YELLOW RAIN

Yellow Rain

Yellow Rain

Introduction

Yellow rain, an airborne chemical substance that has allegedly been used in biological attacks against Hmong tribes of Laos from the mid 1970s to mid 1980s. The incident of yellow rain was first highlighted on the international stage by the allegations of then United States Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who accused the Soviet Union of providing a chemical/biochemical weapon called 'T-2 mycotoxin' to their communist allies in the states of Vietnam and Laos for use to suppress the insurgency started by the Hmong tribes (Wannemacher & Wiener, 1997). The survivors from the region, which were allegedly attacked with those biochemical weapons, described several different forms of attacks including a sticky yellow liquid that was dropped from the planes or, according to some, military helicopters, a phenomenon, which was subsequently dubbed as 'yellow rain'. According to the accusations of the US government, these attacks have killed ten thousand people, a claim, which was denied by the Soviet Union. The United Nations investigation, however, remained inconclusive about the issue (Christopher, et al, 1997).

Discussion

After the communists have secured victories in the Southeast Asia in 1975, the new governments enjoying the support of the Soviet Union initiated a campaign against Hmong insurgents in the northern region of Laos, who had supported the former governments and their principle ally, the United States. In the summer of that year, Hmong refugees started reporting that Laotian aircraft were dropping a strange sticky liquid, which was yellow in color and sounded like rain when it hit the surface like roads, leaves and roofs (Spetz, 1989). The liquid was, therefore, called the yellow rain, a high exposure to which resulted in tremors, blindness, bleeding from gums and nose, and also death. It should also noted that reports of similar incidents also emerged accusing the communist ...