April 08, 1999
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| April 08, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia Agent Orange score far from settled By Sergei Blagov MOSCOW - Sooner or later, the U.S. military could face hugecompensation claims from the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange,the wartime defoliant it sprayed on that nationdecades ago. A national investigation into the effects of Agent Orange isunderway in Vietnam, ordered by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. A survey of Vietnamese combatants and civilians exposed tochemicals used by the U.S. military, carried out by Vietnam'sministry of labor, war invalids and social affairs, has causedspeculation that Hanoi is preparing to lodge an eventual compensationclaim. Though the matter of compensation has not formally been raised,the differences of opinion on the effects of Agent Orangecontinue, and attribution of responsibility remains elusive. Just this month, U.S. military researchers insisted again thatexposure to high levels of dioxins, the toxic compounds found inAgent Orange, did not raise long-term cancer risks. No ''significant increase'' in cancer risk among veteransexposed to dioxin was found, concluded Dr. Joel Michalek and theteam at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Brooks Air ForceBase, Texas. In their study, published in the April issue of the AmericanJournal of Epidemiology, the researchers examined cancer rates ofmore than 2,000 veterans exposed to dioxin during the Vietnam War30 years ago. But Vietnamese and some Russian researchers disagree. ''Anybody living for a decade in those areas in Vietnam whereAgent Orange was sprayed, is destined to lose some 18 months of lifetime due to variety of diseases,'' according to VladimirRumak, director of the Tropical Research Center. In fact, he says, the lifespans of affected people are likely tobe some 10 years shorter than average, because the consequencesof Agent Orange spraying can be associated with many diseases andreproductive abnormalities. The Russo-Vietnamese Tropical Research Center, based in Hanoi,has studied the long-term effects of Agent Orange spraying inVietnam since 1988. In 1961, U.S. President John Kennedy ordered the use ofdefoliants to deny communist forces food supplies and routes intoSouth Vietnam. For the next 10 years, herbicides were widelysprayed throughout the countryside below the 17th parallel. Under Operation Ranch Hand, the U.S. Army sprayed some 72million liters of herbicides. Agent Orange was the herbicide used in greatest volume. Anestimated 170 kilograms of dioxin were sprayed over 10 percentof South Vietnam's territory. More than 2 million hectares ofinland mangrove forest and agricultural land were affected by thespraying, Vietnamese experts indicate. But it was only in October 1980 that Vietnam created anational committee for investigation of the consequences of thechemicals used during the Vietnam War. Hoang Dinh Cau, head of what is commonly called the ''10-80Committee'', has said Vietnam will need at least a century toovercome the consequences of Agent Orange spraying. The committee's studies have shown high rates of reproductiveabnormalities, such as miscarriages, premature and still births,in the sprayed areas. An extended survey of the health of war veterans discovered a variety of dioxin-related diseases, includingcancer, Le Thai Hang of the 10-80 Committee has reported. Researchers have also reported increased rates of liver cancerand soft tissue sarcoma in those exposed to toxic chemicals duringwartime, both Vietnamese and Russian experts say. In 1990, a panel of independent American scientists workingwith veterans' groups released research results concluding thatAgent Orange can be associated with at least eight diseasecategories, including soft tissue cancer. Originally, the U.S. Congress tended to accept uncritically themilitary's claims that no harm was done by herbicide exposure. Butas the toll of dying veterans mounted, most members of Congresshave become more skeptical of such claims. Since 1990, Vietnam veterans with non-Hodgkin lymphoma startedgetting compensation from the U.S. government. Other conditions werelater added to the list of those eligible for benefits. Vietnam says as many as 2 million people were exposed to thetoxic chemicals. It claims up to 50,000 deformed children havebeen born to parents exposed to the chemicals. Hanoi has never formally requested compensation from the U.S.,but the issue of reparations was discussed between then CommunistParty general secretary Do Muoi and visiting U.S. Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright in June 1997. Likewise, the question of compensation to civilian victims inVietnam has yet to be raised, mostly due to the enormous scale ofthe problem. But for Vietnamese officials, an accounting of thelegacy of the wartime spraying is needed. If it ever comes to pass, the compensation and related health-care expenditures may amount to billions of dollars, but for nowformal negotiations - let alone a resolution - are a long wayoff. (Inter Press Service) | |||||||||
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