The article on the website ArgenPress of Argentina Buenos Aires (VNA) – 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.
The article, written by Carlos Rivodo, accused US troops of using destructive chemical weapons in Vietnam.
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.-VNA
