Warner, Roger. Back Fire: The CIA's Secret War in Laos and Its Link to
the War in Vietnam. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. 416 pages.
Author Roger Warner was too young during the 1960s, but became
interested in Laos when he lived in Thailand from 1980-82. He saw a camp
containing tens of thousands of Laotian refugees, and began interviewing
CIA and other veterans. After 150 interviews, this book eventually emerged.
It narrates the war in Laos through the eyes of some key U.S. paramilitary
and diplomatic operatives, all stitched together with other items from the
historical record. What's missing is the view from the other side (officials
in Laos did not allow the author to travel outside of Vientiane). This
book is a little bit too slick -- Alice Mayhew, editor for America's elite,
encouraged the author, as did a grant from the intelligence-connected U.S.
Institute for Peace. At least the author doesn't try to defend U.S. policy.
The U.S. began sending military advisors to Laos in 1960. When Laos
became part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, this country experienced some of the
heaviest bombing since World War II. U.S. bombs created 600,000 refugees
out of a population of three million, and it was all kept secret from the
American people and Congress. After the 1973 truce, the CIA's cowboys and
their proxies shrugged their shoulders and went to Thailand or the U.S. to
retire on their pensions. They left behind a country that, 22 years later,
is full of bomb craters, antipersonnel bomblets, and amputees on crutches.
ISBN 0-684-80292-9
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