Chemical backlash
IT is pay back time now. During the Vietnam War, the US sprayed Agent Orange - a chemical mix of herbicides rich in dioxins, that are hormone disrupters - in Vietnam during the 10-year war. Vietnamese government officials say that Agent Orange has deformed around 50,000 children and has claimed between 100,000 to a million victims.
Now, US veterans are pushing legislation that would allocate US $ 1.5 million for studies on the effects of this chemical. Thomas Corey, vice-president of the Vietnam Veterans of America said: "We are asking Congress to release fund from the National Institutes of Health to bring scientists to find out how to deal with this issue." He hoped that the legislation would be introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives within a month.
If the US Congress approves the funds, the veterans group intends to seek up to US $50 million to deal with some of the problems that have been associated with exposure to Agent Orange. Agent Orange was sprayed over the Vietnamese jungles by American planes to strip away cover from North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops and their convoys.
Meanwhile, at San Diego, Ecuador, more than three million gallons of napalm that was stored since the Vietnam War will be shipped to Louisiana to be destroyed. The napalm has been stored in open fields at the Fallbrook Naval Weapons Facility in 35,000 aluminium canisters since 1973. Navy officials say that it would cost US $39 million to get rid of the napalm.