The US Embassy in Phnom Penh, on Thursday, said that there was no evidence proving the US Chemical weapons, found in Cambodia's Svay Rieng province, are dangerous.
"[...] there is no evidence linking it to long-term health problems or birth defects. Indeed, if there was, authorities in many countries across the world, including both Cambodia (goo.gl/e4p7xK) and the United States, would not use it," read the embassy's statement published on their Facebook page.
The embassy added that the US Government has been already providing training to officers from Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) on how to remove US Chemical weapons dropped by US planes during the Vietnam War. And the US Government hopes that Cambodian deminers are able to remove US Chemical weapons following the instructions given by US experts without any problem.
The embassy also stated that The US Government has also provided necessary equipment to deal with the removal of US chemical weapons.
"As part of this training, the U.S. Pacific Command donated to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces a full set of equipment necessary to do tear gas disposal operations in the field," added the statement.
However, the embassy added that the US Government is taking full responsibility for their «legacies» or for what they did in the past. To these «legacies», the US Government is ready to respond to any Cambodia's request for assistance.
"We also take seriously our responsibility to address our own legacies, and are always willing to consider sincere requests for assistance," added the statement.
According to the embassy, so far, the US Government has spent over $131 million to help the Kingdom of Cambodia clear landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the Vietnam War, as well as much more deadly mines and UXO from Cambodian civil wars in the western part of the country.
At this point, an anonymous political analyst agreed with the embassy to say that the Chinese built antipersonal mines are much more dangerous, because most of Chinese antipersonal mines were built not to kill people, but to make people crippled by cutting their leg or their arm. Experts said that the weapons were built to demoralize population and to create a heavy burden for the government to deal with crippled people.
The political analyst added that as the Soviet Union was about to collapse, and before the Vietnamese troops widrew from Cambodia in 1989, a campaign to build a defensive line along the border with Thailand, known as «K5», was launched. Many Cambodians were drafted to build that «Siegfried Line» during the «K5» Campaign. Eyewitnesses said that it was the Vietnamese troops who laid down tons of mines in that «Siegfried Line» before they left Cambodia.
On the other hand, in response to the embassy's statement, Mr. Heng Ratana, CMAC's Director General, wrote on his Facebook page on Friday saying that the US Government is undermining the life of Cambodian people killed by US bombs and US chemical weapons, and the life of Cambodian people who are suffering from the US chemical weapons. Especially, the US Government is undermining Cambodian officers who risk their life to clear explosive remnants of war and chemical weapon.
Mr. Ratana added that the fact was a number of deminer officers fell sick by working to remove US chemical weapons in Svay Rieng's Korki commune, because their «working condition» is very risky - they could catch cancer, who know.
Mr. Ratana also said that nevertheless, Cambodia would like to continue to cooperate with the US to clear explosive remnants of war, to stop the return of the violence against humanity in Cambodia, and to build a harmonious relationship between people of the two countries for a better future.
No comments:
Post a Comment