In a meeting with the press in Hanoi on August 9 before ending his term of office in Vietnam, the outgoing American Ambassador Michael W. Marine said, “I do not accept the term ‘victims of Agent Orange’. The US humanitarian assistance to ‘the disabled in Vietnam is not based on evaluation of causes of disability.”

Mr. Marine’s statement aggravated the pain of many generations of millions of Vietnamese people, who are victims of Agent Orange/dioxin sprayed by the US army over southern Vietnam.

It is regrettable that the out-going diplomat made that comment, ignoring the fact that more than 4.8 million Vietnamese people had been exposed to Agent Orange/dioxin, and three million of them including many children eventually became direct victims. Tens of thousand of them are mentally and physically sick because of incurable illnesses. Many have died in extreme agony. The toxic chemicals affect even the 2^nd and 3^rd generations of those victims, many with inborn defects.

The father of Nguyen Muoi served the US army and was exposed to Agent Orange/dioxin. Nguyen Muoi is now suffering from spina bifida, an effect of the toxic chemical. Muoi was very disappointed at Michael Marine’s statement. He said, “The US ambassador denied the fact and refused to accept the consequences. If he were not in Vietnam, his words might be accepted. But he was in Vietnam and saw the serious health problems of Agent Orange/dioxin victims and still made that comment. Where is his conscience? The US government acknowledged and compensated AO/dioxin victims among US war veterans who had fought the Vietnam War. Why is it that my father, who had served the US army and was exposed to AO/dioxin, was not compensated? We are lucky to have the concern of the Vietnamese Government. If not, we are quite at a loss, what to do.”

In this connection, former Health Minister and President of the Vietnam Red Cross, Prof. Dr. Vu Trong Nhan who is now Vice Chairman of the AO/dioxin Victims Association said Vietnam is very hopeful that the US will cooperate with Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of the US chemical warfare in Vietnam, which was considered the most cruel in human history. Prof. Nhan regretted that Mr. Michael W. Marine did not want to accept the existing issue of AO/dioxin victims which is preventing normal and friendly relations between Vietnam and the US. He recalled that a year ago, he saw the picture of Mr. Marine with the caption saying that he was visiting a Central Highlands province and meeting a child victim of AO/dioxin. Prof. Nhan said, “There is no reason that responsible staff in that care centre did not tell Mr. Marine that parents of that disabled child were exposed to AO/dioxin and so the child himself was a victim. Mr. Marine’s statement only reflects the stand of US authorities who want to dodge the major responsibility of a war they waged against the Vietnamese people.”

It is necessary to recall the lawsuit by American Vietnam war veterans against US chemical companies operating between 1979 and 1984. Finally, US courts concluded that lawsuit by asking US companies to compensate US war veterans, victims of AO/dioxin with US$ 180 million. Former US President Bill Clinton, in a speech in the White House in 1996, acknowledged that for many years the US Government had ignored the complaints about dioxin effects of US troops who had fought the Vietnam war. Mr. Bill Clinton also said that US admiral Zumwalt who was exposed to AO/dioxin in Vietnamese battles helped the US Government understand the deadly effects of AO/dioxin because his son died of cancer and his grandson suffered from mental illness. Even US tourists to Vietnam saw clearly the serious consequences of AO/dioxin among Vietnamese people”.

As a scientist, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Nhan said, “US officials required scientific research on the issue. But no one can tell when the research will end if we just follow this direction? Maybe the research will be open-ended. So, we must help AO/dioxin victims immediately. Without timely assistance, many of them will suffer the same fate as two of the four victims who had joined the hearing held by the US Court of Appeals on their lawsuit died upon returning to Vietnam. People of conscience in the US are very indignant and asked the lawsuit launched by Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims against US chemical companies to be solved immediately.

The US should acknowledge their responsibility in the Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims issue and find an early solution to it. They must help and return justice to Vietnamese victims of AO/dioxin.