Most people in the world have not heard of the genocide taking place in Laos today. Most people haven't noticed it, haven't read about it, or haven't bothered to dedicate more than thirty seconds of their lives to learning about it. For over 30 years the world has managed to mostly ignore the genocide of the Hmong people in Laos and still allows this crime against humanity to continue. Since the 1970s, the ethnic Hmong people in the Southeast Asian country of Laos have been persecuted by the Laotian government (Malakunas, 2000). This harassment is a direct result of the Hmong's connection to the United States Central Intelligence Agency in what has become known as the Secret War (Malakunas, 2000). The Laotian government officials who directed this massacre were not arrested due to lack of evidence (Sommer P.4). The Hmong have been singled out for persecution by communists in Laos because of their connection to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (Malakunas, 2000). ). The CIA hired, armed, and trained approximately 40,000 Hmong soldiers between 1961 and 1975 to fight the covert war in North Vietnam (Malakunas, 2000). Hmong soldiers fought in North Vietnam preventing Vietnamese soldiers from reaching American soldiers in South Vietnam (Malakunas, 2000). In North Vietnam soldiers saved thousands of American soldiers by stopping cargo and military travel (Malakunas, 2000). They also rescued American pilots from crashed helicopters and planes (Malakunas, 2000). They often sacrificed many of themselves to save a single pilot (Malakunas, 2000). The Secret War was kept secret because the country was supposedly neutral and had several international treaties that prohibited foreign troops from fighting there (Malakunas, 2000). Tens of thousands...... middle of paper ......-9e3c- e6c19c3c337b@sessionmgr114&hid=114&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU=Malakunas, K. (2000, 12 30). Fight or face extermination. . Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=200012301023380623&site=src-liveMitchell, M., & Gould, R. (2009). Opium has always been a complex problem in Laos: the drug has played a role in tribal culture, but addiction to it has also ruined reputations. Winston-Salem (NC) Newspaper. , Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=2W6782643631&site=src-liveSommer, Rebecca. International Society for Threatened Peoples. United Nations. Report on the situation in the Xaysomboun special zone and the 1,100 Hmong-Lao refugees. Peoples of the Earth, 2006. Web. .