9 comments

  • curryberto 2 hours ago
    It isn't new news that the effects of agent orange are largely unsubstantiated. It became political and so now we need to believe it, but it's largely unscientific.

    https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2016/03/latest-and-fi...

  • lovegrenoble 17 hours ago
    50 years of orange disaster... Because of imperialism and american exceptionalism. By exceptionalism, I mean an idea that USA is a morally superior country for historical, ideological, and other reasons.
    • rajnathani 15 hours ago
      It's sad that the chemical warfare treaty was only signed in 1993 [0].

      [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_Weapons_Convention

    • fxd123 15 hours ago
      How is it imperialism? The internationally-recognized government of South Vietnam asked the US for military intervention.

      The US signed peace accords in 1973 and removed all troops. North Vietnam broke the accords and invaded South Vietnam in 1975.

      • lenkite 14 hours ago
        > The internationally-recognized government of South Vietnam

        Err.. a puppet state created by France and only recognized by the West. It was never part of the UN and its membership was explicitly denied.

        • fxd123 5 hours ago
          > It was never part of the UN and its membership was explicitly denied.

          Solely due to a soviet veto. Most countries recognized it anyway.

          • lenkite 2 hours ago
            > Most countries recognized it anyway.

            No - most Asian nations did not recognize the South Vietnam govt propped up by Western powers. India for example supported Vietnamese independence from the French and recognized the PRG - Provisional Revolutionary Government which was the resistance movement in South Vietnam.

            At any rate, even the US vetoed Vietnamese membership to the UN in 1975 - after losing the War.

            • fxd123 1 hour ago
              > No - most Asian nations did not recognize the South Vietnam govt

              I would not say "most". Thailand, Laos, SK, Philippines, Singapore did.

              >US vetoed Vietnamese membership to the UN in 1975 - after losing the War.

              Because the war was still ongoing, between North and South at that time. They merged in 1976 and US voted in favor of membership in 1977.

      • Teever 15 hours ago
        Some would argue that American intervention in Vietnam was a continuation of French colonialism and the Domino Theory was a tenuous justification for American imperialism.
        • fxd123 15 hours ago
          But yet, no imperialism occurred?
          • queenkjuul 10 hours ago
            It did, you just must have a funny definition of imperialism, or don't actually know what happened
          • throawayonthe 14 hours ago
            the "domino theory" was borne of fear of losing western capitalist hegemony...
        • lovegrenoble 15 hours ago
          Exactly, this Domino concept was first developed by U.S. Secretary of State J.Dulles
      • sofixa 15 hours ago
        > The internationally-recognized government of South Vietnam asked the US for military intervention.

        Nope. South Vietnam only existed because of the US. It had no popular support and it was basically a state out of whoever was left of those who collaborated with the French. The first head of state was Bao Dai, a guy who was the head puppet under France, Vichy France, Japan, France again and then US.

        South Vietnam was kept together by personal interest, anti-communism and American support.

        • kylebenzle 11 hours ago
          Thank you for correcting...

          America is now just a bunch of lobbyist, billionaires and lawyers in a trenchcoat.

          We lock up our minorities, deport those in need and separate children from their families for profit, America is an evil nation and history will see it and it's citizens that way. It's amazing that it seems a majority of people (in the US) fail to see the the US for what it is, an imperial nation run on greed and an army of pure evil lawyers hellbent on total economic control. Lawyers and billionaires destroyed this country 20 years ago, now the American machine is just running on fumes and hate. History will see America as a nation and people of pure greed and evil.

          • frontfor 10 hours ago
            America is a mixed bag to be sure. But to say America is “pure greed” and “evil” is just plain ridiculous. As in, absolutely nothing good came out of America?
            • queenkjuul 10 hours ago
              Absolutely nothing good came out of Nazi Germany?

              We can enjoy Fanta and Volkswagens and call it an evil regime at the same time

              • kylebenzle 9 hours ago
                Thank you. People's rational thought seems to be dissappearing. Whatever America has become today does not mean that America in the past had no redeming qualities.
            • kylebenzle 9 hours ago
              People's rational thought seems to be dissappearing. Whatever America has become today does not mean that America in the past had no redeming qualities, that is not how time works, it doesn't go backwards :(
          • queenkjuul 10 hours ago
            The idea that America was ever anything more than that is propaganda. None of this started 20 years ago, or even last century.
      • suraci 13 hours ago
        [flagged]
    • sofixa 15 hours ago
      And also American decision makers being incapable of not misunderstanding Communism and various Communist parties/regimes. They made the mistake in Korea and then repeated it shortly after in Vietnam, of just limping everyone together - they're red, they're part of the same evil empire and work as one! How such dumbness ever made it to the White House and Pentagon is beyond me (on the other hand, the Pentagon also thought Japanese would make bad fighter pilots due to the shape of their eyes before WW2 which was just 20 years earlier, so is it really surprising?).

      The Vietminh were fought by the Americans because of the dumb Domino Theory and very dumb idea that Vietnam will become a Chinese and Soviet puppet. Neither of those things were really true or even realistic.

  • e40 13 hours ago
    The absolute hubris of dumping that much of a chemical like that onto farmland continues to astound me.
    • baranul 6 hours ago
      More than that, it's clear that reparations are owed to the affected Vietnamese for the obvious chemical warfare campaign. That it's even a doubt, is basically immoral and anti-humanity.
  • litbear2022 18 hours ago
    The United States dropped more than two million tons of bombs on Laos between 1964 and 1973, including a large number of cluster munitions [1].

    More than 50 years after the war, bombs still threaten the local citizens[2].

    During the construction of the China-Laos Railway, Chinese builders spent a great deal of effort removing leftover bombs along the route[3].

    the destruction of Japan Abandoned Chemical Weapons had been delayed *4 times*(SHAME ON YOU JAPS) [4].

    [1] https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/migration... [2] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/27/i... [3] https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202307/1294231.shtml [4] https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zzjg_663340/jks_665232/kjfywj...

  • jmpman 14 hours ago
    After battling my bougainvillea this afternoon, I’m about to resort to chemical warfare. Why is that plant popular, and why isn’t there an “Bougainvillea haters” Facebook group?
  • andsoitis 18 hours ago
    this is absolutely heartbreaking.
  • MomsAVoxell 17 hours ago
    See also, depleted uranium in Iraq. Iraqi mothers and their children will continue to suffer the costs of this heinous war for decades.
  • lovegrenoble 18 hours ago
    [flagged]