Chemical
defoliant used in
Viet Nam to destroy the
jungle. Millions and millions of gallons of this
poison were released into the
environment in the hopes of making the
enemy more vulnerable.
This may actually have happened. In addition, millions and millions and millions of acres of land were denuded of plant life. Thousands and thousands of people were poisoned, and their children for generations have been genetically affected.
The main ingrediants of Agent Orange are 2,4-D, and 2,4,5-T. The first has been used extensively as a wide-leaf plant herbicide in North America. The second, having been found to be easily contaminated by dioxin, has been banned--after being used.
In Canada, New Brunswick to be exact, Agent Orange was used to spray the right-of-ways for the major electricty transmission lines in the 1950's--it is easier to service the lines if there is no vegetation beneath.
The Sprayers of Dioxin Association, or SODA, has been lobying for compensation for the workers for decades. The sprayers, no more than any sprayers of pesticide anywhere, no more than the Vietnamese peasants, had absolutely no idea what the chemical was, or could do---to them.
O, and this is the source for the uses above.