Agent Orange in Vietnam

During the Vietnam War, the United States sprayed about 12 million gallons of Agent Orange, a herbicide, over areas of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in a bid to both remove cover for Vietcong and North Vietnamese fighters and kill food crops. Since then, the Red Cross of Vietnam has estimated that about 1 million people were disabled or suffered health problems because of contact with the herbicide.

While the United States has sometimes disputed the link between Agent Orange and health problems, it has contributed more than $100 million to help clean up the herbicide aftermath. Congress has also allocated (far smaller) sums to health and disability programs that often target those who may have been harmed by Agent Orange. However, there has been no apology for this or for other controversies of the war, such as widespread U.S. use of landmines.