Agent Orange’s continued effects on Vietnam
One of the most devastating military conflicts since the Second World War was the US invasion of Vietnam. It is estimated that 3.5 million Vietnamese were slaughtered during a war in which 72 million liters of toxic chemical weapons were dumped on Vietnam, destroying 40% of South Vietnam’s forests and causing birth defects, cancer, and other health problems. Approximately 1/3 of South Vietnam’s population became internal refugees. The amount of munitions exploded in Vietnam was twice the number exploded by all sides during the Second World War. The US prevented a democratic election from taking place in South Vietnam, for fear that the communists would take over nonviolently, and instead installed a puppet with a poor human rights record.
The US’ war in South East Asia was also extended into Laos and Cambodia, where intense bombing campaigns attempted to destroy communist strongholds in these countries. The US bombing campaign of Cambodia set the stage for the rise of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, who killed an estimated 1.7 million people in a campaign of auto-genocide. The US government, who saw the Khmer Rouge as a useful Cold War ally, as he was anti-Soviet and was waging a war against the Vietnamese communists, was complicit with the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge was driven out of power not by the US, but by the North Vietnamese.
The US’ imperialist war in Indochina is one of the most heinous military campaigns in US history. The US has never paid any sort of reparations to the people of Vietnam, and in fact, actually demanded that the North Vietnamese pay the debt owed to the US by the South Vietnamese, in effect forcing the victims of an atrocious war to pay for their own extermination. The people of Vietnam still live with the after effects of the war, dealing with land mines and chemicals as well as a devastated economy with a Gross National Income per capita of $480, thanks in large part to the destruction of Vietnam’s infrastructure and the poverty caused by the invasion. As a way to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the American puppet in Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, I believe the American government has a moral obligation to the people of Indochina, whose lives were destroyed by a vicious war for domination. While the crimes committed during the Vietnam War have already had devastating and irreversible effects on millions of lives, it is still possible to help the people of Indochina who still suffer as a consequence of the invasion. Please, consider drawing up a bill in Congress to help the victims of the ugliest war in US history by giving reparations directly to the people of Indochina. Quality of life can be raised in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos through aid for health, food, and education.
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The U.S. has helped rebuild countries like Germany and given reparations to Japanese for being interned in internment camps during World War II, but nothing has been done for the Vietnamese, Cambodia, and Laos. These countries still suffer from the remnants left by the Vietnam War such as un-exploded bomblets from cluster bombs, chemicals such as agent orange, and rebuilding their country such as cities, towns, and roads. These effects have been profound agent orange was so strong that U.S. soldiers that were in Vietnam have health problems from it, this has had a much more deleterious effect to the Vietnamese though with their prolonged exposure, and continued exposure. The Vietnam War didn't accomplish any of the concerns it was suppose to, and just made everything much worse. Not to mention that cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, where nothing is sacred and pieces of temples that go back to the Khymer Empire are sold on the black market in Thailand.
It is estimated that 3.5 million Vietnamese were slaughtered during a war in which 72 million liters of toxic chemical weapons were dumped on Vietnam, destroying 40% of South Vietnam’s forests and causing birth defects, cancer, and other health problems. Approximately 1/3 of South Vietnam’s population became internal refugees. The amount of munitions exploded in Vietnam was twice the number exploded by all sides during the Second World War. The US prevented a democratic election from taking place in South Vietnam, for fear that the communists would take over nonviolently, and instead installed a puppet Diem with a poor human rights record.
The US has never paid any sort of reparations to the people of Vietnam, and in fact, actually demanded that the North Vietnamese pay the debt owed to the US by the South Vietnamese, in effect forcing the victims of an atrocious war to pay for their own extermination. The people of Vietnam still live with the after effects of the war, dealing with land mines and chemicals as well as a devastated economy with a Gross National Income per capita of $480, thanks in large part to the destruction of Vietnam’s infrastructure and the poverty caused by the invasion. As a way to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the American puppet in Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, I believe the American government has a moral obligation to the people of Indochina, whose lives were destroyed by a vicious war for domination. While the crimes committed during the Vietnam War have already had devastating and irreversible effects on millions of lives, it is still possible to help the people of Indochina who still suffer as a consequence of the invasion. Please, consider drawing up a bill in Congress to help the victims of the ugliest war in US history by giving reparations directly to the people of Indochina. All I can think of when I think of Vietnam is one of the worst tragedies that U.S. has been responsible for, around 2 million Vietnamese civilians died and 1,100,000 Vietnamese soldiers died, and 58,226 U.S. soldiers died. At least 600,000 Cambodians died from U.S. bombing, and Laos suffered casualties from U.S. bombing as well. Then seeing pictures of massacres and birth defects from agent orange, has moved me to tears at times. Quality of life can be raised in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos through aid for health, food, and education.
Rafi
Comment by — 2005/05/27 @ 10:31 PM — (Reply)
Whoops I didn't mean to put that message there, but that is the message I sent a representative, taking your great writing and putting it in there.
-Rafi
Comment by — 2005/05/27 @ 10:35 PM — (Reply)