92d Congress } 1st Session COMMITTEE PRINT

IMPACT OF THE VIETNAM WAR

PREPARED FOR THE USE OF

COMMr'PTEE ON FOREIGNi'lfEtA''TIONS UNITED STATES SENATE

62-010,

BY THE

FOREIGN ·AFFAlRS DIVISION·

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH. SERVICE·

LIB.RARYO.F· CQNGRESS

'n,

JUNE 80, 1971

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON: 1971

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INTRODUCTION

This survey by the Library Qf CQngress cQllects a brQad range Qf infQrmatiQn detailing the enQrmQus cQsts-in human and material resQurces-incurred as a result Qf the war in IndQchina. The cQmpila­tiQn Qf this infQrmatiQn will, I hQpe, serve to. bring into. perspective and to. clarify the stark implicatiQns Qf United States PQllCl tQward this regiQn. The casualty and refugee, figures are sadly familiar frQmthe dally newspapers. HQwever, many Qf the Qther items also. illustrate the prQfQund effect Qf the war and may nQt have received the attention they deserve. :FQr example, it is estimated that chemical herbicides have been applied to. llearly Qne-seventh Qf SQuth Vietnam (6 PQunds per person), thereby destrQying enQugh fQQd fQr 600,000 peQple fQr 1 year and enough timber to' meet the needs Qf the CQuntry, based Qn current demand, fQr 31 years. In SQuth Vietnam agricultural prQductivity has been IQwered; inflation is rampant (Saigon's retail prices having In­

,creased by over 700 percent since 1965); and last year the balance, if it can be called that, Qf trade shQwed,tlpprQximately $600 milliQn of impQrts versus experts Qf Qnly $12 milliQn. , '

Nevertheless, altheugh this repQrt dQcuments milny Qf the measura­»le consequences'Qf the war, it cannQtte~eal the.inta11glblecQ8ts which m'the lQng run may be Qf far greater 8lgmficance. The survey spells out the cl\sualty figures-827,000 U,S., SQuth Vietnamese and allied military personnel, Qver a million civilian casualties in SQuth Vietnam, and countless theusands in Laos,RIld CambQdia,and it is estimated that a,third Qf the populatiQn Qf SQuth Vietnam have becQme refugees in thecQurse Qf the past, 7 years" But thQse figures merely hint at the vast destructiQn Qf the sQcial. fabric Md'ecQnomies Qf Indochina wrQughtas a CQnsequence Qf this tragic war. There is, no. way of meas­uring thatrue CQst ofa shatteredsQciaLstructure, lQst oPPQrtunities fQr develQpment, persistellt,infl"tiQn, blackmarketeering,'cQrruptiQn; and prQstitutiQn, , '" ' " , " ,

The survey recalls Qur attentlQntQ the 296,000 wQunded Am~ricans, b~t.it cannQt dQcumentthe ]lsy'chQ1Q~ical effects Qf ,,:ar on t~e two. ....

,mllliQn who .hav~ re~urned physlCallnntact, Nor c/tn ftqu~ntlfy the effectsQf this.expenence on U,S. $O'cJety-nQt en!y the direct eCQ­nQmic CQsts realized thrQugh 0., ur Q,W,n. in. flatiQn, high in. terest rates and balanCB-Qf"]layments deficits, b4t also. the intangible , costs in terms Qf erQsiQn Qf respect fQr the law,further, disruptiQn 9£ the cQnstitutiQna.! system of checks and balanceS,incl'MSeddistrliSt of'.GQvernment, and the grQwing use of vi91~'1ceas a Po1itictlil tQQl. 'Phese)ndir~ct and;;in­tangible cQnsequ~noes of the war will have anendllf\(lgeffect on QU1': future. ..' .' ......,' ,.' : .,,".:, . ". ". '. "

It is. 1.'rQ'1lo. '. thft.t. :.th, e~!I,:,.~.;W:hichstar. pea,ostensiQiy , as 0., ne t, o.,defe!1d ;.' freedomand,democraoY;"n SQuth, Vletmlim'may have the effeot· m­stered ofsedQusly'il,ndemrining'demQctacy in the :United States, III ' retrQspect it is trag!ca)ly<i!earthatthe almosf$200 billion estimated;

. by this study t(1)~thecpstQf the war .accrued so. ~ar wQuld havebehu' betJerdevQted fo·sqlving.:the problemsQf ourQwIl Bociety,ratlwrthl)ill:,' in purstiitQfa futile miliMiyadventure which has setve.donI1"it> ex-

, acerbatet4em"" .'.. .' '. , .... '.:, ',', '.,. "". " . . J.W;FutBRtGR'l'; Oha:i1rriiin; .

, (V!

CONTENTS

Letter of Transmittal ______ , _____ ~ _________________________________ • Introducgon~ ____________________________________________________ _

I. Cost of the Vietnam war _____________________ .... _______________ _ II. Military casualties and losses ________________________ -' _________ _

A. Casualties _________________ . _______________ . ____ . _____ '. B. Losses in aircraft ______________________________________ _ C. Munitions exl?ended ________ . ___________ :.. ______________ _

III. Military Use of herbicldes _______ ~----------------,.,.------------_ A. Extent of use _________________________________________ _ 1. Defoliation of forests ________________________ ~ __ _ 2. Crop destruction __________ ,.. ____ -: _,.. __ ~ ____ ,_'- ____ _

B;_ Phase-out of_ program _______________ ,.. __ -, _____ ,..,.. _______ _ C: Findings of the Herbicide -Assessment Commis,aion_,.. -, _,.. ___ _

IV. Effects of the Vietnam war on civilians _________________________ _ A. Casualtie's_,.. _.., ___ ... ____ .... ____________ .,. ________ .. ________ ..

1. South Vietnam ________ .;. ________________________ _ .(a) 'C.asUalties due to, war operations __________ _ (b) 'Casualties due to Vietcong terrorism _____ -__

2. Laos and Cambod.Ia. ____ ~ ___________________ ------B. Social impact of the war _____________ .. _______ ' _____ ~ ____ _

1. Refugees _________ .,. __ .. _:.. _____ ... ___ .. _____ .. __ :.. ____ _ (a) South Vietnam _________________________ _

(1) Number of refugees _________ : ____ _ (2) Benefits and caseloads ___________ _

(b) Laos ___________________________________ _ (e) Cambodia ______________________________ _

2. War victims and property damage in South Vietnam_ .. a. Relocation and population movements:. ___________ _ V. ,Effects of the_ Vietnam war iIpon the economies of the nations of Indochina _________________________________________________ _

A. South Vietnam,.. __________ ,...-,.. _________________________ "'_ 1. Impact of infiat,lon _____________________ :- _______ _ 2. Impact upon agriculture ______ .- ___ ... _____________ _ 3.. Impact up0I!- bll:lance of. trade ____________________ _ 4. Impact of wmdmg down_:the'war_, ________________ _

B. Laos ____ '- ______________ '. ______________ ..:" __ .- _ .. ________ -__ C. Gambodfa __________________________________ , _________ _

(VJI)

III v 1 2 2 7 8

10 10 11 11 12 13 14 14 15 15 18 18 19 19 21 21 23 24 28 29 30

32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35

IMPACT OF THE VIETNAM WAR " ! • . ,

. INTRODUcTION

Thepurpose·,,)f the following report is to present major statistics and salient facts pertinent to the effects of the Vietnam war on life in the United·Strutes MAd in· the Indochinese states of South Vietnam, Camb<)dia,. "ndLa6s.Whilethiso<>inpilation of data does not include many of the more intangiblewaysJn'which the conflict has had an impact on U.S. citizens "nd,onthe l'eople of the combilitant nations, there are certain concretere.ult.s whIch. clln·be .recorded,. for.exltmple\ casualties! monetary costs, and property damage. In. many cases, reliable statistics and other data are not available and often it has been necessary to include estimates and assessments from a variety of pUblished sources. On some subjects, where pertinent data did riot 'appear in published sources,!. it was possible to obtain information by direct contact with U.S. uovernment agencies. .

1. COST OF THE V,ETNAM WAR

. In .principle, a figure for the total cost of the Vietnam war should encompl1SS not only direc.t military spending on the war, but also indirect co~ts, s.'lCh as wartime . economic. assista,,?e and .p,ostwar reconstructIOn ald. Other expendItures WhICh may be conSIdered a war cost include benefits to American veterans, which will continue long after the war is ended. An additional factor in Vietnam .war ~pending.is the inflationary imp",ctof the war on the U.S. economy, .an effect which is difficult to assess in terms of numerical measure­ments. Obviously, fina,l figures for. some of the indirect costs' are not fet available. But it can. be stated that direct military costs'pf the Vietnam war to date make it the. second most expensiye war in .AmedOl\n 4istory.' " , . ' .

U.S, Government defense spending on the Vietnam war can be measured in twoways. The firstinvolve~budgetary costs, which cover

. ~'themilJ;t~tY' 'p¢J,"S!l11"ek(.aeJl\~~d,!l.'4!iL;·~II~~tJP;1)';l!<q.d~d:.f9r. ,~o,utJ,W!l.st Asia sinoe 19.65' a,nd the cos~of e'luipping a:ndsupporting: f6rces in Sdutheast ASla." 'rhesecond mcludes mcrement~l costs, whlchrel?re­~etrt'''the'l\e't di)\'~reWGe: ;b~tweeti Fth<!se]war.\;iilie· 'and [hordi,,:!], \>ea'Qe-tirrie",needs)'~2-i' 11', ,',f',]", {!-J't, ,d" (';':," ~',ll' I n;, ":~i\1 ,_,

f _ ;1;' " .""H {}[); 9L:~'J-;,':':i ~<i[(;: <,)d)-"J, "<'~', 'iJ,' 0"'.;

l,: ~?~~-~~~~~~~. i:s~e~~=f~t~:l~~:~~-;;~t'I~~.~: ~;~~l\t.~~~tl ~;-:~, -e~~~~~il'~p;~~~'~t~~~' f6~, ~~~ p~. va. Hllnl'lngs, ~{I8hington, U.S. Gov6l1?ment Printing OffiCfiI' l~_Q;-p. 39~, -.

I'· ,

2

The full budgetary cost of the war from fiscal year 1965 through fiscal year 1970 was $104.4 billion. Using this total, the cost pe" capita figures out to' a tQtal Qf Qver $500, based on a U.S. populatIOn of 200 ' milliQn. If the estimate for fiscal year 1971 is included, total cost would be about $120 billion,' O,r about $600, per capita, . Cost per capita !n fiscal year 19.69 ,wl"'app,ro?'!lJl~,~<j1y;$140, ",hile it ",as about $115 m fiscal year 1970. On the basIs of mcremental costs fromfiscal year 1965 through fiscal year 1970, tQt!llCQsts per capita were approximately $425. If an estimate for fiscal yMr 1971 is added, the final figure for in,c~emental, costs' is approximately $490 per, capita {",r'the total time

,perIOd.",,, ,,,',,', ,; """';" ;', 'I" The followin~', tables provide,aconiplete ,iliist 'of figures on both

bu.dgetary and mcremental ~~sts fort~e perio'd,fiscal yea~s'1965-n. (Smca' March 1966,M.S. military ,aSSistance to, South Vietnam has been included" in the Department of Defense budget. The' total value of U.S, military aid, t", Vietnam',duvingthe fiscal year 1965-71 period equals approximately $8 billion}.' ,

',' ,'_ ':1 1 • " ",', 3 FIg,ures forfiscaJ. years 19(i6-69we~obtft.lned Ixom::'u.S. Congf(lS~. House. OommlttooonAnned Bervl~.

Hearings on MUltal'Y' Posture. -fsl't 1. 1970,'oWaslllngton:' U .8. Government Pdnting- Oftlce. 1970, p. 7696 Flgures'for fiscal yea'tsl.97()"-7,1,were obtained-by phomdl:om Department.of Def~nse. Office oltha AsS1sta~t Secretary of D~fen8e. Comptroller. '. , ' " " '-'. '

When President Lyndon Johnson'jnaugurated his "both guns and butter" policy in 1965, the American economy was operating at almost full capacity and full employment, In retrospect, it can beseon that the added fiscal stimulus ofrisingVietnam war costs,and the 'absence of compensating reductions in non-defense spending by the Federal

, Government pl~ced a burden : upon the. economy that it could ill IIfford at that tnne.' Consequently, by early 1966, the economy was reflecting a pressure from the war which.combined with other factors

. to 'produc~ ser!ouseco,:omic p~oblems.These !ncludedth~ worst perIOd of mflatum experIenced smcethat ImmedIately followm~ the end of World War Il.' Additional problems were spiraling interest rates, severe. mone.yshortllges, It col.lt.pse.i~ the housing industry,. a general slowdown moverall economIC actIVIty after 9 years of rapId and sustained economic expansion, and. severe distortions in .the nation's flllancial markets. 8 Attemp'ts to eliminatE) these economic distortjonsand a tapering ,off of the.war, led to difficulties su.ch as II continuation of the interestcrJ,>te spiral,. the. first serious rise in un­employment' since .the early 1960,'s,J1nd adjustment problems in many

. key industries and comrll).\nities whose activities . were directly or indn'ectly affected by the \var effo,rt, .

" ',-.' , -

II. l).:f!UrARY CASl1A.LTIESAND;LosSES

A. CASl1AL'rIES

'.' By the beginning of March 1971, total U.S. military-casualties in Indochina were just und'er 350,000, which is' more thim. the U.S . . sustained in World War Laildmore than twice the number of cas­ulilties duringthe Korean conflict.' However, the Indochina casualties are still only about one~thirdas.great as the total of American de.ad and .wou,nded in W otld War IL Thefigqre is also less thantha.t for the South Vi.<ltnamese forces (apl!roxiti;rately_.470,OOO).1O Figures for total casualtIes of the North V,etnamesejV,etcongfoTces are not available" but.th •. ,Dep!J,rt!llen~ of Defense does maintaill stlttistics on enemy forces killed in actiori, Fo;r'tnls categoty;"the;D",fense.Dec partmenttotlll is approximately 715,000. If noncombat deaths arid wounded' could be added, N orthVietnamesejVietcong casualties would exceed U.S, and South Vietnamese, casualties . by an .evengreater margin. The foll<lwing ~ab!e proviae~ th'~ most complete ?'flicial sum!llary of ,total casualtIes m'Southe\tst:AsIa: '. .

i ~" ' , " " " , ; , \ ; , ,

5

, TABLE 4.~SOUTHEAST ASIA MILITARY 'CASUALTIES SUMMARY-FRIENDLY ANI;) ENEMY·l

Nonfatal wounds

Deaths United·States hospital care

United South 3d Not South 3d ,Period StateS" Vietnam, nation,' -Enemy ,Required required Vietnam8-' nation 2 Enemy"

1960 totaL _____ .__________ 2,223 ---------- '25,',6639,-1961 total. ___ k_._ 11 4,004' ____ ._____ f-------T 1962total.._~____ ,31 4;457 _. ________ 21,158 '41 31' 1963totoL ____ .__ 78 7",6,6'75 ________ , __ 20,515 218 193 1964 total.' ____ .__ 147 16,785 522 517 1965: , . ~ , '

lstqu8rtar.'_. 72 2.5.3:. _. ___ 0____ 5;789 229 213 5,411 ________ ... ________ _ 2dquarter ••• 1442;851' _________ • -6,092 297 2735,113 ___________________ _ 3d quarter... ?fil -2,&23 ___ ._""_~~. 10;089 sQ2 ,637, 5,260 __ .,,~ __ ._._._~ ____ _ 4thquarteL.~ a92 3,234 _. ________ 13,4{l6 1.980 1,683 6,134 _____ .. ___________ . __ _

2,788 ______ • __ • ______ ~ __ _ 5,449 ___ , _____ _ 7,195 .. __ . ______________ _

11,488 ____________ . ______ _ ,17,017 "' _______ ,_',._' '

TotaL .. ".-[~91~243~~3135, 436 ~~ 3, 3,08--2,'806--23.li8--~ l39 ,~~~~~ 1966:

1st quarter *. _ 1, 224 3,401 .:19901 13,,060 3,191 3, 111 ,S,61L 541 . __ .. '_. __ _

2dquarter •• >_ 1,281 3,091 11,872 4,436 3,695 4,776 ,236-. ________ _ 3dquarteL~*, 1,250 2,723 106 15,616 4,134 3,315 4,684 _304 _________ _ 4th quarteL* ,247 2,,732 179 14;976 4,lS5 3,446 5,902 511 ________ _

--------------------------------~-----TotaL____ 5,008 11,953 566 ,55,524 16,526 13,567 20,97~ 1,591 _________ _

1967: lst quarter. o. 2,126 3-096 226 22,756 7,-155- 6,468 M46 550 _._ .... ___ 2d quarter ___ : 2,773 3~ 222 242 2,3,389 9,'545 8,745 7,438 ' 552 ________ ._ 3d quarter, ••• 2,091 ·1:,834 341 20,'087 1"" 8,668 6,632 679 _________ • 4th quarter._. 2,388 3,56' 296 21,872 , '55 5,773 8,432 537 ____ •• ____

~-~---~---~---~------------~---------~-~ TotaL. ____ 9,378 12,716 - 1\ 105 88,.104 32,,37.1 29,654 29,-448 2,318 ... _______

1968: 14,55'0 6!' _____ : ___ " lstquarteL __ . 4,869 10,500 346 72,455 14,On 24,330

2d quarter _ ~.- 4,725 7,363 262 46,620 16,"378 14,921 18,343 5 9 ________ •• 3d, quarter _._ -~:~~ ,

5,966 . ,196 , a"f' 10,025 !:m- 15,'854 :418 ._. _____ ._ 4th quarter •• : 4,086 175 27, 00 5;846 12,169 317 • ____ '_. ___ '

TotaL. ___ 14,592 27,915 . 979 ,

~81, 149 ~t,?99 46,021 70,696' 1,997 •.•• _ .• _~_

''l'" '- 3;,184 5,922 ifl .. 4'4',846 8,338 11,101 18,102 513 lst quarter •. _ 2d qlla'rter~ •• · 3,156 5,828 48,8f ' 12,'281 '\1,2,711 ' '17,,863 :~~ ,':~=~~~::::: 3d qua':!, •.. 1,910 , 623 198, .. 32,9 9 8,120 ~:~~ ,13,655 '4th qua ar ••. ' , 1,:164 5~460' 198' 30, 3~2 4,201 '15,i66 ,398, •• : _______

~I , ,

~otal~M---. 9,414 21, saa' 866, 156,954 32,940' '7,216' 65,276 21218 " ___ .. "M"M'

1970. 1,597' " , " January~;~_ .. _ 34' 1,768 . 69 9,187 i,"$52' 5,599 126

February •• _~. ,66 1,41'1 It· .' 1,828 Hl¥ , 1,13! !,42~ , -180 ~~~:~'~~:~=, March~M~,-"._ 449 1,674 ·,1 ;'335 1,73 5;~9 229 ~~ ',. ----

;'-,' j,"

ht quarter. .1; 1'78 4,859 lBO 28,-350 ~,'3~ , ~,:~G )5,5)7 535 ._._--_._-

, .~~~~~~~~:~~" fst ~:i~ ~ 79, 1j"OS,t . . 1-,967 ";il',f.5 • • !,! ' 179 __ ,-,----:-' •

58 liLl' 2,',100 ' ,,91 .10;' 2~'

234 ••••• __ ~ __ JumL_. ___ ~-_ 418 2,873 '63, .' "1, ~89 1\483, 139

'2d'qtl8rter~ 1.698 ,"'i,8~~66< ' 200 :38'iJ80, ;, >:5,556 . 5,539 25: 966_: 552, ••.. M ___ • __

j~ly: .':._,~,~.,~.' ' j3r (,711" - )I' 7, ISS: .1,,196', ' 1;48" , "j" . -IS' •• _ ....... ' A:ugU~t~._Mh. 'i!' .. -_ )'7~' . _.B' lm ), U!' . 1,279.- 5; 'j' ,168' ; •••• __ '._ ~~~~~~'r;y-, 19· ,I: 7 " ' . ,lB, 716 5,_ ,5 : ~ 165 •.•• :..a •.. ,.: ,,'

~d quarter ~ 870 S"I~~ , !80 ;' '~~116,7, ' ',:3,,308 3,50' .- .16;'.339 482" •• ~.,~ ... :~ ,

O'ctober~_:.'~':' , 110 -t,A9I 57 .6,,549 -9~ 1"OI/:l,' $",090' " ."; lOS L:}_ •••• _.~ '\ NOV,8mber~~.,. 167 ,1:';11'

" ,,48- ~ 5,,607' "5 2; ,,: ' 4,480 ' ,9' •••••••• " D,8:Cember -~.'-:'" 138 " ,:, 39 8,186 58~ 45 5,190 64 '; .. __ 1 ...

4th:q'ua'iter-~ . ) 475 4; 956, ; :144 17,341 2;004 1.923 14,.160 261, •• \ ....... ;.~~ "

TotaL •••• 4;'221 '. 23;346 704 !O~,6,38 ~~!,tl,l' :, -1~, 132 _<1,852 1,'83'0'" .. ; ••• '~_~~ ..

SQe'.1;ootno~~;at-~d,oUable. " .' .,",';

TABLE' 41-S0U TKEAST :ASI1\ ' Mill TARY', ,CASUALTI£S:'SUMM.A:RY 4FRI BNDL V.'AND.' EN I!Myu-l-Cillltinued

Nonfatal wounds

'United states Deaths hospital(c!fre, '

United, South 3d "i. ,Not, SOuth,\ 3d Peribd Statesl', >VIetnam . nation's, ~Enemy rRequlred required Vietri~lI'lf,',; na1l0n2 dinl!my'

tj;n~e~a::~l~~\~wefenserPff~ce of fhe:A.ssistalll~_e~retary ?!:D;!erise (comptrollit~! ~ireotor~,.~ for Infor~~!~?~,;OP~ ra~ 2 Monthly data for,3d nation casualties not available prior to 1966. ,-3 The South 'Viet name. ".' report only .the seriOlfS .. lr, .wounded-While the United stafas raport's ... ~JI!wounds, including the

minor, that receive attention by medIcal personne. 'Data are not availalile. A' fllctorof 1.5 x enemy·KIA is sometimes ust/d. ,,'~ ;">:,: ,;:1'"" ,,; 6prelimlna'rt,data. ::-',,',:; :""; ~-':" ',,', ,~:'t, ;,:,.",: ,'-:,;.1 _';::,::,,,:::" Note: South:VJetnam data; I:!eginnll)g,with 1968i-lnclude c_asualties in~llrred by tl\e\paramilit~ry_torces, as-.1~ported 'by

MACV, '

Vietnam' \20,700;000)':17 Th1Si hi~h'~a:t:i(}d!aiYbe';tti'ibut~I).'to· file' fact . that t1iil tOtal incl\ld'es'fbree~ it\. hothN oi'th ima Siiutll Vie!''iillili',' h'l'he Department of DefellSe' has hii 'separate estimate for'tlie nUI\\Der of

. North Vietnamese killeq ilJ,a~tioIl' no\.ar~ e~timates available for North Vietnamese/Viet6bngli!i1led in'rloncorirliat situations or wounded, 9ne method employed to I'Ppr!)l'imate t)le !l~p1ber;of,enemywO\1Il.<.\ed l~t'1 ~pp)y' Ii- fact~r '?O,.,5 to t)?e,.to.tll;l )<i1le~ln:.aetlOn, .' ....; "

. R~g;a~dmg p~SlJ"altl~s of. ;!f4ml, n~~\oI).::,fr1endly ,for<;\~~, :l)ep",r~ment oj D~1e;t).se statls~~Q~ ,c,0p11;>lp,e ~Il count1fe~ ~I).de~ ag;eneral,bel'dlng Qf "Free. Wo,jd 'Mlhta.fY. ':A.ss,stanc,eForce~1 ,~h~eil mellJ,d,~~ thOse of: SQ\1th ;KCj>r~a,>;rhl'ilarid"4custJ;aIia,,N~* .. e~ a~<;\, tile Pl)~hppines,l\l)d toa mlliqr ,degree,thqse ii'ftbe, l,l~Pl,bh~,o ;ghma,~p.,d Spl'lJ;l'iRe9<!1rds kept~jl}cethr beg,nningo~ W~\?sh~i'"t4I}t 14,(J97 oasna1ties lW'I,ebeen S\1st N/J,e!i ,1>'y"tlie"g,r'l)lpl!~ (t,~W;l\er ',.' h,L .. ." ; ,; .',' ,

,,' i 'I'

'>., ,I>': I

As of March. 16, 19n"ttw"p:eIlar.tlllen~;pf,;oefells~ recorded 7,602 aircraft losses fQr ~he. Ipdpchipl\war,,,Qf which 4,318 were .classed as xotarywing~,that is, lelicopters-and 3,284 as fixed wing. ,.

The following table shows U.s .. aircraft losses' in Indochina by category,typ,eofactiqu,afid looationas of March 16, 1971:

,I,a. ,<" .-

TABLE 51

Type of action

ro.r. Ko .. r.ea.sta. nd.s ... at. 3.&14." T .. hus.; Whil.,e .. .l.os. ses in Il)do.c.h.ina .have not ~Pl'roll.ched 'those of vv orld vv ar II, the <lestruction of T,~02 aircraft represents more than t'Y'ice .the number lost .in Kore(t, .'

c. MUNITION.s E)<:Pllll<l:I?I!lP

'According toth~Departmentof Defense, the Ullited States had expended a. total of 11,444,533 tons of air, ground, and sen munitions irrthe Indochina\var as of the end of 1970." Alth'ough :these totals haV., not been. broken down In terms of respective expenditures in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia,' it can bestattidthat'byfar the greatest ·portion ofinunitions wlls·usedh\. North '1nd South Vietnam .

. The~ollowing table provides It breakdown by year since 1965, ~vhen theUmted States first sent combat troops to VIetnam. The desIgna­tions "air," "ground," and "sea" indicate actual me~ns' of delivery regardless of armed service. Thus,. "air munitions" are all those de­livered by air whether by the Air Force, Arlny,Navy, or Marine Corps.

TASLE 6.~MUNITIONS E~fENDEO IN 'I'NDO'cftINA-WAR (IN T?NS>

Year ;-, Grof/nd Sea> .' , ' - . . ' .

. ;/~:~: ~.~~ '---'.- ---576;800---- •. ---- -'5~OOO 932,763 U76, ADO 30,000

1,431.'654 1,451,000 50,500 . . ), 'IUS! 1.174.200 30.000

977, 446 1, 181, 533 13,000

1965 ____________ • ______ ;. __________ ·.;. ___ ~ ________ . ______ ~_ .. __ ·1966 _____ ~ _______ : ___ ~_~_~ ________________________ ,. _____ MO.

1967 ______________________________________________________ _ 1968 __________________________ , ______________________ • ___ ~_

l~t::,=·:::::::~::,::~:~-::~:::::::::·::=::::~=::::,::-~::::-::~: ':i'

TotaL_.~_':.,;._' __________ ~. __ .~ ... _,-:,; ....... w~ .... ~.-__ .. _._~.~_ 5,,556,100 '5,759,933 128,500

'. Recordsof munitions 'expen'ded b;the various services' during the Korean confli,ct and World W";1' Il were not co.mpiled as. t~oroughll !lind systematically·as.for the VIetnam War. Available statIstiCS permIt only a very'fough comparison of munitions expil~ded during the three wlfi's;'t'hlW;'theirrfo1'l'Ulliti6hllfthe'foltoWiiig paragraphs caiis~lt,v~orily tb highlfght:in geiler~l terrnS the extent'townich tl\hjwath~~:#l'c.~.~(.le(j, earlier ones. Complete data, which would allow a valid statIstICal com­p,ar.~son oJ ,the ·three wap~,. a~e,n~t,!p'laila)!>le, EVe1lillPits,otanalysis 'y,luch. ,are .'t!>par.\'.~tly ~IlA«ahfori eXI'1llP)e,: topsot ,b~mbs~reflect totally diss!~M~r,',SI~uatI~ns, . ~enqEipng; stl)tlStlQal c.omp8.l1Son,diflicul,t. 'W~ ~otaI.t'Jll!l ,1I;1vo!Yl!d lll·tjlese idIIf~ent 'I'\l;rsi t4e st!'te,l)f~the-art,)ll l.I\Ii)tar,ytech/jlology, and,great varIanCeS',lll. ~!WClrc1Ul;lstances of, COIri~,a ... tbririg.'j)..·. bou .. t. the8ed.i\ls~.Ii!l1.illl).'. i,ties .. the .expel). .. d~t\lr<:,of gr. oun.d mun'.tiol)~, <I.llplJ.g· the . .rell1tIv~y· b.l'lefXorea~\i Qo.nthct ;IS . !lOot, for e'x~l)1ple, .strl?tlycoD}parab)~,"'lth s,!ch!,expe.ndltures ,d1!~\l).g ·t~e W!',' t~lfq!1ld guerrIlla. -.'.£~)!~'.'Y".!\r ..... l)l .. fn. d .....• Qo4illl> .•. Nor. Fl?ul .. Il" ph. ¢.M"'lrIfle~.I.n" use Iil Korea possIbIY'haye, expended ammnmtion at the rI}Yl_QJ .. :the . M. - I11~.s.. in.· use.. '~." .. V. i.e.t.na.m ...... '.11). ....... ,C.'.QlU ... '. p. "11'1.' '1). IL .... th.· .e ... >stra.te. gt ...• c ...... hombj.n. g ..... o. f Get'l)1any anq J~p8.\l, t~e' tJ ,~,.,.~tl:ategi<;>~Ql)1j)irrg.~.Ii:r;:v:~y .. "~timl\,t¢d . that damage toJapanv;as"!:o,!~hly e~u1'Val~?t. ~~ t4~t mGerma;~y, . ...,.-..,.,.~ __ ' . ! _ '," ;;;' ,- ,_ . '_', ,:,)',1

'22 6.1 this ,tqtal'; -'the_Air li'o~ce re~orded." 1,44-7J1o~tlle 'snlJ-.620 n\)n.hoStnO,t(l,rorrut.lO~; a tdtafof 2,067. 'Se~ Sta.t~stlcBl ,Iiige!lt. '(UnpUbl1Sh~d strtdy prcpar,M))y ':ij)Ir'ec~~m~te of. 8ta.ulltlcfl.l'8erv'l~",F,Br ;East Air :!foxes,

,J,uiy,31,,19M!) pp; 2-'-3.:·CoJ11blned Na.-v-y·(md Marlne:'lossell>W:ere;lIM!hOj!tne'snd 6B3,non·h~tne, or·a, tota-

., ... 1,247 i Ste'l.R. U. d.' '1f. M.'d. ley '.a.mlT. ". '. \lIM. . . ••. jie. ". W16Y., ".". dB; ....... VIIl-.tltln FIlets.. and. F. igur,~~ .. 4 '. meta.l.p. U.h.' lieal tlc;m :of:Alt~raft'lnqustrlM'A!SSQc~ttori of Ari,l'e.tida. W~litngton, :Lll).4o{h' PreiJs, Inc".li . ;'p.lt2. :~~ ~Y phone.,from: ~~~\lIDjS8t of'~~r~~~it()'ft1~~()~:,~~~s~~';\tMCI~~t.flry fof ~?!~S'~- ( : upU.c 'Aft,l'll's). , ',.

. 'i.:, ,..' ., >,,-, ' ,I ',,', ._

!' ",'- ."., ' ',/' ""/ . ~, ;i i ''';, ;

9

althou~h SOllle 1,360,00.0 Mns. w.mi Idropped. bn .t]j!itcoun:tr~, about . nine times the weight used by the B-29's against Japan. , .. the

attacks [on Japan] weretribre' 'cdileentraMd in time and space', the targets more vulnerable" defense lUethl'ds less effective, re~airand reconstruction Iessr"pid." " The list of dissimilar 'variables co\jld be exteuded at length." , • " " " ': , ,.,. " " Of the lL4 lllillion tons of munitions used, in Indochina,5,!556,1.0;0 tons, or almost half, Were avi~tion immiti?ns',thatis;,hombs, rdckets, 'ami shells for aerial cannon and machineguns.lly comparison, air munitions expended during the Koreim'conlliCt--'exClusive of rockets, cannon, and machine gun shells expended by the Navy and M.arlnes~ were on the order of 1 million tons.' Thus, the tonnage of air lllunitioi\s used in Indoc~inajs abo.u~fi,,:e times g!ea.ter tha,n 'theav'aiiablEi figures, known to be mCOlllplete, mdleate for Korea,But, as noted above, the conditions in each'warwere dissimilar. . . '.

The total figure of 2, 160,110 torisofair mUilitionsfor World War II represents a combination of Air Force, Navy, and M!1rine statistics, but here, too, there are no 'dato. onrriunitions other' than bombs." It is clear, of course, that even allowing for th,'e missing data on World War II, the use of air munitions by U,S. forces in Indochina is more than twice as great as it wo.sin all of WoridWar II. The tota;]s provided by the Air Force (then part of the ArlllY) are further divided by theater of operations and by, country. Thus the U.S. Army Air Force dropped some 1,360,000 tons of bombs on Germany, but onl~ 154,000 on the home iSlands of Japan: Y~t, the resulting'damagewas rated '!'" about equal by the U.S. StrategIC BOll).b,ing Survey," ,. ' ..

The total 6f ,ground munitions' expended in Indbchiua'-a fig,}re of 5,759,933 tons, representing mines, mortar, artillery, and small arms ammunition-surpassed the lIir .munitions total by almost a quarter of a million tons.

Some comparisons cl'n be made with previous wars. For example, expenditure of ground munitions In Korea amounted to 2,111,116 tons-less than, half of the analogous figure for Indochina. During World War II\ 3,9<).2,756 tons of ground munitions were expended, or a ratio of roughly 2.to 3 when compared .to Indochina." However, the ArmY,did notbreak down the World War II figures in,terms of ,the-

, aters, and separate .totals for expenditures against the Germans and the Japanese canno,t be determined. , " .

The total of sea munitioris"':"naval gunfire-:-.eJ(pended during the Indochina war amounts to 128,500 ,tons. ComJ?,arab]e statistics regard-ing sea munitions in'previous Wars are not aVailable. .

:IU;,MILm;'.R¥! ,USE .',oFflMlilRBICl'i.ES . :;1, '" '", ,i J ',/,:

j 'j"., ;'1 ~!~\.\ I i IA.,~'Xi'PmJN"{J'.,,6li'-:rU{5.E'. li;::f!I!:, ji(l,

~~~?~~¥i:tWl~~'9I~:~~~2~;t~~~~tC~~~~W~~~~~~~'~~~~lt61~ :\\vla!l~pl,e, a!lr~atf\1',I;a:}Hng ,.of b,~FP~'ilg.~$ ?Dvr~~d,a~'i'~~ M~~,.~r~s, Dr 23~,(tRI'>:~,~11,qm~~~r~, \,f, l\lI\4'1~§ !~I'plft .7,~l!~\fa~e,s"!l! $u~9~~~\V~ ,yellrs, ~l1ell.s. ~.', qf Ji~r.?~o .. 1desln.!,re"s~,~ '.ra .. p. ... I~I;Y J.'i1', ,01). ~b,.;. i p.rp.pwtH:>n. "to. t. h.,e oY.'~.\:'\\ .. U, U,S.,,!'»htary .b,ll. MW',u, ... V.le~n .. a,,!ll. ,,,.e.,,. cPl.ng,,,,. ,.,p.cl'k. '.n. "+.~67,, when·~ppr?'fnl\",t~iy ,7"uOq squ;a.~e~Il\1m~iers)~,7.: lljU!iqn ac!cs)PI fDl.'e~t,!lI1d crDi?,l!\ll?rwere.trea.tyd .. ',P! '.'I.'r,' " ". . ... , 'J

~~Y'rralgoyerp.m.~l1}tl'li and PD»gD')[rrllIp,en,ttt1 s~u~\es. oftb,e ~C?1Dglcal efl'ec.ts qithe :herbICIde ,prDgr!'lllwere.GIw').ed, put 1I\Sou,th, V1etillt m betw:een 1967 an4 1969. HDwever.,'}ll w~~e)i.hiity,;Ljn s~ope. ~n qrde, tD obtaIIl mDrMleta,iled and .flccurwpemforlllat\On Qll the ~llDrt" ,and icmg­t~rni effects 'ofherl;)\yides oh. the <:\(lplDg~a,nfl.Dn :Q,u,wai), w(li£ar~iri.~h~t country, the Ameri(l~J;l ASSDQiatiDn' fDr, theMyari(l~i;nent of Spience ,(AA~fl)estttblished;" speciaf ~erbicid\, ~ssessweJ;lt (JDmm\ssion iJ;l .J aliuary 1970 tD develDpa detaIled '<)per,atlqIlal ,pIal! .fDr such a.stuqy. 'l'he.9\'mmis~iDn'~.Il.np,!blish~d pr~lhnina~y rePDrt, !l~live.redttt the an­nulJ./.AAAS conyeJ,ltlOnlJ;l OhICagD DnDec,ember!:)9, I~,7,O,.was based .on a' review of pertinen,t'\iterahir\\,. cqnslllta£iDI).Swith more than. ~OO American. and foreign~xperts, andpl\~j t~in$peqt)DnS in,filp,u t).J, Vietnam m Au~st an~ Septem,!>er 1970, ~I). * r.~pDr,t, theODlllmlsslon,;w."de tq.,e fDllDwmg estnnates WIth reg<flfd 1R ,the "re" trea,ted eacJ;j,year (r/lm 1962 thrDllgl\ 1~69.(statist\csfoO~7;0,and)971 w;ere P!ovided by,the Def,ense Department): . .,... . . \, , .". !" -" ," " .

h.cras "ISquare kilometers tl ikmlic.24fiaeres) Year Forest l~nd" crorrlanif. tbtJI Foiesrland Crop land . :TOt,al

--1962_ •••. '.,.~ ".0_' __ •• 4i 940 14'l 5;681 20 3 23 1963 •••• , ••• _______ ... __ • 24, 7°i . . 'lO,~j~ , ,24,947 jji 1 101 1964 _____ • ___ • ___ ~ ___ <.

:~n:n~'· 93,860 42 380 1965 __ ~ •••. 0 •• ____ ••••• ~. 65,.949 , i~k~~l 630 ,267 ,897

~~~:::::~ ~~::':~: ::z:: 101'IF ' 3,001 421 3,422 1. 486;,446 221, 2 1,107,758 6,'018 . 896

~:~U· 1968 •••.• "c •••••• _ ••••• 1,267,110 63,726 I, ~30, 836,1 --a: ~~,~ 21S ' 1969 •• _ •.. _ ... _._ ••• ~_. ' 1,221,415 65, ZOO 1" 81,115 , . 2 6 ~f:aU 1970.' .............. , •• .' (,~20,,400, , 3/.·600 , ' 253,000, ,. ,,' . 892'!, 132.~ ,

.1971~,~_-,·i'·· ".; ····--r-' ,_ '(~jt! _(3): ' (.) ,(') ; !~a>- , ('1 (83)

Total _____ ._. _____ 5.,205, ,5~, "

662, )66 ?t7~Z! 41~; :'/ii'2~~074t. :'(" ,21.2~~ ,: i j,,') ~23,~~0

F,tj)J! 'examp1.~, <r:~c:orda':otl,aotual,' sproyJdlights suggest that' at :least 'und¢r,;so~e <e~n.qI <iU.·ti ... on~., appr.Q~.im.a. ~ely:, .1, •. 4. ~a .. c.res ... of s.:w:a. th.: are: Pll .. q. d .. ~1Ced. f.or e~ch .. 3 ga.llo. ns, pf . ~er*i~ide' spray-elf ',T4,e Itot~~l'f'r~a '~s~ifl?·at~s givep. here, ar,e J31.l:P'ject to ,a~ 'le~$t, two:' f1dqltlonal.correctI9hs'~ HQweve~, Iit~lther IS very gre'at. FIrat,' the calculate,d"areas should be' Ihcrea~e'd .to j 'tllik~.:'aooc)unt' 'of sprayhlg by,' helicopters' and', :bJr' -grollnd equipment. T:his iis,'_net :included in ,the.estimates' glv,en- io' .-the itable, -which,refer Duly fO, spraying IflPJW.')Py. ,Q-:-,123. #x~'q.,:wing ,aircraft"IJ:u~ging, !tom the report~;d total amount of herbICIde used bY"alI,types of..~91,1iI?~el1~( b:\;~,96~, an~ 1~69, It appears that no more than ~O perc~nt Was', applIed by, mea~):j other than 0-123 aircraft. Second, the calculated areas should be'reduced by a factor estimated as at least 1'6 percent, because of t'he lact, that some :areaS ;have been treated more than once. As these two corrections tend ,to cancel each other, and as: neither is very great, the;y'are n:o,~.,ta.ken into acc.ount ~ll' the,tt\>b~~;~P', ,_ I,'"~ '. "

,Between 1962amd 19l70lthemQst,reMntyear for which full data are 1 available; approx.iinatel.y 2.3,360 square kilometers (.5,767,410 acr. e.8), . or nearly one.seventh of the total land area.of South Vietnain .was treated with chemical herbicides. in 'order to reduce,vegetation and to' destroy oro12s,30 To accomplish thiS task, it is estimruted. that. more than100.millh!iu pounds of ·herbicide, or about. 6 pounds for every inhabitant, were sprayed on Vietnam," . . l,Dejoliationoj jor~8t8S2 . . . . . . The greatest use Of herbicides in SouthViet.:ral)lhasbeen~n fairly

mature tropical)1ard\yood forests, 'which comprise.,about nire-tenths of the forested land in the country, Of these fores41, coveringabo\\t 100,000 sq.uu. "re ·k. Hom.". ter.,s'., so.rne201.0 .. 00. square.'kilo.rnil~eJ;S .. ar. eesni, mated to have bee» spr!l;yed, h;tc!Udil\g inanyof the ,most valuable forests, Olle'quarter to one-third of.these haye been sprayed. mqre than. once, Some estimwtes indicate that one out of every eight' or 10 trees is lj:ille.d by. a single. spraying and that 50'10 ,so per.(l~nt are killed. in areas, where more. thall,!o.nesprl1ying lias iOCC)lr~~o,"88 ArthJlrlL

· Westing, forestry ~peci~list and Director 'P£ . the AAA~. Cominission, · believes that about 35, percent of South Vietnam's 14 millioll a"res of

d. eAs. e f.orest h. aye he .. e.n. sprayed ..... on .. e .0 .. r, more t .. lines., T. esul.tihg .in ... th .. e destruction of 6,2 billiON .boar\l feet of. merchantable timher, He contends that this.digure represents the country's. entire domestic timber needs, based",on .. current d~inand, fpitho J,l""t 31 ye>lrs:"More, oVer, tJ:~ lost ~im'w represents ab~llt $5QqmiUipn illt!1Xe~thatiwouJd

· otherWise hav~! a~orued. to the South .YletJ,l'1BteSe,.1J\9i1'erJlm~nt,34 . To the southwest of Saigonand along muQh oHhe coast bf theJ:Wta

·are denseIDangr?ye.)orests cqv.erip,g flPoUt 3,o.o.Q s'luare ,~i19".'et,ers, AJ10)lt Aa.lh(tWs ty.pe,.of:iql'est has bee11 $Ilray~d, ,esu,ltmgm the

. to.tak(lestr)fqt!OI\' pr~PpWI~lIiJ.ately ,1./IO.Q.S'l)lW.J;e .l~llpmetel'S ,off?re.t, In sUm' , ah04t:lQ.1i!~~qep~. ,QfSOl\t.h.Yiet,,!,tp,'s, tq~e§~~dapl.\f nils .been spraYed wltli;\rer);nq!o,es •. an,d .11 •. s)lbstl\lltlal.portioll pft1:ns, Wl\~ .0,., . stroy~d.., ... , , .• ,.: , ::,... . .'. . . . .:. . . ... " '." 2 ,OroP' destrllc'et1Jo:n,."· \:. .., '.'."' i

· .. While the h,llk!.df'tneiJprali1i.g )J.lt~beeri dired~d"4~~in:$~'tM forests &nd·.brn~h;. asigliifi,iJll[il.ItJ·pr@ifortil:>n'. ,lJ!\S 'b'e.eW' 'U$~d '(jp,croplands, " '\ " ,":i,',:_ ,:' ... :J; .. ",:, :','.'''~'''::' <' !,":'\' :t",' : rI~: '.'1,,'" ,,'

''si ae.rbtctd.e A.$.'s ..... '~ih~b'HJ'_~rQtfi~.'~J~· .. :hpt'd.lt'; b~'. 14+16; ; < . ~"" ,'I;!, i ,," ,.,,;.,,1 ".- "'. ",'-;,';; ,I;,J 1," !;', ~;~~fl'hlj((ft,p.n,are\l-;IlIPQ:Qt~~,$~Z6,ot~' '~ao~usettS>I'';'> ,,'.-t, ,,' i:,';~";':'h'i::j, _:, ,,,' :-':\!I,;' 1.',

~I '1"tistlititilly'by 8,e:n:a.tor.,GllY~oi'd 61ool,ij'On Ma.fuh'18, 1971,' beforo tlie~SenBt6,:Fol'elgn',R61atlohs Oom-mittee. :rn,con~r,eSaJ.Ol\!l,l-.E.ilrd, l\Wt:oh,24~ 971'.: 837_9'7. " - "," , ,', ,,".

32 Unless ,otnerwtse ~Q1ied,;_ J..it@ls<lU$B~on in-.th~ lQllo;y"lng'-Plllragf_sphs, W{IS ,dl¥()Ijted from," tli~ l;'I:ei.'!:ii~lde A .. ",_, comJi)f". on"'.n P'(jbll'h,,,,p"'l!ml.I~~"''l'.tiil¥t.~It.''".'bO'' ... '''' . '''.' .• ' .. , . " .. "' •• ' '''.'.''

'$3 :a:pr:biclde-Com~ saion·R6'Port,sE:ttensiv6DI't~e. NaturwJb.U(lan"-22illm ;,2241.: " J,' " ":' ,','<.,'l\ I ", u RU!1lP M. "Bofi',e"Y; B:etJ;!1~id,es in Vietl}am:'AAA~ Stu,,"y Fll;ld~.w1des:pre$(l 'Devastation. -Solen\'lo)~jarlU· :

ar.y'$,1971:46. '-',:" -":,': :;, <\_, ,-' , ',,'_,: ,',_ ' ::"",: ", ,;-' , " '( ,: ,:. ~,

1'3

by January t197l;." Although the' Deflms6 'D"I'artment:'ihail' not pro­je~ted a specific timetable for ending the remaining defoliation pro­gram, Defense Secretary Mel'Vin'Tiliitd said in December 1970 that

~~~S;%i~~;l,J,:j,f,~~~~'!~~ iof,t~~ Ir,~~b,ici1e ?Pff,\~!q'~~i ,lrN,l ,b~; cO~J?',~~d I

:':, : II:! (;. II '! ,i;!j:'!I.:(f\ r,I"OJ(jil /",:;: 'I{I ,. If:I,'! I·". ", ,,", ,.j , ,. !;n

II' '. c: 'lill'ID~NGsdEi"TH~'ii\i\Rlni!,DE AilsES~M:'JlNTC()i.lMwstON I.: • "'. ' ':, ."':,,,.: i "':1 [j,j,;-'," ;1: i,j, '::i": I!J .or I. '.""~!:i·' ., ':l(~"::\:"..'

The prln~iJlaJl ;finlling\l'o'f'th~#er'bicideA:sSes~meht COJ11missiod')Ver~ as'follows,'" """, iI·,.' " )1.'.'" . 'JI," ." .,' '."'"

"l',<"Our obset~a.tions)in 'Viettlamlleadlia tb helietJe that 'preca1,\tiJlis to avoid destroyiI)g the. crops of indigenous civilian Ropulati6iJ,il;have' bE!en a .~ail\1re ~ndl·tha:t l1Bf)r1'V'aIl· of the. food de~troyiid wOlIld 'li:ctua. lIy have·.be;etl con\!\ltiui.d','bY stlChp6ptrlatlons;"'" :Alt'hough the fqo'dl'dec stvoyed'aruOtinted't0 lesEl'tl)a:rt'2p~rcent 'Of ·the 'naioiQh. alcroJl. in "arty one yea~':~!ihticrdP sliraYil1g'Y~§.'large.lY cq~fi:l1ed:tdthe fO'o .. d .. -sc'arce' Ce'}tral tiighlallds where'~ ~lgrl1fiMllt fractIOn, .of;farmlandapJ,lears tol'Yav~1 be!,n' ·sprayed, ha\l'\ngi.~ .lIpl'ofounqimptiQW' '.on' the .Montag-' nards: 'j.: :i' .,', J' ;~!; i)'Ii!;;" __ :)-: }:I 1;" \~l,,:,' ,': ,',';.'. -",. .' '? ,; ¥angroye' ·s~ecies hli;y~ "'pWYVed'. t6 . jlel'l~rticula1'lysensiti'it~' to

herbICides. Elsalmtia)ly Il:tlYegetatlon mthe' treated"fbtests waskille\l' by. II sin~l~ spH'ying, .and . little' or ho l'ecbl(miz~tiQfiJ1>Y these 1 speble's: was occtlrred after It. lc,>r'hlorwyears. AlVhough the eC?I'ogtcalimp,tilitof the permanent l()sl'i.·ijHh~ 'liiangrQvefoJ1lste'has hotyetl)eelide'te'" mined,tlieyonce provided' i)over and ·food f<ir variptl¥·fottns of wildlife. In additiOl1;·tlieywere·fo';mMlY'.\t'nlajor $otlrcIJ'(jfl fu~l wood'lInd charc'Qal'Etljdmll1y' weHh!l'V~ alSWd'to stabilize -the sh()~~line."" •• '.

131, It liilty' taklHharty"l!\ltiades ,£<\r .most o'fthe 'd,ama'giid· ha'i'dfWodd foreststorticover \lna'.to ·the' gr<l"ftli ofbatrtbpo'artd'to theleaqlllngi by he'avytro'pical'rains of largeamlltints"Of ntltrient.milieralspreviollslY tiedtil'dnforest'vegetll.tibh,.· ,.'. ." .'.' ....... ." .. J. Accotdlng til prelip1i,:~rtcal?ut~tlons,. it i~ nottllip'?ssi~i~ th~t

slgruficant amqlints' of' dlOXni,an exceedlhgiy tolM' 1mpllnty' It\' herbiCide Orl\nge,hla:y remai'.': 'quite' stab]e i!;}he 'envir0im1ent, 'and' thus could he entering ,the 'VIe t'n'amese dIe t:poW'eWr,' therestllts of' other independent experiments shoW' thilitdioxlndoes 'not I!-c~um)1late in thes6'il and ispi~ketlllJlorily in small amounts bypl,l\lltS',' :Al~ll,bugh there is no dtlfi1).ite'link·biltWeen the use of i\.erbiCide~'a'rid any MVerse he.a:lthefl'ecns, further lst't(d;l' iSl'equired to assess,more preois'el:y the extent ()H9~~·bha.iWCbnt~~1!Ijttl6n Il1ttributableth t~~,-!seof.clt~n;ilc'als .. MoreeXWilslve'\livestilgs:tlol1 mayre'veal someconnec'tuln between 'the spraying 'and ill'cidents ~uch lLsahigh rate <\£, stIlIbirt'l;ls In one 'heavily sl'l'ltye·dproV'iJil.'Ce' (1JI'Ii,ylNin'h)"d\i:ci,nglthe' ~erldd(196Sf69'and 'for th'e , d1!lp.I'6pur.16119,'tie· 'rlail" iJjHtw'p :type§ bfblrtl\ . d~fects' .at'.tM" Saigon Ohddren's'.Hoilp/t'l)}Wil1f1.967 and'l{}'61,,' '''., .!";,,, II' ,"',I" ....

. . In sum, the military use of herbicides in South 'Vietnam hafHlatlsed "xtenshi'e" an(l·'pe:fu~.l'iIiI~~~t!J.g,~jl:\i),!1~~Q·.·.:v~,~et'!ttii)),J.,.,.'hTht .. it~~~~.~~s,,, iLI\<~y,'.'!>iI!:~~Il:~;~~~\t ::,~r~'P9t~ft, ()~~~ .. :".',,' .;' . ......• . ..• ";'; ,

. "Ie ii,I"

if(h*ifi~;'s~J~it; lJ;r;;.'$';'~~i$fl~~~~;',1i .. " (;~" w,~ji~enie4: ~'~Ol(lJi~na;idll'~.i':_q~iW_~rri"~~.'· AJ~1J:~l 1111l>~ti7 {. U¥'itl~W;WJrr,Q~~l}ePM~ll,tfPf- Jj)qf~n~} .M¥,IW~t6,.of P~fonS6.,~n\.IJl1tru~~1tm •. A-prH ,~j'I~Wl" anq.

M~!~'itr~J~:!r~l~i~'~~~t:!:~~·,)~~ij(:~~~f'~i~:b~~~'eL '~~~~~~~n~!' ~~~:~,~~'~~:,~~~·'iiJ~lc;.·~i~-~:;~ '> Chicago, Il~; Dec. 29, 1·970,_ p. 8. " . ,I,

1:4

"" "·;"IVvEJlPEOTs'.&]\ ITa.E,VDEil'NAM .WiA!R'ON. CJrv'iiJ4N:$":;;:' j',[,>: .,; :, '1'/, :');~!11"-' '!'." t,i: ;";:If: 'li'!':'""

.!; ", ':]; ii""'~ 1 'i,1 l)i4:. ~4.~U;A.Ir.ir.rODsi" "1~' ""1',,1,' -,,':): t

.ti~t~ 'oIlth~ ;rufube';.'~fHvilh;;~c:;~iI~iti~~;ir;: lndo~lii~a is'ge~~ra\iy based on rough estimates or incomplete information. As with figures relating, to . refllgee~; .tl.tere .. are two gen~raJ S.01!r.ces ,p,f such data: Government '~ources arid'indeperiderit esti)riates. Among the most notfl,b\e"pf the:,latter"are.thoS<l",O(.JA~' SJ,lboommitte~ ,to Investigate Problems Connected with Refugees and Escapees of the Senate Com­mittee, ion .the·.<Tudiciatllr ,(hereafter refe)"red .to.a •.. the Refugee Sub-committe.e). . . .:'.', ." '. .•.. .

In Vietnam,ollicial go.vernment estimates .ofcivilian casuaLties a.re compiled by both. the,South Vietnamese and Amerioan . GoverJ,lments,' on, th!\ basis ,ofoivilian war.casual ties admit,ted .tQ Vietnamese. Minis try ot B:ealtl; hQspitals, .and., D.S; military hospit.ais respectively .. The latteraretab1!~ated. by" the Agency . f,o,r ~nterlll!tional.))eveldpment (AID): ,However, AID haSlle,v~r maintained stlitisti~ on the number of war deaths." Figures for those killed as . a result of Vietoong. terrorism. andas~assil:)ation,.'lre maillft!,wed by; the Military ,Assistance Comwalld-,Vi~tnam (MACV) .on!, mOI1thly~asi~"'nd: ~elellsed by the I)e,p'lr;tmeI)V .of ,De.fense,,,?ublic .MI'air~. OffiCe. The, pepartment of Def.,enses~<L .. I.n. 4,p. rll. tlw. t It. ,had never. attempted to studythe,n. umber of .ciyjlialls, :wounded or. killed by Americli\n l!ombing.41 . ,

rlj'ig)lre~ fo~, c~y~lian cliSualties in Maos all,de .Gllmbodia are far. more SPllfSe, 'lnd les~relia)Jle,.Th,e, ,-i\gency,fpr, .International ;Development maintained,~tfl,tisti.cs <)n .,Ll!Qti,ancivilian war, caaualVes, admitted for tre.a,tIljlE\nt·t.o AIP.s).! pported. h9spitalsand <ilispen~anea. The. Depart­ment (If i?tate, said .. th,atthe. :L,a.otian GoV:ernmeIllt,. %as neverb.een able to d,evelpPAtn.operating reporting system/',4~ '1;lwDepllftmentof Defense has released figures on bombing (lccidente.in Laosbetw~en January, 1, 19\17,and, May:1970 (see )Jelow) .. TheJ;e are no official f)guresfor cirihl1ncasuaities.rln,Cambodia, "s the Cambodian GOyern. ment .·has released _liD ,comprehensive figures onchrilian ca.\lelties during the, war, norh!\Sthe American Goyerjlment been able .to compi\esuch, stlltistics.forthatcountry., . · ... d,' , ,

Ind."Jilen. AB. n. k .. S?Urces,.in. eluding j ou. r.nali.s .. ts,~m. p.IJoyees ofvol,;\ntary agHneleS, and,NJ;ember. of.Congress or theIr St'llfB lHwe ml1deestimates o,!, theblisisof.i\e)rl ... st\ldies, spot c1.'ecks, hearings i and conversations wIth cQucerned,)ndlvl<;!uals. Some mdePIW-dent, o.qseryersh,ItVe COil"

tendei{tl;atofficilil:fjgtlre~ are tOQ.!owai\dthl1tthey ignore, those cas,,". "1 ties no t, treated,,!s .I!fp"tl~n ts,rot. tre"te.1! in.g.~Y:~~)Ul);~ll:U'r'ciliti~s .. ~nd··. no,t t)i,~,at'ld. a,kan,qQ)jl\)lrehen~!v~.1i€iures,~or,0l011~n '\IlJ,ul'lesand'l':~r

, deltths i~jJnd9rhi.n.a!w:ete p\ljJl\shed:\n ,tll~. st.ajfre,p;ort'QLtlleE,etu€i~e , SubcommIttee" In September 1970; l!J)d ~\lpplern~J)~ed .!'>y lir·r,el?~t .

fo,o(Jfr~pond~~~ tro~' "Ag;ncy, t~~ _ int~p.attop.~ 'Jl~V6Io~~entl"Y;ietJltlW',\'~~;~~tl, to. lrO~~~~h','-4a~~< D:lvls1on; Oontres~lon9,l Ite!!enrch' Set.i1Cf\. Llb~y 9l-Qongress":"Mnr. -81;,'1971: -'- . _ ': ,"' .. ' :' " ',," .

II Washington Poot, Apr. 6 197~._ HOwQvel,',,~tft,ij.(I.\'QJluestotthe' :a.efQk~$aqi;)Cotll.UJJ~te:e,1~he;oePl!o!tnientj of Derens~ made a stu~y 'of the danger to clvU1a~ of Al)lerlCan,bOrnblngS,-lts'rePQi't WNl'PUblls:hed1n l~te_ AV:~!~~~:!O~ th~ '-Department of State' to questlons.of- thl'l R'erugee;SUb~~ltt,oot~.' pctf:J4 ::l97Q, P~~ Ushed '·tn U.S,:O-opgrilSs.-Benale',dotnit1ittlle on.1the.'Judlolat1; f3llb'OOitrinttt'ee"W'Iuv(lSt a.tl:f~l~~s ClC;ltl,," nected ",1t1f, Reftigeetl alid' ,E811apeee: 1t6ft1~M' aUd r0tV1l1Ml' WtU' '·Cl~)lalty;·:pti:)blemidl:d1\tlo't'lliinEJ,,;' A' S ta¢r tegrt. s,~r~~~~:~~ :~~hl~t(ln, u .S. ?()y~rn~ent PdritJng O~_c,e', 1:91?;8';rfl:!~r~e<~~~5df.e~':~.':,~~~~e: "f,1'I%t~,:fi ;0 e(}rf'(:~fWfj()') jil')((~;' "",;.ct,' (;'!/-)1; :,1 mIl '(·f ~jwtJJ.):til';;':'!'f'{ 101' ',"I';::r'Htl1<-: "'.

, - ' - __ ,,' ,·;:;,;(!:,W;lH ,0~: .",,,,; :1 :'1: --ill', .' :

done for the. suh,\ommittee.,by"eM,:o.JlneraL Accounting Office in December. The staff report's estimates, which' are ove~ four times as large a~ official estiln:ates",a~~c very,aJ?,Ilroximateithe method used to determme the totals IS explalned m',tailile 8, " ,

TABLE B.I-STAFF M~MORA.NDUM 9N VIETNAMESE CIVIU,AN WAR'R.ELATE~ -6ASUA~tIES, DECEMBER 1969

. Official U.S. Government Subcommittee

Year estimates estimates

I Ibid" p. 69.

100,000 150,000 175,000 300,000 200.000

1. OfficIal estimates are based' exclllslve"iy on inpatient· admissions to ·.QVN and U.S. military hospitals.,

2. Subcommittee estimates,are based ,on the following: (a) Offioial estimates:'-of inptttients., ' (b) Understated reports by- GVN prov(n.cial h08pital~-in 1967, -for example,

an average of some 10 :pf;:lrcen~,_6~ .tlle_ hospita,ls were_not making regular monthly reports-thos(3 that we~e reporting:were .often understating the number of civilian war casualty admissions by some 10 peroent to,50 percent-in, 1967, this factor added nearly 20,000 civilian war casualties to. official:' ~stimates, increasing the actual number ,of o~vilian war '(laso.altttnpa;tients by nearly 40 petoerit.

(0) Civilian war, oasaulty~:inpatients- at private ho'spitals 'and others not on the GVN reporting list-in 1961i this Mooun,ted fQr at least 3,000 civilian war casual-ties per year. ,,-,,'," .t" " .

(d) Civilian War casualty 'outpatients at 'GVN provincial hospitals, which in 1967 was close to 50,000. . 'c _ _, '" , ..

(e) Civilian war casualties-treated,at,Village and hamlet' disp~n.saries, which in 1961 was at least 50,000. ",' _ ' ' ..

(f) Civilian war casualties treated at special forces ho~pitals,' which in 1967 were running at some 100 pet month.

(g) Civilian war ca$ualtie:s _,treated in Vietcong hospitais and dispensaries. (h) Civilian war 9~sualties 'who may.- survive, but are never treated. (i) Civilian war casualties who are '·killed- outright ,or die before-.reaching treat­

ment facilities-the figure llere'probabl:y\ficeou'nts for at least 25 percent of the cumulative estimated total of civilian War casualties.

1, South Vietnam (a) Oasualties dueta witt opeiiations

Vietnam has borne. thegrea,teBt bU,rden. of civilian casualties, both >f.rom military. action and .froD;i ,tep:oriB~ althQugh the annual totals had begun to deoli,ne by the end .of 1970, The Senate Refugee Subcom­m,ittee estimated that ~h~.!'~h~s,,'beenl'f950,OOO ci'1lian casualties in Vietnam between earlyl!9,~lkl,tndl!arly1971, includmg abont 325,000 killed," Xn 1970.alone, the st\bcommittee estiInated that there had \ ~een ~2'i<000-159,OOO civilian. ca~ualtie$ from military fiction by "both J sIdes m;:,outh,V,etnam' 25,0'00-35,0000£ tjJ.ese were deaths," ,; The Sou~h Vietnam~~e *mbassy accept~d the Ii,gure·of 325,000 civilian deaths smee the beginnmg .of the war, 'and: estImated that 30 percent .of them were children under 13: years'old;" '

TABLE 9.-VIETNAMESE CIVILIAN WAR·RELATED CASUALTIES I

GVN hospital adl'llisslOlls t

All causes I

Month 1967 196' 1969

i~f~m::~~~~~~m:~~m~~J:~~ 37, B14 34,523 40,550 44,OOB 44,713 4,154

.' 34,053 34,161 36,157 39,910 _. ______ 3,920 41,142 ~I~ 36,171 46,515 __ • ____ • 4,168

ltm 43,768 46,534 __ ....... ~:m ""'" :'A5,104 46,865 __ ~ ___ ••

11;m 37,886 45,750 48, 723 __ ' _____ • 3,23B July •• __ •••• _ •• ______ • __ •• _.~. _-"._~ __ 39,539 49,060 50,853 _______ • 2,900

:=~iii;_:::::::::::'::: :::::: :::: ::: - 43,962 n:m 47,626 51,036 _ ••• ' •••.• 3,696

::;,j:g 45,682 51,645 _. ______ 4,262

~::bir ::::::::~:::':::::::::::~:::':: . 38,739 . « 560 48,427 ...... _ • 3, no 38,204 37,456 "45: 765 48,897 _______ • 4,332 December _______ • __ . ___ • __ .. ___ !_;. ~ 37,539 _.40,800 «,379 51,401 _" ______ 4,476

TotaL .. ________ ._._.~ __ •• __ •• _. 473,140 456,972 525,772 574,814 44,713 46,793

War C8S11alties

5;600 4, ~3B a,923 2,777 .. _ ..•.. 12,139 5.450 3,831 8,645 5,912 4, 132 ~=~:~~~~:::~:::: 5,867 ~::1~' 5,112 • ..:i.____ 131

:,~~ 5,09L_,~--... 93

lm ... ,545 •• _.____ 136 ., 071 3,768 •• '...... ISS 5,589 5,009 3,652 ••• ,.,.. 258 6,695 4,949 3,&76 _._._.__ 263 4,294 ',182 2,914........ 317 4,333 l:Ni 2,511 .:". ___ • 281 ',557 3,029 •• _ ••• _~ 314

7G,702 59,223 46,247 2, rn 1,951

1968

64' ... 764 610 088 553 559

1.'8 588 537 679

7,790

U.S. military hospitals

1969

749 899

1,141 795 87. 735 481 850 '18 481 547 470

',544

487 162 482 •• _. ___ • 431 ... ____ ~ 423 _______ ~ 552 ______ . .: 459 •• _._ ....

~~ :::::::': 483 ___ • ___ • 239 _______ , 211 ____ ... :. 168 _______ •

287 "847 far t,rt. <21- I, ",076 .00 461" _ 58S 50l'~ 274 l75' ... 675. '-~ 480 181 __ .,. __ an ....•. :. 806. __ ", __ :.

4,635 162.,_._.· ... c._.: .. :~_' I Apncl for I1Iternational Development, Vietnam Bureau. I Compl eel b)' U.S.A. AID frOm medical assistance team reports and records, and records of

Vietnam .. , Ministry of Health. .

I Includes· only MOH hospitals with war casualty admission'. Does not reftect ftjtal MOH hospitals admissions. • ' .:;

1.!7J.

",Qlfici!li figu~s lepri1piled, ,by Iljhell;\~~Jiley Jfim.ilnjllr.n~?:0n$J.; :qeyelQP~ . m\lI\v, shawed, itt·, tataloL5018:82.: :cl\l';iilan,.,Wi\f, I Q8su!litles., ,ad1ll!l.ttedto. Ministry, of. F,[el\lltlj 'Imd,Tt.S •. ,nillitar:vi ,hpspitals in ~97,0v",,,dropof 25 percent from 'the 67,767 tot!li in 1969, although a sllght.:increase oyer the 1967 figure' '(8~e'tllible's' 8 'and' 9)': , According to its figures an ayera~e of 5,000 civilians was admitted to hospit!lis each month of 1970 m Vietnam for, treatment. of war wounds. AID figures showed a' cumulatiY6v 'totaJ' through: 'December 1970, of' 251,875 ciyilian casualties admitted to hospitals in South Vietnam since 1967, when record-keeping began.' . " ....

The Senate Refugee SUbcQlhlhittee st"ff report agreed with AIl:) reports that the total ciyilian casualties in Vietnam in 1970 showed a, sl;11!W decline. from the 19.69 ,.t()ta,ls,. The report estimated, that .the total killed in 1970 was probably half thatoL1969 ,because ,of the shift of American bombing to Oambodia and Laos from Vietnam.

The Refugee Subcommittee 'staffreport estimated that a sub­. stantiat proportion of the totalc civilian casualties were caused by American bombing and shellings. Howeyer, in testimony before the Sen",te Foreign Relations Oommittee in 1970, Ambasswor William Oolby, head of theOivil OpeI'ationsand Euritl Development SUp'port (OORDS) program in Vietnam,s",id .that "statistics are not avaIlable which wo.uldpermit an estimate to bemwe of civilian casualties" due to ,American acnionP AmbassadorOolby submitted a table show­ing the causes of civilian casualties in Vietnam. to the Refu~ee Sub­committee on April 21, 1971,however, which indicated that m 19JZQ, 8,607 casualties were "friendly inflicted" (shelling and bombin~) ,. 22,049 were "enemy inflioted" (mines and mortars), and 7,650 m­flicted by "either side" (grenades and gunfire). (See table 10)." IIll response to a reguest by the Refugee Subcommittee, the Defense Department studied the danger to the civilian population in Vietnam and ~onclud.ed. that i:> Jariuary 1971,.0.9 J?ercent of the population had lIved WIthm 1 lnlometer af an RIr strIke, and 5.6 percent had lived :within three." Athbasilwor Oolby told the Refugee Subcom­mittee that military directives had restricted "the use ot firepower to protect the p'opulation." 60' . . •

The U.S.Gdvernment'ctlstb~arily has mwe solatium payments ~6 ,the fam~ies. or victinis, 'of,h~Inbi~g o~artj)lery a~cide!'ts .. 'Ahe iI!flountsp,)"d lneach po:se :;w~te d~te~mmed mC?l!sultatlOn WIth village Ofli~Ilils and we~e:.p;t'esented dIr.ectly t6 the mJuredp'lrt~ by locilX AmerIcan com~al1f1'e~~: 'r~~ sola:t1U0. payments :were made. ,as a gest~r~ ofs?lac( ~nd: wepi !1Ry.!.ntended.to yut amon~t~y valu~,O:> t~e 1llJu~y Iri,,:o1ved.:. ~3>',aCc~,~t1U.g 8011i~!u,l!' payment~, .,nJured .I,!dI­Yl,d.ualsorfamihes dld.'not W11'lcl,}IshtheIt t'Ighi:Stq.llJe damage, c1.pms mththeIr government. iThllDepartmentof Defense reported that individual S!:llatiumpayments generally amounted to 3,000 _to.4,OOO piasters (U.S. $25.42 to,$ila.909. In.tiscalyear 1970, the,Uniteddiltl),tes

,. ,-' , ) " ,', " " '.': .. ,,;'-1.'<11'::" ".: .. ".,' " .-; " .')- -,j :';", !J,:' ,;,' "

" " ,-, .'" ' <,' "" ,',". >'1 I: . .'; '-':"..-1, -I'· _', .>1.- _.,' 'j' '. --:. ,:."."

n, ,T]iS; GQngr6Sll1 Sen. ate •. 0." OJl1,mittoo,OnJllOte1gn'R. aIe.ti.""' .. ,Yt .. etnam: P0116Y and p. rospeotl!".l9'lOIMearfng. . • 'on Q1't11 ,o.Pel6tlo:ll8.'Qnd lRUr&1,DeveloproenP;81iPPort, Ptogra.m .. ,l!'ebru8l1Y"tmd' 'MarCIi, 1970., Washington, U,S.O;overmnentPiinting'Omce lIYlO., '.' ,""",'~:"W(, ""',- ',!I " )-,'_, ''', ,OJ" '

-;'. ~8'.Testlmoqy'~by A:tn-bassadol'!\(mlla.fu!lli'> Golby, Deputy"to\<D0MlJ8MACV ,for,Ohtfll·Operattoilil :and Rural Development Suppott 'bef01e 'tlh~,.subooll1mittwtoJln;vest1gaterProblems ,oonn:'8ted ,with: :Re~ees

',~~t:~~g~a~:~e~~:tcl~~d: ~~l~~~:~!Ya:r~::r:~~~tF~g~:r~~l}lU,~~~e __ ;~~f!~tl~1~~,,~gs , (G Washlngton S~ar, Apr. 21S, 1971. Tbe stqdy compnred the -1911 figures against those for Januar¥, 11:169

,when f1,ve percent of the population we~ found to;haVe lived wlthin 1 kilometer of- tbe bombingfand '23.1 f~~~,~~~ln 8, oonoluding that, th,ere :",!as s~~_st~ttBllY less danger to oivllians from air strikes In Hl71

10 Ambassador William E. Colby,,~971 Refugee,S~bcommtttee'Marlngs. op. oi~.

l'g

p~ida ,tiJtaJ.aJl$112;00QAn,s"lattiutn i lpt(yinlomtsl!! In W69; £ha,'total p'ayln~"'Ils made lIttloUiI ted~Q,' '1:l~;1:13 ;440,,'pia~tet. '01' $972,009;' There, Was n'O'reco\l.,f!!itept of' the!ill1dl'l'ldll'aJ. 1 nUtnhet)itlf pa!Ym:llnt$' that'hill:\ been·'ffiadEi.'~' ,'; .. ,.'" .• , i., •. ' \.1 ••.• , .• , . •..•• .'

, Tj\.,BLE ,to.-ClVILlAN CASUALTIES" flY ,METHpl;ll ...

U' ." ,. '" M~~a, " Gunl ,S~"lin! ,', an , '~( Jl1oftar" ' ) ,gre,nade .'bombing -Total

15, '253 ' 'f,

9,785 lUI! 43,843 31,244 15,107 '74,409 ~)6481. ' , .1~; g~~, ' 16, 183 ,;52,645 22,049 , 8,607 38, ~O6

1 Ambassador William LColbyil97'1 R&(ugeeSU-bC(lJ~mitt~e'hear!ngs: '~'P.~It. f'igJres aretaken from 'lietnamese'Minlslry' of,HE!alt~,statisticll;ontheorigill,pf.~OlJn~s. " i' ':"';;:':" ,,-', ,

(b) OasUalties due to Vi~tcong 'terrorism !

A tqtal of25;098.civilianswerekilledfrom 1965 through 1970 by Vietoong t,errorism, and 39,105 were kid,naped. The·6-year figure does not include those killed in the 1968 Tot offensive; the Government of Vietnam claims that 7,400 civilians were killed by the Communists dudnll Tot in 1968. In 1970,.'5,947 South Vietnamese civilians were assassmated by Communist farces, an<16,9,31 were kidnaped; and it is, assumed· that many of these were, killed at a later time. Of; ,those killed,in 1970, a total of 1,376 were government officials (village or hamlet chiefs, national policemen, revolutionary development cadre, or members of the PopUlar Self-Defense, Forces). Since the beginning of, 1968, over 3,300 government officials have been assassinated by Communist terrorists" . " . 2.,' Laos and Oambodia

In April 1970, the Department of Stllte described the situation in J;.a0S with regard to civilian casualties ,as "serious and getting worse."" A)though the number of .civilian casualties was unknown, the Depart­ments,aid that the to,tal riumber of ?as~s givenhospita\ and disp'ensary treatment'''would amount to many more thousani:!~of.treatment and adl)1issions" than those treated in AID-supported facilities." , " Th~.AID. missl<into,Laos 4,a8 co""piled' figrir~s of civilian casualties

~reateqin the, dispensarie~ and hospit!1lsassist~d by AID" Thes," ~gure8.areqonsider~d, lqw,si!)9,ethe,Y'do n:pt,include pa~ien,t~ tr.eIVted !!', ' .~o, sp" ~t.als riO,' ,t rec,e.,lvlng A.m,', 'o,:'!?", n,',", !!L"un, tr~~t~d, ,c.,asua"lt). es" and, tho,' Se IUJ1,lrei:! Ill, eneUly:cont;rolJed areas, ,li'(Irthermore, ,the, totals do. not re~ect plw widespr.e,,:d i114e~s ~rd 1I1Or~a;lity: !n th~qivilian p0p,ulation "~~S,:,ltll:lg£r01I). 41~pIMemen:t, and?'Qll);B~Ftlon, of p.e9ple fleemll. the O()Lltes,t~q,!>~eas.':" ,1)he .totals I?ro'l'l4eaqy 4-Ip ,are! 1967,5,590;

, '.' - -' ,

,J,

, ;t· , ,'j

" , "~ j , '

119

'196$, '2,658; .1969,,31'7-64,;7' The tot",!, 'l'ppull1tion ,of ,Laosjs: gena~!tlly estim'ated at 2 ,to'3 -million. ,\: ! i: ! )'~ ) J 'i;',:~ : I ~I' ." ,-~" :' ,;; '1.1 !.;'- ;) hi ! f" .

. ,' .TheS~nate Refuge~ ,SltbaolJ!.~.ttee,'),,:,J1ic/),~tteIl)pte4.;" plap:e," u@tal,figureen the :nnmber, ,@£,CliVllu)$s,mH1fQdm, 1tlQs" ;beJ,i"Jle:d,t411t the,total was.muoh higher. ,The'sta/£,Mport cQncluqe(i,thl1t tJi\ej/ilcrelise in military.aotiViity Mtel'.1968.had.prodllced III sharp inQl'ease in,c\y~lil1n inju~ies. The report said ,thrut,it,was i\conceivable"thl1t. 3,0.,000 .oiyilians ih!,d b~en injured from early'19~9,to,l)1id,1970, including'perhl1Ps,l 0,000 killed,; Some. estimates, rure ,'hlgher~For. example,. a Bootou, f'\uqdl\Y Gl6be,rurticle of Ml1rCh·28" 1971,used.'a,figure of 50,000 to 100",0.00 w,ounded,with 25,000 to,5Q,OQO dead. The United States reported 9nly 97 known.'cases of ciViiliaua killed"'nd M wouuded, as'a"result of accideut!l;l bombings in ,Lao's: betweeu·J anuary 1.967 'aud, Mity 19'10." Despite charges·that Americrun.bol)1bing had, produced a ; "bloQdbl\th~' in Laos, Defense Department :officials Baid that the rules of. en~agem~nt weve 'designed to priwent, pilots from causing death Of, Injl)rytq vilLagers in Laos. Targets were' said to ,be ca)'efulli\' regulated to ,prevent liring against an "active: village/'.andthat in t4e ]last 2 years there had been only four repotteddnBtances of :violations by pilots inv<\>lving civilillll,targets," Ther\! were no ligures fbI' those civilillns inj)lred in the Laotian incursions cariyin 1971, but SOi);lelllltioipated tljat another increase in the nUlllber of civilian casU/1lties could be expected. .

'rhe war jn Laos has resulted;ri heavy casualties. tothe Meo, people, whosetraditio~algeographical h,,~ewasc,!ught in theerosolire of .the war, The 1971 RMugee SUbComnlltteehearmgs produced the estimate that by mid-1970, out of a population of about 400,000 (1960 figure), roughly 40 to 50 percMtof the men of the tribe and 25 percent of the women and children had bMn killed due to the war .. About 95,000 of the remainder were rsfullees, . ' '. :.

There is virtually no mformation about civilian casualties in Cam­bodia' available from U.S, sources, The Refugee Subcommittee. staff report estimated :that thetchad been "thous"nds" of civilian,casualties in Cambodia siuce'the spread, of the war to that'country in mid-197'0, but said it had no 'unclassified data on the subject. The Cambodian <'iovernment does not keep' statistics on civilian casualties separate ,from figures on military casualties, andavailablo figures are considered incomplete. '"

, B. SOCIAL IMPACT OF'THE WAR 1 ~ R,ejugees . All accounts agree that the impact of the Vietnam Wilton cheilians has been enormous. Although the majority of the war's refugees have been South Vietnam" .. "e, a. siz .. ablelroportion of the pOPllllJ,J,iQlll) of Cambodia and Laos, can be.e,mute as refugees., The term "reft1gee" may be said'toinc\lIde'il:nypers()nwhoh;asleft his home to escape from militjtry action,ter,rorism'orhciIfibiiag;,;mrw!lO is .ev.acuated {mm

, ." " ,-, , '

i '57 ~;'V'ho;;efr~~Ag~n~y 'i~r-intern8ti~~~i 'D'ev~~eDt,' Laos be:sii, s~ atko; Test;mony of HO~;'~'~erlC L, ,0'0. onnor, Assistant Admlnlstratc.r for East_ASia,. Agenry lor In(ernatlonal DeveloPll1ent. In U.S. Congress, Benate. Committee,on the Judiciary. SUbCODlJllHtee To Investigate Problems Connected With Refugees and ES,capees. HearIngs, May 7, 1970 .. Wsshlngton, U.S. Government Printing otnce, 1970. Her&­after oited as 1970 Refugee Subcommlttee'hearlngs . .

38 Refugee SubCOmmittee staff..!'oPort, op. cIt., p. 71. ' 69 Washington Star, Apr. 26, 1911. see also, t$!tlmony of Ron. William H. Sullivan, Deputy AsSiStant

Seoretary of state for' East AslBll and' Pacifl.o Affairs, Department of State. 1970 RefUgee Subcommittee hearings, op. oit. '

comba:taI'~as'-'-iil contrast ,to "pensons who lealVe, homIl1fc!>r: l1,very brief period of time and are soon able to return, on)those "waf: victims" who suffer, 'da1'rlag~s'tbtheir property or' personiaiinj ury;' The,maj or re~son fo~ 1'e~llga«S) iLl) thei past, accordin~ to 'ol~IdaJs ,@fthe ' Agency: for; LLI" ternMiiOrla1 Development, has ,been the) sntny 'of:enemy£orces mto an 'are it, I'or' the reaction of Vietnl1mese' <ihdlied forces Rgainst the presenee',of'e'rlemy units witlHhe concomitant,movementof the'i<,pal poptilation' 'away' from tne' :sc~ne' oi'theeonfiict." 60 'Congressional critics, on'tlieotherhand, .inciUding':Senrutor Edward Kennedy and Rei))'(isent~tive. Paul Mc!Jlosk,e;y> h",,,,j: charged on, several' occasions thrut tl;1ere IS a dlr~ct rela~lOn.~hlp b~t,:,een' t)<te growth of t~e numbers of refugees lind the mcreasmg Intensity of'Amef1can bomlnng. ' :

8tlltistics on the number of refugeesin'Indoehinaare:rough at best. Prior to the mid-1960's',nocomprehensive records were kept, although 'there are earlier estimates for Laos. "The: Government of Vietnam began its refugee program in 1967 with the assistance of AID, 61 Sub­sequent ,to 1967, AID has compiled statistics OJ:r those aided under refllgeeassistance programs in Vietnam. in 1966, AID ·also began keepiilg detailed records for the number of refugees in Laos. There rure . virtually no figures available for the number of refugees in Cambodia, Ambassador Colby has pointed out the limit",tionsin the statistics:

, It is' important to recognize t'he' ftinotion and frailty of the statistics used in this program~ The statistics were designed as management tools, identifying'numbers of 1iidividuals to Whom payments were ·due * * >II, Th~se, statistics have been a ~Q.ur,Qe ·of considerable misunderstanding on t,he whole refug~e problem over. the years. 52,' ~

.• Oilkial AID figures do not include those refugees who are shelter.ed by relatives or friends. in the traditional way, who move.to the cities or sparsely populatedrural areas, or who .otherwise become resettled without obtaining Govermnen.t assistance. '

Since 19M, the Senate Reiugee Subcommittee has attempted to compile independent statistics on the numbers of refugees in Indoohin!l and has tablillated estimates based on field. studies, herurings,. and consultations with those knowledgeable aboutciviJian ]?Fogranls. A recent report done by the Oeneral Accountinl' Office at tho sub. committee's request charged that official statistics on refugees h""e been misleading and sil"'ificantJ.yunderstated as to the true l1umber of people in need of asSistance .. The repor,t iurther charged that .the refugee rolls in Vietnam have been improperly reduced .by the rem'oval of.t.Qose who have received go,vernment alloWances regardless of the condition o'r1iving ammgements." '

eo Amb~s~dorW1ll1Bl)1 'El.'_'oQ~bY~ 'i971 Refugee Slibcummfttee'h~mih'Ks) op, cit, . '", . ~IR.'fu.g~e .prog1'alllS;ln. :v~et.nruu: we~, part., o . .r;lnthe; "poo16c.at1o_ll-Jaud 4\lyel0pmen~.progtamt" which was

elUted,the "cOi11munlty:defensa and local develop el;it program">beginnlng'in Um. '" ' . . ,ola'Ambassador WUHl\Jn:E"O()lbY;'llY1li~eB'SubCbmrolttee hwlngs'; ()p.,(I1t;, " _ ,- _ _ , -, -:.;

113 U.S. Gener. a1' ACCOU. n'ln. g .0mc.(i, Refugee and,01vUiau Wqt'Casualty ftobl6. ros iU'Vletn.,m. '. A.repOf. '

.f:~*m.irt:~?~~h~h~~~~;~~~t~::~f,;~:~.~pr'~.iZ~~!~~,-*~~~~~7v,~S.,~?~~~~~:~~.:~~~~,~~,,?~~a~ . """ " ,';., . ",' ,.+ .1:" "'\ /'; ;n ~:; i " , ;",' (,' t 11 : _" ,,', ' ,

."t':, ,;,,'" "" "I" ""I ,-, :1<: _' . • -; I '

}- , '

21

(a) South V wtnam (/) Num~er oj rejugees.- The. nature of the war in Vietnam has

createda.very large numb~r of refuge~s. Ambassador Colby said: 'A:. variety of statistical eVidence has' been: offered, nOne sufficiently precise or

reliable; but all of which indicate 'that something 'On th~ ordel' 'Of 25..;.30 percent of tJ:te ,-17,500,OQO population of South Vietnam-have at 'One ,time or_tmother. b~n in t~~t1~ee,status,',or direct,ly-hurt, by the ."W:ar during thf' past 7 -years,&.(_

In early 19.7;1, AID estimated t\la.t approximately 4 million persons have been registered as refu~ees' .since late 1966,"'Some sources have used considerably higher ,.stlma.tes, dep.endingon the categori~s in­eluded." The Refugee Subcomlll1tteeestnnated that "Over a third of South Vietnam's estimated popuititionof18 millioll have become refugees since 1964, with the vast m~jority' still crowded into urban areas or into refugee centers near provincial and district towns," 67

Henry KamIh' in. the New York Times of April 21, 1971, estimated that: "'.' , in South Vietnam' * , a conservative estimate is 5 million displaced persOlls, in a pOPllI'lti0n of 17 million."

Neverthelesfi,as a res.ult of the l.'ncreased.security of ... the countryside after 1968, the number of refugees appears to have declined, Am­bassador Colby told the Refllgee Subcommittee that the overall reduction in new refugees generated was a .realfact." AID figures showed 135,000 new refugees during 1970-"exeluding Cambodian repatriates-see below-and 70;400 new refugees for the first quarter of 1971. Ambassador Colby noted however., that the AID figures. (table 11) fqr 1970 ll)ay be lower than the actual numbers ofrefugees, due to problems of local registra,tion." Moreover, Senator Edward E:ennedy said that: "The problems of, the Vietnamese people remain as overwhelming today as they have in the past." 10

. The .Refugee Subcommittee ·staff report estimated that 50,,000 new rafllgees had been created in South Vietnam d\lI'ing the first h,.lf of 1970, far exceeding the AID totals. Also critical of the AID fi~ures;,the< General AccountingOtlice report for the ll.efugee.8ubcommlttee said that many thousands of people who had been relocated had been

'.' crossed off the refugee r.o)ls. It was ~so reported that the number of ~efugeeshad risen fr,om Ii monthly. average of .about 4,500 newrefljgees m.October.1Q70 to 27,000 monthly between November 1970 and the. epd of Febrll,ary 197V' According to this repqrk the number of refugees ill" South Vle1)n.am rose by 150,000 after the begiIli.ljng of new Arneripan and ~outh Vietnll;mese 'offensives!,,? late 1970.".' ....

61 Aru:bt1,sssdm: w,liliatu E. t/QlbYl:,1971 ~6rUg~ SUbcomm1ttee hearinK~;\oILcit. _ , <. 61'C.orrespondenc8,fr()):n the Ag~ncY'!Ol Int~i'Il8t1onQl DevelopmentJ. Vietnam Bureau to Foreign Attalrs

<U1vl~JOrf Congri)SSJonal ltesearcn ,SerVice, Library Of COngtess. 'M61'-. (I~, 1971. . < \ M In,atldltl,bn.ta.the,QfHclally r~ate:red refugoos!.;{q,r instance! fl0r0-6 sources have Included the over,l mtlijon

persons-wbOiwere tempOl'fI.t11y diSplaced by,the .1~,T~t-and May ofie)lslVGSt bnt·not-reglstered 88 refURees. O.thers-l:n:clu~e tb6.est11l1ate<H'UlUUon-perflOhs wbo in rerumt years migrated from tbe rural araes into'urban "'. ~t"' .. and. 'wJi.o were. 'also no.t't()g18t:6re.d as refUgees. In. add1tlo~.it Is estlmated.that 1 mtll10n persons fled to ti'le'Southw~n"Yte:ti:I(inr,waS·\)a.rt1tloned'tl)~19M.',Ne.w·YOrk"'~lmes,' Apr; 21'; 1971." ,- ," -~'"

&7_ RefugSj'l ',S1,1bllo1Xlmitt6e.'stad,repOl,t, .ap. 'cit. '. _',,'. " :; ',< ":' ~ 1:971' Refll.R:e6~S.Jl~O~mjttee' headngs, op.~ cit. . , , 61 Ibid. Amfiassa(\or Oolby sald that the proi;llenl., which 'had arIsen dUe to the misinterpretatiOn by looal

offiCials of astatement by President l'hleu to the effect thathe,dld not,want tosee any more refUgee6in South v'. 'tn. !lJU; had been corrected \;Iy ... means of'spooial ~gistI<MI6n'prooedures. ' .

10 l;tefugee and ClVil1an War Casualty Problems tn Vietnam, op. eit.- . n,tQ'eW,'York Times, Mar .. 13, 11m. 1_

'12 Ib~d'. ,." ,

i"

<"

TABLE 11.-REFUGEE/REPATRIATES \"

" I • I,d,.'

Refugees g,enerllted

'I

" ,c.~S.llaJ~y and.

, damage , 'rcillimants

"J' " 1

Total

1964-,66q .. L'.;_~:.::~' __ ~,, __ '-_.L,_'j .. '.:h~1 ••• ~."" ,2,400,OOOi" 'I"IV lu .1:" ".I" I i·ir' 1;j),2 400 000' During 1967 "" :': :;,~!;:~;~~g ~:~!~~~,~~,~ ~~~:,:: ~-,,<; ::t:i~-6;6,~jdo'='J'" -, i', 1:':i3: ~~~~ rm~'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'~:~'~~;~~>~~~~'~:~';~~I~'~~~i~~~ ';i:n~:~~ w~}~~'Ho;o6o< i, j ~~g:--~ ,~~t~~~ lstQu,~r.\er.l~71,,,.·,,·_'·_'~_.~.:: .. _~;'~H._· .. · ;.i,,1~,~4(Xl ,.;.;.~t-'J_~J.'~ ..... I :45,.QOO! ; '!: 1l5"OIlQ

"i,' Total~.'-:~'~ .•• '~ .... "L~: .. .J.'., •• :':'~i.:.' ... :~; ';':8,495,400';":1: '~U.ll,tOIlO':'t 1',605;i300~)1"~ 5;310,'300 '''1''1-' ,,,-!' ,I d'"

\A)frllllssadOr William: E. CoIW,iI971 Re;f-tIgee:SUbddmtbltt&~!heatlnes, bp,1riit.i$ofne Oguresiin' table'1t are llifftltenf" fr~_\W~~~~~y~,,:12~ecause-Pt'lT1pr~[~~.!J1t~,~Y\Siqljl~~AIO. ,'J'f) -,' 'I, /' ,I "" "'L;i'-"'~

; I~n~~~~~i ~~~r~xl~'a~'!x' i.b~1',~o~~Mhj~;i!y ;di~Pl~~~~+;riqll'l Teti~nd!,M~Y>9~~' ?~e~~ji/e?~ ~ -; i f "I ( vj '),)';;1'; ". ': ;; 'TAB1E''t2Iiir'i',!'J' { I:

'\I

"''', '</i)ifNA\IIl'E'UGEE STATlsTI,n;\1 ,: .. ,I(.'! 'f" '" ,";' 1 "i'"'I:"'", I, '1,'1:,,;: ,(Ii'ill"',-

" ,,'- ,- , 'j'

-': Cutrerit thmp9~ary Mfuge~'sl (acthie; caselq~d)} ,_ [1I:~fu~e'~d ~\d!alj ban~(its, ",,-;,! \ I ','!'

H ',' J ': ,~r-rt-'--.-., i .' II ''''''rT~~i_' F~r:;;;tt~:-'~ Retu'r'n'tt ;' ' :.1

"i MQJlth (~; / ';111 camp"jOutsidec:allip , Total'.: ,-,.' ment ' vlJlage ,New!refuglje~>

':;1jil(:' ,i! (1) j .,:" (2) I ': t~>' . (4) '(8) ",'/(6)-"! ' i" j! f' ':'f ',' 'Ji' 11, f.,' )'. '

""',,1

'j 'i, ':;'f' 11!l 'l' Iii

':" ", ,f','!' ,I' ,

23 .1,

, ' ; 1 _ • ; : --:, . t i '. VI EifNAMfRI!I!UGEt: STAlfsTICS iIQ70 .'.; -,I' I,'. ,r...., 'f, "'I

, 1 ';R.~fug\l,s,r~lv.il;ljlb,nefi": I ',i \,R,ef!l~ee$'pald :" (active c8seload) , ' I . I all benefits

, ", '!-!' -,' ,., , "; ,'J

. _. _In! ,In·T9$St- In r!lt~rn for For, temPdrar~' 'l·tlemaOt to IIIUbile ,; ( ~ , ' ! I tes~t .. ':' 'return 'to" i i New:· : NeVI war

! : statl\S . pj'o,ce,ss" ;pr~c,~~s ' . Total, , ,'I~ma,n\ (,1 ,-.villag~ i ;;ref!l$8,EI$: ,jvlptlms

"c'" (I),,,, :(2)" ,,(3) "" '(4),'< ,,(5); (6) '., (7) '(8)

", .' ,ii '" ).j. i" 1. ' _ L.

'. I'; "-"" '_ - . _' " ,'l' t;':, · I AjenOy'for Interhatlonai'De'iieldi>m®'~ 'VieUfiuiVB',tffEisu} I "'I~,Jr'o:_ i.":·,,, ", "lil.~,O '/ <:j,'-'~ '1 "., ',- -,,', , ',' '

'in 2J~~:~hly re.porting: was i~t'ertllPte~'b'9 the Te~ ~~~n,~~~~',~jjd.!,~t~'lI,~termath'. 'Jt::~~.s r~~u.~e~: paTtjally?~lMatch'lInd'fU!lY , Not available. _, ,I;,.", , ~$timated.

, ) _",' ,··!·1iN9.!~~(:'!:.,-,,, ,:J ;:: -"",,1:':: 1 ,-, Y I' l1L' ;,'! ',' I" '. <

(1) Early in 1910 the CORDS Reporting Systllttll(l\DPfWb'i'!!lplac'ell-by a'joitifCORUS-Mlhisby-ofiStj'cial'Welfare Reporting S!,stem (ARS), Refugees who llad r(l,ce1ved all benefits to which they,are entilled were, gradually eliminated from, the • Actl" ,",,'oad." Thi, """,.,,!! ,~.",.[P drAPil"I~' .. ~b''''91 ,'G't,.qt, ,.mppra". "IV""""

(2) "Current temporary r'lIfil'g&es -,In!!fljtles tll'6se rea ~tel'ed' refullees whO lIr£! receMng'temporary benefits and those who are entitled to qr in the process Ofirec~lvina ~es(ltUe,"'r)t oF. return to village b,nefits., . ' .

(3) Refugees whO cannot return to tHeir own villages 'r84leive -resetti'e'mert't'beiuiflts. MO$1: _of them remain In"former 'refugee sites- whtch -haVtfbeen converted Intb regulifr hamlets'(r&Sllttled in 'place); Mhers are resettled 'on GOvernm'llnt· owneddarnl. , "\,,,;,'; ,-;

.(4)' Wat victims _are persons whO "!lave not been displaced from their hllmlets (b_ecome refugees), .buUire entitled ,to c"ft{l.ln,G9vernment,I?IIJletlt~lfo[ha~~(I,Ul,I.ff~red_wIUnrel,aW/.! personal injuries or pr.operty damage •

. (5), ~lgures on this Mti1f3 Ifo not IriclUde.11le.appri:ixu!'ia~i!IY 200,000 ~hnic Vietnamese whp fle~ from Ca",bodla to South VllItrram III the summer of'1910'ahd rel;:lIlvijd extllnslve' assistance from th$ GVJIl •

. E,:' I"", :: I ".;j , ;'., '

'(2) Bene.rAts o;nd eliselOad. 8:.~T. he ret\l.g. e. a, .. ,pro.l1i.m. m. iiIi",;V1l1tfulm.""is. t0fuinister~d'by th~¥ini~trY:9f Social W elfal(\j,,oM W.~ o~g¥!lm!u~W of,

.' \tletnam wIth the aS$fstance @t-the Agency for TnternatlonItJP':J!ileV~lop. c ment, Refugees are ~ntered onto the refugee rolls wheutll,llY"llp:p]y,'for. b~nefitsc l\lLrefuge~~j,are el\tWed to three types of assistanc,!,,,(see table 13), accordingto,.the immediacy .of, their need, .once the IInal resettlement benefit, wliioh,(Gllusiats,.0f"OlISh,S,Dd ,eOUIIllQrlictil!S ,tQJ;QliDg ,about $180 per family,has beerir<plliidctlie.J1efugetl2"are'presumad LQ,have been satisfactorily resettled and are no longer' carTIed on the active tolIsc~ The. active caseload, therefore, consists of those"vllfugeeswho have ,a,pplie<\, £0Jj jb~ufi tIi, );>l.1't ,JaaVi~j ])0 Wy,et ,r!lAejved llJL.tplwilii¢li, ,tjlJly · are ent.iJtl~d.·A(l;\bl1s~ad~j) CQIW; 'v~p~rJie,4 ~hl\1iajH)fi MIINh ao, ~,Q7l,.itl:t~, fl,G!,i;v.e, iQae~IQad,'9f"tb.~iJN1~\ll$try"pf . &\pcilliL'! W,e!1:8J1e "t\>tall~d ;5f.ld)411i3/~ • · ''is )Thl'S ~~tl),4i:~~hUl~i~~:fl)f~~~;~~ nJ~i.iJ 11\;'~1~?i9~.g:~~i~_:t~ 'in. s.t~,~~j~<I).~~~~u. i~~~'Wh~:~E\f} ~~i celved' ben.eflW·bul1 we'rlS iiltt rsatl\(fa.etcWllY ,'teseUledlWere 'dlSo WfflecfltJ.' the Mtlrve oWleloQd'llsts,' ;,' ,," , ! ••

'''.'''''~)lOi\or ,1\:')iI"'I";P91~~I,IjlJ~ 1i._~~b"lPI"lt.tM P"'I~i" Q~(~~" ; • !.i< ,(i" !" !, ". "

Jl (,'"

24.

For statistics dating back to 1968 and explanation of the categories of refugees, see table 12, Alp ... officials pointed out that most of the refugees listed under the .category "resettled" had not actually been resettled, but had remained in the refugee sites, The majority of these

. sites had become "normalized,'~ however, ·or converted to regular h~ll}!ets.with their Qwn administration;" In addition, the Government of Vietna;nr 'and other international ·agencies continued to support various kinds of welfare programs for such local communities, Total cost of the refugee and social welfare program is outlined·in table 14,

:r~B~E 13.,-:-REF,uGEE RELIEF, RESETTLEMENt, AND RETORN-TO-YI'lilME BENEFITSl

"Rice, allowa nces qommodi1ie~ House construction allowance

Duration of benents

Immediate relief lislst-' 50~:grams,ot.,rjce per, iUice. ,,':' ',' I p~.rson per d.~y.

3 cans condensed milk' 7 day limit per family of atleast ----.----;-------....... • .

Temporary assista~ce, ____ tUller VN~O 2 or'50<1 "-'grams nce per per·

son per day.- . Resettlemimt or return· VN$3,600 food allow·

I'. ~viJIage-assi~ta.~~e., , anC,e, per 'person for a-month period.

5 memb:ers; 20,lIrantS of salt per per~n 'par-day.

____ • ___ ' _______ ~ __ : __ , ___ T.emporary shelter Is 2 months, , ',',.- provided for incamp

- ,-refugees. Montagnards receive 20 VN$1,500 and 10 sheets 6 months. grams'ot~alt.per of roollng per family. . person per tillY tor 6 months.

, -I Alilb~ssador Willi-am ,E. ColbY:.l971 Refugee Subcommitt&~'hearjngs: op. cit. ~ for a,n'.explanatK!r:I"of;the plaster·dollar exchange rate, see·footnote to,t~ble, 20.

',I "I" '" '-k

,·tABLE ''14,I~REFUG~E' AND, SOC1Ak ,~E(;FA'R~ .'BUDGET, ,SOP'~ORT

IFrom _all sources"'-hi millions of U.S.dollarsj' ; '" ' .'.

fiscal year-.. -', '1'~8 ~;tua~~!J';act~~,~ct(;f19ll' ~stlmate

1. ,AlD budgeL ••. ::~ •. _ .... ______ . __ ..•.. ,.......... -17.9 9.>fi ' 5.,9 6.3 ~:::~~~~~ertf*%'Y~~.~flilh~H" iF_ood -ior-'-Peicef(a$~':i)rO: '"j ,2!l.O 28.4 32.1 31.3

4.~Mi~~~'W'~J4Ci'(We;f~;e(~V)tB,tidgeii::Z:,::::j::~;· ~i:i' .. ~", ' 3i::"'· "~:: . ~~:~ 5,V!)luntllr.)',ag,Wl$l,lQlHi~"';"_'!."-" •• ".",."<~ __ .71_" __ .-'.: ,--' 22.4 2

a1;9:' 22.4 '> 22.4'

tb~~~ ~;U~~~!~~~~~~_~:r·_-.~:,-_t·_~::::-:~~·t~:::~:~:~: -" .. -.~.:~~ , J ,3: ~ 3: ~ 'tota.l'!:~,._'~'~~~'!L,:~_· __ ':... ____ •• ~.:. ___ "':._-, __ :~-:~---;-iQ[i:;_. ·-:--9'5:5"--:'-891

, J: A'mb~$$tItl6r_ wllli~.n: d,.G41b'y:119l1 Refugee Subc(hn~itte"hearlrigS, op/ Clt.·'·

'wote:,item$,r;~2; 3,\ilnd?'IH~ j)<lid;With 'fuMs ftom'tht u.s..!QoV.;nment ':1 : ,',,' ;, r '<"U

y,;'" (b)"Laos- "'. " ... ... .", ", 'Fl!~'fi'!;i>t Ameri'1an reful1eeoffiQ8 iwLaos wits ~sta:blls~ed.in '1959 . to

aiain,the settle~t!mt of the 40,OOO,l'efugees whO reblamedl\fterthli" signingo£ .tbe 'Ge.neva Accord:s, Another,125,000 refugees werecreateiJ..., hX. t):ie·, terri.t?rialMT~ll~el'll.ell,t~!p,'!rJ:e. ,:und~r,t~e .. 19620errevlt ' Accords, ,. Un~)lJ9.68, ,tli¢,nu'liloot'.6frefilgees rem!tllled roughly con. stan.t a;t about 3o,eda"varyingsonre'\\Thataccordilig to the seasons.'!

" ' ' ,

, ' )a-corroo. "pona~~~ .f~om' tb~ AgeIlQy,'f!>1: Int';natto.nai D(lVelopm. Mt~yl(1tna.m:' :Sur~ati to :tite:"FQrei~h . Affairs~J'V18iO.n1 O'ongressional,Resettrolt Serv1oo,:Llbrary'of oongress. Maroh 31, 1971. ' ,'" . ,',

.70 R Ukee SlJ,bqo:u:unittee'staft-re OI't, op. olt. " '" :, " ' .,' -, '-". _:'.' ".H; - • ''nO. l1b6li.~i'1-P-"A(ltlng AlISfstant Se<I1'etary·'of:State_ for. cOnf!;t.esslona\, ReJa!lon . .'s.:.R. _esp~nses, to Te~

Questions on 01VUiQti, ~1ctbnli,of the War in Laos, Aprll 18, 1970. In-1970' ReIng00 Subcommittee hearin'iSj' QI}.clt. ", .,c'-:" " , '.' ,

25

TeITitory controlJe~ by.the Roya;ILaotian Goyernm.ent ERLG) and the Pathet Lao shifted hands m see-saw fashi6n, with the refugees usually being able to return to their fields daring the· rainy season. (See Table. 15 "). In Laos, refugees were defined as . those· who had not been abIeto harvest a rice crop in2YearJi;."The escalation of' the· war in Lao~ beginni!lg with steppedcup b0!l'bings in 1968 witS accompanied by an mcre"se m the number of Laotian refugees. By the end of 1970, the prosp~cts for the return of refllgeesto their own villages was eon-sldered dim. .

Some interviews with refugees in Laos, conducted dming 1970, reportedly supported the view that. the people had left their homes primarily out of feltr of the American bombing and in dispair over the damage done to their fields and livestock by bombing.so A confi­dential report made by the U.S. Information Service in June and JUly 1970 and released by Repl'e.sent:>tive Paul McCloskey in Ap'ril 1971, concluded that "the bombmgls clearly the most compelling reason for moving." 81 It has been charged that the American Gov­ernment generated refugees deliberately in order to deny the Pathet Lao the resources of the local populatIOn, while enlarging the popu­lation under the control of the RLG." The Refugee Subcommittee staff report further charged that the wet season-dry season offensivo balance was upset by the increased American bombing after 1968, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of refugees. However, a Defense Department sp()kesman said that it was the increase in North Vietnamese activity in Laos rather than American bOmbings, which had created the additional refugees:

Most refugees come from areas wher's the ground war is intense, while the large majority of our air operations]"both in support of Royal Lao Forces and in the interdiction campahm in the ~Ho Chi Minh) Trail areas, are * * * in sparsely

,populated areas * ill "'.83

In the same hearings, AID officials pointed out that refugees also fled in order to avoid impression into porterage service by Communist forpes.

AID sQurces have ·stated that there were over 290,000 Fefugees in ,Laos I1S of Npvember 1970,50 percent of whom had been generated since February 1; 19'1'0." Onher sourcesptitthe. to.talat nearly twice that high." The Senate Refugee Subcommittee staff report put the total as of September 1970, at. "approaching 300,000." Of the total, roughly 95,000 weN the families. of the paramilitary forces supported by the United States. According to official testimony in 1971, about 20,000 refugees had.beehgenerated .bythe1970enemy offensives in the Plain of.. Jars, with another 70,000 fleeing from Communist p~·.essure on surrounding areas.86

18 8u-testtmonY In 1970 R:efwloo Subcommlt~ hearingS'Qnd Refug&0 subco.m.nilttee"staft report. 79 T~tiniQny by William Su18van11970 Refugee Subcommittee·hearings', ·QP. eft. . ~ Fred I{l;antman. u'.l1he Viotlms. ' Far:Easte(n Economic, -Revllilw;, Feb., Zl, Hm. 81 Washhlgton.Post, Apr. 2:? 1971. _' • 82 Refugee SUbComm1£tee s~ repQl't, 'oi). cit.. f), 24. , ' .

".' Mr. Dennis Doolin, Depllty ASSlS~nt Secretary of state for East A~lan and Pacifte Affairs. 1970 Refugee Subcommlttee-hearlngs, op. cit. TJlls vlew'was also expressed by formAl' AmbM/lMOr WllUam Sulllvan-'in testlmpuy 1;l,efore the Ref. tlg!)l;l S.tlI,)cOll,lJnit."'.e.on.Apr. 22, 1971. *' By phone from -i\.ge,rJCY for-fnternatJOtW DeVelopment, Laos Desk. . .

81 BosWn.Sunday Globe -Mat~;-28( 1911. ,; '" . !! Testlm;ony'bY' Hon. Willta.1n' :a:~'SU)llvau,DePllty Assistant Secretary of State for East Asalp and Pacific AIl~I·s .. Apr., 22, ,1971; ,19'll ,Req~!),' SqbcQU1li;l.lttoo_p(J,lU'l~gs,,,QR. cft.

, OffiQi~l; te~tillil@"F ,befoDe,·,the:, 8eJill}te i Refuge~ :Subcommittee, indi­oated:t)lM: thili.<ll'muJ/litive total,.of ~efugel;lldiiLaos, .sinoe 19,6ei had \lcLllount~d,itQ bet,we!,)!b ~.o.o,I!lOO'a".di800,000'IiQut of a ·population iJf·less thaI;l..3! milliQp':,~? . (S.eatables .1,5 .. arid~6).J'lllem:J E!aLllmQfth~' Now Y@rk, l'imes I}g'l'~ed.withthi~·!~tiluate" slUy.ing;·!'QfJ the,3.mi\li@ ,people ~J)Pugh4,toJiYe iu·Jj,flJos.,; th~ :»}Imber,of ,.t!l.p~e di$pht~ed at.·least once IS' put a~ 750"Q.o(I;88 .The .. @thmCGQmppsltI(.Jn pi LIlotlanrefugees. has been abo\1t.i\Op~roent Meo,.3.o.pe~cent Lap:Th<mng (both highland tribes), 2.0 percent Lao, and 1.0 percent others. .

JI' 81 Testlmony. 01 HonJRo~101L..!Q\Oonnor.'Assi8tEUlt'Admin1stl'£ltot- for:East ASia, Agency for Interna. tionalDevelopment, ~97Q a6fug~ S).ibco.¢mlt;4lrhearit).g8,:op. cit. " ':

18 New York Times, Api!, 21, 1971. " ',. . . , ,

...... '40.000 ...... .. -....... ....... " ..... ....... I~POO

.... -.­.. -,,-oz­.--•

Table ~S 1-1

I

I . ,

! ,

. ! . • , .

. • , .... ~~&.a •• " •• IU ........ ••••••••• 0 •• " .......... ,'Maru, ••• " • ., .......... " ••• , '.'01" .. .. .. tr .. .. 10

...... ,1. ... .... 1'... .", _ *,1_ "Do, _ .. 01-' ALI",_, "'- .. L ........ IooI._ .... ..-, __ "I'O.I~_

, I

I , , , II' lIl' W II

'.

., ...... , ... .. J::.:."::::"' .=::.:. ~:,,~~ .. r;:= == t.'.::.~:::-=- ~::.tn:'=- .=~':'~ ....

.. -----' ..... -::::~-:'""-.-.-.---..... ----' .. --.. --... ~:.=.;--= .... :"':.~.:.:;:~~:.=----...... ----------••.• ==--==:~~= .... ~" •.•.• ~ .. --~ .... -.... --..... ------~~:~:;--:;----------.... -L.I Ageney for tnterna~ional Developm8llt, Viet~1I Bureau. 1!. ktifuge,e

SubcOIIIIIIlttee' Staff a.port, '.!!E.' ill., p. 20.

Date: , TABLE 16.1-Number of rejugees-'LAOS

1966:August~ ____________________________________ . _ _ _ __ ___ _ _ 147, 500 1967:· .

February ______________ .. ______ .:_ .. _________ ~ _____________ 130,400 August: ______________________ • _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 158, 800

1968~ebrtiiry ____ • ~ _. __ cc ,_. _. ______ : __ ~ __ ,~ ____ " ___ 'C ______ :_ 136, 900 August ____ ".~" ________ c ___ c _____ , _______ c __ • _________ ." _ 128, 200

1969: 2 '

~~fl~~r:--:,~ = = = = ~'= ~~= = =: = = = = = = = = = ~'~== = = = = = =~:'~ = = =.': = = = = = ~ = t~tgg8 ~~r;~ ~:~:::::::::: ::: ::::::: 2: ~~.~ ~.~:::::::::::::::::::: ~gi: ggg ,g~~t~~be;'::::::: ~::::::::::: :'::::::::::::: :::::::: ::::: ~~~: ggg Oetober-N ovembei''... __________ _ ' _________ _______________ ..:: _ 250, 000 ,D_ec~mber ___ ~ _" ___ ~ ___ ' __ _ , ___ _ ~ ____________ ...; _____ ~_ _ _ _ _ _ 235, 000

19.70: . ,

, ~~:~~::::::::::::::::::::~:::::::::~:::::::::::::::: ~8t 8gg April __________________________ • _c ___ , ____ ~ __________ ._ 246,000

~u~~;;~be;':; ::::: :::::::: :::: :::::::::::: :::::::: ::::::: ~gg: ggg , ',.' AgenCY,Ior.ln. tematt,on',l D6Y!)1.opment. IU.1970 :aefugee:SUb. committee hearlngs,-.oP'"ctt.,.P' 63: FigU. '" for JUly and November Hl70 received 'by phone from Agency tor, Interna.tional Development LaOs'Desk, April U171, <.:' . , _ . , _, , "'.' . ',$ Figures for 1~9 an!l1jJ70,,Jlre b!¥l~d on- a rounded number of 100,000 for those El-ided'by the Depal'tment of

De,fense.

'. A=rican assis.tanPQt,'l refugee, programs in ,Laos has been admin: istere~ t~roJlllll the Ag:encyJor International Developmen~, UB. contnbut1o. ns. meconom.' 10 ass1stance to the refl!gee program m Lao. s totaled $~\U million: through fiscal ye",,1970 (see table 17). , ," ' " ' ,

'29

severe dt1e t,,"tbe lack, of government "plallninit' f<:>r massiV": refugee llsliet", ~ ", "')(~:"'" !, :'. ",i ',If!;.':. "." .. ' : . "'!"

,:. Henry Kamm:df'tbe Ninv'Yiwk.Times has 'n"t~d,that,·,i'Oa;lhbodia h .. nl0t ,been 'at' War' long'err/)ngh ,to compile eVell Itpprokimrut¢istatis­'tic~,:;'1'here ·are ,~efugees'ruLl; ioy~r':th'e' C<}R~tr3;'silie." l'):ei,tave ii'·rough estImate of ,1 'milhon;.r~f\Jgee8 1Il",(Jjamboiha, 'as 'of 'early' '1971'," Most obse';versithougM, th'iLt asubst'aniial number of,Cambddiau refugees, had" gone, into' the: '6ities';' 'the ,estimated 'popula,ti'Hl' of PhlH,m Penh

'nearlydoubled,durlng1970,,:"" ",,: ' " The ,largest sing~e group of refugees, :were' the ethni6'Vie~namese hvmg'In Oambodia; wlio numbered "boutllOO,OOO,"In"lhld-1970, 210,000 ortheethBic Vietnilmese were repatriated tb Vietnoim by the Vietnamese Government, By the end of the' year, about' 150,000 of thesepeopl. had, been classified as resettled, with about 60,000 remain­ing in the camps to which they had otiginallymoved, 90 Most 'of the remaining ethnic Vietnamese in Oambodia had probably become refugees, it was believed. 91 The Refugee Subcommittee staff report noted that most of them were thought to have been interned outside of Phnom Penh, and that there were no immediate plans for their repatriation. " ,.,. ' ' 2. War vWtims and property damage in South Vietnam

In addition to re(ugees, ther", are a nUlllber ,of, war victims, a category which includes widows, 'orphans', disl>bled" and those who were forced to leave their: homes fodirief periods or. suffered property damage, ,The Americ'Inreful;ee. ili'rector! in'Vietnam estilllated in February 1970 that over 1 million people had been in this category since 1964. ,(See table 18,) .," ,

In his 1,971 testirrJ,(lI1Y' (befMlthe RefjIgeeSubcommittee,Ambas­sador Oolby PUt the total at " muoh higher figure by including those war victimsmjured as ,a, result. of ,the 1968 Tet·offensive. His ,break" down, showed th"t 1,070;200 people had. registered for compensation as war victims in 1968; 289,900 in 1969; 198,100 in1970; and 47,095 asof early 1971."

TABLE IS,I-VIETNAM WAR VICTIMS AS OF FEBRUARY 1970

Clvliian Military

PHysically disabled:' ,~, I , • ':' '. '

~W~d/~e:asi _ ~~r~ ~!~!~C_S~ .a.~~ ~~~~~ .s.e!~~~~!~ ~~~a.t~~~~~,: := :.:.:::: :~::: ::::::: '::: ::::: ~~: :g~ 4:; :~g Total_H ______ "_. ____________ .•........ ___ .. __ . _____ ... ________ ~ ____ . _____ ~~~·;;15;;;6,;;20~O·~"~~

Orphans: "_"I' ,II, . I n registered orp~a,na~es ___ .,~ _. _________ .... ~. _____ ~" _____ ._" .0:"._ ~ ~__ ____ __ _ 20,000 ... _ ••••••• _._ 'W non~ls.te.rlu;I.:orphllJ1llge$ .O)ogo,dasl ch!lrcltes, et~.)_.~.~l.J_~_' •••• ".~ •• :. •• ~. ---,- ' , ,,85,000, --- ----ios: oo~

~; : A;~:!~~ _ r~~c.~J~~~~:'~:~ ~~~ ~<~ ~~_~~ ~:: ~ ~: ~ ~~ ~ ~'~ I :,~,! ~ ~ :I:,:':} ~-~ .:E:,:;~!~'~ ': ~ ~ ~,::~:~,~;~: ~~,:':,: :: :':.:?; fi;i'~6~" 45, 00

WilJ'wfdl;'tv!l~ '.~',i; '.' )~i;:\ ,j".I}'I,_,I'i,:l)" ".' I ,1.)

, l~~~!~p~i!Y;iZi~ ~; 2 ~~.~: ::~ ~~,:~::: 2~; 1~,:: ;,: ~: ~ ~! :_:::;;: ~: ~::::: ~ ~: :':i:';.~': :~,~ ::: :: ;~~,;~~~~ ~ ,-:' ~. ",-,' ~~:: I T~t$'- _~'". ~ __ :-'.".i" __ '.'_'':':';l_J ~"C~_';~~ > • .i. ~t':,;i ~_-'J'~;.:~_C'~"~~C L __ ~. _.~~ .. n.. . " 1-1 ISl; 000 , Total war Yietlm'easeload. ____ c--. _.~ _____ . __ .~ ___ . ____ . ________________ MO. __ 546;-200·--·

1 War vlctim$ Dlreot\lrate'C,qJRp.~v~ai~B~,--19?9,~.-I,'!~I"~am;·rWj~y ,ap~d ,p,r9s~'~t~:'\9?9"p'~; ;~if;!', ',' I"~ ""; (" ,"'" -, "~"~iff:"~

!~ New York Titllei, Apr, 21, .191-1." , , 00 Ambassador Willlam 11:. ColbY.1Ml Refuge(! Bubcoirimitte!!' hearIngs, op. cit, ~ltRefug~e l:Juooommtttee ata.fi report, op, cit.

, ~~ 1971 Refugee SubCommittee-hearings, op. cit.

'., Th~J~epaxtmep,p qJ,,pef~)l~e, has, statel!, that:th"reiare.,-!frio "'1,~ * estimates currently available on the total number of homes I and ~~ctQries destT:<lye;<;l. due to the \lQnlilict" , in ltidochina.<rhe,S@uth V'ietllalJlese :Emb~y, estin:lates ,that: :the"eo),.t .to .;vietnam'ihas. :been S5Q., l;lilIio!) \nl.ost. . product!0!l al!lne, . with,. total. ~amage I to.f'capital assets ·estnillated at $304, mi!hon,,'Dhe'laterJiguve lS,broken down as fQIlgr\lls:: ·$11,O,,·i;nillion., dllmage .. to highways". $13.0. : million: to· l1ailroad facilities,. $23 lJlilliop,t<i>~nland w~terwaYSi,$Hlmillion to communica­tions and po,,:er facilities, an1 $.100 milliolil' t?'h0;usin~," ,.> . .-

COl1lpepsatlOP for war VICtims and clanns· il@amst ';damage, to prpperty· is paid ·I:>y·the .Government IOf' Vietllam" ,AID estilp,ates

. thatAhe Vietnam Gov,efnment ·has paid ,','abwt$4, million, :its'equiv. al.ent;,qr., a little, .\Ilore~' eaCh. :year f. ro·m 1967. .through 1969 for ""waf damage .clai.ros,"" Q6ioials at' the, Del?artment of·Defense state ,that tlle l1nited.' States; does. 11ot.tlike paxti,n tM.payment of war damage claims. in Vietnam," J>ay~p,'t. to individuals .varied according. to the damage. (See tablel9.,); .,t, . ,Ii

, j , ' ' f J \ ;~." I

" ,T.AP,LE l~.I-:-~AR vrCpfol!faENEFIT~

House constructio,n Rice:~lIo~~nc,~' al'p,~~~~~ .",,\,;, ,_",,_~o!!ltium

, ..

.'" :-i"

FO~~~i~~i~fr~:~~i!~tg - '.y:--- -::_-, .•. ,--:- -- "---,-~-_ ~~~:.-.--" :,~~,.-~,~,:",--~- -,-- -_,t- .".~~-- --- - VN$2,OOO. for at least 7 days,

~AgenCr for International DeV~IOPll)ent.,com~u~itl Operation a,nd Rural Development Support. Ambassador William J:;, Col,by, 911 Refugee Subcommittee hearings, op._cJ " _ -.,:,),' . 1. " ,

~ For an explanation of the piaster-doUar rate, see the.footnote to table 20. 'Npte: ilN$'~Plaster,

3. Relocation and popUlation movements . "." .... ." . .' Massevac\iatiomi otpopulation ha'll'e been. conducte<:j.,withAnnerican asli\stancein bot4Laos .and $puth Vietnam on a number. of occasions. 111 (Jambodia, the .only planned population movement. has been the repatriation of ethnic Vietnamese, mentioned ab.ove: Debate Ojl,et,;~he 'ne~~Uormas$ive populatiohmovelll~nt .~~ centered oyer~7l:!~~~~ived !lllgree. of need for •. such moveme11t,pntics<ofAmel'lcap,' policy<.have chatgelf't~af iiHiss e"acuations have been. encouraged by.the United

• j" ·d . , .. (>:I, ::; :1 I,. " :I ,,, I ,'"

,;f 1;.11 • (tHO. ) ,')h;("·~": .. ::, '~'),' ',,0,'" (f;,1 "'~I'" "Z.',!'.:",' ,,,,,,.,_~.,;J.}',~,':.'., ,J'

':', 'Jrl '1' ,

States, ,particularly in Lao~.,',\ American: Q/liciais, ha'l!eN/illied, thlllt U.S. assi$tlt~ce illflVaQlllttiQlla is given sQ.lelyat :the,~6quest, 1000f ,the '!lQVern­mentsplny,QLv,ed,~! Md thl\t,'the,Unlted ,states prefers, t@,a'l'wl!,auch 'rnovementwhenever,p.os.ihle;~8,:, ",';", .." ," ,,'

DE¥'Pitec,",iticism Qf".the.4me,rical1,bQmbi.n, g, targe,ts, ,State pepar,t­ment spokesmen stated,'pnnumerQuSI>OCaSIOns that' ,ttlrgets III La@il were!careful\y appr:0ved in Q)'dertQa:void populated, are,as, and, that mQst .of the bQmbing occurred in the area .of the HI' Chi Minh Trail where few peQple lived." HQwever, in May 1971 State Department officialsiaclmowledged .thflti bombing 'by; B-52's"whichempIQy saturlt­tiQn target patterns, had been ,going .on in, northern LaQs fQr a "cQuple .of years.! EvacuatiQn .of refugee PQPulatiQns has usually cQnsisted .of resettling existing refugees, rather· than creating new .ones by mQving peQple directly frQm their hQmes. "

AmbassadQr 'Colby ,testified that 'deoisiQns QnrelOctlti(m., .of 'the p'6pula,tl<,in within SQuthVietrl'am Wer"IUade by tlw G()vernment of VietMm,' and tliat:tlie,United :Statessupports such relociitions 'only whent~ey ar~ accomplished "wheren:ec,¢ssary" find: Wheri' "they are done' wIth prIOr planmrig 'and sensitIVIty!' He ,said that between October, 1970 and March 1971,"44,000 people' had' 'beerl.'Telocated in the northern parton~outh 'Vietnam. H~.a1s.b·stated 'th .. t press reports of, dther' ,fori~range' relo6ationll' .of Vietnamese wefe "errQneQUs.." ,'l'tr';La:ds.,tljernbst sigriificrunt p6pulation ,rnQyemetits.have been

due' to Wiass 'eV'acuation~ 'o'iexisting' l'ilfugeM!' 'They' inCluded one movement 'which' 'may have totaled 80;@00 p\loplefl'ohi ,the Plain of JarS in early 1970,' '.,fter 'theb~ginr:iing '.of, the F'athet' Lao' offensive in thatar~a. F,ll1rliet,in J'anuatY'it1\d FebrUltryW7,O ,two 'grQUPS totaling about:32;OOOalso liad ,beimevacu'J],ted from the i:l)ain .of Jars.'

'11.' second mitjor,fol'l1i hf fuOYement prompted 'by 'the war 'has 'been thil independent mQvement of popullitlonint:o tir])an' ateas, The rapid growth' ofurban"PQPulatiorls, primitlily in South Vietl'u~1hand Cam­bQdia, ha~ beenac<ieletttted by pressure fro,;" refugees.. In,Vletriam, it has been' estimated by'ArD that ill recent years, roughly 1 million perSQns have moved voluntarily frQm rural areas to 'thecities~pre­sumably ,seekillg:_ seClirity __ partic1llarly,tQ SaigQJ;l and Dariang,' In March' 1971 V.S'.' .officials estim~ted' that' migration' and refugee P, ressure' had swelled the PQPulatiorrs of SaigQn and Danang tQgether byabQut 1 million persQns in 5 years.' PopulatiQn of .other urban areas inBouth Vietnam was estimated to have grown frQm 15 tQ ,30 percent. According to the General AccQunting Office report, of Decem-. ' ' , "";'--"";"- ,~, ,~ ;

Cit., and testimony by Representa.tIve Pa.ul McCloskey

by- Remgoos SUbciii'ilmli~~:" tii"':Rce'fugee S~bc~:n.

, :'<)

hearingS, op. oit,

32

,ber! t97!O,iiA!Hi).estln'>llIted ,thltV1abtJut 1 mHiiori ()fthos~ in the Iurban '~rea~ of';ViebJ'ulrnnwl!1>~"tiefngeesl!600;000 ofth~t!J.i'depended for'their hVehh(l)'o,!"oll' the' 'presenee' 6f 'American forces, I With, regard .to,·Cam­bodia,. the Refugee Subcommittee StRlf""R'ep'o~t'sa:id "that provincial oapitaq,\ hi/that 'co.uu"tryliwetebulging"Betwelln IMay and"Septem­'ber,J thepopulllJti"n'of Ph1wl11 Penh 'had jumped from 700,000 to more tha,nl1Imil:lio,:!, tin illcM~e'which'Wll:sglllid to reflect ,flights from the 'Iilatile'ltreas,,6, 'I' ' ," iI" i:" I'· ,"

!, . "~I ,"

,EIFFlilCTSOFJ \rHE VIETNAMW'AR'UPONTHEEcdNOMIES OF THE NATIONS ,i, 'I . . 'OI .o'Ii- INDOCHINA'

. -" , "r,: .

II' I.' "A. SOUTH VIETNAM

. ,The Y,i~tnlll)l,wal1' has had. two ,Irlajor.ejfectso~' the·e~onomyof South,VietJ;lam., ,First, theecO\lo))1y, h~s. beeJ;l E\el'iously distorted by the.burde'l oi mdit,aI'yspending, ,ram.pant infls.tion,physical destrue" .tiqn, and· pOPlllation dislocatioll. On the !other halld"many sectors of theecono1l).yha;vebeell modernized as a,result of. wartimeactivit·es.

The,weightofmiJitary.~pendi,ng (see tab'e 20J 'hasplaqed a serious strf)ill.upgn, ~1;W: Soutll v'ie~ll/lImeseeoonQmy"A.s shQwn in ta?1e 20, whichcoV;e.1"s ,the y,e&rs 19.66-19" the, (}pvernmelltofVietnam'sown financi"l.reso1lr<;os have ?eeninsufficient to Uleet the coml?ined demand of jts,~j:Wl,.an~lI1;i)itaryl>\1~, gets.gonseq1lentJy!, its .Qud:get ~eficits hal"e,J,eep,iJIl.art1,(!llyun4erwrlt,ten: by ]J.S. aId anq.. by tlje mfiatIQnary prll.ctlce, of ,increasing the 1l).oney,supply (see tables ;20, 21, ,and. 22). A..httle OVer 5~ percent of, the.Yietnam.ese, national budget is derived dJ,fe,~lYIW ,]ndIfectlyfrQ))1U.,S .. assis~l1nce; Essentillllly;thereare ,five ~Qli.~ces ,of.; fin~ncing .fpr.<the, Squt\1.Vietn"'ll)~seI 'PUdget: ,.(1) JQcal

;cW~encY.'pr9,c,eeds,f~o))1,the import Qt, ]J,S ..• PuWic DI'W,48~ C0!llmodi­tw~ jcgunterpart~nds), (2)c,l)8toUls d1ltI~S ,I'A ,.cqmmercH':I Impor,ts !ip~rci¥l.;by:theJIllI~ed S.tl1,tes,,(SJc)lstOll's$ttleson,Sollth VI8tnamese I))1p,o,ts ;.fi!\anee~ ~vl}htheIf tre,a~ury) d'lll,ars, (4) t,I'X revellues, and ,Co?). :defi.c~t, financmg. ,'" ',' ' . • , .' . ,.'

33

TABLg 21.-MONE,Y -S!1PPLY; (IN. O.EC~MBER PF EACH, YEA~) I

li~'bilJldns of pt~ster~1 1966 _____________ • ___ • __ •• ' ••••••• ~' ______ • _____ " .'. __ < •• ___ • ___ ••• '. ____________ '. _ •• ___________ ••• _ •• ~. 65.4 1967 __ •••••• ," __________ • __ , ________ +. ___ ~ ____ •• _.- .... , ._," _________ • _. ___ '. _______ ••• ___ • ________ ... 82.2 1968 __ .~ ________ • _ •••• '._._ .'. ____ ' ____ :: _. __ •• -. __ ~ ___ • ____ "_. _._ . __________ ..... _________ ~ • ____ . _______ 124.1

t:~~t:~:::'::::::: :::::::-:~::: :::: :::::::: ::':': :::;~:~ :_:~~ ::: ::::: ::'::: ::= :::': ::: ::: :~::,::: ::: :~:::: ::: ::~:~ , I Ibid. '

TABLE l2.-GROSS NATlbNAl PRODUCT I

lin billions of piasters]

Currenl prlces ______________ • __ •• _ ••• _____ : _~ ___ ~ __ _ Constant prices (1960 base year) _____________ C ____ " __ _

I Ibid.

1. Impact ofiriflalion

1966

~36. 2 109.2

1967

344_ 3 113.3

1968

414.0 l-ll.8

1969

532.0 122.4

InflatiQn has been QD.e of the mQst serious economic problem. facing the Saigon Government. Table 23 illustrates the inflationary impact of the war .on retail prices in Saigon. It shows that these prices are now seven times wha, they were in 196~.

TA'BLE 23.-SAiGON RETAiL PRiCE '(NO,EX ALLITEMS'AS OFJANUARYOF EACH YEAR, 1965-711

IJanuary 1965=1001 191i5 ________ ._ . _____________ . ____ . __ ~ _______ . _. _______________________________ ••. ______________________ 100 1966 _________________ " ___________ "._. ______________________________ , _. ________________________ .. _______ 181 1967 __ . _____ • _________________ • ___ ~ ~ _____________________ • ___ • _________ . __ _ __ _ _ _ _ ___ _ __ ___ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ ___ 254 1968. _____ ._ .. _________________ 0 __ .0 __________ ' .. __________________________________ • ___ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ 326 1969 ________________ ~ _ .. ________ .. _________ • ___________ ~ ___ ~ ___________ •• ____ ,, ______ .. __ ~ __ .. __ ., __ _ _ 402

l~~~::::~_-_______ -_-___ -_-____ ~:::=:==::::::::==::::=:::::::::::::::::,:.::::::::::=.:::::::::::::::::::::::::~::__ ~~: I ibid.

Because of the increase in the South Vietnamese population in the cities,·and the resulting riEe in the number" of people witljin the monetized economy, a larger segment of the people has been affected by inflation. One method by which the Government of South Vietnam has tried to curb jjlflnVon h,,;s been by devaluating the pia~ter. . 2. Impact upon agriculture.

Thewarh.s 'had:" significan·t irripac.t \tpon the ag~culturalsector of the economy: SIxty-fi",e percent of the·South VIetnamese I~bor force depends .upon.agriculture for itslivelih'oocl·.·,Destruetion of crop" land tlwough bombing, ground wa!'fare,' and herbidides\ llirid the.dis­ruption 'df the rural populattion,bythe Wal'ihllve diminiShed agricill­tuml productivity since 1965(:. .' . i.' . . ,., '.' .

Moreover, lowered agricultuTll!1 produMiVlityhas had' a detrimental' effect on &0uth metnam1sbalance'of·trade.' Olice'a leadiligexporter 0f rice, South Vietnam has n0t exported any since 1964, 'anllin, recent years has become a net· importer of rice.' (See Table 24.) . •

,:i, . '. I

.• T~BLE,24.~OVT~ VJ<TNAW~ J\lCII,MPq~Ts BY.CALENDARYEAR'

j,-'(lftthousaqds,llfton,l: Ii , '!i';' .'1, .,).

Nonetheless., (1 h. dililentratedagfic\ilt;ujl~l a.lIl"progr'a:m and. the use.of improved sj;rains of rice haverecentlyre'sulted in an increase in rice production. However, the prospects that South Vietnam again will become an exporter of rice are dimmed by the fact that local production in key markets ~uch as Malaysia, Indon@ia, Japan, and the PhilippiI1~~ has been increased by the use of . the new, more prolific rice seed. To offset this' development, South Viietnam h!ts.,made some progress in agricultural dil·ersification. 3, Impact '1(!!on bala'f!:Ce oj tra'!:f .

Wartimeconditiol)s. andinijlltion have also distorted Sout~ Viet­nam's import/export b-al!tnce:.Jfi order to reduce the. magnitude,@f the severe inflation caused by the increase in purchasing power and. the shortage of available goods, the Saigon Government encouraged a vast increase in imports, particularly consumer goodS"South Vietnam, as aresu)t, cOl.ltil.lues tohave a huge trade deficit. The United States hI'S trieu.to help correct this mbalance by subsidizing South Vief1l!14ncse il,llportsthrough various assista!),c.e programs. .

TABLE 25.-BAlANC~ OF TRADE I '

[l1),U.S. mll~ions of doll&rsJ

Calendar yllar-

EX'. oris (based 0. n eustoms data).~_ .. ,_ .• •••••• _ •• __ ". ______ "W_

If\\pOris (based on licensing data"""1lctual' shlpments,maY be-as , mllch as 10 percent less) ____ • _______ •• ___ . ______ .•••• o._.

GVN licensing .. , __ w _____ ._. __ • ____________ "_ •• _. _____ _

C,I.P. 'licensing ______________ " ••.•• ____ .... _" .. _ .... _: Public Law 480 Ilcel\Slng_ ._. __ , ______ ._. ________ ._ .. __ _ . ,

1966

25

660.4 (245"1 (321'.2 ,(93.4

.'1967 196'

16 12 531.5 628.8

79.3 (lOJ.7l «(60.2 138.9 r"l 106.3

J' '

1969

12 740.1

l1ij.~:~,~ 116.75

12

lIU::

I'

222.5. 116,1

1~lmports are from thlt:$ummary"of; mQnthiy. etonomic d~ta, oj), CiViEKPOl1s,·by .phOne from Agency, fOf' IntElrnatlolla Da~,aIOp!Jl,~;n~. VI,';l.Il,a":l'<Burea~. ,- '-": " '". " .'." " i' 1 ' , :". i "

4; Iilip'a.Jtbj1JJi'ndingdownthew(w"', ". • ". "~,I' .. '

Thelncr~asihg'modernlzatiori o{~ome' sectots 6f' the South Viet':: namese economy as a result oftha war has·been '1\. mixed ·blessing. MQdernizlltipn has,been accompltnied by, Mt el'6sion of thesooiaUabl'ic,. el'te1)lliv.e.b1I1Ck 1lll>ri>eteel'ing and. ,prostitution; lind inoreased" .CQI'­rup.ti\ll}. y ~t,i ,tlw , dhl.liJilges , in,.the ,South Viatn;"mese eco'nomYl,hav.e, brM1ght;ab9.Ut~l1~t.empIQ~ment; in South,.' Vietnt1;1ll,. iuorel\Sex!, ~n­d U$tl'i .. l, pPQd M~io))., I'rQduced a, i~izable.\'$killBd and.semiski\led; labpr· force and havemcreased both peasantlooomea.nd.the.rurald.e!'lMl.d.

'fpr, ,consu\tl.l:er .. goo.ds ... In .. llidilitibn( ,tb ·l~onstrnctiol.l. ,of. modern 'p6tts !lind, lIilifields"bll$ strengthel.led, the, ,infrailwilCtuDe' of, the South· Vie'£-. napiese.,'i'oQt}.Q1llY.:,r,:, ' ,if>' ',:,,', i';',. ,')'~f' ";\111 (:; \/",,;!,:( / ~"W:X' ," ,

An hnp?rtantr 'tlollSidJ). rtt. tion{ ,:h@w;ev;erl .. ,;i~, the, t, .these • O.hti¢lges: have, created a climate of rjsingexp~ctations .. .as the war winds down" it calL be expected thWt'06flsuitl'lms cmW'M!\:1;i'i\Ue' t('J!WltfttM 'li\le. in the style t. hO .. Whic.ht.~ .. Il:.r .. thn~.i .. '?;'po.rts .. h1li.'Il' ..•. !t.lI. ()e.:M .. ·.$t.o .. ~ed.tll'i,.m ..... I!!: .... ~':lcIL.a. Clim.~te, .... t.. ~pos. w .. r, .aI1Sber1~yw.ea$.\)1'~s neCessarY .to.llnp,nce. woonstr\lction 4j).d.to. cQ~eote~on.,?Ini~~isto1'tion~:l;ll;ilybepolitieaJlY,difficult ~j),j . a0hlev~, tllc1'8by' mctea,slUg,tlie possd:illity,that.SouthVietnarn's d1J~ . p~ndencj)o n . OUtsj~ e:~~t)nQ'Ul'ic i;UJilJ.i'~9t:t 'W!l.y ·QQUtinlle' jugefinit!1ly •. This:

• \'I;'il :1<\(" : \, '.'.'Ii!~ ~. :""~ ",:, ~;")~~~;;;/':?";~'il~;;-;-~;~:~\~'·;')..I;::;r.';;'l;i;ii -i(~I""7' "~ r ,";~; ',",:1) ;riMlli' vB ,

situation ~nd.icatAs aprobable'he~'Hor9(jl'ltiMe'd' rA:J!1·dr\diin);uppo).~ q~ the' Soutli.Vmtnamese econiimY'lh the postwar perwdif-' S<Jt.l.tl'r'Vl(lt-nMhis;J;o·stialre.ii/f'eoionomibC<illapse·. ..',' " . '. ',. " "

. 'j ~. -r I " , ", i, 'I" -r :'. '; :; (' t ii" ' ' '.-, ',,' , , .: I·, , , , ,'1.\

" B', LAOS .',,".1 '.1" '_ , :', "'I: I' ) , ",' •

" , , "Eco,llQwiQlIlly,. ,Lab .. ,is a!Jnos6, completely dependent on 'ou tside 'aid

for itssurvjyal.Due.to"the,pnessliDes of.·thewar, the LaoitiMl Goyern. ment devotes'65'percent<>f its, national budget to ,defense,'EcottoJnic deyelopment;s at a standstill. BudgetllirYdeficits.and foreign 'excli",nge shortages created by a chronic trade imbalance are subsidized by Ainerican and other foreign assista<):J)e.

The following tables provide a summary of ayaila!:>le statistics re-garding the Laotian budget and balance of trade. '

-~. TABLE 26.-BU~GET

IIn,!'1!Uions of kips]!

Fiscal year-

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970

Expenditure ____ .•••••• _ 10,721 14';~()72 15,944 16, 085 15,965 17,344 Revenue __ .". _______ ••• 6,290 4,570 6,333 7,401 ~, 431 8,544

DeficiL ___ .... ___ 4,431 9,502 9,611 8,684 8,534 8,800

1 Far Eastern Economic Review Yliarbook, 1971, p. 216. Kip exchange ratas for Government transfers are .240 to the dollar, but are 500 to the dollar on the free market and for imports:

. 1 lliid., p. 217.

TABLE 27.-BALANCE OF TRADE

(In millions of kips)l

Fiscal year-

1965 1966 1967

7'~:~:-f 10,017.0 357.7

11,796.0 1,064.}

7,652.9 -9,659.3 10,731.3

1968 1969

. 12,878.0 1,448.1

11,430.0

Tin mining and rice farming are the main economic acthrities. The mlllSs movement of farmers ,to refugee camps has,created fQod shortages, which are met by AID-financed purchlliSe of ,Thai produce.

C. CAMBODIA

The expansion oithe war into Cambodia hIllS dislocated the monetized sector of the economy and created serious economic distor­tions. Lowered productiyity, incre,llISed military spendin~, >and increlllSe in mQnetarysupply threaten ,~he economy with strong inyationary pressures. The Cambodian budgetary deficit was $24 million in cal­endar year 1969" $132, million in 1970, and is projected at $108 million for 1971. ' .' , '

36

Ric~. lind t:qbberproduction normally aCCGunts for 80 peroent of Cambodl!>'," e",port earnings. Rice production is down and the e"'port oia small rice. surplus is hindered by tr\l,nsl,'ottation,diffiC\llties"Rubber output and expor.t have been almost elimmated; four of the country's five major rubber estates were inside the military operatio .. zones. The collapse of the tourist industry has also deprived Oambodia of a major source 'of foreign exohange .. F;orei~ exchange earnings are expected to fall from about $90 ,!UllulU m fiscal 'year 1970 to $14 million in fiscal year 19n. Refugees crowding into Phnom Penh have doubled its population and inflated food prices.

o . ..