this ended the CIA base at Long Tieng." Although around 3,000 of the Hmong were able to reach safety through United States transportation, tens of thousands were to remain, many of whom would end up in exile or refugee camps - their previous way of life, as CIA officer Dick Holm described, "has been destroyed." The aftermath has resulted in a continuing question of whether the United States is responsible for providing further economic assistance to the people of Laos, not only for their fighting through CIA-led units but also for the bombing raids that killed thousands. Many continue to sharply criticize the events of the war in Laos, particularly the inclusion of fourteen-year-olds into the CIA-backed Hmong guerilla units. As one particular youth stated, "I'm not enjoying the war because I want to study and I want to know more, but the pressure pushes me to be a soldier." In 2014, the United States gave the people of Laos $12 million to clear bombs from the war. As Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) stated, "The tragic legacy of cluster munitions in Laos is one that all Americans should care about. I hope the additional funds in the fiscal year 2014 will become part of a multi-year program to finally overcome this cruel history and enable the Laotian people to rebuild their lives." As of 2015, only 1% of the bombed areas in Laos have been cleared for unexploded ordnance. On September 6, 2016, United States president Barack Obama spoke in Vientiane Laos to an audience of 1,075. He acknowledged the "suffering and sacrifices on all sides of the conflict" and its "wrenching toll on innocent men, women and children". He doubled the yearly contribution of the dismantling of unexploded ordnance to 30 million a year for three years. He was the first sitting American president to visit Laos. Mr. Obama's visit along with the story of unexploded ordnance in Laos were told through the 2017 documentary feature film Blood Road. The film won several awards, including a News & Documentary Emmy award for the motion graphics created to illustrate the scope of these bombings and operations. References Links Statement of William E. Colby, Deputy Director for Operations, Central Intelligence Agency, Military Assistance Service Funded (MASF) : Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, 93rd Congress, 1st Session, June 27, 1973, p. 5886. CIA activities by country Laos–United