Agent Orange
by Nguen Minh Heinh

"People affected by Agent Orange need help now and cannot wait years for more research,” said Professor Nguyen Trong Nhan .

The Vietnam War ended in 1975, but the scourge of dioxin contamination from a herbicide known as Agent Orange did not.Between 1962 and 1970, millions of gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed across parts of Vietnam. But since the end of the Vietnam War, Washington has denied any moral or legal responsibility for the toxic legacy said to have been caused by Agent Orange in Vietnam Professor Nguyen Nhan , the former president of the Vietnamese Red Cross, now the vice-president of the Vietnam Victims of Agent Orange Association (VAVA) denounced the action as "a massive violation of human rights of the civilian population, and a weapon of mass destruction".. Trong

The unresolved legacy and US denials of responsibility triggered three Vietnamese to take unprecedented legal action in January 2004. The plaintiffs alleged war crimes against Monsanto Corporation, Dow Chemicals and eight other companies that manufactured Agent Orange and other defoliants used in Vietnam. The case has been brought by VAVA, which was set up to promote an international campaign to gain justice and compensation for Agent Orange victims. Preliminary hearings began in January at the US Federal Court in New York, presided over by senior judge Jack Weinstein.

Agent Orange was designed to defoliate the jungle and thus deny cover to Vietcong guerrillas. It contained one of the most virulent poisons known to human beings, a strain of dioxin called TCCD. First it killed the rainforest, stripping the jungle bare. In time, the dioxin then spread its toxic reach to the food chain - which some say led to a proliferation of birth deformities.

In Vietnam, there are 150,000 children whose birth defects - according to Vietnamese Red Cross records - can be readily traced back to their parents' exposure to Agent Orange during the war, or the consumption of dioxin-contaminated food and water since 1975. VAVA estimates that three million Vietnamese were exposed to the chemical during the war, and at least one million suffer serious health problems today. Some are war veterans, who were exposed to the chemical clouds. Many are farmers who lived off land that was sprayed. Others are a second and third generation, affected by their parents' exposure. Some of these victims live in the vicinity of former US military bases such as Bien Hoa, where Agent Orange was stored in large quantities. Dr Arnold Schecter, a leading expert in dioxin contamination in the US, sampled the soil there in 2003, and found it contained TCCD levels that were 180 million times above the safe level set by the US environmental protection agency.

Hanoi helped the US military to track down remains of MIAs (US servicemen missing in action), and it has asked the US to reciprocate with humanitarian aid for victims of Agent Orange. Around 10,000 US war veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange receive disability benefits up to $1500 for various types of cancer and other serious health problems that have been linked to dioxin. However most Vietnamese families affected receive around 80,000 Dong a month (just over $5 dollars) in government support for each disabled child. When former US President Bill Clinton visited Hanoi four years ago, Vietnamese president Tran Duc Long made an appeal to the US "to acknowledge its responsibility to de-mine, detoxify former military bases and provide assistance to Agent Orange victims". But Washington limited itself to funding scientific conferences and further research. Chuck Searcy, vice-president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund based in Hanoi, said: "I am baffled that the US has not offered even a small gesture of cooperation and assistance to the Vietnamese, beyond the endless talk about scientific research. Such a step would eliminate any talk of war crimes liability, or victim lawsuits." The Vietnamese legal battle against formidable US corporate opponents is being heard in the same court as previous action by American war veterans. It accuses the US companies of knowingly permitting Agent Orange to be sprayed for military purposes, in violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol banning the use of chemical and biological agents. But the legal teams representing Monsanto and other US companies are hoping to stop the case going to trial.

Calendar Vietnam: 1945 - 1975

1945 - Viet Minh - a broad front of Vietnamese patriots and nationalists controlled by the Communist Party - seize power. Ho Chi Minh announces independence.

1946 - French forces attack Viet Minh in Haiphong in November sparking the war of resistance against France.

1950 - Democratic Republic of Vietnam is recognized by China and USSR.

1954 - At Geneva Conference Vietnam is split into North and South at the 17th Parallel.

1956 - South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem begins campaign against political dissidents.

1957 - Beginning of communist insurgency in the South.

1959 - Weapons and men from North Vietnam begin infiltrating the South.

1960 - American aid to South Vietnam increased.

1962 - Number of US military advisors in South Vietnam rises to 12,000.

1963 - Viet Cong, the communist guerrillas operating in South Vietnam, defeat units of ARVN, South Vietnamese Army. President Diem overthrown.

1964 - US destroyer allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats. This triggers start of American bombing raids on North Vietnam.

1965 - 200,000 American combat troops arrive in South Vietnam.

1966 - US troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 400,000, then to 500,000 the following year.

1968 - Tet Offensive - a combined assault by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army on US positions - begins. More than 500 civilians die in My Lai massacre.

1969 - President Nixon draws back US ground troops from Vietnam.

1970 - Nixon's National Security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho, for the Hanoi government, start talks in Paris.

1973 - Ceasefire agreement in Paris, US troop pull-out completed by March.

1975 - North Vietnamese troops invade South Vietnam and take control of the whole country after South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh surrenders.