~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
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"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of the U.S. government's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said: "Much of (Vietnam's) research is unpublished and we hear about it in sketchy pieces and parts."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.