that the US is trying to make friends

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with countries near China

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to help balance out that nation's growing power

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in the region.

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Because of the problems and because of the lack of cleanup,

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because of the lack of recognition,

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it continues to kill people

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and trouble this very undeveloped country.

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There are fields that can't be plowed,

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there is land that can't be developed.

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There are children who are walking around

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who weren't even alive during the Vietnam War,

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who are missing arms and legs and limbs.

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When we are able to come here

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to show respect for their culture,

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recognize our history and then point towards a future

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in which we can work together,

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we will actually have more influence.

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We'll be able to promote our ideals more effectively.

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That's part of what we've been able to accomplish I think

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over the last seven, eight years

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is open up places that previously were closed

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and engage people in ways

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that will pay huge dividends in the future.

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[music]

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[music]

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[music]

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[music]

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After years of secrecy and silence,

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we are now learning a lot about Laos.

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My fellow Americans, Laos is far away from America,

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but the world is small.

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[music]

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[music]

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[music]