Post by racechick on May 14, 2017 2:54:30 GMT
Bombies is the word Laos people call the round metal bombs ( about the size if a tennis ball) that come out if cluster bombs.
I didn't know know much about cluster bombs, other than their name, until yesterday. I knew about land Ines and the damage they do , but not about cluster bombs, that do much more damage.
I found out anout cluster bombs bombs at a place called COPE, that stands for 'Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise'. More about COPE in a minute.
So what did I learn?
I learnt that Laos was the most bombed country per capita ever, and remains so today. The horrors of Viet Nam and Cambodia are well known, but not Laos.
There were 580,000 bombing missions to Laos. That's equivalent to one plane load of bombs every 8 hours 24/7 for nine years.
A cluster bomb is a long torpedoe shaped bomb which splits open in the air and releases hundreds of tennis ball sized metal bombs
(bombies). One can devestate an area the size if several football fields.....and there were 580,000 plane loads of them dropped!
These 'bombies' have up to 30% failure rate. They are still maiming people, farmers, when they work the land, people when they cook on an open fire, and children. Over half of today's victims are children, mostly boys, because the bombies look like balls, great toys. Children are now being educated in schools by UXO ( unexplodede ordanance) using puppets, on how to avoid injury and what to do if they find a bombie.
so on to COPE. cope us set up to help people who are maimed by bombs. They provide artificial limbs fir people and psychological rehabilitation. Prior to this victims had there own home made limbs made from bamboo, trees and aluminium remains of bombs and aircraft. It's a fantastic organisation and very inspirational. They also are trying to promote banning cluster bombs. There was a convention to get the bombs banned and 111 countries have signed up, but not the big hitters, not Russia, China or USA. These bombs are still being used in warfare. This is what the convention wants..
The Convention on Cluster Munitions has four main obligations on State Parties:
destroy all stockpiles of cluster munitions within 8 years,
clear areas contaminated by cluster munitions within 10 years, and
provide assistance (medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support) to cluster munitions victims.
those in a position to do so, provide technical and financial support for other States Parties to meet their clearance and victim assistance obligations
Please read more about this and tell other people and try to get your country to ban cluster bombs.
click the link , there's loads of info and inspirational stories, especially look at the bit on banning the bombs. Cheers.
www.copelaos.org
I didn't know know much about cluster bombs, other than their name, until yesterday. I knew about land Ines and the damage they do , but not about cluster bombs, that do much more damage.
I found out anout cluster bombs bombs at a place called COPE, that stands for 'Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise'. More about COPE in a minute.
So what did I learn?
I learnt that Laos was the most bombed country per capita ever, and remains so today. The horrors of Viet Nam and Cambodia are well known, but not Laos.
There were 580,000 bombing missions to Laos. That's equivalent to one plane load of bombs every 8 hours 24/7 for nine years.
A cluster bomb is a long torpedoe shaped bomb which splits open in the air and releases hundreds of tennis ball sized metal bombs
(bombies). One can devestate an area the size if several football fields.....and there were 580,000 plane loads of them dropped!
These 'bombies' have up to 30% failure rate. They are still maiming people, farmers, when they work the land, people when they cook on an open fire, and children. Over half of today's victims are children, mostly boys, because the bombies look like balls, great toys. Children are now being educated in schools by UXO ( unexplodede ordanance) using puppets, on how to avoid injury and what to do if they find a bombie.
so on to COPE. cope us set up to help people who are maimed by bombs. They provide artificial limbs fir people and psychological rehabilitation. Prior to this victims had there own home made limbs made from bamboo, trees and aluminium remains of bombs and aircraft. It's a fantastic organisation and very inspirational. They also are trying to promote banning cluster bombs. There was a convention to get the bombs banned and 111 countries have signed up, but not the big hitters, not Russia, China or USA. These bombs are still being used in warfare. This is what the convention wants..
The Convention on Cluster Munitions has four main obligations on State Parties:
destroy all stockpiles of cluster munitions within 8 years,
clear areas contaminated by cluster munitions within 10 years, and
provide assistance (medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support) to cluster munitions victims.
those in a position to do so, provide technical and financial support for other States Parties to meet their clearance and victim assistance obligations
Please read more about this and tell other people and try to get your country to ban cluster bombs.
click the link , there's loads of info and inspirational stories, especially look at the bit on banning the bombs. Cheers.
www.copelaos.org