Vietnam refoliation
Sir: I am thankful to Dr Bernard Dixon for the opportunity his letter (February 16) provides of going into the matter of Vietnam refoliation in more detail.
First, Dr Dixon accuses me of grossly underestimating the ecological damage as a result of the defoliation programme. On the contrary, it is Professor Galston and his colleagues, who are responsible for creating dust
bowls in America and of causing a rice famine through the introduction of 'miracle rice' in various Asian countries, who are diverting people's attention away from several more serious consequences of the war, for example the diseases resulting from the widespread use of nerve gas and germ bombs, by drawing the red herring of defoliation across the trail. President Nixon did not stop the defoliation programme because it was causing ecological damage, but because its effect was beneficial. What the scientists forgot was that Vietnam is a tropical country with no winter season. By removing the leaves of the tallest trees, defoliation allowed sunlight to penetrate into the forests and thus promote the development of the undergrowth. The original purpose of the defoliation programme was to destroy the trees and thus deny cover to the Vietcong. The Vietnamese neither need nor desire the help of American scientists. In only a year, the north Vietnamese have filled in all the craters, removed unexploded shells, re-built the bridges (one of them in fourteen days), factories and power stations, and now the economy is thriving and prosperous.
In the liberated areas of South Viet nam, all the people have been supplied with at least one pig, a cow and several hens and ducks. During the war Saigon regime soldiers had systematically killed all the livestock and driven the people into 'strategic hamlets' or concentration camps. Some of these actions have been shown on television.
The capital of the prefecture of Quang Tri (next to the demilitarised zone), Dong Ha, has now been completely re-built, the nearby river has been virtually cleared of shells and sunken ships, and the bridge has also been re-built. Supplies of essential raw materials, like cement, are constantly streaming in from China and being unloaded in the harbour where a large fishing fleet is based.
In the early days of liberation, a seventeen-year-old girl, whose father had been killed in the war and whose mother had been murdered by some Saigon soldiers, was asked to start a primary school. Whilst preparing the necessary courses, she got the peasants to re-roof a bomb-damaged building and make a number of rough chairs and tables. Not having any writing paper, she used the blank pages of her own school-books. Not having ink, she used the juice of a fruit which provided a dark purple liquid. Not having chalks, she moulded a kind of white mud into sticks and dried them in the sun.
In contrast, the economy of the areas controlled by the Saigon regime is in a state of complete collapse. No i:construction work of any kind has b■ en done and the fields are pitted with craters and lie derelict. The factories have shut down and most of the population are unemployed. The streets of Saigon are jammed with beggars and prostitutes. The Saigon regime must rely entirely on food supplies from America which itself is suffering food shortages as a result of the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers. Every day hundreds of people die of starvation, and many more commit suicide. In his article ('Refoliation,' January 5), Dr Dixon says that "there is a pressing need for scientific investigation into means of making the land productive again in the shortest possible time" (in other words, the 'Vietnamese countryside' is presently infertile, which Dr Dixon denies saying).
Meanwhile, President Nixon has just authorised a $2,000 million military aid programme for the Saigon regime. A. J. H. Brown 46 Merryton Avenue, Giffnock, Glasgow
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