OPINION | Agent Orange: A Testament to US Imperialism
By: Edwin Tang
Throughout the Vietnam War, the United States’s usage of Agent Orange wreaked havoc on Vietnam’s ecology and has now resulted in health complications for approximately three million Vietnamese people. Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide employed by the United States military, was deployed to destroy forest cover and the Viet Cong’s food supply, applied to gain a tactical advantage.
Birth defects, miscarriages, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and a various other range of ailments are just some of the adversities that Agent Orange has created. “When we initiated the herbicide program in the 1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin contamination in the herbicide. However, because the material was used on the enemy, none of us were overly concerned,” wrote Dr. James Clary, an Air Force researcher. Willfully ignorant, the United States continued to deploy Agent Orange despite knowing that Agent Orange included toxic chemicals known to result in birth defects.
Even decades after the Vietnam War, the U.S. has refused to remediate for its actions with U.S. courts ruling against Vietnamese plaintiffs, prompting anger and resentment from those affected. In 2004, a class-action lawsuit by Vietnamese nationals was struck down by federal judges. Further appeals were likewise ignored. More outrageously, the U.S. Department of Justice via a Statement of Interest asserted that, as the U.S. at the time of the Vietnam War had not yet ratified the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which banned chemical warfare, the country could not be held liable as it did not violate any international or domestic laws it had submitted to.
America entered the Vietnam War to contain the spread of Communism in its bid to extend its sphere of influence. In an imperialistic fashion, the United States intervened in the self-determination of Vietnam, with ideals of “morality” against the perceived evil of Communism. Through any means necessary, at the cost of millions of Vietnamese civilians, the U.S. used Agent Orange in its attempt to “win” against what at the time seemed to be a looming existential threat to American hegemony. The lives of the “enemy,” were the price paid. Disposable they were as any other, all for the purpose of American imperialistic ends.
At a time when China is repressing Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Russia is invading Ukraine and killing innocent civilians, the hypocritical nature of the United States calls into question its international credibility. How can the United States call for “peace” and “stability,” an end to “war crimes” and “genocide,” when its own actions are perceived as quite similar to those abroad? Hypocrisy it is, to refuse to account and remediate for the atrocities by the United States in Vietnam, or its sponsored coup d'etat in Guatemala, Chile, Iran, etc., or the torture of innocent civilians by the Bush administration in Guantanamo Bay and CIA black sites internationally. Simply put, American adversaries can surely point to America’s reprehensible actions to absolve any accountability for their own. If America, the esteemed “peaceful” nation calling for international norms and peace, doesn’t follow its own rules that it has created under the liberal international order (LIO), why might others follow it themselves?
It’s time for the United States to accept accountability and remediate for the many atrocities it has committed. No longer can the country choose to intentionally ignore the plight and suffering that it has created. But it isn’t just about accounting for its mistakes, it's a question of becoming stronger as a country. Accounting for the mistakes of the United States will reassert its international credibility on human rights, peace, and stability through holding these ideals true to the actions and policies of the U.S, so that the U.S. may continue to fight against aggression by revisionist powers and authoritarian regimes through not just foreign aid, but ideas. The idea of “peace” is what’s powerful, strengthening America’s vision and its global leadership for a better and stronger future of the world.
