Agent Orange: History, Science, and the Politics of Uncertainty

Conclusion: Agent Orange and the Limits of Science and History

[ 238 ]             In the central highlands of Vietnam, near some of the areas most heavily defoliated during the war, a thick, invasive grass thrives along open hills where the trees refuse to return even now, forty years after they were destroyed. They call it American grass. Standing in a gnarled patch in the A Luoi valley is Phung Tuu Boi, who, at barely five feet tall, seems as though he will be overtaken by the renegade growth. Since the war ended in 1975 Boi has waged a battle to regrow Vietnam’s lush forests. He has worked with Australian colleagues to plant acres of acacia trees, which can grow under harsh conditions and are a profitable source of lumber, in heavy demand from companies like Ikea. Boi has also developed one of the most innovative responses to dioxin contamination in Vietnam: he calls it a green fence. This fence, made of trees covered with sharp, cactus-like needles, is meant to keep both humans and animals out of hot spots like the one here in the A Luoi valley, which sits nestled in the highlands above Da Nang. The fence is made primarily of acacia and gleditschia, a type of locust tree imported from Australia that produces fruit that can be harvested, sold, and processed by locals. The long-term success of the green fence won’t be known for some time, but Boi is the first to admit that it cannot help the many villagers still living in the A Luoi valley, who have been farming the land for years, potentially disturbing dioxin that has been in the soil since the early 1960s.1 BoiandthousandsofotherslikehimthroughoutVietnamandthroughout CONCLUSION [ 239 ] THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE AND HISTORY the world are not necessarily looking for answers; they are looking for solutions . Despite the absence of clear, scientific evidence linking Agent Orange to conditions like birth defects, they press on with the goals of mitigating the levels of dioxin around hot spots, helping those less fortunate than themselves who cannot otherwise care for themselves or their families, and drawing increased attention to the issues related to Agent Orange. Most people around the world who have encountered Agent Orange are looking for answers. They want to know if a specific condition experienced in a particular body is caused by exposure to a specific agent. It is still, and will for some time be, beyond the scope of both scientific and historical analysis to answer such questions. There are simply too many variables, too many unknowns. As I said in the introduction, it is beyond the scope of this book and beyond my abilities as a scholar to provide such answers. What I have attempted instead is to offer a broader sense of understanding of issues surrounding Agent Orange as it was developed, used, encountered, experienced, imagined, and negotiated at different places and in different times. In doing so, however, I believe I have provided sufficient basis to posit preliminary answers to the most pressing questions about the history and legacies of Agent Orange that I posed in the introduction. 1. How could the United States and its allies do such a thing? How could the United States and its allies do such a thing? is the question about Agent Orange that is the simplest to answer historically and the one least often addressed in historical terms. Many critics of Operation Ranch Hand and contemporary Agent Orange activists attribute the program of herbicidal warfare to the evils of American imperialism. For those who became disillusioned about their government during the Vietnam War, Agent Orange has served as a screen onto which they can project those feelings. Given the level of destruction wrought on the Vietnamese people and landscape during the period of direct U.S. military involvement, it was easy for many to believe the worst about the herbicide program. Similarly, given the challenges faced by Vietnam veterans in dealing with the government, particularly the VA, in the postwar period, it became a given for many that the government was lying to them and withholding crucial information. And although there was no coverup about the effects of Agent Orange, the U.S. government could have responded earlier and with greater urgency to the concerns raised by veterans and others. American veterans were right [ 240 ] CONCLUSION to view themselves as victims of the Vietnam War; they were given an impossible task in a brutal war that lacked...