Page "Agent Orange" Paragraph 23

In 1965, members of the U. S. Congress were told " crop destruction is understood to be the more important purpose ... but the emphasis is usually given to the jungle defoliation in public mention of the program.

" Soldiers were told they were destroying crops because they were going to be used to feed guerrillas.

They later discovered nearly all of the food they had been destroying was not being produced for guerrillas ; it was, in reality, only being grown to support the local civilian population.

For example, in Quang Ngai province, 85 % of the crop lands were scheduled to be destroyed in 1970 alone.

Widespread famine occurred as a result, leaving hundreds of thousands of people malnourished or starving.