The Most Secret Place on Earth: The CIA's Covert War in Laos / Amerikas geheimer Krieg in Laos - Die größte Militäroperation der CIA (2009)

(Documentary film written and directed by Marc Eberle; produced by Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduction with WDR/NDR/ARTE; 75/52/43 min, HD.)

In 2008, I worked on the voiceover text to this interesting documentary that surely hasn't been seen much within the USA.

Trailer:

To simply take an excerpt from the documentary's English-language press release:

"The Vietnam War was the most intensely mediated war ever. However, next door in neighboring Laos, the longest and largest air war in human history was underway, which eventually made Laos the most bombed country on earth. What’s more, outside of Laos no one knew.

"The Secret War was the largest operation ever conducted by the CIA, yet to this day, hardly anyone knows anything about it. Critics call it the biggest war crime of the Vietnam War era and point to striking similarities to the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; similarities that were tested and set in motion back in Laos in the 1960s. The use of private contractors, mercenaries, as well as the exclusion of Congress and the press gave the executive branch a free hand to wage unlimited warfare as they saw fit. During the Secret War a bomb load was dropped on Laos every eight minutes over a period of eight years – 2.1 million tons of bombs fell onto this small landlocked South East Asian nation altogether, more than on Europe and the Pacific theatre combined during World War II. Even today much of the countryside is poisoned by Agent Orange and littered with unexploded devices. To date, the country has still not found peace, and remnants of the CIA’s secret army of Hmong hill tribe guerillas continue to clash with Lao government troops. [...]"

As an extra added attraction, below you find a video of one of the many wonderful songs sung by Ros Serey Sothea (1948 – 1977), perhaps one of the greatest Cambodian pop singers of the 20th century. Following the Fall of Phnom Penh, she was taken to the Kampong Som province and, presumably, executed. Her remains have yet to be discovered.

Ros Serey Sothea sings

Penh Chet Tae Bong Muoy - A Go Go: