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

一 |     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.。    　　上周，国际金价大涨5%，伦敦现货金价格连续向上突破4400美元、4500美元和4600美元整数关口，并且连续三周上涨。虽然距离年初创下的5598美元历史新高还有一段距离，但不少投资者依然憧憬黄金新一轮涨势的到来。　　金价为何上涨　　这一波反弹之前，黄金曾从年初的历史高位大幅回落，二季度下跌14%更是创下了2013年以来最差季度表现。　　瑞银大宗商品分析师乔瓦尼·施陶诺沃（Giovanni Staunovo）表示：全球债务水平攀升，再加上美元持续走弱，是去年金价大涨的底层逻辑，而如今这些担忧再度卷土重来。“在我们看来，未来12个月，上述因素将推动黄金价格上涨至每盎司5400美元。”施陶诺沃说。　　美国财政部周三宣布，将至少加倍回购10—30年期国债，以此稳定长期国债的抛售行情。该消息一出，美债收益率初步下行、美元走弱，直接推高黄金价格。　　即使美债收益率随后重新上涨，但黄金价格仍然维持上涨态势。投资者对于美国债务规模持续上涨引发了更多的担忧。

二 | 美国国债回购计划出台之际，美国政府债务规模历史上首次突破40万亿美元。　　海克罗夫特矿业执行董事长兼首席执行官黛安·加勒特（Diane Garrett）表示称：债务负担的成本与存续周期，将成为影响政策制定的核心变量。

三 | 这正是黄金投资者所押注的长期性、结构性驱动因素。这也解释了为什么各国央行持续减持美债储备，转而增持黄金。　　世界黄金协会（WGC）数据显示，2026年一季度全球央行增储黄金244吨，同比增长3%，高于过去五年均值；二季度全球央行净购金288.9吨，环比增长411%，创二季度历史新高。　　此外，WGC于2026年6月发布的《全球央行黄金储备调研》显示，89%的受访储备管理者预计未来12个月全球央行黄金储备将继续增加，45%的受访者表示其所在机构计划在未来一年内增持黄金，两项指标均打破该项调研自2018年启动以来的历史纪录。中国央行截至7月末已连续第21个月增持黄金，黄金储备升至7608万盎司。　　也有分析师表示：像美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特发布的这类短期政策，会持续造成金价波动，中东紧张局势也会放大波动。但黄金的结构性基本面并未改变。　　不过分析师也指出仍存在利空因素。施陶诺沃就提醒，中东冲突推高油价，而能源价格上涨会加剧通胀，令各国央行降息更加谨慎，这或将支撑债券收益率上行，进而压制黄金价格走势。　　国新证券的报告则认为，美联储政策不确定性仍然制约着金价走强。报告认为，7月货币政策委员会（FOMC）会议以9:3投票维持3.50%-3.75%利率区间不变，三位鹰派委员主张加息25个基点。

四 | 美联储主席沃什重申将锚定2%通胀目标，若通胀条件满足将采取加息操作。如果美联储年内加息，将会压制金价反弹的空间。

五 | 　　StoneX公司欧非与亚洲市场分析主管罗娜·奥康奈尔（Rhona OConnell）则表示，判断黄金价格走势需要权衡两股力量：美债收益率处于高位且大概率继续上行的利空，以及美元走弱的利好，同时不能忽视海湾地区地缘风险。很大一部分预期已经被市场定价，金价接下来或许需要一轮休整。

六 | 　　Trade Nation高级市场分析师戴维·莫里森（David Morrison）也认为，本轮快速反弹后，黄金存在短期回调风险。　　“这一轮黄金涨势十分亮眼，自上月月末的数月低点以来已经反弹10%，但行情涨得过快过猛。金价或许需要回踩消化，才能开启进一步上行。

七 | 即便金价回落至4400美元，若该位置守住支撑，对多头而言依旧是积极信号；倘若美元继续走弱，则更是利好。”　　东方金诚研究发展部高级副总监白雪认为，实际利率走高抬高黄金持有成本，对金价形成压力，但美伊冲突避险需求、央行购金与去美元化又形成支撑，金价更可能高位波动而非单边下跌。（文章来源：证券时报）。

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