Agent Orange is a herbicide and defoliant chemical, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It is widely known for use by the US military as part of the herbicide warfare program, Operation of Hand Farms, during the Vietnam War of 1961-1971. It is a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. In addition to the damaging environmental effects, chemicals have caused major health problems for many people affected.
Up to four million people in Vietnam are defoliant. The Vietnamese government says as many as 3 million people have suffered the disease because of Agent Orange. The Vietnamese Red Cross estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange pollution. The United States government has challenged these figures as unreliable. These chemicals are capable of damaging genes, resulting in deformities among the offspring of exposed victims. The US government has documented cases of higher leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and various cancers of exposed veterans. Agent Orange also caused enormous environmental damage in Vietnam. More than 3,100,000 hectares (31,000 km 2 or 11,969Ã, mi 2 ) forests have been cleared. Defoliants erode tree cover and sow forest stocks, making reforestation difficult in many areas. The diversity of animal species is sharply reduced in contrast to unprocessed areas.
The aftermath of the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam resulted in major legal consequences. The UN has ratified UN General Assembly Resolution 31/72 and the Environmental Change Convention. The lawsuits filed on behalf of US and Vietnamese veterans are seeking compensation for damages.
Agent Orange at a lower level is used outside of Vietnam. Land in neighboring Laos and Cambodia was also sprayed with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War as forests on the border with Vietnam were used by Vietcong. Some countries, such as Canada, see testing, while other countries, such as Brazil, use herbicides to clear farmland.
Video Agent Orange
Komposisi kimia
The active ingredient of Agent Orange is the same mixture of two 2,4-dichlorophenoxysiacetic acid 2,4-D henicides and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxysiacetic acid (2,4,5-T) - in octyl iso-form esters, containing trace dioxin 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD).
TCDD is a significant contaminant of Agent Orange. TCDD is the most toxic of dioxins, and is classified as a human carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
If it is not chemically bonded to biological surfaces such as soil, leaves or grass, Agent Orange dries quickly after being sprayed and damaged within hours until the day when it is exposed to sunlight and is no longer dangerous.
Toxicology
Due to its fat-soluble nature, TCDD enters the body through physical contact or consumption. Dioxins are easily accumulated in the food chain. Dioxins enter the body by attaching to a protein called the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), the transcription factor. When TCDD binds AhR, the protein moves to the nucleus, where it affects gene expression.
Maps Agent Orange
Development
Several herbicides were found as part of the United States and British efforts to develop herbicide guns for use during World War II. These include 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), 2,4,5-T (coded LN-14, and also known as trioxone), MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, 1414B and 1414A , recoded LN-8 and LN-32), and isopropyl phenylcarbamate (1313, recoded LN-33).
In 1943, the US Army Department contracted botanists and bioethics experts, Arthur Galston, who found a defoliant that was later used in Agent Orange, and his employer of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana to study the effects of 2,4-D and 2,4, 5-T in cereal grains (including rice) and broad-leaved plants. Galston, then a graduate student at the University of Illinois, in his research and 1943 Ph.D. dissertation focuses on the discovery of chemicals to make flowers and fruits soybeans earlier. He found that 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) would accelerate the flowering of soybeans and in higher concentrations would damage soybeans. From this research emerged the concept of using air herbicide application to destroy enemy plants to disrupt their food supply. In early 1945, the US Army conducted a test of a mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T at Bushnell Army Airfield in Florida. As a result, the US started full-scale production of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and will use it against Japan in 1946 during Operation Downfall if war continues.
At the end of the war, relations between the two countries were well established. In the years following the war, the US tested 1100 compounds, and more promising field trials were conducted at British stations in India and Australia, to establish their effects in tropical conditions, as well as on US testing. in Florida.
Between 1950 and 1952, trials were conducted in Tanganyika, in Kikore and Stunyansa, to test arborisides and defoliants in tropical conditions. The chemicals involved are 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, and endothall (3,6-endoxohexahydrophthalic acid). During 1952-53, the unit oversaw air spraying of 2,4,5-T over the Waturi peninsula in Kenya to assess the defoliant value in the eradication of the tsetse fly.
Initial use
During the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), Britain was the first country to use herbicides and defoliants to destroy shrubs, trees and plants to remove concealed rebels and target food crops as part of a famine campaign in the early 1950s.. A detailed explanation of how the English were experimenting with herbicide spraying was written by two scientists, E.K. Woodford Agricultural Agricultural Research Unit from Experimental Agronomy and H.G.H. Kearns from Bristol University.
After the Malayan conflict ended in 1960, the United States considers the British precedent in deciding that the use of defoliant is a legal tactic of warfare. Secretary of State Dean Rusk advised President John F. Kennedy that Britain has established a precedent for war with herbicides in Malaya.
Used in Vietnam War
In mid-1961, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam called on the United States to spray air herbicides in his country. In August of that year, the Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam conducted a herbicide operation with American aid. But Diem's ​​request launched a policy debate in the White House and State and Department of Defense. However, US officials consider using it, suggesting that Britain had used herbicides and defoliants during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. In November 1961, President John F. Kennedy authorized the start of the Hand Farm Operation, the codename for the US Air Force herbicide program in Vietnam.
During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the US military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 gallons (76,000 m 3 ) of various chemicals - "rainbow herbicides" and defoliants - in Vietnam, eastern Laos, and parts of Cambodia as part of the air defoliation program known as Operation Ranch Hand, peaked from 1967 to 1969. For comparison purposes, Olympic-size swimming pools have about 660,000 gal of America (2,500 m 3 ). As the British did in Malaya, the United States' goal was to pollute forests in the countryside/forest, seize food guerrillas and concealment and clean up sensitive areas such as around the base. The program is also part of a general policy of forced urbanization deployment, aimed at destroying the ability of peasants to support themselves in the countryside, forcing them to flee to US-controlled towns, depriving militants of their rural support base.
Agent Orange is usually sprayed from a helicopter or from a low-flying C-123 Provider aircraft, equipped with an "MC-1 Hourglass" pump sprayer and pump system and a 1,000 US gallon (3,800Ã, L) chemical tank. Spray run is also done from trucks, boats, and backpack sprayers.
The first herbicide batch was dismantled at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam, on 9 January 1962. The US Air Force record showed at least 6,542 spray missions occurred during the operation of Hand Farm Operations. In 1971, 12 percent of the total area of ​​South Vietnam had been sprayed with defoliation chemicals, at an average concentration of 13 times the US Department of Agriculture's recommended application rate for domestic use. In South Vietnam alone, about 10 million hectares of agricultural land is finally destroyed. In some areas, TCDD concentrations in soil and water are hundreds of times greater than levels considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
The campaign destroyed 20,000 square kilometers (5 ÃÆ'â € 10 6 hectare ) highland forests and mangroves and thousands of square kilometers of plants. Overall, more than 20% of the forests in South Vietnam were sprayed at least once during the nine-year period.
In 1965, members of the US Congress were informed that "crop destruction is understood as a more important goal... but emphasis is usually placed on public forest pollution that mentions the program." Military personnel were told they were destroying the crops because they would be used to feed the guerrillas. They then found almost all the food they had destroyed was not produced for the guerrillas; it, in fact, only grew to support the local civilian population. For example, in Quang Ngai province, 85% of the harvest area is scheduled to be destroyed in 1970 alone. This contributes to the widespread hunger, causing hundreds of thousands of people malnourished or starving.
The US military began targeting food crops in October 1962, primarily using Blue Agents; The American public was not made aware of the crop destruction program until 1965 (and later it was believed that spraying plants had begun that spring). In 1965, 42 percent of all herbicide spraying was dedicated to food crops. The first official recognition of the program came from the Department of Foreign Affairs in March 1966.
Many experts at the time, including Arthur Galston, opposed the war on herbicides because of concerns about adverse effects on humans and the environment by carelessly spraying chemicals over a large area. In early 1966, a resolution was introduced to the United Nations that accused the United States of violating the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which regulates the use of chemical and biological weapons. The US defeated most of the resolution, arguing that Agent Orange is not a chemical or biological weapon because it is considered a herbicide and defoliant and it is used in an attempt to destroy crop plants and to eliminate enemy concealment and is not intended to target humans. The US delegation believes that weapons, by definition, are devices used to injure, defeat, or destroy living beings, structures, or systems, and Agent Orange does not qualify under that definition. He also believes that if the US will be charged for using Agent Orange, the UK and Commonwealth countries should be charged as they also used it extensively during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. In 1969, the British commented on the draft Resolution 2603 (XXIV): "The evidence seems to us to be inadequate for the assertion that the use of in chemical warfare specifically toxic to crops is prohibited by international law."
Health effects
Vietnamese
The Vietnamese government says that 4 million people are exposed to Agent Orange, and as many as 3 million people suffer from the disease; these figures include their exposed children. The Vietnamese Red Cross estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to contaminated Agent Orange. The United States government has challenged these figures as unreliable.
According to a study by Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan, children in the area where Agent Orange was used had been affected and had several health problems, including a gap ceiling, mental disability, hernia, and extra fingers and toes. In the 1970s, high levels of dioxin were found in breast milk of South Vietnamese women, and in the blood of US military personnel who had served in Vietnam. The most affected zone is the mountainous area along the Truong Son (Long Mountains) and the border between Vietnam and Cambodia. The affected population lives in substandard conditions with many genetic diseases.
In 2006, Anh Duc Ngo and colleagues from the Central Texas University of Health Science published a meta-analysis that exposed a large number of heterogeneities (different findings) between studies, a finding consistent with a lack of consensus on the issue. Nevertheless, the statistical analysis of the studies they studied yielded data that increased birth defects/relative risk (RR) from exposure to the orange/dioxin agent "appeared" to be in the order of 3 in Vietnam-funded study, but 1.29 worldwide. There are data near the threshold of statistical significance indicating that Agent Orange contributes to birth, cleft palate, and neural tube defects, with spina bifida being the most statistically significant defect. The big differences in RR between Vietnamese studies and people around the world have been considered biased in Vietnamese studies.
28 of the former US military bases in Vietnam where herbicides are stored and loaded onto aircraft may still have high dioxin levels on the ground, pose a health threat to nearby communities. Extensive testing of dioxin contamination has been done at former US air base in Danang, PhÃÆ'¹ CÃÆ'¡t District and BiÃÆ'ªn HÃÆ'²a. Some soils and sediments at the base have very high levels of dioxin that require remediation. Da Nang Air Base has dioxin contamination up to 350 times higher than international recommendations for action. Contaminated soil and sediments continue to affect Vietnamese, poisoning their food chains and causing illnesses, serious skin diseases and various cancers in the lungs, larynx and prostate.
US. veteran
Several publications by the Health Service show that veterans experience increased rates of cancer, and neurological, digestive, skin, and respiratory disorders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that in particular, there is a higher rate of acute/chronic leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, throat cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, ischemic heart disease, tissue sarcoma soft and liver cancer. With the exception of liver cancer, this is the same condition as established by the US Veterans Administration may be related to exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin, and is in the list of conditions that are eligible for compensation and treatment.
Military personnel involved in storage, mix and transport (including aircraft mechanics), and actual use of chemicals may be among those receiving the heaviest exposure. Military members on duty in Okinawa also claim to have been exposed to chemicals but there is no verifiable evidence to corroborate this claim.
Recent research found that veterans affected by Agent Orange suffered more than twice the rate of prostate cancer is very aggressive. In addition, a recent report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences shows that Agent Orange exposure also doubles the risk of invasive skin cancer.
While in Vietnam, veterans were told not to worry, and were convinced that the chemicals were harmless. Upon returning home, Vietnamese veterans begin to suspect their poor health or instances of their miscarriage wives or children born with birth defects may be related to Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides they have exposed in Vietnam. Veterans began filing claims in 1977 to the Department of Veterans Affairs for disability payments for health care for conditions they believed related to Agent Orange exposure, or more specifically, dioxins, but their claims were denied unless they could prove the condition began when they were in service or within a year after they are discharged. To be eligible for compensation, veterans must serve on or near the border of a military base in Thailand during the Vietnam Era, where the herbicide is tested and stored outside Vietnam, the Veteran who was a member of the C-123 flight crew after the Vietnam War, or linked with Department of Defense (DoD) projects to test, dispose, or store herbicides in the US
In April 1993, the Veterans Affairs Department compensated only 486 victims, despite having received disability claims from 39,419 soldiers who had been exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.
Ecological impact
Around 17.8 percent - 3.1 million hectares (31,000 km 2 ; 12,000 sq., Mi) - of Vietnam's total forest area sprayed during the war, which disrupts the ecological balance. The persistent nature of dioxin, the erosion caused by the loss of tree cover, and the loss of forest stocks means that reforestation is difficult (or impossible) in many areas. Many deforested areas are rapidly invaded by aggressive pioneer species (such as bamboo and cogon grass), making forest regeneration difficult and impossible. The diversity of animal species is also influenced; in one study, a Harvard biologist discovered 24 species of birds and five mammal species in sprayed forests, while in two unspoiled forest parts there were 145 and 170 species of birds and 30 and 55 species of mammals.
Dioxins from Agent Orange have survived in the Vietnam environment since the war, settled on soil and sediment and entered the food chain through animals and fish that feed in contaminated areas. The movement of dioxins through the food web has resulted in bioconcentration and biomagnification. The area most contaminated with dioxin is a former US air base.
The sociopolitical impact
American policy during the Vietnam War was destroying crops, accepting the sociopolitical impact that would occur. The RAND Corporation's Memorandum 5446-ISA/ARPA states: "The fact that VC [Vietcong] derives most of their food from neutral rural residents dictates the destruction of crop plants... if they are hampered by the crop destruction program, necessary to destroy most of the rural economy - perhaps 50% or more ". Plants are deliberately sprayed with Agent Orange, the area is exhausted from vegetation, and the rural population is subjected to bombardment and artillery fire. Therefore, the urban population in South Vietnam nearly tripled, growing from 2.8 million people in 1958 to 8 million in 1971. The rapid flow of people led to rapid and uncontrolled urbanization; an estimated 1.5 million people live in slums in Saigon because people move to the city.
Legal and diplomatic process
International
The extensive environmental damage caused by the use of herbicides prompted the United Nations to issue Resolution 31/72 and ratified the Environmental Change Convention. Many countries do not regard this as a comprehensive ban on the use of herbicides and defoliants in warfare but this requires case-by-case consideration.
In the Conference on Disarmament, Article 2 (4) Protocol III of the arms convention contains "The Jungle Exception", which prohibits countries from attacking forests or forests "unless the elements of nature are used to cover, hide or camouflage fighters or military objectives, or military objectives themselves ". This exclusion obscures any protection from military and civilian personnel from napalm attack or something like Agent Orange and it is clear that it is designed to cover situations such as US tactics in Vietnam. This provision has not been revised.
AS. veteran class action lawsuit against manufacturer
Since at least 1978, several lawsuits have been filed against companies producing Agent Orange, among them Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and Diamond Shamrock.
Lawyer Hy Mayerson was an early pioneer in Agent Orange litigation, working with environmental lawyer Victor Yannacone in 1980 for the first class action lawsuit against Agent Orange's wartime manufacturer. In the meeting Dr. Ronald A. Codario, one of the first civilians to see affected patients, Mayerson, was deeply impressed by the fact that a doctor would show such a great interest in a Vietnamese veteran, passing over a thousand pages of information on Agent Orange and the effects of dioxin on animals and humans to Codario's office the day after he was first contacted by a doctor. The defendants of the company are trying to escape from mistakes by blaming everything on the US government.
Mayerson, with Sgt. Charles E. Hartz as their main client, filed a first class action of US Agent Orange class, in Pennsylvania in 1980, for an injury to military personnel in Vietnam who suffered from exposure to toxic dioxins in defoliants. Mayerson's lawyer co-authored a brief report certifying the acts of the Orange Blind Products Agent as the class act, the largest ever filed since his filing. Hartz's deposition was one of the first to be taken in America, and the first for Agent Orange trials, for the purpose of preserving testimony in the hearing, as it was understood that Hartz would not live to see the trial because of a brain tumor that started. to flourish as he became a member of the Tiger Troop, special forces, and LRRP in Vietnam. The company also resides and provides critical research to leading Veterans experts. Codario, including about 100 articles from journals of toxicology dating back more than a decade, as well as data on where herbicides are sprayed, what effects of dioxins ever on animals and humans, and any accidents in factories where herbicides are produced or dioxins are contaminants from some chemical reactions.
The chemical companies involved denied that there was any connection between Agent Orange and the veteran medical problem. However, on May 7, 1984, seven chemical companies completed a class action lawsuit outside the court just hours before the jury selection began. The companies agreed to pay $ 180 million in compensation if veterans dropped all claims against them. A little over 45% of that amount is ordered to be paid by Monsanto himself. Many veterans who were victims of Agent Orange exposure were furious because the case was resolved instead of going to court, and felt they were betrayed by lawyers. "Fairness Hearings" was held in five major US cities, where veterans and their families discussed their reaction to the settlements, and condemned the actions of lawyers and courts, demanding that the case be heard before their colleagues' jury. Federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein refused the appeal, claiming the settlement was "fair and just". In 1989, the veterans' fears were confirmed when it was decided how money from the settlement would be paid. A truly disabled Vietnamese veteran will receive a maximum of $ 12,000 spread over 10 years. Furthermore, by receiving payment payments, disabled veterans will become ineligible for many state benefits that provide more monetary support than settlement, such as food stamps, public assistance, and government pensions. A Vietnamese veteran widow who died from exposure to Agent Orange will only receive $ 3700.
In 2004, Monsanto spokeswoman Jill Montgomery said Monsanto was not responsible at all for the injury or death caused by Agent Orange, saying: "We sympathize with people who believe they have been hurt and understand their concerns to find the cause, but scientifically reliable evidence suggests that Agent Orange is not a cause of serious long-term health effects. "
New Jersey Agent Orange Commission
In 1980, New Jersey created the Orange Agent Commission of New Jersey, the first state commission created to study its impact. The research project of the commission relating to Rutgers University is called "The Pointman Project". It was dissolved by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman in 1996.
During Pointman I, commission researchers found a way to determine the level of dioxin in the blood. Prior to this, such levels can only be found in adipose tissue (fat). The project studied the levels of dioxin (TCDD) in the blood and adipose tissue in a small group of Vietnamese veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange and compared it with a suitable control group; levels were found to be higher in the previous group.
The second phase of the project continues to examine and compare dioxin levels in various Vietnam veteran groups, including Navy personnel, Marines and crew members of brown seawater.
AS. Congress
In 1991, Congress enacted the Agent Orange Act, giving the Department of Veterans Affairs the authority to declare certain "alleged" conditions for exposure of the Agent Orange/dioxin, making veterans serving in Vietnam eligible to receive care and compensation for this condition. The same law requires the National Academy of Sciences to periodically review the science of dioxins and herbicides used in Vietnam to inform the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of the strength of scientific evidence showing the relationship between Agent/Dioxin Agent exposure and certain conditions. Authorities for the National Academy of Sciences review and add each new illness to the alleged list by the VA ending in 2015 under the sunset clause of the Agent Orange Act of 1991. Through this process, the list of 'alleged' conditions has grown since 1991, and currently The US Department of Veterans Affairs has listed prostate cancer, respiratory cancer, multiple myeloma, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, peripheral neuropathy, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and spina bifida in children veterans exposed to Agent Orange as a condition associated with herbicidal exposure. The list now includes B cell leukemia, such as hair-celled leukemia, Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease, the last three of which have been added on August 31, 2010. Some individuals placed extremely high in the government voiced concern about whether some of the diseases on the List should, in fact, has actually been included.
In 2011, an assessment of the long 20 years of Air Force Health Studies that began in 1982 showed that AFHS results when they were associated with Agent Orange, did not provide evidence of veterans Ranch Ranch disease. because "their increased exposure level to Agent Orange".
The VA denied the application of aircrew veterans post-Vietnam C-123 because as veterans without "shoes on the ground" service in Vietnam, they are not covered under the VA interpretation "exposed". At the request of the VA, the Institute Of Medicine evaluates whether or not the service on the C-123 plane could have soldiers who may be exposed and have harmed their health. Their report "Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in C-123 Orange-Contaminated Agent" confirms it. In June 2015 the Veterans Affairs Secretary issued an interim Interim rule that provides for alleged connection services for the post-Vietnam C-123 air crew, maintenance staff and aeromedical evacuation crew. VA now provides medical care and disability compensation for the list of recognized Orange Agent illnesses.
US-Vietnam government talks
In 2002, Vietnam and the United States held a joint conference on Human Health and the Environmental Impact of Agent Orange. After the conference, the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) initiated a scientific exchange between the US and Vietnam, and initiated discussions for a joint research project on the human health effects of Agent Orange.
This negotiation failed in 2005, when both parties were unable to approve the research protocol and the research project was canceled. More progress has been made in front of the environment. In 2005, the first US-Vietnam workshop on dioxin remediation was held.
Beginning in 2005, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began working with the Vietnamese government to measure dioxin levels at Da Nang Air Base. Also in 2005, the Joint Advisory Committee on Agent Orange, composed of representatives of Vietnamese and US government agencies, was established. The Committee has met annually to explore areas of scientific cooperation, technical assistance and environmental remediation of dioxins.
The breakthrough in the diplomatic deadlock on the issue came as a result of the state visit of US President George W. Bush to Vietnam in November 2006. In a joint statement, President Bush and President Triet agreed on "further joint efforts to tackle environmental contamination near the former storage site dioxin will make a valuable contribution to the development of their bilateral relationship. "
On 25 May 2007, President Bush signed the US Army Force Preparation, Veterans Treatment, Katrina Recovery, and Accountability Act of Iraq Accountability, 2007 into legislation for war in Iraq and Afghanistan which includes a special $ 3 million allocation for funding programs for remediation dioxin 'hotspots' in former US military bases, and for public health programs for surrounding communities; some authors consider this completely inadequate, suggesting that the US air base in Da Nang, alone, would cost $ 14 million to clean up, and that the other three are estimated to need $ 60 million for cleaning. Deprivation was renewed in fiscal 2009 and again in FY 2010. An additional $ 12 million was adjusted in fiscal year 2010 in the Additional Appropriations Act and a total of $ 18.5 million adjusted for fiscal year 2011.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared during a visit to Hanoi in October 2010 that the US government would begin work on the cleaning of dioxin contamination at Da Nang air base.
In June 2011, a ceremony was held at Da Nang airport to mark the start of US-funded dioxin decontamination in Vietnam. Thirty-two million dollars have so far been allocated by the US Congress to fund the program.
The $ 43 million project begins in the summer of 2012, as Vietnam and the United States forge closer ties to boost trade and counter China's rising influence in the disputed South China Sea.
Demand of victim class action lawsuit in US court
On January 31, 2004, the victim rights group, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the New York District of New York in Brooklyn against some US companies for liability. in causing personal injury, by developing and producing chemicals, and claiming that the use of Agent Orange violated the Hague 1907 Convention on Land Warfare, 1925 Geneva Protocol, and 1949 of the Geneva Conventions. Dow Chemical and Monsanto are two of the largest manufacturers of Agent Orange for the US military, and are named in the lawsuit, along with dozens of other companies (Diamond Shamrock, Uniroyal, Thompson Chemicals, Hercules, etc.). On March 10, 2005, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the Eastern District - who had led the class action lawsuit of 1984 US veterans - dismissed the lawsuit, which has no legal basis for plaintiff claims. He concluded that Agent Orange was not considered to be toxic under international law at the time of its use by the US; The US is not prohibited from using it as a herbicide; and the company that produces the substance is not responsible for its method of use by the government. Weinstein used the English example to help get rid of claims of people affected by Agent Orange in their lawsuit against the chemical companies that had supplied it.
The AGILE Department of Defense Agency's (AGPA) Advanced Research Agency project plays an important role in the development of US herbicides as a military weapon, an effort inspired by the use of British 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T to destroy crops grown in forests and shrubs, shrubs during the uprising in Malaya. The United States considers the British precedent in deciding that the use of defoliant is a legally accepted tactic of war. On November 24, 1961, Secretary of State Dean Rusk advised President John F. Kennedy that the use of herbicides in Vietnam would be lawful, saying that "[he] using defoliant does not violate the rules of international law concerning the behavior of chemical warfare and is an acceptable tactic of war. The precedent has been set by the British during an emergency in Malaya in the use of helicopters to destroy plants by chemical spraying. "
George Jackson stated that "if America is guilty of war crimes by using Agent Orange in Vietnam, then Britain will also be guilty of war crimes as well because they are the first countries to spread the use of herbicides and defoliants in warfare and use them on a large scale throughout Emergency Malaya - not only is there no protest by other countries in response to the use of Britain, but the US sees it as establishing a precedent for the use of herbicides and defoliants in forest wars. "The US government is also not party to the lawsuit, because immunity is sovereign, - chemical companies, as US government contractors, share the same immunity. The case was appealed and tried by the Second Circuit Court of Appeal in Manhattan on June 18, 2007. Three judges in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Weinstein's decision to dismiss the case. They decided that, although the herbicides contained dioxins (known toxins), they were not intended to be used as toxins in humans. Therefore, they are not considered as chemical weapons and thus do not violate international law. A further review of the case by all the Appeals Court panel of judges also confirms this decision. Lawyers for Vietnam petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear the case. On March 2, 2009, the Supreme Court rejected certiorari and refused to reconsider the decision of the Court of Appeal.
In a Zogby International poll of November 987 people, 79% of respondents thought that a US chemical company producing Defoliant Agent Orange should compensate US soldiers affected by toxic chemicals used during the war in Vietnam. Also, 51% say they support compensation for the victims of Agent Orange Vietnam.
Help for affected people in Vietnam
To help those who have been affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, Vietnam has established a "village of peace", each of which holds between 50 and 100 victims, providing them with medical and psychological help. In 2006, there were 11 such villages, providing social protection to less than a thousand victims. US war veterans in Vietnam and individuals who are aware and sympathetic to the effects of Agent Orange have supported these programs in Vietnam. A group of international veterans from the US and its allies during the Vietnam War working with their former enemy - a veteran of the Vietnam Veterans Association - founded the Vietnam Friendship Village outside Hanoi.
The center provides medical care, rehabilitation and vocational training for children and veterans from Vietnam who have been affected by Agent Orange. In 1998, the Vietnam Red Cross established the Orange Victims Agent Fund of Vietnam to provide direct assistance to families throughout Vietnam who have been affected. In 2003, the Orange Agent Victim Association (VAVA) was formed. In addition to filing a lawsuit against chemical companies, VAVA provides medical care, rehabilitation services and financial assistance to those harmed by Agent Orange.
The Vietnamese government provides small monthly allowances to over 200,000 Vietnamese people believed to be affected by herbicides; this amounted to $ 40.8 million in 2008 alone. The Vietnamese Red Cross has raised over $ 22 million to help the sick or disabled, and several US foundations, United Nations agencies, European governments and non-governmental organizations have given a total of approximately $ 23 million for site cleaning, reforestation, maintenance health and other services. to those in need.
Vuong Mo of Vietnam News Agency described one of the centers:
May 13, but he does not know anything, can not speak fluently, or walks casually because of his bent legs. His father is dead and he has four older brothers, all of whom are mentally retarded... Students are all disabled, backward and of various ages. Teaching them is a difficult job. They are from grade 3 but many of them find it difficult to do the reading. Only a few of them can. Their pronunciation is distorted because of their crooked lips and their memory is very short. They easily forget what they have learned... In the Village, it is quite difficult to say the exact age of the children. Some in their twenties have a physical body that is as small as 7 or 8 years old. They find it difficult to feed themselves, let alone have the mental ability or physical capacity to work. No one can resist the tears when the heads look round spinning unconsciously, bandy arms manage to push the spoon into the mouth with terrible trouble... But they still keep smiling, singing in their great innocence, in the presence of some visitors, wanting something beautiful.
On June 16, 2010, members of the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin announced a comprehensive 10-year Declaration and Action Plan to address the toxic legacy of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam. The Plan of Action was released as an Aspen Institute publication and called on the US and Vietnamese governments to join other governments, foundations, businesses and nonprofit organizations in partnership to clean up dioxin "hot spots" in Vietnam and to expand humanitarian services for people with disabilities there. On September 16, 2010, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) acknowledged the work of the Dialogue Group by releasing a statement on the floor of the United States Senate. The statement urges the US government to consider the Action Plan's recommendations in developing a multi-year action plan to address the heritage of Agent Orange/dioxin.
Use outside Vietnam
Australia
In 2008, Australian researcher Jean Williams claimed that cancer rates in the city of Innisfail, Queensland were 10 times higher than the state average because of the secret testing of Agent Orange by Australian military scientists during the Vietnam War. Williams, who has won an Australian Order medal for his research on the effects of chemicals on US war veterans, based his allegations on an Australian government report found in the Australian War Memorial archive. A former soldier, Ted Bosworth, backed the claim, saying that he had been involved in a secret test. Neither Williams nor Bosworth have produced verifiable evidence to substantiate their claims. The Queensland health department has determined that cancer rates at Innisfail are no higher than in other parts of the state.
Brazil
The Brazilian government in the late 1960s used herbicides to deforest rainforests in large parts of the Amazon forest so that Alcoa could build the Tucuru dam to run mining operations. Much of the rainforest is destroyed, along with the homes and livelihoods of thousands of rural and indigenous peoples.
Cambodia
Agent Orange was used as a defoliant in eastern Cambodia during the Vietnam War, but the impact was difficult to assess due to the chaos caused by the Khmer Rouge regime.
Canada
The US military, with permission from the Canadian government, tested herbicides, including Agent Orange, in the forest near Gagetown Canadian Force Base in New Brunswick. In 2007, the Canadian government offered a one-time ex-gratia payment of $ 20,000 in compensation for Agent Orange exposure at CFB Gagetown. On July 12, 2005, Merchant Law Group LLP on behalf of more than 1,100 veterans and Canadian civilians living in and around CFB Gagetown filed suit to pursue a class action lawsuit against Agent Orange and Purple Agents with the Federal Court of Canada. On August 4, 2009, the case was rejected by the court for lack of evidence. The verdict was filed. In 2007, the Canadian government announced that a research and fact-finding program started in 2005 had found the base secure.
On February 17, 2011, Toronto Star revealed that Agent Orange was hired to clear the vast area of ​​the Crown land in North Ontario. The Toronto Star reported that, "records from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s show forestry workers, often young pupils and policemen, spending weeks at a time when human markers hold balloons red, helium on a fishing pole while a low-flying airplane sprayed toxic herbicides including a famous chemical mix known as Agent Orange on brushes and boys below. "In response to the Toronto Star article, the provincial government of Ontario launched an investigation for the use of Agent Orange.
Guam
Analysis of chemicals present in the island's soil, together with a resolution endorsed by the Guam legislature, suggests that Agent Orange is one of the herbicides routinely used in and around the Anderson Air Force Homeland base, Naval Air Station Agana, Guam. Despite the evidence, the Department of Defense continues to deny that Agent Orange was ever stored or used in Guam. Some Guam veterans have collected a large amount of evidence to assist in their disability claims for direct exposure to dioxins containing herbicides such as 2,4,5-T which are similar to disease associations and disability coverage that have become the standard for those who are harmed by the same chemical contaminant of Agent Orange used in Vietnam.
Korean
Agent Orange was used in Korea in the late 1960s.
The local press of the United States KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Arizona, was accused (in 2011) that the US Army in 1978 had buried 250 Orange Agent drums at Camp Carroll, a US Army base in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea.
In 1999, some 20,000 South Koreans filed two separate lawsuits against US companies, seeking over $ 5 billion in damages. After losing their decision in 2002, they filed an appeal.
In January 2006, the South Korean Court of Appeal ordered Dow Chemical and Monsanto to pay $ 62 million in compensation to about 6,800 people. The verdict acknowledged that "the defendants failed to guarantee safety because defoliants produced by the defendants had higher levels of dioxin than the standard", and, citing the US National Academy of Sciences report, stated that there was a "causal relationship" between Agent Orange and various diseases, including some cancers. The judges failed to recognize "the link between chemistry and peripheral neuropathy, the most widespread disease among Agent Orange victims".
Currently, veterans who provide evidence meet VA VA requirements for services in Vietnam, and who can medically establish that at any time after these 'alleged exposures' they develop medical problems on the alleged disease list, may receive compensation from the VA. Certain veterans assigned in Korea and can prove that they are assigned to specific specifics around the DMZ for a given period of time are given the same assumption.
Laos
Some Laos were sprayed with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
New Zealand
The use of Agent Orange has been controversial in New Zealand, due to exposure to New Zealand troops in Vietnam and due to the production of Agent Orange for Vietnam and other users at the Ivon Watkins-Dow chemical plant in Paritutu, New Plymouth. There is an ongoing, unproved claim that Paritutu's periphery has also been polluted; see New Zealand in the Vietnam War. There are several cases of New Zealand soldiers developing cancer such as bone cancer but none are scientifically linked to herbicide exposure.
Philippines
The herbicide persistence study of Orange and White Agents was conducted in the Philippines.
Johnston Atoll
The operation of the US Air Force to remove Herbicide Orange from Vietnam in 1972 was named Operation Pacer IVY, while the operation to destroy Agent Orange kept at Johnston Atoll in 1977 was named Operation Pacer HO. Operation Pacer IVY (InVentorY) collected Agent Orange in South Vietnam and abolished it in 1972 on board the MVÃ, Transpacific ship for storage at Johnston Atoll. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that 6,800,000 L (1,800,000 US) of Herbicide Orange is stored on Johnston Island in the Pacific and 1,800,000 L (480,000 US in Gulfport, Mississippi).
Research and research began to find a safe method for destroying materials and found they could be burned safely under special conditions of temperature and residence time. However, this herbicide is expensive and the Air Force wants to resell its surplus instead of throwing it at sea. Among the many tested methods, it is possible to save herbicides by reprocessing and filtering out contaminants 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) with charcoaled coconut fibers. The concept was then tested in 1976 and a pilot plant built in Gulfport.
From July to September 1977 during Operation Pacer HO (Herbicide Orange), all of the Agent Orange supplies from both Herbicide Orange storage sites in Gulfport and Johnston Atoll were later burned in four separate burns around Johnson Island over the Dutch mine waste incinerator MTÃ, i> Vulcanus .
In 2004, some of Agent Orange's recordings and dispositions at Johnston Atoll have been linked to Red Hat Operations history.
Okinawa, Japan
There have been dozens of reports in the media about the military-formulated use of herbicides and storage in Okinawa based on statements by former US service members stationed on the island, photos, government records, and barrels of undiscovered storage. The US Department of Defense (DoD) has denied these allegations with statements by military officials and spokespeople, as well as a January 2013 report written by Drs. Alvin Young was released in April 2013.
In particular, the 2013 report refuted the article written by journalist Jon Mitchell as well as a statement from the "The Ecological Assessment of Johnston Atoll" a 2003 publication produced by the US Army Materials Agency that states, "in 1972, the US Air Force also brought about 25,000 drum 200L chemicals, Herbicide Orange (HO) to Johnston Island originating from Vietnam and stored in Okinawa. "The 2013 report states:" The report authors [2003] are not DoD employees, or they may be familiar with issues surrounding Orange Herbicide or transportation history actually to the Island. " and detailed the transport phase and route Agent Orange from Vietnam to Johnston Atoll, none of which included Okinawa.
Further official confirmations of restricted herbicide storage (dioxin containing) in Okinawa appear in the Fort Detrick 1971 report entitled "Historical, Logistic, Political and Technical Aspects of the Herbicide/Defoliant Program", which states that environmental statements should consider "Stock herbicides elsewhere. " in PACOM (Pacific Command) The US government restricts Thai and Okinawan materials (Kadena AFB). "The DoD 2013 report says that the urgent environmental statement by the 1971 report was published in 1974 as the" Air Force Environment Ending Environment Statement ", and that the latter did not find Agent Orange held in Thailand or Okinawa.
Thai
Agent Orange was tested by the United States in Thailand during the war in Southeast Asia. The buried drums have been found and confirmed to be Agent Orange in 1999. The workers who discovered the drums got sick while raising the airport near Hua Hin District, 100 km south of Bangkok.
Vietnam-era veterans whose services are engaged in duties or near the border of a military base in Thailand anytime between February 28, 1961 and May 7, 1975, may have been exposed to herbicides and may be eligible for VA benefits.
An unreported Department of Defense report written in 1973 indicates that there is significant use of herbicides at fenced military bases in Thailand to remove leaves that provide protection for enemy forces.
In 2013, VA determined that the herbicides used in the Thai base base may be tactical and obtained from Vietnam, or a strong commercial type resembling tactical herbicides.
United States
The University of Hawaii has admitted extensive testing of Agent Orange on behalf of the US Department of Defense in Hawaii along with a mixture of Agent Orange on Kaua'i Island in 1967-68 and on the Island of Hawaii in 1966; testing and storage at other US locations has been documented by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
In 1971, the C-123 aircraft used to spray Agent Orange was returned to the United States and commissioned various East Coast USAF Reserve squadrons, and then used in the traditional airfreight mission between 1972 and 1982. In 1994, testing by the Air Force identified some former spray planes as "highly contaminated" with dioxin residues. An investigation by veteran aircraft in 2011 brought a decision by the US Department of Veterans Affairs which argued that not enough residual dioxin was left to injure these post-Vietnam War veterans. On January 26, 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Substance for the US Centers for Disease Control challenged this with their findings that the former spray plane was contaminated and aircrews exposed to dangerous levels of dioxin. In response to veterans' concerns, VA in February 2014 referred to the C-123 issue to the Institute of Medicine for a special study, with results released on January 9, 2015.
In 1978, the US Environmental Protection Agency delayed spraying Agent Orange in the National Forest.
The December 2006 Department of Defense report lists the Test, Storage and Depository of Agent Orange in 32 locations across the United States, as well as Canada, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Korea and the Pacific Ocean. The Veterans Administration also acknowledged that Agent Orange was used domestically by US forces at test sites across the United States. Eglin Air Force Base in Florida was one of the premier testing sites of the 1960s.
Cleanup program
In February 2012, Monsanto agreed to settle a case involving Dioxin contamination around a plant in Nitro, West Virginia, which has produced Agent Orange. Monsanto agreed to pay up to $ 9 million for cleaning of affected homes, $ 84 million for medical monitoring of affected people, and legal costs of the community.
On August 9, 2012, the United States and Vietnam started the cleaning of toxic chemicals cooperatives in part of Danang International Airport, marking the first time Washington had been involved in Cleaning Agent Orange in Vietnam. Danang is the main storage area of ​​the chemical. Two other cleaning sites that the United States and Vietnam see are BiÃÆ'ªn HÃÆ'²a, in the southern province of ng Nai - a "hotspot" for dioxins - and PhÃÆ'¹ CÃÆ'¡t airport in the central province of BÃÆ''nh? ? nh, said US Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear. According to the Vietnamese newspaper, the US government is providing $ 41 million for the project, which will reduce pollution levels in 73,000 cubic meters of land by the end of 2016. Approximately 45,000 cubic meters is " cleaned up ", the same amount starting in October 2016 is scheduled for completion by mid-2017.
Due to the fact that the damage requires high temperatures (more than 1000 Â ° C), the destruction process is energy intensive.
See also
- The environmental impact of the war
- Rainbow herbicide
- Scorched Earth
- Teratology
- US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin
- Vietnamese Syndrome
References
Bibliography
Further reading
Books
Government/Nongovernmental Report
- "Agent Orange in Vietnam: Recent Developments in Remediation: Testimony of Mrs. Tran Thi Hoan", Subcommittee on Asia, Pacific and the Global Environment , US House of Representatives, Committee Abroad. July 15, 2010
- "Agent Orange in Vietnam: Recent Developments in Remediation: Testimony of Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong", Subcommittee on Asia, Pacific and the Global Environment , US House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee. July 15, 2010
- Agent Orange Policy, American Public Health Association , 2007
- "Dioxin health risk assessment", World Health Organization/International Program on Chemical Security, 1998
- Hand Farm Operations: Herbicides In Southeast Asia The History of Hand Farm Operations, 1983
- "Contamination of Orange Dioxin Agents in the Environment and Food Chain at Main Hotspots in Viet Nam" Boivin, TG, et al. , 2011
News
- Fawthrop, Tom; Agent of misery, Guardian , February 10, 2008
- Cox, Paul; "The Legacy of Agent Orange is a Sustainable Focus of VVAW", Veteran , Vietnam Veterans Against War, Volume 38, No. 2, Autumn 2008.
- Barlett, Donald P. and Steele, James B.; "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear", Vanity Fair May 2008
- Hurry, Ben "The Boneyard" Orion Magazine , March/April 2008
- Cheng, Eva; "Victims of Orange Agent Vietnam call for solidarity", Green Left Weekly , 28 September 2005
- Children and Vietnam War 30-40 years after the use of Agent Orange
- Tokar, Brian; "Monsanto: A Checked History", Z Magazine , March 1999
Video
- Agent Orange: The Last Battle . Dir. Stephanie Jobe, Adam Scholl. DVD. 2005
- "HADES" Dir. Caroline Delerue, Screenplay Mauro Bellanova 2011
Photojournalism photo
- CNN
- Al Jazeera America
External links
- US. Environmental Protection Agency - Dioxin Website
- Agent Orange Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards , US Department of Veterans Affairs
- Report from the National Birth Defect Registry - Birth Defect in Vietnam Veterans' Children
- "Ecological Assessment of Johnston Atoll"
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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