Exempted Crimes Against Humanity: The US’s Agent Orange

Camille
Aug 9, 2021
3 min read

The Vietnam War ended nearly 46 years ago but its poison still steeps into the soil of Vietnam and circulates in the blood of its people. It’s time to hold those responsible for Agent Orange accountable for their crimes against millions of Vietnamese men, women and children - regardless of whether they knew of the consequences.

What is Agent Orange?

Agent Orange was a tactical herbicide used by the US military during the Vietnam War to eliminate forests and vegetation for military operations against the North Vietnameses and the Vietcongs. The US operation, codenamed Operation Ranch Hand, sprayed the herbicides across more than 4.5 millions of acres of land.

An American aircraft sprays the potent chemical, known as Agent Orange, over the dense Vietnamese jungle.

The operation was signed by president George W.Bush, the manufacturers of Agent Orange were Monsanto and Dow Chemicals alongside other companies and, as of right now, its victims count 4 million vietnameses people and 39,419 U.S veterans.

A child with a spinal defect resting at an orphanage where many children are affected with Agent Orange in Danang (Credit : Sean Kimmons)

The Effects

The dioxin contained in the herbicide is highly persistent, lasting for many years in the environnement. To this day many areas in Vietnam contain soil, bodies of water, food chain, plants and animals infected with the dioxin.

A Vietnamese soldier stands guard in front of military aircraft near a dioxin-contaminated area at Bien Hoa airbase, where the US army stored the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Credit: Kham/Reuters

Those with short-term exposure to the dioxins have reported to have developed diseases such as diabetes and muscular dysfunction. Its most notable effect is its generational curse, the birth defects developed through multiple generations of the victims.

Nguyen Huu Chau and his wife in Quang Nam Province, 6 of his children are affected by Agent Orange as seen in the picture (Source: VNA)

Help for The Victims

US veterans who have been exposed to the herbicide are given healthcare benefits and cash payments. Vietnamese victims and their children also receive payments given by the Vietnamese government at the end of each month if they could prove that they were exposed to and affected by the herbicide. It’s also important to know that children with Agent Orange are highly stigmatized in Vietnam, many were abandoned after their birth, making their situation even more difficult to live through.

A little boy cries out after suffering the effects of Agent Orange, which would eventually kill him (Source : Francis Wade/REX/The Daily Mail)

The Legal Battle

The corporations behind the chemicals have not been held accountable for the consequences of their actions. Veterans affected by the herbicide have fought long and difficult legal battles for compensations from Monsanto and Dow Chemicals, but none of the reparations have gone to Vietnamese families affected by Agent Orange.

US veterans campaigning for victims of Agent Orange (Source: VietnamFriendship)

There have been multiple lawsuits against the companies by Vietnamese doctors, researchers and victims demanding compensation for Vietnamese victims but all of them have been dismissed. Recently, a viet-french journalist, Tran To Nga had campaigned and launched a lawsuit against the corporations behind the herbicide, the case was again dismissed.

A protest led by Tran To Nga against corporations responsible for Agent Orange, January 2021 (Credits: Duc Truong)

Agent Orange : Crime Against Humanity?

Although the operation has not been recognized as either a war crime or a crime against humanity, it is widely accepted by those affected by the dioxin that it was. Those behind the operation argued that they couldn't foresee the consequences on US veterans - ignoring the Vietnameses who were the targets of the operation.

“When we initiated the herbicide program in the 1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin contamination in the herbicide. However, because the material was to be used on the enemy, none of us were overly concerned. We never considered a scenario in which our own personnel would become contaminated with the herbicide.”

-Dr. James Clary, an Air Force researcher associated with Operation Ranch Hand

Le Van O., a 14-year-old boy who was born without eyes because of the effects of Agent Orange. Photo taken in Hanoi, Vietnam. March 28, 2006. (Credits: HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images)

Their negligence and ignorance of the consequences, even if unintentional, have caused devastation to Vietnamese environnements and multiple generations of vietnamese people. It’s been around 4-5 generations after the war and children are still being born with birth defects. The war lives on in the children of the victims.

“Agent Orange was intentionally directed against the Vietnamese people, they are subject to the most onerous conditions. 4.8 million Vietnamese people directly sprayed repeatedly over extended periods of time were subject to multiple sources of exposure. [...] Agent Orange not only harmed human beings and devastated the environment of Vietnam during the war but also continued its devastation after the war.”

-Appeal of the Second International Conference of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin