disastrous effect this chemical has had on the us double standard on the matter i spoke earlier with margaret cohn preserve human rights of thomas jefferson school of law i first asked her how widespread the use of agent orange was during the war and this is what she had to say. the u.s. military sprayed about twelve percent of the land of the from about nine hundred sixty one to nine hundred seventy one and it's estimated that millions of the enemies and americans as well and vietnamese americans now vietnamese americans were exposed to agent orange and particularly the most egregious chemical in. in agent orange which is dioxin one of the most dangerous chemicals known to science you talk about how the use of agent orange was actually a violation of the geneva conventions why. well the geneva conventions and the hague convention prohibit weapons that target civilians and the landmass was sprayed with no distinction between. troops and this and civilians and certainly millions of civilians were affected and so that is a violation of the geneva conventions in the hague convention prohibits the use