The US military used chemical weapons extensively against the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was one of the poisonous compounds utilized, and it had terrible adverse effects on humans.
Even today, people are still affected by the attacks using Agent Orange. Severe abnormalities are present in many poisonous substances’ victims’ offspring.
Agent Orange dispersed carelessly
The American company Monsanto resisted acknowledging its part in the chemical strikes on Vietnamese people for 40 years after the Vietnam War.
Monsanto produced Agent Orange for the US military, and now the Vietnamese government is asking that the company compensate victims.
This chemical brings on numerous genetic disorders and diseases that plague Vietnamese people. The third generation also experiences the devastation caused by chemical assaults.
During the Vietnam War, the US and South Vietnamese air forces distributed the toxic material from aircraft and helicopters.
The intention was to “destroy forested regions and contaminate the Viet Cong’s crops.” As a result, the Viet Cong (North Vietnamese) fighters would have starved to death.
The idea was successful, but the results were terrible. Agent Orange razed hundreds of thousands of hectares of woodland and fertile land between 1961 and 1971.
Seriously impacted civilians
Despite being intended for the farmland that supplied the Viet Cong military, the material also ruined many innocent villagers’ food sources. The population was essentially doomed to hunger.
Nearly four million citizens exposed to Agent Orange experienced significant health issues in addition to famine.
The producers claimed that Agent Orange was only intended to injure plants, not people. Of course, it didn’t work out at all like that.
During this chemical war, children were born in Vietnam with terrible anomalies, including some with additional limbs and fingers, others without eyes, and some with physical and mental problems.
The American case serves as a helpful precedent
Vietnam recently requested Monsanto pay victims born with physical and emotional issues due to this terrible weapon.
The Independent newspaper reports that the Vietnamese government decided to seek compensation after a court ordered Monsanto to compensate an American.
DeWayne Johnson was awarded $289 million by the business this year as compensation after being exposed to Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide and developing cancer.
Nguyen Phuong Tra, a spokesman for the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, linked DeWayne Johnson’s situation to the harm the Monsanto corporation did during the conflict.
According to Nguyen Phuong Tra, “This decision sets a precedent that nullifies prior agreements that stated herbicides provided to the US military by Monsanto and other firms during the Vietnam War were not dangerous to health.”
The Vietnamese minister continued, “The Monsanto firm should be held liable to recompense the victims of Agent Orange.”
Pass the hot potato to the US government
Vietnam has previously requested payment in retaliation for the Agent Orange attacks.
Monsanto and some other American chemical corporations made a deal with the Vietnamese government in 1984, claims VN Express.
The corporations were required to pay $180 million over twelve years as part of the settlement. These compensations helped 291,000 Vietnamese people.
According to The Independent, Monsanto responded to the suggestion that the company should accept responsibility for the Agent Orange assaults.
The location, timing, and method of application of Agent Orange were all determined by the government, which also issued the manufacturing guidelines.
A Monsanto representative said that the government manufactured and utilized Agent Orange.
Even though it has been more than 40 years since the US employed Agent Orange, the discussion about who is responsible for any financial recompense is still in its early stages.
