Mdthbs

I found this article and what I read shocked me.

There are an estimated 650,000 like Hong Hanh in Vietnam, suffering
from an array of baffling chronic conditions. Another 500,000 have
already died. The thread that weaves through all their case histories
is defoliants deployed by the US military during the war. Some of the
victims are veterans who were doused in these chemicals during the
war, others are farmers who lived off land that was sprayed. The
second generation are the sons and daughters of war veterans, or
children born to parents who lived on contaminated land. Now there is
a third generation, the grandchildren of the war and its victims.

This is a chain of events bitterly denied by the US government.
Millions of litres of defoliants such as Agent Orange were dropped on
Vietnam, but US government scientists claimed that these chemicals
were harmless to humans and short-lived in the environment. US
strategists argue that Agent Orange was a prototype smart weapon, a
benign tactical herbicide that saved many hundreds of thousands of
American lives by denying the North Vietnamese army the jungle cover
that allowed it ruthlessly to strike and feint. New scientific
research, however, confirms what the Vietnamese have been claiming for
years. It also portrays the US government as one that has illicitly
used weapons of mass destruction, stymied all independent efforts to
assess the impact of their deployment, failed to acknowledge cold,
hard evidence of maiming and slaughter, and pursued a policy of
evasion and deception.

Isn't there a legal recourse people in Vietnam can use to get compensation and can the U.S. deny them by just denying it ever happened? I would have thought there could be a sort of "international court" punishing crimes against humanity like we did to Saddam Hussein, or is the "international court" an institution that only punish the losers during a war? The use of chemical weapon is clearly illegal and could be considered a crime against humanity. If so, can a country like the U.S. prevent from being prosecuted for it by denying it happened?

Your question is slightly at odds with reality.

First off, with the important exception of the US government, nobody sensible is quibbling over the mounting amount of evidence that Agent Orange had short and long lasting side effects.

As you've noted already, the US government is not accepting any guilt or responsibility. So the real question is whether there's a court that could find the United States or some of its service members guilty.

There are an International Court of Justice and an International Criminal Court. However:

• The United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction of the first in 1986, and began to accept the court's jurisdiction only on a discretionary basis in the aftermath of Nicaragua vs the United States.




• The United States not only rejects submitting to the second, but also passed the American Service-Members' Protection Act (aka "Hague Invasion Act") which requires POTUS to use "all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court."

As you may know, the US military budget is rather significant, to put it mildly. As such it's not like another country can force the US to comply with a world court order.

So in practice and until the US stance chances, there isn't much that the affected Vietnamese can do to seek remedy besides exhausting court options.

Countries are not usually prosecuted, only the individuals responsible in the command structure.

There is an international criminal court; not only is the US not signed up to obey it's judgements, there is a specific law ("Hague Invasion Act") preventing it's judgements being enforced against US military staff.

"international court" an institution that only punish the losers during a war?

Pretty much yes. As a matter of realpolitik it cannot be otherwise, except in extremely small conflicts between or within powerless countries.

The question is very much at odds with reality. First the US a long time ago acknowledged the use of Agent Orange and it's side effects. Consider

In the Agent Orange Act of 1991, Congress required the National Academy of Sciences to review periodically all medical and scientific research on the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin and other chemicals used during the Vietnam War, and to their individual components. The NAS Institute of Medicine now issues biennial reports called Veterans and Agent Orange. The most recent one was issued in July 2009.

Much more at the link. But how does this relate to US/Vietnam relations and responsibilities?

U.S. officials have begun dialogue with Vietnamese counterparts about a humanitarian approach to the issue. In addition, Congress has appropriated $40.1 million since 2007 for environmental remediation of dioxin-contaminated sites and for related health activities, on a humanitarian basis.