Herbicidal warfare
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'''Herbicidal warfare''' is a form of warfare in which the objective is to destroy the plant-based ecosystem of an area for the purpose of disrupting agricultural food production or destroying plants which provide cover to an enemy. In contrast to other forms of [[chemical warfare]], its use is not prohibited by international agreement.
The first known use of '''herbicides in warfare''' is the reputed sowing of [[salt]] into the soil around [[Carthage]] by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] in [[146 BC]] to [[sterilization (microbiology)|sterilize]] the [[soil]]. This story seems extremely unlikely, at least as reported, due to the amount of salt that would be needed -- it would be a difficult task even today.
Modern day herbicidal warfare resulted from [[military research]] discoveries of [[plant]] growth regulators in the [[Second World War]], and is therefore a technological advance on the [[burnt earth]] practices by armies throughout history to deprive an enemy of food and cover.
Work on military herbicides began in [[England]] in [[1940]], and by 1944 the [[United States]] joined in the effort. Even though herbicides are chemicals, due to their mechanism of action (growth regulators) they are often considered a means of [[biological warfare]]. Over 1,000 substances were investigated by wars end for phytotoxic properties, and the Allies envisioned using herbicides to destroy [[Axis Powers|Axis]] crops. British planners did not believe herbicides were logistically feasible against [[Germany]], and United States' plans for reducing [[Japan]]ese [[rice]] crops for the invasion of [[Japan]] were rejected due to the similarity of the herbicide's name to the poison [[cyanide]].
The British first used herbicides against [[Malayan Emergency|Malaya]]'s insurgency in [[1953]] by using [[2,4,5-T]] that was intended to control rubber tree parasites. It was used to thin jungle trails to limit ambushes, and destruction of native [[agriculture]]. The denial of food was considered decisive weapon in countering the [[insurgency]], but was later judged to be ineffectual and contrary to other goals.
== Vietnam War ==
The first major use of herbicides against people in a conflict was by the [[United States]] in [[Southeast Asia]] during the [[Vietnam War]]. Success with [[Project AGILE]] field tests with herbicides in South Vietnam in [[1961]] led to the formal herbicidal program [[Trail Dust]] (1961 - 1971). [[Operation Ranch Hand]] was an [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] program to use [[C-123K]] aircraft to spray herbicides over large areas was one of many programs under Operation Trail Dust. The aircrews charged with spraying the defoliant used a sardonic motto-"Only you can prevent forests"-a shortening of the U.S. Forest Services famous warning to the general public "Only you can prevent forest fires".
Initial operations from 1961-1962 were disguised as being under [[South Vietnam]]ese command, to avoid conflicts with the [[Geneva Accord]] of 1954, which prohibited [[chemical weapons]]. (The United States officially claims that herbicidal weapons and [[incendiary device|incendiary]] agents like [[napalm]] fall outside the Geneva definition of "chemical weapons"). Ranch Hand started as a limited program of defoliation of border areas, security perimeters, and crop destruction. As the conflict continued, the anti-crop mission took on more prominence, and (along with other agents) defoliants became used to "persuade" civilians to leave [[Viet Cong]]-controlled territories for government-controlled areas. It was also used experimentally for large area forest burning operations that failed to produce the desired results.
[[Image:GVN Herbicide.jpg|thumb]]
Defoliation was judged in 1963 as improving visibility in jungles by 30 - 75% horizontally, and 40 - 80% vertically. Improvements in delivery systems by 1968 increased this to 50 - 70% horizontally, and 60 - 90% vertically. Ranch Hand pilots were the first to make an accurate 1:125,000 scale map of the [[Ho Chi Minh trail]] south of Tchpone, [[Laos]] by defoliating swaths perpendicular to the trail every half mile or so.
Use of herbicides in Vietnam caused a shortage of commercial pesticides in mid-1966 when the [[Defense Department]] had to use powers under the [[Defense Production Act of 1950]] to secure supplies.
==Types of Herbicides Used==
{{main|Agent Orange}}
The United States had technical military symbols for herbicides that have since been replaced by the more common color code names derived from the banding on shipping drums.
<!-- format as graph //
AGENT COMPOSITION LBS/GAL USE
PURPLE n-butyl esters of 2,4-D 4.2 145,000 gallons used between 1962 - 1965 as a general defoliant at 1 - 3 lbs/acre.
n-butyl esters of 2,4,5-T 2.2
isobutyl esters of 2,4,5-T 1.5
ORANGE n-butyl esters of 2,4-D 49.49 10,646,000 gallons used in Vietnam between 1965 - 1970 as a general defoliant at 10 - 65 lbs/acre.
n-butyl esters of 2,4,5-T 48.75
ORANGE II n-butyl esters of 2,4,-D 50% 950,000 gallons delivered, but not believed used in Vietnam.
isoctyl esters of 2,4,5-T 50%
PINK n-butyl esters of 2,4,5-T 60% 122,792 gallons used in Vietnam between 1962 - 1965 by GVN forces as a general defoliant.
isobutyl esters of 2,4,5-T 40%
GREEN n-butyl esters of 2,4,5-T 8.16 8,208 gallons used in Vietnam between 1962 - 1965 by GVN forces as a general defoliant.
BLUE Sodium cacodylate 27.7% Used to attack cereals and grain crops at an application rate of 33 lbs/acre.
cacodylic acid 4.8%
water & sodium chloride 67.5%
WHITE tri isoproparolamine salt of Picloram 0.54 Used at 9.6 lbs/acre for long-term control of braodleaf plants.
tri isoproparolamine salts of 2,4-D 2.0
water & wetting agent 7.06
-->
In 1966 the [[United States Defense Department]] claimed that herbicides used in Vietnam were not harmful to people or the environment. In 1972 it was advised that a known impurity precluded the use of these herbicides in Vietnam and all remaining stocks should be returned home. In 1977 the [[United States Air Force]] destroyed its stocks of [[Agent Orange]] 200 miles west of [[Johnston Island]] on the incinerator ship [[M/T Vulcanus]]. The impurity, [[2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin]] ([[TCDD]]) was a suspected [[carcinogen]] that may have affected the health of over 17,000 [[United States]] servicemen, 4,000 [[Australia]]ns, 1,700 [[New Zealand]]ers, [[Korean people|Koreans]], countless [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]] soldiers and civilians, and with over 40,000 children of veterans possibly suffering birth defects from herbicidal warfare.
Decades later the lingering problem of herbicidal warfare remains as a dominant issue of [[United States-Vietnam relations]]. In 2003, a coalition of Vietnamese survivors and long-term victims of Agent Orange [[Lawsuit|sued]] a number of American-based and multinational chemical corporations for damages related to the manufacture and use of the chemical. A federal judge rejected the suit, claiming that the plaintiff's claim of direct responsibility was invalid.
==External links==
* "Herbicides in Warfare: The Case of Indochina", article by A.H.Westing, apparently from "Ecotoxicology and Climate", edited P.Bourdeau and others, 1989 archived at [http://globalecology.stanford.edu/DGE/CIWDGE/SCOPE%20Books%20Web%20Archive/SCOPE%2038/SCOPE_38_5.6_Westing_337-358.pdf Stanford University, Department of Global Ecology]
[[Category:Warfare by type]]
[[Category:Herbicides]]
[[Category:Chemical warfare]]