Argentine media highlights consequences of AO/dioxin in Vietnam
The consequences of Agent Orange(AO) /dioxin, sprayed by US troops during the war in Vietnam, were highlighted in an article on the website ArgenPress of Argentina on September 4.
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The article said that a H-34 helicopter of the US Air Force on August 10, 1961 dispersed herbicides over forests in Vietnam, beginning the large-scale defoliation programme codenamed “Operation Ranch Hand”, which used chemicals, including AO / dioxin .
Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Thompson Chemical and Thompson Hayward were some of the 50 US enterprises that produced the chemicals, Rivodo wrote.
From 1961-1971, US troops sprayed more than 80 million litres of herbicides - 44 million litres of which were AO, containing nearly 370 kilograms of dioxin - over southern Vietnam.
About 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to the toxic chemical. Many of the victims died, while millions of their descendants are living with deformities and diseases as a result of the chemicals.
Not only Vietnamese but people from many countries also became victims of the chemical, which also polluted the environment, Rivodo stressed.
He described it as a crime against humanity.
Over the last four decades, Vietnamese people have fought for justice for AO/dioxin victims.
On January 30, 2004, Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims filed a lawsuit against 37 US chemical firms for producing chemical toxins sprayed by the US army in the war in Vietnam. However, a court in New York rejected the lawsuit due to a lack of evidence.
Vietnam has called for support from the international community in the country’s fight for justice and against the use of mass-killing weapons, Rivodo wrote.
