By
Theodora Filis
The
US celebrated Memorial Day on Monday, May 28. Originally called
Decoration Day, it is a day of remembrance for those who have died in
their nation's service.
"If
we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find
that we have lost the future."
Winston Churchill
(1874 - 1965)
What
about the men and women who survived? The Vietnam Veterans who
share in the pain and suffering caused by the shameful neglect and
harassment by the same people whose lives they fought to protect? One
of the most disturbing and damaging legacies of the Vietnam war is
Agent Orange. Nearly 40 years later, questions remain.
The
US military used Agent Orange from 1961 to 1971 to defoliate dense
vegetation in the Vietnamese jungles to reduce the chances of an
ambush. Seven major chemical companies were contracted under the
Defense Production Act to obtain Agent Orange and other herbicides
for use by US and allied troops in Vietnam.
Agent
Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow
Herbicides" employed in the Herbicidal Warfare program of the
Vietnam War. Dow Chemical and Monsanto were the two largest producers
of Agent Orange for the US military. According to Vietnamese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to
Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and
500,000 children born with birth defects.
Today
Monsanto's website boasts: “Monsanto is a relatively new company.
While we share the name and history of a company that was founded in
1901, the Monsanto of today is focused on agriculture and supporting
farmers around the world in their mission to produce more while
conserving more. We’re an agricultural company.”
In
the past two decades, Monsanto’s “agricultural” GMO monopoly
has grown so powerful that they control the genetics of nearly 90% of
five major commodity crops including corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, and sugar beets. Monsanto is now primarily a seed and
agricultural products company.
Monsanto
is responsible for more than 50 United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund sites – attempts to clean up
Monsanto Chemical's formerly uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
Monsanto's
legacy includes, not only the production of Agent Orange, but DDT,
PCBs, and Dioxin. Now massive aerial spraying of Roundup in Colombia
is being used by the US and the Colombian government as a
counter-insurgency tactic, contaminating food crops and poisoning
villagers.
Comments
Post a Comment