Thursday, June 20, 2013

Bombies
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

The most appalling episode of lawless cruelty in American history is the bombing of Laos. If you want to know what Afghanistan will be like in 20 years, watch Bombies. In a cohesive, well-documented approach, Bombies beautifully captures the history and effects of the U.S. carpet bombing in Laos. Between 1964 and 1973 the United States conducted a secret air war, dropping over 2 million tons of bombs and making tiny Laos the most heavily bombed country in history. Millions of these cluster bombs did not explode when dropped, leaving the country massively contaminated with bombies as dangerous now as when they fell 30 years ago. Bombies examines the problem of unexploded cluster bombs through the personal experiences of a group of Laotians and foreigners and argues for their elimination as a weapon of war. Unfortunately they are still a standard part of the US arsenal and were dropped in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. (2002, 57 minutes, directed by Jack Silberman)