Agent Orange and Biden’s hypocrisy

“For all their sacrifices, the American soldiers were almost irrelevant.” – Frances Fitzgerald Fire in the Lake

Years ago, I had read somewhere that a war does not really end when the last soldier leaves the battlefield and goes home. The aftermath of destruction that a war leaves behind can be a monumental task to undertake in order to rebuild a nation and its morale. Each war ends with terrible costs to both the winners and the losers. There can never be any lasting happiness about the effects of war. After fighting in Vietnam from the 1960s to 1975 and with the fall of Saigon, the U.S. forces withdrew from South Vietnam.

Joe Biden, along with many other past presidents becomes very insensitive when it comes to facing the lasting effects of the war in causing permanent damage to the human body. I am referring to his insensitiveness toward the veterans and the people of Vietnam who were exposed to Agent Orange during more than a decade-long war.

Biden’s comments on August 10, 2023 while addressing a group of veterans and their families marking the first anniversary of PACT Act did not have a profound impact on me. A year later, it infuriates me even more because of the deceitful tone. Biden met the vets a year ago when he was in control of his speech and deemed mentally fit as the Commander-in-Chief. Therefore, in his remarks not mentioning “Dioxin” in Agent Orange was intentional. These herbicides came in huge drums with orange stripes — hence the name.

“The PACT Act is one of the most significant laws ever signed to help veterans exposed to toxic materials,” the President said. He also added, “We have many obligations as a nation. We only have one truly sacred obligation, and that is to equip those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they come home — and when they do not.” Mind you, this president is no different than many of his predecessors when it comes to Agent Orange. They are afraid, or rather allergic to the term. They go around it and sometimes philosophize rather than admitting that Dioxin in Agent Orange is a very harmful component and was detrimental to the health of the soldiers and to the people of Vietnam. When someone is exposed to it, the human body has no defense against this toxic element.

From 1962 onward, Agent Orange was spread over the foliage in the provinces of Vietnam for miles around for better aerial viewing during bombing. (The Truong Son forest comes to mind.) The herbicides were used to remove dense jungle covers, to destroy crops and clear vegetation from the nearby areas of the US bases– in order to prevent the Viet Cong guerrillas to go for cover. The spraying was done systematically from 1962 – 1971. “Dioxin is a dangerous and powerful hormone disrupting chemical. By binding to a cell’s hormone receptor, it literally modifies the functioning and genetic mechanism of the cell, causing a wide range of effects, from cancer to reduce immunity to nervous system disorders to miscarriages and birth deformity.”

In the post-war Vietnam, it is in the interest of both Vietnam and the USA that the latter does not deny that Agent Orange was used during the war. The facts are all documented for the world to see. American historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. wrote: “If Americans read only one book to understand what we have done to the Vietnamese and to ourselves, let it be this one,” in reference to Fire in the Lake authored byFrances Fitzgerald, a Radcliffe graduate, an American non-fiction writer and a Pulitzer Prize winner. This was her first book.

“The U.S. argues that Agent Orange is a tactical defoliant, not a chemical weapon, which is legally defined as any toxic chemical intended to inflict death or harm. However, the fact remains that Agent Orange contains one of the most toxic chemicals known to man: dioxin, which is linked to cancers, diabetes, disabilities, and other health problems. The Vietnam Red Cross estimates that 3 million Vietnamese, including 150,000 children, have been harmed by dioxin,” according to a recent article. 

“Thus, understandably, the insinuation that the U.S. has no track record of chemical weapons use was perceived as a brazen falsehood by many Vietnamese netizens,” in reference to a Facebook post by a Vietnamese citizen who had garnered many views and likes. Some others are questioning if these netizens are correct in assuming Agent Orange as a chemical weapon.

We can look at another example of U.S. denial of using “chemical weapons” during war time. In March, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi posted on its verified Facebook page its reaction to the Russian allegation that America was secretly developing chemical weapons in Ukraine. The post said, “Russia, not the United States, has a long and well-documented track of using chemical weapons.”Since the FB post, many blasted the U.S. for its hypocrisy, recalling the U.S. Army’s deployment of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.One user sarcastically wrote that the U.S. did not use a chemical weapon in Vietnam but instead “an ‘American product’ that caused birth defects and disabilities in Vietnamese people.”

One Dr. Alvin Young is an all too familiar example of greedy, dishonest professionals in the service of the US Government (Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and Defense in this case), Chemical companies (Monsanto, and Dow Chemical) and others. Dr. Young, an “expert” on herbicides has no known expertise (as per Dr. Birnbaum, former Director of NIEHS) to talk about human health effects of carcinogens such as dioxin. Records show, “Alvin Young has repeatedly obfuscated, evaded, and often lied about the carcinogenic effects of dioxin.”

On the other hand, “Vietnamese are not alone in construing the use of Agent Orange as chemical warfare. In 1967, around 5,000 American scientists, including 17 Nobel laureates, signed a petition condemning the use of ‘chemical and biological weapons’ in Vietnam. In 1969, the United Nations ratified a resolution to outlaw herbicides under the 1925 Geneva Convention. A year later, Professor Arthur Galston of Yale University coined the term ‘ecocide’ to describe the destructive effects of the American defoliation campaign on the ecology and potentially human health in Vietnam. Galston’s concept captured the fact that willful harm done to the environment would eventually lead to human suffering.” The use of Agent Orange ended in 1971 after it had caused monumental damage.

For many years since America left Vietnam, it did not acknowledge the effects of harmful Agent Orange. In 2004, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin filed a class action lawsuit against the producers of Agent Orange. The plaintiffs in the case had asked for compensation for the victims, and blamed America for “violating customary international laws, including the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1907 Hague Convention.”

When the judge presiding over the case ordered a probe, the Department of Justice submitted a Statement of Interest. “The statement argued that prior to 1975, the U.S. had not approved the 1925 Geneva Protocol and therefore was not bound by the treaty and that the 1907 Hague Convention only banned toxic chemicals, not defoliants. The court later dismissed the case after deeming that the defendants violated no domestic or international laws.”

In the legal battle, the USA may have scored a point when it was ruled by the Justice Department that Agent Orange was not a chemical weapon, but a tactical one.

The subsequent stories paint a different scenario about the adverse effect of Agent Orange on human health on both sides. Till date health issues including cancer, birth defects, and skin diseases continue. The damage from the spraying of the chemical had an enormous effect on the environment as well. Joe Biden trying to undermine the damage or worse sugarcoating it by showing false “empathy” for the veterans is not only insensitive but also hypocritical at the highest level.

*America had spent $165 billion dollars to finance the Vietnam War. The casualties on both ends were colossal. On the US side, 58,000 had died. On the Vietnamese side including civilians– over 2 million people had perished.

July 22, 2008, had marked the 15 year period of US/Vietnam diplomatic ties. It was estimated that Agent Orange cleanup will cost $300 million more. At the time, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was on an Asian tour. The last stop for Clinton was Hanoi. There, in a joint statement with the then Vietnamese foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, she had addressed the impact of Agent Orange component—the dioxin during the Vietnam War. As part of US/Vietnam dialogue group, and as an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, Clinton had expressed her support in endorsing $300 million – a 10 year plan was to be developed by the Aspen Institute for the clean-up of ‘hot spots’ in Vietnam. In a press conference Clinton said, “We have been working with Vietnam for about nine years, to try to remedy the effects of Agent Orange. I will work to increase our operation and making even greater progress together.”

This issue has been a lingering source of bitterness between the two countries even after they had established normal relationship. Vietnam demands that US must pay compensation because of the damage dioxin had caused.

The airport in Bien Hoa near Ho Chi Minch city was the most contaminated. It has been reported that even to this day, one has to wear waterproof disposable shoes when they land at the airport. The two other U.S. army bases that are referred as ‘hot spots’ are Da Nang and Phu Cat, with exceedingly elevated levels of dioxin contamination. Da Nang is a major port city and people who go there say that there is still a lingering smell of the chemical. Da Nang airport was a major US base and a supply depot. Not less than a hundred yards away from this danger zone, people are living and children playing.

Known as Operation Ranch Hand–the members of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps sprayed Agent Orange from the airplanes, and helicopters. Even boats were used in some areas and the soldiers sprayed it with backpack sprayers that were especially designed to conduct this horrendous task at significant risk to their own health. The elite members of the Special Forces were also called in to clear some of the dense forest foliage. A Red Cross report said on its website “about three million people are victims of Agent Orange, including some 150,000 children with genetic defects.” The samples that were collected from soil, sediment, food, and human blood for a study showed elevated concentrations of harmful chemicals at much higher than the normal limit.

During the Vietnam War, about a third of their land was also sprayed with dioxin. During war, health risks were not a major concern. The drug manufacturing agencies conducted tests on lab animals, and they also claimed on humans—and assured military of its safety. Some years after the war ended, members of the army who had returned started to show symptoms. They became the victims of dioxin spraying. People had to inhale that unsafe chemical through breathing, contaminated food, and water. A lot of them absorbed the chemical through the pours of their skin.

Apart from the Vietnamese people— for decades other neighboring countries have been raising concerns about health related issues. They want the clean-up to be done as soon as possible as Agent Orange was stored in other countries as well. Other than the Vietnamese people, thousands of military families in the US are still suffering the aftermath of Agent Orange. During the Vietnam War Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Chief of Naval Operations had accepted without a shadow of a doubt the drug manufacturers’ assurance as Agent Orange to be safe to be used by the army. His son had also served in Vietnam. He became ill at age 42 and died. His own grandson was born with birth defects. In his own words, “I cannot prove in court, that Agent Orange is the cause of all medical problems….disorders, cancer….reported by Vietnam Veterans—or of their children’s severe birth defects. But I am convinced that it is.”

For four years, Joe Biden with his duplicity continued to deny any harm done to the veterans about what really happened during the Vietnam War. He is almost out the door. It is not my job to grade him or his presidency. That is the job of the historians and the entire American public as to how he is remembered. The war in Vietnam is part of America’s history now.

There is an upcoming election in November. America is ready for a president who is honest to the veterans. The new person should have the integrity and courage to own up to America’s past mistakes. That future president should not be making excuses for her/his predecessors about America’s unwanted role in countless wars around the world. I feel that if that new president can allow the US to be held accountable and be honest with the rest of the world then the possibility of a global unity could work.

The world is in too much pain right now mainly because of America’s interference. My prayer is for a new world leader to emerge in November who has charisma, resilience, empathy, and openness. Only then the healing can begin. I know it is a very tall order. My brain at times can be too optimistic for its own good. But optimism should not be considered as “fool’s hope.” Optimism does not have to be foolish and unrealistic. Anything is possible.

An external view of the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Credit: Depositphotos

Acknowledgement: My life partner (a theoretical nuclear physicist) helped me to understand some of the technical terms and chemical properties of Agent Orange.

Zeenat Khan writes from Maryland, USA