"Last ghost" of Vietnam war probed
HANOI - U.S. and Vietnamese government
scientists and international experts have met to discuss
effects of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange, called the "last
significant ghost" of the Vietnam War by the U.S.
ambassador.
The three-day meeting in Hanoi looks at what is known about
Agent Orange and its major contaminants -- highly poisonous
dioxins -- and consider future research needs.
The issue is a tricky one for the United States, which has
faced compensation demands from both Hanoi and U.S.
veterans for exposure to toxic defoliants, sprayed to deny
communist soldiers jungle cover during the Vietnam War
which ended in 1975.
U.S. forces dumped millions of gallons of defoliants on
Vietnam from 1962 to 1971. Spraying was halted after it was
discovered that Agent Orange, which contained the most
dangerous form of dioxin TCDD, caused cancer in rats.
Vietnam estimates that more than a million of its people were
exposed to the spraying, which it blames for tens of
thousands of birth defects, incidences of cancer and other
illnesses. Washington argues the scientific evidence is
inconclusive and more research is needed.
U.S. ambassador Raymond Burghardt called the Agent
Orange issue "the one significant ghost" from the war as
Hanoi and Washington moved on in their relationship.
"Like much of our shared past, it is filled with controversy and
emotion; there are few facts and findings that are universally
agreed upon," he said.
He said determining the impact of Agent Orange after so long
would be "extraordinarily complex" and had to take into
account genetic, environmental, viral and nutritional factors.
"Just as their combatant predecessors had to struggle with
the fog of war, the scientists have to struggle with the
frustrating fog inherent in identifying increases in birth defects
amid a pool of naturally-occurring background genetic error,"
he said.
Vietnam's Vice Minister of Health Le Ngoc Trong said
research was difficult and expensive and would need more
investment and cooperation from U.S. and other scientists.
Compensation claims
Conference chairman Christopher Portier, of the U.S.
government's National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, said: "Much of (Vietnam's) research is unpublished
and we hear about it in sketchy pieces and parts."
He added research on dioxin in Vietnam was also important
for the rest of the world.
Observers say conclusive research could have far-reaching
and expensive consequences in terms of compensation
claims for the United States and Agent Orange makers, Dow
Chemical and Monsato.
The U.S. embassy made clear on Sunday the United States
was not about to entertain compensation claims from
Vietnam, which were blamed for stalling a previous
conference on Agent Orange in Singapore in late 2000.
"U.S.-Vietnam relations were normalised in 1995 after
Vietnam dropped claims of war reparations/compensation," it
said. "At the time of normalisation, neither compensation nor
reparations were granted or contemplated for the future."
Asked if this could change depending on research, an
embassy spokesman said: "I think the statement speaks for
itself."
Lobbying by veterans
The Hanoi conference comes after intense lobbying in the
United States by U.S. veterans who want better compensation
and assistance to Vietnamese victims.
"The Vietnam Veterans of America have pushed for over 20
years to make this happen," VVA president Thomas Cory told
Reuters in Hanoi. "We have to get the research started and
move from there."
More than 100,000 veterans have asked the U.S. Veterans
Administration for help for illnesses they believe are linked to
Vietnam service. Only 7,500 are receiving any assistance.
A group of 20,000 U.S. veterans who sued the two firms in
1999 eventually won a $180 million judgement.
Agent Orange exposure is also an issue for veterans from
other countries who served in Vietnam, including South
Koreans, Australians, Thais and New Zealanders.
By David Brunnstrom - Reuters - March 03, 2002.
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