The Empire at Work: Vietnam's Forgotten War Victims

[Karmadillo]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/23-2

Published on Friday, July 23, 2010 by Al Jazeera English
Vietnam's Forgotten War Victims
by Chris Arsenault

When Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, visited Vietnam on Thursday she extolled the country's "unlimited potential" and strong trade relations with the US. But the words must have rung hollow for Ngyuen Ngoc Phuong, who has seen his potential destroyed by American chemical poisoning.

The Vietnam war ended 35 years ago, but children are still being born with birth defects from chemical poisoning allegedly caused by defoliants sprayed by the US military (GALLO/GETTY)

The Vietnam war ended 35 years ago, but children are still being born with birth defects from chemical poisoning allegedly caused by defoliants sprayed by the US military (GALLO/GETTY)Phuong, 19, was born long after the US cut and run from the Vietnam war, evacuating its last remaining personnel by helicopter from the roof of its Saigon embassy in 1975.

But the results of that war, which officially ended 35 years ago, affect every aspect of Phuong's life.

The young man has severe physical deformities, and like an estimated three million Vietnamese, he suffers from exposure to Agent Orange, a toxic chemical US forces sprayed during the war to defoliate the dense jungles Viet Cong rebels used for cover.

In its manufacture, the chemical was contaminated with TCDD, or dioxin, "the most toxic substance known to humans", according to an investigation in the journal Science.

Dangers known

In his book Agent Orange on Trial published by Harvard University Press, Peter Schuck reported that companies who manufactured the defoliant knew "as early as 1952" that deadly dioxin had contaminated the chemical.

Between 1962 and 1971, the US military sprayed an estimated 80 million litres of Agent Orange and other herbicides on Vietnam, the journal Nature reported in 2003.

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[saigon68]

1. It was a War Crime

Certain Draft Dodgers like Cheney etc, became rich and famous by avoiding danger

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Thank you for posting this

My dad returned to 'his' Vietnam 3 years ago and brought my mother. He wanted to see it again - without wearing his Green Beret. He said it was heart breaking . . .

And that though he suffers from Agent Orange syndrome (it's a series of symptoms for those exposed during Vietnam - wreaks havoc and hell on their bodies) -

He feels no pity for himself as innocent children who weren't even alive during those times . . . suffer today.

As an aside - he's wondered if some of my health issues as well as my brother's were from the handing down of the Agent Orange DNA. I.e. Did he just get lucky that his children did not have the birth defects that so many of what he called 'young people' (30's and younger) in Veitnam do.

[Karmadillo]

4. Your dad sounds like a good man. Thank you for posting this.

nt

[w8liftinglady]

7. my uncle did the same thing...with his cambodian wife...

[NNN0LHI]

3. K&R

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. And, Dow still maintains that it was harmless.

From the same story:

Remarkably, Dow maintains that there is no evidence to link Agent Orange to illnesses from US veterans and Vietnamese civilians.

[Karmadillo]

6. Kick. Too bad these sorts of stories can't compete. We might be a better country

if we would take responsibility for our actions.