Grudges Agent Orange, Vietnam U.S. Behind Attack

A UH-1D helicopter from the U.S.
airlines spread of toxic chemicals
in the dense forest area in the delta
of the Mekong River on July 26, 1969.

HANOI - Vietnam's central holding a fundraising campaign, titled "Orange Day" (Day of Orange). Fundraising is done for then donated to people who suffer from the spread of Agent Orange by the U.S. forces in the Vietnam war.

Agent Orange or Agent Orange is the code name of the poisonous plants or herbicides used by the U.S. military in herbicidal warfare program carried out in the Vietnam war. There are more than 21 million galom (79 million liters) of Agent Orange were distributed throughout South Vietnam.

The campaign organizers hope that they can raise more than $ 3 million (£ 1.8 million) to help victims of the spread of herbicide containing dioxin toxins (poisons contained in the herbicide and is carcinogenic) is.

The committee said that Agent Orange was first used by the U.S. in the Vietnam war that happened 48 years ago.

In March, a U.S. court renders a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese and U.S. veterans who claim compensation for any damage caused by these chemicals.

The Vietnamese government said that the naming of Agent Orange comes from the chemical containers were lined orange. These chemicals have caused over 400,000 human lives lost and millions of cases of cancer and various other diseases.

Although the Vietnam War has long ended but the chemical weapons attack U.S. remains left doom for millions of people, including babies newborn. It is making babies is falling victim to the third generation. And no one knows until when congenital defects, caused by a myriad of health consequences from the use of toxic chemical Agent Orange, it will end and cut off so it does not spread to berkikutnya generation.

In addition to affecting human growth, toxic dioxin class is the most deadly poison left by the use of Agent Orange was deployed by the U.S. military in Vietnam for 10 consecutive years until 1971. The spread of toxic chemicals are intended to crush the resistance Vietnam, killing forests and shrubs that form a protective shield them and make them lack an adequate supply of food.

As a result of the chemical attack, a very dark nightmares have plagued millions of Vietnam, the newly independent nation since 1989, after 50 years of being in the confines of war, foreign invasion and embargo.

In recent years, Vietnamese authorities have started to really feel the true scale and consequences in a very long period of disasters caused by Agent Orange. Meanwhile, the victims of Agent Orange are scattered in various communities in Vietnam, estimated to have about 3 million victims have a tough life.

In 1973, the Peace Agreement which eventually became the foundation for the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. government promised compensation expense amounted to $ 3.5 billion. But so far, no penny received by victims in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese government also demanded Washington to honor their moral responsibility towards the victims of Agent Orange attack. Under the "sovereign immunity", the U.S. government can not be sued. Therefore, the Vietnamese government tried to claim compensation for a large chemical company supplying Agent Orange and other deadly chemicals used by the U.S. military in the Vietnam war. Association for Victims of Agent Orange / Dioxin Vietnam (VAVA) was formed in January 2004 to carry out the task.

According to vice president of VAVA, Do Xuan Dien, in January 2004, VAVA and three victims of Agent Orange filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court against 37 chemical companies. The number of claimants rose to 28 people in September 2004, but the case was dropped by a U.S. court in March 2005.

The U.S. government has denied and argued that there is absolutely no scientific evidence that can be accepted internationally that links the use of Agent Orange to birth defects and other diseases.

The U.S. government is currently engaged in a project to help clean up the points spread dioxin in the city of Danang, central Vietnam. The U.S. also helped funding for community people with disabilities in the Asian country.

Besides Vietnam, Agent Orange allegedly also been used in the area of ​​Korea, Canada and Guam. Agent Orange was used in Korea in the 1960s, while in Canada, the U.S. military spread of Agent Orange in the forest area to test the toxic chemicals, the test was conducted with the approval of the Canadian government. In Guam, Agent Orange was deployed in 1955 to the 1960s. In the Vietnam War, Guam serve as the "repository" Agent Orange. It shows the cruelty of the U.S. in military action in different parts of the world.

Source:  Reuters

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