Editing Chemical warfare (section)

===Herbicidal warfare===
{{See also|Herbicidal warfare}}
[[File:A vietnamese Professor is pictured with a group of handicapped children.jpg|thumb|Disabled children in [[Vietnam]], most of them impacted by [[Agent Orange]], 2004]]
Although herbicidal warfare use [[chemical substance]]s, its main purpose is to disrupt agricultural food production and/or to destroy plants which provide cover or concealment to the enemy.

The use of [[herbicide]]s by the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]] during the [[Vietnam War]] has left tangible, long-term [[Effects of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people|impacts upon the Vietnamese people]] and U.S. veterans of the war.<ref>{{cite news |title=The legacy of Agent Orange |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4494347.stm |work=BBC News |date=29 April 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/us/agent-oranges-long-legacy-for-vietnam-and-veterans.html|title=Agent Orange's Long Legacy, for Vietnam and Veterans|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 11, 2014|last1=Haberman|first1=Clyde}}</ref> The government of Vietnam says that around 24% of the forests of Southern Vietnam were defoliated and up to four million people in Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange. They state that as many as three million people have developed illness because of Agent Orange while the Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to one million people were disabled or have health problems associated with Agent Orange. The United States government has described these figures as unreliable.<ref name="The Washington Post">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/14/AR2007061401077_4.html |last=Stocking |first=Ben |title=Agent Orange Still Haunts Vietnam, US|date=2007-06-14 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2017-03-29 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330083914/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/14/AR2007061401077_4.html |archive-date=2017-03-30|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Jessica King">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/10/world/asia/vietnam-us-agent-orange/ |title=U.S. in first effort to clean up Agent Orange in Vietnam |first=Jessica |last=King |date=2012-08-10 |access-date=2012-08-11 |work=[[CNN]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303060725/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/10/world/asia/vietnam-us-agent-orange |archive-date=2013-03-03 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=War and Shadows: The Haunting of Vietnam|last=Gustafson|first=Mai L.|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1978|location=Ithaca and London|pages=125}}</ref>
During the war, the U.S. fought the North Vietnamese and their allies in [[Laotian Civil War|Laos]] and [[Cambodian Civil War|Cambodia]], dropping large quantities of Agent Orange in each of those countries. According on one estimate, the U.S. dropped {{convert|475,500|USgal|L}} of Agent Orange in Laos and {{convert|40,900|USgal|L}} in Cambodia.<ref>Nature, 17 Apr. 2003, [http://stellman.com/jms/Stellman1537.pdf "The extent and patterns of usage of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam"], Vol. 422, p. 681</ref><ref name="theatlantic.com">The Atlantic, 20 Jul. 2019, [https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/agent-orange-cambodia-laos-vietnam/591412/ "The U.S.'s Toxic Agent Orange Legacy: Washington Has Admitted to the Long-Lasting Effects of Dioxin Use in Vietnam, But Has Largely Sidestepped the Issue in Neighboring Cambodia and Laos"]</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Agent Orange's Legacy |date=March 20, 2004 |publisher=The Cambodia Daily |url=http://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/agent-oranges-legacy-884/ |access-date=May 5, 2014 |archive-date=May 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505104932/http://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/agent-oranges-legacy-884/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Because Laos and Cambodia were officially neutral during the Vietnam War, the U.S. attempted to keep secret its military involvement in these countries. The U.S. has stated that Agent Orange was not widely used and therefore hasn't offered assistance to affected Cambodians or Laotians, and limits benefits American veterans and CIA personnel who were stationed there.<ref name="theatlantic.com"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/world/asia/us-moves-to-address-agent-orange-contamination-in-vietnam.html |title=4 Decades on, U.S. Starts Cleanup of Agent Orange in Vietnam|access-date=May 5, 2014 | location=New York |work=The New York Times |date=August 9, 2012}}</ref>