Syria, Agent Orange, and Megadeath
As a member of the generation of 1968, I’m used to US government hypocrisy, hubris and horseshit. However, the recent attempt to justify attacking Syria because the combatants have used chemical weapons is astonishing.
According to this logic, when the US unleashed a chemical holocaust against the Vietnamese people from 1962 to 1971 in the form of Agent Blue and Agent Orange during the cynically named “Operation Ranch Hand” other nations would have had the moral imperative to launch air strikes on the US.
The sheer scale of US chemical weapons warfare defies description. Agent Orange was developed as a defoliant by American corporations to try to cut down the jungles of Southeast Asia. About one million people have been killed or maimed by Agent Orange. It breaks down to about 400,000 killed outright, and another 500,000 children with birth defects. The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that one million people have been disabled. Of course, we have to add our own veterans of that era to the tally. I have friends who still suffer from the effects of that massive chemical attack to this day.
The US developed the concept of “Megadeath” (not to be confused with the LA rock band Megadeth) in the 1950s to describe one million deaths by nuclear explosion. The geniuses involved also figured out the accounting, about ten cents a head, as I recall. These same forces brought us the environmental holocaust in Vietnam. And these same forces are looking to bring more of the same to Syria.
If we send anything to Syria it should be medicine, medical supplies, medical personnel and medical facilities.
A note on facts and figures (all disputed by the US government) – they come from a Wikipedia article that appears to be well researched and documented.
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.
Donate