A chemical weapon used by the US in the Vietnam war is still damaging new generations

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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When will the United States government take responsibility for it’s massive use of weapons of mass destruction in Vietnam?

Spectre orange

Hong Hanh is falling to pieces. She has been poisoned by the most toxic molecule known to science; it was sprayed during a prolonged military campaign. The contamination persists. No redress has been offered, no compensation. The superpower that spread the toxin has done nothing to combat the medical and environmental catastrophe that is overwhelming her country. This is not northern Iraq, where Saddam Hussein gassed 5,000 Kurds in 1988. Nor the trenches of first world war France. Hong Hanh’s story, and that of many more like her, is quietly unfolding in Vietnam today. Her declining half-life is spent unseen, in her home, an unremarkable concrete box in Ho Chi Minh City, filled with photographs, family plaques and yellow enamel stars, a place where the best is made of the worst. Hong Hanh is both surprising and terrifying. Here is a 19-year-old who lives in a 10-year-old’s body. She clatters around with disjointed spidery strides which leave her soaked in sweat. When she cannot stop crying, soothing creams and iodine are rubbed into her back, which is a lunar collage of septic blisters and scabs. “My daughter is dying,” her mother says. “My youngest daughter is 11 and she has the same symptoms. What should we do? Their fingers and toes stick together before they drop off. Their hands wear down to stumps. Every day they lose a little more skin. And this is not leprosy. The doctors say it is connected to American chemical weapons we were exposed to during the Vietnam war.”

There are an estimated 650,000 like Hong Hanh in Vietnam, suffering from an array of baffling chronic conditions. Another 500,000 have already died. The thread that weaves through all their case histories is defoliants deployed by the US military during the war. Some of the victims are veterans who were doused in these chemicals during the war, others are farmers who lived off land that was sprayed. The second generation are the sons and daughters of war veterans, or children born to parents who lived on contaminated land. Now there is a third generation, the grandchildren of the war and its victims. This is a chain of events bitterly denied by the US government. Millions of litres of defoliants such as Agent Orange were dropped on Vietnam, but US government scientists claimed that these chemicals were harmless to humans and short-lived in the environment. US strategists argue that Agent Orange was a prototype smart weapon, a benign tactical herbicide that saved many hundreds of thousands of American lives by denying the North Vietnamese army the jungle cover that allowed it ruthlessly to strike and feint. ***New scientific research, however, confirms what the Vietnamese have been claiming for years. It also portrays the US government as one that has illicitly used weapons of mass destruction, stymied all independent efforts to assess the impact of their deployment, failed to acknowledge cold, hard evidence of maiming and slaughter, and pursued a policy of evasion and deception. ***

Rest in link above…

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Have you seen Rambo II? When he comes home to meet his buddy he finds out he has died of cancer due to agent orange.... Don't raise the question of CW in vietnam coz if you ask the yanks they will tell you nukes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had no fall out either....And DU is as safe as ever.

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As time goes on another super power shall rise. Remember what goes up , must come down.
People probably thought the same about Egyptians who ruled for about more than 3000 years. After all they too did fall.
This too shall pass. Lets do our best in bringing out the truth and popularizing it.
Thanks for the good post Malik73

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Excellent post. The US terrorist regime is so quick to blame others for the use of chemical weapons. They should look at their own atrocities first.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fret Wizard: *
Excellent post. The US terrorist regime is so quick to blame others for the use of chemical weapons. They should look at their own atrocities first.
[/QUOTE]

Yes indeed. Before they can lecture others about WMD they should first take responsibilty for their massive use of WMD in Vietnam and elsewhere, yet they want to forget it or downplay it. Shameful.

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Unfortunately for the US, the military doesnt even care about affects of DU that the soldiers themselves will face after being stationed in future bases in Iraq. When such Rambo IVs, Vs, VIs .. come back to US, they will bring with them the ailments of being exposed to DU in this war.

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i can see the results of these chemicals but i dont understand this statement:

"US government scientists claimed that these chemicals were harmless to humans and short-lived in the environment. US strategists argue that Agent Orange was a prototype smart weapon"

when they say its harmless to humans and short-lived in the environment..what did it actually do according to the US..could someone explain

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Defoliant, kills vegetation. But probably had enough toxins in it to be harmful to animals/humans.

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The article says the following of the US intentions for using Agent Orange...

US strategists argue that Agent Orange was a prototype smart weapon, a benign tactical herbicide that saved many hundreds of thousands of American lives by denying the North Vietnamese army the jungle cover that allowed it ruthlessly to strike and feint.

No doubt it saved hundreds of thousands of American lives, BUT it cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese lives. Now when will the American's take responsibility for this, or do they think killing hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese using Agent Orange was a price worth paying to save American lives?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Malik73: *
The article says the following of the US intentions for using Agent Orange...

US strategists argue that Agent Orange was a prototype smart weapon, a benign tactical herbicide that saved many hundreds of thousands of American lives by denying the North Vietnamese army the jungle cover that allowed it ruthlessly to strike and feint.

No doubt it saved hundreds of thousands of American lives, BUT it cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese lives. Now when will the American's take responsibility for this, or do they think killing hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese using Agent Orange was a price worth paying to save American lives?
[/QUOTE]

I have a cousin who died from cancer believed to be caused from exposure to Agent Orange during Viet Nam War. Wasn't only Vietnamese people harmed by it.

I would like to believe that they didn't know what the consequences would be 40 years ago. I think it was used to clear Jungle. Not saying it was ok. Not saying war is ok.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by AvgAmericanGirl: *

I have a cousin who died from cancer believed to be caused from exposure to Agent Orange during Viet Nam War. Wasn't only Vietnamese people harmed by it.

I would like to believe that they didn't know what the consequences would be 40 years ago. I think it was used to clear Jungle. Not saying it was ok. Not saying war is ok.
[/QUOTE]

AAG I am so sorry to hear that. Your family's tragedy makes it more important for the American government to come clean on Agent Orange, and acknowledge it's many Vietnamese victims, and American lives lost as a result of it.

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During the first gulf war some soldiers were reported to be suffering from "gulf war syndrome". What was that? What were its causes?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by aishaA: *
During the first gulf war some soldiers were reported to be suffering from "gulf war syndrome". What was that? What were its causes?
[/QUOTE]

Evidence suggests that chemical agents caused the Gulf War syndrome. Some of the possible chemical agents are experimental vaccines, depleted uranium, and pesticides. There are also reports of chemical weapons and biological weapons causing the syndrome. Some other additional sources chemical agents that could have been the causes of the Gulf War syndrome are oil fires, P.B., mustard agents, and contaminated food, along with infectious diseases.ll throughout the war the military thought that Iraq had weapons to deliver nerve gas but never confirmed their use. Even though the United States forces had protective gear, radiation and chemical detectors, and drugs to counteract the effects of chemical agents, the chemicals are still thought to be the cause of the diseases because in many cases soldiers were ordered to disregard the detectors and warnings.

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Letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle about this issue, published 3/29/03

AGENT ORANGE IMPACT
Editor – I am writing in response to “Shadows of Agent Orange” (March 24). As a Vietnamese American, I cannot be silent and turn my back on this article. I was born in 1955 in the Mekong Delta area. During the 20 years of war that I grew up in, I witnessed everything that you can imagine, including Agent Orange that you and the Communists claim that the American government created.

However, the Agent Orange that created dead trees surrounding my school did not create the bodily effects that you claim I and all my people (my friends included) suffered from. Your article just takes one side and does not take into consideration information about the previous government, prior to 1975. Agent Orange was not the only chemical used on the Vietnamese people and the United States is not to blame.

Up to this day, I am willing to pay any price for the real freedom that I have here in the United States. Don’t be narrow-minded and fooled by the same Communists who killed American POWs 30 years ago.

TUONG (TOM) TRUONG

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by aishaA: *
During the first gulf war some soldiers were reported to be suffering from "gulf war syndrome". What was that? What were its causes?
[/QUOTE]

Depleted uranium?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Malik73: *

Depleted uranium?
[/QUOTE]

I met someone who was there. He told me that the water was unclean. He said there were dead cows and camels in the lakes, at least where he was. I don't know if dead animals in the water would/could cause health problems but I think its possible.

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And who still uses this tactic??

Sprayed fields and home demolitions in 2002: A partial listing

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by aishaA: *
During the first gulf war some soldiers were reported to be suffering from "gulf war syndrome". What was that? What were its causes?
[/QUOTE]
DU is one of the more popular culprits in the media but the most likely cause is that the Americans were reckless in the destruction of Iraqi munitions, including bio/chem ones. They simply bombed buildings that held vast quantities of toxins (this is when Iraq had vast quantities) - the theory was that it would all be incinerated in the explosion. Stupid theory. Most of it wasn't and since these things aren't controlled once released they took with the wind. A lot of soldiers (and Iraqis, of course) were unfortunate enough to breathe in these bio/chem cocktails and there you have the "Gulf War Syndrome".

The government itself hasn't settled on a single definite cause of the syndrome, but this is the leading theory. Really it's a blend of all factors. The syndrome isn't just a single identifiable disease like ebola, it contains a little of everything and a lot of nothing.

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Latest information of America’s use of chemical weapons…

More Agent Orange Sprayed in Vietnam Than Thought

The U.S. military sprayed roughly 1.8 million more gallons of dioxin-containing herbicides like Agent Orange in Vietnam then had been previously estimated, scientists announced Wednesday. What’s more, a new look at military data indicates that millions of Vietnamese people were likely to have been sprayed directly with the chemicals and that many U.S. military personnel were also sprayed or came in contact with herbicides in recently sprayed areas. The new study was conducted under contract to the National Academy of Sciences in order to develop a method for evaluating the extent of exposure of Vietnam veterans to herbicides, the study’s lead author Dr. Jeanne Mager Stellman explained in an interview with Reuters Health. “The U.S. and Hanoi signed an agreement last year to cooperate on research and remediation of environmental damage (that resulted from the spraying),” said Stellman. “Our data will help to guide that research to the most exposed people and places.” Millions of gallons of Agent Orange, named after the striped orange barrels used to transport it, and other herbicides were sprayed over Vietnam by the U.S. military beginning in 1961. The aim was to clear forests and damage enemy food crops during the Vietnam War. Seven years after the program began, studies linked the chemical to birth defects and the use of all defoliants was stopped. Dioxin, which has been fingered as the toxic component in Agent Orange, caused the 1983 evacuation of the town of Times Beach, Missouri, and the 1978 evacuation of the Love Canal site in Niagara Falls, New York. Dioxin builds up in living tissue over time, so even small exposures can accumulate to dangerous levels. While many reports about the use of the defoliants have been published during the decades following the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, many aspects of their use remains controversial – including how much of the defoliants were actually used and where they were sprayed. Now, Stellman, of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues have published revised estimates after combing through a more complete set of original military spraying records. Her team’s finding are published in the journal Nature.

“We are the first people to look at a lot of the military records, like Air Force operational folders, that had been ‘secret’ during the war and have pretty much been in the National Archives for years without having been looked at critically,” said Stellman. The re-estimated volume of herbicides sprayed between 1961 and 1971 is 7,131,907 liters (approximately 1.8 million gallons) more than an “uncorrected” estimate published in 1974 and 9.4 million more liters than a 1974 “corrected” inventory, the authors report in their study. “We’ve found much more dioxin contamination than had been previously estimated and we also have found the specific targets that the Air Force (sprayed in) Vietnam,” Stellman told Reuters Health. The study “gives new figures about how much dioxin was dispersed and clarifies where the ‘hotspots’ are likely to be,” added Stellman. The investigators report that 3,181 villages were sprayed directly with herbicides. “At least 2.1 million but perhaps as many as 4.8 million people would have been present during the spraying,” they write. Evidence also indicates that some people were sprayed with herbicide at levels an order of magnitude greater than levels used in the U.S. for similar purposes. What’s more, Stellman emphasized that that even after all these years, health experts still don’t know what effects the veterans may have suffered. “We don’t even have a good count of how many of them served in sprayed areas,” she added. “That’s why our particular studies were undertaken.” And, Vietnamese people also benefit from the investigation because interested scientists can zero in on the “hot spots” and see what sort of remediation is needed, explained Stellman. “(The Vietnamese) may also learn more about the health effects (of the herbicides),” added Stellman, who noted that “there are a number of researchers around the world interested in working with them on these problems and we’ve drawn an exposure roadmap for them.” In the past, health experts have often said that little could be done for people potentially exposed to Agent Orange without an evaluation of how and where the spraying was conducted, explained Stellman. "Well, now we have the (spraying inventory), we know where the hot spots are and we’ve developed an-easy-to-use computer system for researchers to assess exposure opportunity. “We should be designing and undertaking definitive health studies as soon as possible,” Stellman concluded.

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Agent “Orange”

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The U.S. military sprayed roughly 1.8 million more gallons of dioxin-containing herbicides like Agent Orange in Vietnam then had been previously estimated, scientists announced Wednesday.

What’s more, a new look at military data indicates that millions of Vietnamese people were likely to have been sprayed directly with the chemicals and that many U.S. military personnel were also sprayed or came in contact with herbicides in recently sprayed areas.

The new study was conducted under contract to the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites) in order to develop a method for evaluating the extent of exposure of Vietnam veterans to herbicides, the study’s lead author Dr. Jeanne Mager Stellman explained in an interview with Reuters Health.

“The U.S. and Hanoi signed an agreement last year to cooperate on research and remediation of environmental damage (that resulted from the spraying),” said Stellman. “Our data will help to guide that research to the most exposed people and places.”

Millions of gallons of Agent Orange, named after the striped orange barrels used to transport it, and other herbicides were sprayed over Vietnam by the U.S. military beginning in 1961. The aim was to clear forests and damage enemy food crops during the Vietnam War. Seven years after the program began, studies linked the chemical to birth defects and the use of all defoliants was stopped.

Dioxin, which has been fingered as the toxic component in Agent Orange, caused the 1983 evacuation of the town of Times Beach, Missouri, and the 1978 evacuation of the Love Canal site in Niagara Falls, New York.

Dioxin builds up in living tissue over time, so even small exposures can accumulate to dangerous levels.

While many reports about the use of the defoliants have been published during the decades following the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, many aspects of their use remains controversial – including how much of the defoliants were actually used and where they were sprayed.

Now, Stellman, of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues have published revised estimates after combing through a more complete set of original military spraying records. Her team’s finding are published in the journal Nature.

“We are the first people to look at a lot of the military records, like Air Force operational folders, that had been ‘secret’ during the war and have pretty much been in the National Archives for years without having been looked at critically,” said Stellman.

The re-estimated volume of herbicides sprayed between 1961 and 1971 is 7,131,907 liters (approximately 1.8 million gallons) more than an “uncorrected” estimate published in 1974 and 9.4 million more liters than a 1974 “corrected” inventory, the authors report in their study.

“We’ve found much more dioxin contamination than had been previously estimated and we also have found the specific targets that the Air Force (sprayed in) Vietnam,” Stellman told Reuters Health.

The study “gives new figures about how much dioxin was dispersed and clarifies where the ‘hotspots’ are likely to be,” added Stellman.

The investigators report that 3,181 villages were sprayed directly with herbicides. “At least 2.1 million but perhaps as many as 4.8 million people would have been present during the spraying,” they write.

Evidence also indicates that some people were sprayed with herbicide at levels an order of magnitude greater than levels used in the U.S. for similar purposes.

What’s more, Stellman emphasized that that even after all these years, health experts still don’t know what effects the veterans may have suffered.

“We don’t even have a good count of how many of them served in sprayed areas,” she added. “That’s why our particular studies were undertaken.”

And, Vietnamese people also benefit from the investigation because interested scientists can zero in on the “hot spots” and see what sort of remediation is needed, explained Stellman.

“(The Vietnamese) may also learn more about the health effects (of the herbicides),” added Stellman, who noted that “there are a number of researchers around the world interested in working with them on these problems and we’ve drawn an exposure roadmap for them.”

In the past, health experts have often said that little could be done for people potentially exposed to Agent Orange without an evaluation of how and where the spraying was conducted, explained Stellman.

"Well, now we have the (spraying inventory), we know where the hot spots are and we’ve developed an-easy-to-use computer system for researchers to assess exposure opportunity.

“We should be designing and undertaking definitive health studies as soon as possible,” Stellman concluded.

No wonder there are so many birth defects in vietnam to this day.SOURCE

BIRTH DEFECTED