Marjorie Cohn: Agent Orange Continues to Poison Vietnam

[marmar]

from Truthout:



Agent Orange Continues to Poison Vietnam
Monday 15 June 2009

by: Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t | Perspective




From 1961 to 1971, the US military sprayed Vietnam with Agent Orange, which contained large quantities of Dioxin, in order to defoliate the trees for military objectives. Dioxin is one of the most dangerous chemicals known to man. It has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a carcinogen (causes cancer) and by the American Academy of Medicine as a teratogen (causes birth defects).

Between 2.5 and 4.8 million people were exposed to Agent Orange. The spraying covered 1.4 billion hectares of land and forest - approximately 12 percent of the land area of Vietnam.

Vietnamese who were exposed to the chemical have suffered from cancer, liver damage, pulmonary and heart diseases, defects to reproductive capacity, and skin and nervous disorders. Children and grandchildren of those exposed have severe physical deformities, mental and physical disabilities, diseases and shortened life spans. The forests and jungles in large parts of southern Vietnam have been devastated and denuded. They may never grow back and if they do, it will take 50 to 200 years to regenerate. Animals that inhabited the forests and jungles have become extinct, disrupting the communities that depended on them. The rivers and underground water in some areas have also been contaminated. Erosion and desertification will change the environment, contributing to the warming of the planet and dislocation of crop and animal life.

The US government and the chemical companies knew that Agent Orange, when produced rapidly at high temperatures, would contain large quantities of Dioxin. Nevertheless, the chemical companies continued to produce it in this manner. The US government and the chemical companies also knew that the Bionetics Study, commissioned by the government in 1963, showed that even low levels of Dioxin produced significant deformities in unborn offspring of laboratory animals. But they suppressed that study and continued to spray Vietnam with Agent Orange. It wasn't until the study was leaked in 1969 that the spraying of Agent Orange was discontinued. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthout.org/061509R

[izquierdista]

1. Never is a long time.....

And despite what some people fear, there actually ARE organisms that will eat Agent Orange for lunch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Are there any signs of life for this at all in Congress?

>>>>>t is time to make good on Nixon's promise and remedy the terrible wrong the US government perpetrated on the people of Vietnam. Congress must pass legislation to compensate the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange as it did for the US Vietnam veteran victims.>>>>>

Is there any legislative history? It's been 35 years since Nixon pledged the money. I'm assuming Congress wouldn't appropriate it. Possibly using the MIA issue as an excuse.