US-Vietnam Cooperation on Agent Orange Turns a Corner

The longest lasting and most complicated legacy of the Vietnam War is the continuing impact of dioxin, the most lethal component of herbicides such as Agent Orange sprayed during the war to defoliate the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” and other areas.  Vietnam estimates that three million of its citizens may suffer from a range of disorders which are commonly linked to dioxin exposure.  US Vietnam veterans may receive compensation and services for more than a dozen dioxin-related disorders.  Dioxin is understudied – no definitive causal link between exposure and specific disorders has as yet been established by the scientific community – but incidence studies conducted in heavily sprayed areas of dioxin levels in blood and breast milk, as well environmental studies which measure dioxin in water and soil, are compelling.

Until recently, Agent Orange has been an issue too sore and sensitive to pursue in US-Vietnam relations.  However, more than a decade after normalization the issue has quietly found its way into the joint statements of bilateral summits and even into US legislation, where a small earmark has been appropriated for the past two years.  The initial focus of US-Vietnam cooperation to remediate the impact of Agent Orange has been on clean-up of “hot spots” where herbicides were sprayed or spilled during the war – Da Nang, Bien Hoa, Phu Cat.  Tests indicate that dioxin continues to leech into the water and soil of the areas surrounding these bases, and are therefore active contaminants

The human health issues are more costly, more profound and more sensitive in the bilateral relationship.  A critical aspect is the genetic damage believed to be passed down to the second and third generations of those exposed in wartime.  In contrast to the cancers and other disorders found in the first generation, profound physical and developmental disabilities are associated with the subsequent generations.  Although the current US earmark includes some funds for assistance to the disabled, the two countries have found it difficult to address the health issues of this legacy more directly.

This may be changing, albeit slowly.  At the fourth annual meeting of the Vietnam-US Joint Advisory Council on Agent Orange, which concluded in Hanoi last week, the two countries announced that they would establish a joint health task force (which follows the environmental task force established at last year’s JAC meeting).  The initial mandate of the task force is broad – to assess the impact of a number of chemicals on human health -but there are eventual plans to formulate recommendations for health care for people believed to have been exposed to dioxin, directly or genetically.  Although the human health needs attendant the Agent Orange issue are critical, the two countries must pick their way carefully.  Efforts earlier in the decade to conduct joint studies foundered and temporarily brought cooperation to a halt.

Opening the door to greater cooperation in the human health dimension also raises the question of an appropriate US legislative response.  The effort needed to clean up former US bases where Agent Orange was stored can be quantified and, whatever the duration, is finite.  The human health aspects will never be pinned down as precisely and require longer-term planning.  Congressional earmarks are by definition ad hoc, although a number of them are so enduring they are considered permanent for all intents and purposes.  The decision in Hanoi last week will likely spark debate in Washington of whether an ongoing earmark or a stand-alone bill can better address this complex aspect of the war legacy.

Posted by Catharin Dalpino on September 14, 2009. Respond »