US official seeks more funds for Vietnam War clean-up
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g-BhbJrVBCMhvuwWgrfAOlYj6ebQ
(AFP) Jun 8, 2010
HANOI A senior US official heard Tuesday how unexploded war-time
bombs are still killing Vietnamese and said he would return home to
seek additional funding to help Vietnam reduce the threat.
On another legacy of the Vietnam War, Assistant Secretary of State
for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro said clean-up of
contamination from the war-time herbicide Agent Orange is expected to
start next year.
"I was quite moved by the description of some of the tragic losses
and injuries that have been caused by UXO (unexploded ordnance), and
I will bring that back with me to Washington as we seek to identify
additional resources," said Shapiro.
"I had extensive briefings and discussions regarding how the United
States can support UXO clearance in Vietnam," he said at a joint news
conference with Pham Binh Minh, Vietnam's vice-minister of foreign affairs.
They spoke after their third annual political, security and defence dialogue.
Shapiro said the US will provide 3.5 million dollars this year for
clearing unexploded ordnance in Vietnam, where US forces fought for
several years in the 1960s and early 70s before the country's
reunification in 1975.
The US and Vietnam have also been cooperating on preliminary measures
to clean up potentially cancer-causing dioxin at Danang airport.
Dioxin was a component of Agent Orange and other herbicides sprayed
as defoliants during the war.
Late last year the US awarded a contract for a year-long project to
build a secure landfill site to hold contaminated soil and sediment
at the airport.
Vietnam blames dioxin for a spate of birth deformities.
Tuesday's talks came 15 years after the two countries normalised
relations and covered a wide range of topics including regional
security and possibilities for further defence cooperation.
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Still counting the casualties of Vietnam War, 35 years later
By Bob Edgar
June 9, 2010
America's faith communities have a long and important history of
helping their members more deeply understand the implications of war,
as well as our collective responsibility to our fellow human beings.
So I was proud last month to lead an interfaith delegation,
generously supported by the Ford Foundation, on a week-long visit to
Vietnam and an often-uplifting, often-uncomfortable examination of
how that country - and ours - continues to struggle with the legacies
of a war that ended 35 years ago.
Our focus was the continuing impact of America's use of Agent Orange,
a powerful defoliant used to clear over 5 million acres of Vietnamese
land. Some 4.5 million Vietnamese and 2.8 million Americans may have
been exposed to the chemical, which has been linked to cancer,
diabetes, and nerve and heart disorders. The Vietnam Red Cross
estimates that up to 3 million Vietnamese have suffered adverse
health effects, including more than 150,000 children with spina
bifida and other birth defects, from their exposure.
Our delegation saw the continuing damage firsthand.
In Da Nang, we wore "throw away" shoes to limit our exposure as we
walked over still-toxic grounds at the airport. We also met a
beautiful, tiny 8-year-old girl, Ly, who could easily have been a
poster child for poverty and malnourishment. Her parents showed off
her schoolwork, but her good grades are "something of a miracle
because she has an enlarged skull and large eyes that are very wide
set," observed Sister Maureen Fiedler, a member of our delegation.
Ly's "chest cavity is collapsed in ways that make it difficult for
her to breathe," Sister Fiedler wrote later. She "is almost certainly
a child deformed by war, a young girl whose whole life is forever
shaped by the legacy of Agent Orange and dioxin sprayed by the U.S.
military for more than 10 years during the Vietnam conflict."
In Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, we visited "The Club House," a
center for differently-abled young adults and met Vo Thi Hoang Yen,
who contracted polio as a child and has struggled throughout her life
to be seen as a person of skills and not a person of disability. She
has earned several advanced degrees, built organizations from the
ground up to help all types of differently-abled people and been
honored internationally and locally for her organizational talents.
She teaches and trains social workers, cuts through governmental
obstacles and gives hope to thousands of people throughout Ho Chi
Minh City and beyond.
Yen is a remarkable young woman, who has overcome obstacles that most
of us can scarcely imagine. Thousands of other Vietnamese, facing
similar struggles because of their exposure to Agent Orange, need and
deserve our help.
Our delegation made its trip at the invitation of the U.S. --
Vietnamese Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin. The dialogue group
has developed a plan that calls on the U.S. government to provide $30
million per year for 10 years, up from the current annual level of $3
million, to clean up "hot spots" like the one at Da Nang's airport
and build the infrastructure needed to support the victims exposed
daily to Agent Orange.
We believe the proposal deserves bipartisan support in Congress and
the backing of the Obama administration.
This year, Vietnam marks four important events: the 1,000th
anniversary of the founding of Hanoi; the 35 anniversary of the end
of the war with the United States; the 15th anniversary of
U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic relations; and Vietnam's chairing of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). What a GREAT year to
start a movement to finally address the challenges of the dioxin "hot
spots," damaged landscapes and human burdens of ill health and
disability that are remaining as open wounds of the Vietnam War.
What a GREAT year to remember that wars are not over when the last
soldier leaves the battlefield. What a GREAT year to teach the faith
communities in the United States that our moral work related to
Vietnam is not over. What a GREAT year to speak to the youth and
young adults of America about this tragic part of our history.
The Interfaith Delegation to Vietnam also included:
•Sister Maureen Fiedler, Sister of Loretto, PhD. and host of the
public radio talk show Interfaith Voices.
•Rabbi Steve Gutow, President and CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
•The Rev. Richard Cizik, President of the New Evangelical Partnership
for the Common Good and a Fellow at the Open Society Institute and UN
Foundation.
•Mr. James Winkler, General Secretary, United Methodist General Board
of Church and Society.
•Dr. Carroll A. Baltimore, Sr., First Vice President, Progressive
National Baptist Convention.
•Ms. Paulette Peterson, Clinical Psychologist, U.S. Veterans Administration.
•Mr. Shariq A. Siddiqui, the Executive Director of the Muslim
Alliance of Indiana and Director of Legal Services at the Julian Center.
•The Rev. Michael Livingston, Executive Director, International
Council of Community Churches and former President of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ USA.
•The Rev. Victor Hsu, former staff for Asian Affairs at both World
Vision and Church World Service.
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