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The Color of Death: Legacy of Agent Orange Still Plagues Vietnam After Decades of Peace_我的网站

A | On August 10, 1961, American forces for the first time spayed Agent Orange in Vietnam as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand.,Here’s a closer look into this highly toxic defoliant chemical, the use of which by the US military during the 1955-1975 Vietnam War resulted in up to one million people being disabled, according to the Red Cross of Vietnam’s estimates.,What is Agent Orange?,The defoliant derived its name from the color of the orange-striped US gallon barrels in which the chemical was shipped and stored.,It was created in 1940 and used in the United States as an agricultural defoliant, as it had the ability to kill some plants while leaving others unaffected.,Using the Defense Production Act of 1950, the US government prodded several American companies to make Agent Orange for military use. A 50:50 mixture of the herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, the defoliant contains an extremely toxic dioxin compound.,Effects of Agent Orange,A 50:50 mixture of the 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, Agent Orange contains the Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD, the most toxic of the dioxins, classified as a human carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency.,Even short-term exposure to TCDD can cause cancer, liver problems and a severe acne-like skin disease, known as chloracne. The dioxin is also linked to type 2 diabetes, immune system dysfunction, nerve disorders, muscular dysfunction, hormone disruption and heart disease.,Additionally, the chemical can cause miscarriages, spina bifida and other problems with fetal brain and nervous system development.,Use of Agent Orange in Vietnam,During the 1955-1975 Vietnam war, the first US defoliation missions were launched near the Vietnamese village of Dak To in 1961.,The goal was to remove cover and concealment used by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, so as to reveal hidden bases, communications centers and potential targets, and to improve visibility in tracking troop movements.,More than 13 million gallons (about 59 million liters) of Agent Orange was used by the US military in Vietnam, or almost two-thirds of the total amount of herbicides used during the entire Vietnam War.,The chemical was available in slightly different mixtures, sometimes referred to as Agent Orange I, Agent Orange II, Agent Orange III and “Super Orange”.,End of Agent Orange?,In 1969, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) urged the Pentagon to end its use of herbicides containing dioxin, specifically Agent Orange, something that the Department of Defense (DoD) eventually did.,Even so, the defoliation campaign continued, with the US military switching to Agent White, a chemical herbicide that did not contain the dioxin contaminant.,In May 1970, the US Air Force (USAF) flew its last defoliation mission, and almost a year later, the DoD announced that all crop destruction missions would also cease.,The remaining 2.22 million gallons of Agent Orange were moved by the USAF to Johnston Island Atoll in the South Pacific, where they were incinerated.,Legacy,The Vietnamese government said that up to four million people in the country were exposed to Agent Orange, and as many as three million people had suffered illness because of the defoliant.,The Vietnam Red Cross in turn pointed out that the defoliant had affected at least 150,000 children, and that babies in Vietnam are still being born with birth defects due to Agent Orange. In this regard, numerous studies revealed that dioxin levels are still in place in the blood samples of the citizens of both North and South Vietnam.,The chemical also caused immense environmental damage in Vietnam, with more than 3,100,000 hectares (31,000 km2) of forest being defoliated ( for comparison's sake, Taiwan measures 36,197 km2).,Opinion & AnalysisAnniversary of Agent Orange Disaster: Only United Can We Relieve the Suffering of Many Generations10:21 GMT,Agent Orange-related issues also emerged in the US after an increasing number of returning Vietnam veterans and their families began to report a range of health problems, including skin irritations, miscarriages, psychological symptoms, type 2 diabetes, birth defects in children and cancers such as Hodgkin’s disease, prostate cancer and leukemia.,1979 saw a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 2.4 million US veterans, who were exposed to Agent Orange during their service in Vietnam. In 1984, seven major US chemical companies that manufactured the defoliant agreed to pay $180 million in damages to the veterans or their next of kin.,Vietnam War,The 1955-1975 Vietnam War, which involved Laos and Cambodia, pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong revolutionary organization against South Vietnam, supported by Washington.,Preconditions for the war pertained to the desire of North Vietnam, which defeated the French colonial administration in 1954, to unify the entire country under a single communist authority, like in the Soviet Union or China. The South Vietnamese government, for its part, sought to preserve a Vietnam more closely aligned with the West.,The US was concerned over the spread of communism to South Vietnam and then to the rest of Asia, which prompted Washington to end money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese government.,On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese boats attacked a US Navy destroyer, the USS Maddox, patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin near Vietnam, in what was used by the White House as a pretext to escalate the war and send American combat units to the South East Asian country. However, the US costs and casualties in the war prompted Washington to withdraw American troops by 1973, and a couple of years later, South Vietnam fell to a full-scale invasion by the North.,An array of war crimes was committed by the US military during the war, including the My Lai massacre, in which up to 504 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians, including women, children, and infants, were killed by US Army soldiers on March 16, 1968.,Another war crime pertains to Operation Speedy Express, conducted by the US Army in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta between December 1968 and May 1969 as part of the American military’s effort to pacify the Viet Cong. The operation led to 5,000 to 7,000 casualties who were reported to have been civilians.。筹备第十五届全国冬季运动会，竞赛场馆、场地建设须先行。竞赛场馆、场地是确保“十五冬”赛事良好运行的基础设施，是当下促进振兴发展的抓手，并将持续释放冬运红利。“十五冬”项目分冰上项目和雪上项目两大类，冰上项目将在沈阳王家湾冰上运动中心进行，雪上项目则将在新建的抚顺龙岗山雪上运动中心展开角逐。　　图为抚顺龙岗山雪上运动中心效果图。抚顺市商务局供图　　雪上赛场的不二之选　　抚顺龙岗山雪上运动中心项目位于抚顺市新宾满族自治县龙岗山北麓，两大优势使这里成为“十五冬”雪上项目举办地的不二之选。其一，这里位于北纬41°这一国际公认的世界“黄金粉雪带”上，降雪量大、冬季漫长，冬季平均气温在零下15℃至零下22℃之间，“暖雪暖冰”优势明显；其二，这里海拔1373米，素有“辽宁屋脊”之称，山体落差为792米，是我省唯一可满足高山滑雪全部项目场地需求的山体。　　抚顺市文旅局副局长赵玉彦在接受采访时表示：龙岗山雪上运动中心项目总规划面积788公顷，主要包括滑雪场、配套基础设施和岗山水库工程三个子项目，其中滑雪场规划占地677公顷，并对运动员村、媒体酒店、赛时保障人员住宿中心以及配套基础设施项目等进行了精准细致的规划。

B | 　　“目前，项目规划建设的赛场天气雷达、地基遥感观测系统、自动气象站等正在进行项目选址，年内将完成3个气象站建设。规划建设16座5G通讯基站及传输交换局房、通讯传输管道等，已与运营商充分沟通对接，确保建设及时、保障到位。”赵玉彦向记者介绍了工程的进展情况。　　雪上项目，尤其是其中的自由式滑雪空中技巧项目，是辽宁冰雪军团的传统优势项目。上个世纪90年代以来，辽宁培养出徐梦桃、韩晓鹏、郭丹丹、徐囡囡、李妮娜、贾宗洋等冬奥会冠军、世界冠军、冬运会冠军。省体育局冬季运动管理中心主任佘宇坦言：“龙岗山雪上运动中心建成后，有望成为培养高水平雪上运动人才的摇篮，有利于我们集中力量提高运动员的技战术水平，增强在国内外赛场为祖国增光、为辽宁添彩的能力。” 　　消弭冰雪消费的痛点　　相比冰上运动，雪上运动的冬季游属性更强，在冰雪产业中占主导地位。北京成功举办2022年冬奥会后，辽沈地区的滑雪运动高速发展，并诞生了很多与其相关的新兴行业，滑雪摄影师就是其中之一。　　作为从2008年便接触滑雪的资深“发烧友”，王猛担任专职滑雪摄影师近5个年头，“干我们这行，就是要帮助雪友记录精彩瞬间，谁滑雪的时候不渴望有张能在朋友圈里抢眼的超酷照片啊！”王猛笑着说。

C | 　　随着短视频的兴起，视频跟拍成为王猛工作的主要内容。王猛坦言：“现在雪友都爱录视频，孩子们的需求量尤其大，而且都是用私人订制的方式。”因此，滑雪摄影师的收入非常可观，冰雪季每天收入数百元不成问题，水平高、受欢迎的摄影师往往月收入过万元。“我们这个圈子里的人议论，等到龙岗山雪上运动中心建成，雪友的跟拍需求肯定更旺，收入没准还能翻一番呢。”谈及未来，王猛的眼神里充满期待。

D | 　　建设抚顺龙岗山雪上运动中心的意义，在赛场内也在赛场外。

E | 冰雪运动专家、中国滑冰协会顾问王石安对记者说：“届时，沈抚地区不仅能留住辽宁的滑雪发烧友，还能吸引大量外省的滑雪游客。更多人来沈抚地区滑雪，将给辽宁的滑雪产业带来勃勃生机。” 　　高端滑雪场的缺失，一直是制约辽宁冰雪消费的一个痛点。

F | “最近几年，国内滑雪产业的蛋糕越做越大，但大部分客流被黑龙江、吉林、内蒙古、河北的高端滑雪场分走了，很多辽宁滑雪爱好者也选择去外省滑雪。据保守统计，上年度雪季，辽宁滑雪爱好者在外省的消费额超过20亿元。”王石安不无惋惜地说。　　“黑龙江亚布力滑雪场、内蒙古呼伦贝尔金龙山滑雪场等外省高端滑雪场的冬季气温大多低于零下20℃，沈抚地区的冬季气温大部分时间则在零下10℃左右，非常适合滑雪爱好者在室外滑雪。建设龙岗山雪上运动中心的一大好处是将有更多滑雪爱好者来到沈阳、抚顺，并吸引消费能力强的高端滑雪者。

G | 据统计，高端滑雪者每人一次滑雪游消费接近1万元，甚至更多，他们的到来将有力拉动沈抚地区的冰雪经济。”王石安表示，龙岗山雪上运动中心具有得天独厚的条件，有望成为国内乃至国际的冰雪旅游胜地。　　培育冰雪经济的增长点　　对于冰雪产业可以预期的跨越式发展，抚顺市已做好相应准备。赵玉彦表示：“以承办‘十五冬’雪上赛事为契机，抚顺市大力发展冰雪经济，努力开创体育赋能、文化为媒、旅游带动的文体旅深度融合发展新格局。”据了解，目前抚顺市已打造了以玉龙溪冰雪大世界、三块石、天女山、雷体冰雪嘉年华、禄霖滑雪场为支撑的冰雪产业集群，让“冷冰雪”焕发文体旅“热效应”。　　此外，围绕龙岗山雪上运动中心建设，抚顺还致力于促进“旅游+”多业态跨界融合。“抚顺市围绕康养、体育、冰雪等领域策划建立文旅招商项目库，主动对接重大文旅项目落地抚顺。同时，以项目为依托，打造、引进更多的‘体育+’项目，加快主题酒店、房车露营地、星空露营地等新型住宿业态开发，力争让更多的游客玩得好、留得住。”赵玉彦说。

H | 　　王石安告诉记者，沈阳王家湾冰上运动中心和抚顺龙岗山雪上运动中心建成后，沈抚地区将成为京冀、黑龙江、内蒙古、新疆4个地区之后，第五个同时拥有大道速滑馆和高山滑雪场的冰雪运动圈，这5个冰雪运动圈之中，沈抚地区的交通、气候、海拔等综合条件最好，“综合各方面条件来看，沈抚冰雪运动圈的吸引力将是全国顶级，整个辽宁冰雪产业将迎来翻天覆地的变化。”王石安充满信心地说。责任编辑：李丹。