Tom Fawthrop, Guardian: Agent of suffering

2008-02-12 | A third generation of Vietnamese are suffering deformities caused by US chemical warfare and still Washington refuses to accept responsibility. Photo: Three-year-old Xuan Minh, believed to be suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, looks out from his hospital bed in Ho Chi Min. Photographer: Richard Vogel/AP Please click photo for clarity.

Long after the last bullet has been fired in a war, unexploded bombs, landmines and toxic chemicals continue to maim and kill civilians. This is particularly true of the Vietnam war. Three decades after US soldiers and diplomats scrambled aboard the last planes out of Saigon in April 1975, the toxins they left behind still poison Vietnam. Relations with the United States have been normalised since the 1990s, but the denial of justice to the victims of Agent Orange remains a major bone of contention. MORE http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m41030&hd=&size=1&l=e Please also see some photos of some Agent Orange victims in Vietnam, plus an interesting song by the late and legendary Phil Ochs: We're The Cops Of The World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_2x3JWWzvY Please also see: Agent Orange: Toxic Legacy of Vietnam Still Demands Remediation http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=4364&blz=1