The VN War’s sad legacy in a foreigner reporter’s eye

These Vietnamese teens in VAVA are a stark reminder of the horrors of Agent Orange used by the US during the Việt Nam War – Photo: Rusdi Mustapha

The outcome? They formed skin cancer, tumors of the body affecting the thyroid gland and other vital organs of their bodies, and after the war, one generation of children born became genetically deformed due to their parents being exposed to the toxic chemical.

More bad news, though. There is the chance of at least three more generations being born deformed in one way or another due to contamination from these chemicals which affected their forefathers.

This actually happened to the Vietnamese when 80 million liters of Agent Orange, among other toxic defoliants, was sprayed over the land between 1961 and 1971, during the Việt Nam War that started in 1959 and ended in 1975.

I have wanted to visit Việt Nam since I was in my teens. I heard about the war waged on this beautiful country where the people, I found out last week for sure when I was there, are very, very friendly and speak highly of Malaysia.

Some even spoke Malay to me when they found out where I was from. According to a report on April 6 in the Việt Nam News, the Vietnamese Government emphasized how Việt Nam wants to have friendly and cooperative relations with the United States (US), for mutual benefit.

However, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng said recently that in order to reduce the negative impact that has lingered in the aftermath of the Việt Nam War, the US must take responsibility for solving the gruesome legacy of the war.

Among others things, Dũng said, on a weekly basis people in Việt Nam are still being maimed, injured and killed by bombs and landmines left behind from the war.

The Vietnamese PM also urged the US to acknowledge and to disseminate the correct information to the people of the US about the aftermath of the toxic chemicals used during 10 of the 16 years of the Việt Nam War, and how the Vietnamese people are affected by the chemicals.

My visit to the Vietnamese Association for the Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) last week convinced me that the use of toxic chemicals and herbicides, such as Agent Orange, ought to be criminalized, and those responsible for using it, if such chemicals are used as weapons, should and must be brought to justice.

Here is the thing to remember, though. While we think we are in such dire straits, be it politically, socially or economically, just think of the millions of Vietnamese whose lives are still in shambles due to the hardships brought by the Việt Nam War and how they have to bear the brunt of the horrid scars of the war for generations due to the use of toxic chemicals as a "weapon of mass destruction".

As for me, I cannot even begin to imagine if this were to happen to us!

By Rusdi Mustapha