The Invention of Ecocide: Agent Orange, Vietnam, and the Scientists Who Changed the Way We Think About the Environment

261 Pages·2011·5.39 MB·English

by  David Zierler

The InvenTIon of ecocIde

DaviD Zierler
AgenT orAnge, vIeTnAm, And The ScIenTISTS Who
chAnged The WAy We ThInk AbouT The envIronmenT
The UniversiTy of GeorGia Press • aThens and London
the
Friends Fund Publication of this work was made possible, in part, by a generous
gift from the University of Georgia Press Friends Fund.
Parts of chapter 8, “Against Protocol,” originally appeared in substantially different form as “Against
Protocol: Ecocide, Détente, and the Question of Chemical Warfare in Vietnam, 1969–1975,” by
David Zierler, in Environmental Histories of the Cold War, edited by J. R. McNeill and Corinna
R. Unger, Copyright © 2010 the German Historical Institute. Reprinted with the permission of
Cambridge University Press.
The views, opinions, and interpretations expressed herein are those of the author alone and are not
necessarily those of the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Government. This book is based on
fully declassified and open source material.
© 2011 by the University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
www.ugapress.org
All rights reserved
Designed by Walton Harris
Set in 10.5/14 Minion Pro
Printed digitally in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zierler, David, 1979–
The invention of ecocide : agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who
changed the way we think about the environment / David Zierler.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
isbn-13: 978-0-8203-3826-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn-10: 0-8203-3826-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn-13: 978-0-8203-3827-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn-10: 0-8203-3827-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Nature — Effect of human beings on. 2. Extinction (Biology)
3. Agent Orange — Health aspects. 4. Agent Orange — Toxicology.
5. Vietnam War, 1961–1975 — Chemical warfare.
gf75.z54 2011
576.8'4 — dc22 2010044005
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
To Sadie Vella

Contents
acknowledgments ix
abbreviations xi
one Introduction 1
two An Etymology of Ecocide 14
three Agent Orange before Vietnam 33
four Gadgets and Guerrillas 48
five Herbicidal Warfare 67
six Science, Ethics, and Dissent 89
seven Surveying a Catastrophe 112
eight Against Protocol 138
nine Conclusion: Ecocide and International Security 159
notes 169
bibliography 205
index 233

aCknowleDgments
for the past several years I have been surrounded by a wonderful mix
of family, friends, and colleagues whose advice and support helped me to
create this book. Without them, I would not have been able to bridge my
ideas with a topic that has proved sometimes unwieldy and always emotion-
ally charged.
All good things start at home. My family has lovingly sustained my schol-
arly endeavors in too many ways to count. The storage space and home
office have been a great help, but the intellectual vitality and good humor
of my wife’s family and my own gave me the confidence and energy to
see this project to its conclusion. To the Zierlers: Mom and Dad, Jeremy,
Samantha, Jemma, Jonathan, and Zachary; and to the Akselrads: Mom and
Dad, Rebecca, Benjamin, and Gila, and to my grandmothers, aunts, uncles,
and cousins — thank you so much and I love you all.
From dissertation proposal to book binding, The Invention of Ecocide took
shape alongside my association with two of the great historical institutions
in this country. The Department of History at Temple University provided
a more fulfilling and exciting academic environment than any I could have
dreamed up on my own. The Office of the Historian at the U.S. Department
of State, in existence since 1861, is both an engine of annotation and declas-
sification of the most important U.S. national security documents, and a
center for policy-oriented historical analysis. I have relied heavily on the
office’s output for my own work, and it is a great honor to be a part of it now.
From 2004 to the present, one person has devoted superhuman levels of
attention to my work. I came to Temple to study with Richard Immerman,
that rare professor who is both a giant in his field and unbelievably attentive
to his students. I would not be a historian without him. Richard is a gift to
the historical profession, and it has been my good fortune to work with him
at Temple and in his capacity as an advisor to the Office of the Historian.
ix