The US should help the victims of Agent Orange; but although Vietnam has suffered the poison’s unspeakable horrors for fifty-years now, the country must be careful not to sell its soul looking for compensation.
But there are other things that friends and supporters of the AO-victims have to take note of: Len Aldis, in his Op-Ed in this paper suggested that “the people of Ho Chi Minh City should petition the local authorities to close down the offices of Monsanto and Dow Chemical.” This was the first time I had heard of the existence of those offices. I knew that the Vietnamese government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are planning to use genetically manipulated plants (GMO) and herbicides in Vietnam, and that therefore representatives of Monsanto and Dow Chemical have already gained a foothold in the form of agreements with Vietnamese authorities.
But some people fear that Monsanto & Co. could offer Vietnam some help (voluntary and without any recognition of responsibility) for the victims of AO if Vietnam introduces GMOs on a large scale. Even if the companies offered millions, they wouldn’t miss it. What would the Vietnamese government do?
The Source
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