what was agent orange used for in the vietnam war
Agent Orange During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 U.S. gallons (76,000 m3) of various chemicals – the "rainbow herbicides" and defoliants – in Vietnam, eastern Laos, and parts of Cambodia as part of the aerial defoliation program known as Operation Ranch Hand, reaching its peak from 1967 to 1969. For comparison purposes, an olympic size pool holds approximately 660,000 U.S. gal (2,500 m3).[22][23][24] As the British did in Malaya, the goal of the US was to defoliate rural/forested land, depriving guerrillas of food and concealment and clearing sensitive areas such as around base perimeters.[25] The program was also a part of a general policy of forced draft urbanization, which aimed to destroy the ability of peasants to support themselves in the countryside, forcing them to flee to the U.S.-dominated cities, depriving the guerrillas of their rural support base.[23][26]
Agent Orange Up to four million people in Vietnam were exposed to the defoliant. The government of Vietnam says as many as 3 million people have suffered illnesses because of Agent Orange.[3] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems as a result of Agent Orange contamination.[4] The United States government has challenged these figures as being unreliable.[5] The chemical is capable of damaging genes, resulting in deformities among the offspring of exposed victims. The U.S. government has documented higher cases of leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and various kinds of cancer in exposed veterans. Agent Orange also caused enormous environmental damage in Vietnam. Over 3,100,000 hectares (31,000 km2 or 11,969 mi2) of forest were defoliated. Defoliants eroded tree cover and seedling forest stock, making reforestation difficult in numerous areas. Animal species diversity sharply reduced in contrast with unsprayed areas.[6][7]
Vietnam War Beginning in 1970, American troops were withdrawn from border areas where most of the fighting took place, instead redeployed along the coast and interior, and US casualties in 1970 were less than half of 1969 casualties after being relegated to less active combat.[285] At the same time that US forces were deployed, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam took over combat operations throughout the country, with casualties doubled US casualties in 1969, and more than tripled US ones in 1970.[286] The post-Tet environment saw a rise in membership in Regional Force and Popular Force militias, now more capable of providing village security which the Americans could not under Westmoreland.[287] In 1970 Nixon announced the withdrawal of an additional 150,000 American troops, reducing the number of Americans to 265,500.[285] By 1970 the Viet Cong forces were no-longer southern-majority, and nearly 70% of units were northerners.[288] Between 1969 to 1971 the Viet Cong and some PAVN units had reverted to small unit tactics typical of 1967 and prior instead of nation-wide grand offensives.[267] In 1971 Australia and New Zealand withdrew their soldiers and U.S. troop count was further reduced to 196,700, with a deadline to remove another 45,000 troops by February 1972. The United States also reduced support troops and in March 1971 the 5th Special Forces Group, the first American unit deployed to South Vietnam, withdrew to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.[289] [A 4]
Vietnam War Kennedy advisors Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow recommended that U.S. troops be sent to South Vietnam disguised as flood relief workers.[132] Kennedy rejected the idea but increased military assistance yet again. In April 1962, John Kenneth Galbraith warned Kennedy of the "danger we shall replace the French as a colonial force in the area and bleed as the French did."[133] By November 1963, there were 16,000 American military personnel in South Vietnam, up from Eisenhower's 900 advisors.[134]