Sobering and Grim Documentary Film on the US’s Secret War in Laos

(Above left to right) Tom Vater, film writer; Marc Eberle, producer and director of “The Most Secret Place of Earth”; Fred Branfman, humanitarian aid worker and the person who first broke the news about the US secret way in Laos.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok, Thailand. November 22, 2010. 'The Most Secret Place on Earth' is a sobering and grim documentary film. I watched it with a deepening sense of gloom. I have read three books on our secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War, all of which were memoirs of Americans who had been involved, in one capacity or another, with the CIA’s actions in trying to oppose a Communist takeover of Laos, which eventually occurred in 1975, and continues to this day. Here is the FCCT’s description of the film, which is well worth reading.

The Vietnam War was the most intensely televised war ever. However, next door in neighboring Laos, the longest and largest air war in human history was underway, which eventually made Laos one of the most bombed countries on earth.

The Secret War was the largest operation ever conducted by the CIA, yet it was conducted covertly and it is only in recent years that the true nature and scale of what occurred has been revealed. Critics call it the biggest war crime of the Vietnam War era and point to striking similarities to present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; similarities that were tested and set in motion back in Laos in the 1960s.

In The Most Secret Place On Earth, key players of the Secret War -- former CIA agents, American pilots, Laotian fighters and war reporters -- take us on a journey into the physical heart of the conflict: Top secret Long Cheng, where the CIA built its headquarters in 1962. It was from this base that the Secret War was largely planned and executed. As the war dragged on, Long Cheng became the busiest airbase in the world and a major centre for the global opium and heroin trade.

We journey to Long Cheng -- a site has been off limits to the outside world since the end of the war in 1975 -- as the film reconstructs the story of the operation and illustrates its relevance to current American conflicts.

A shorter version of this film drew a packed house when shown at the club in August 2008, but we will show the long version (102 minutes) this time because of the high level of interest previously, and the fact it coincide with good news -- the start of the Global Ban on Cluster Munitions and an international conference in Vientiane to set this historic treaty in action.

Documentary maker Marc Eberle is flying from Phnom Penh for this event and will speak and answer questions about the film after it is shown. American anti-war activist Fred Branfman, who helped expose the "Secret War" in Laos to the US public back in the early 70s, will also fly in from Vientiane and report on the latest developments in Laos following the start of the Cluster Munitions Treaty. (Fred has to fly out shortly after the movie, so it will be start at 7pm sharp after a short introduction.)

For more information: www.tomvater.com/laos/the-most-secret-place-on-earth-the-cia-covert-war-in-laos-at-fcc-bangkok-on-november-22nd/