Vietnam War victims of Agent Orange poisoning sue US chemical companies

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Fri, 4 Mar 2005 20:30:50 -0800 (PST)

Vietnam War victims of Agent Orange poisoning sue US

chemical companies

 

 

 

Vietnam War victims of Agent Orange poisoning sue US chemical companies

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington

 

 

04 March 2005

 

Vietnamese citizens who say they have suffered a lifetime of health

problems after being poisoned by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War

are suing the American chemical companies that provided the Pentagon

with the toxic defoliant.

 

The case has huge implications. If successful it could open the way

for claims against companies that produce weapons such as depleted

uranium-tipped munitions, which have been strongly linked to cancer.

 

In the lawsuit filed this week, it was alleged that up to four million

Vietnamese suffered persistent respiratory and reproductive problems

as a result of being contaminated by Agent Orange. They are seeking

compensation that could run to billions of dollars from 30 companies,

such as Dow Chemical and Monsanto. One of the plaintiffs, Dr Phan Thi

Phi Phi, told the court in New York she had worked in an area that was

heavily sprayed with the defoliant and suffered four miscarriages

during the early 1970s. " We did not know what happened to us, what was

the cause of it, so we were very sad because we had so many

miscarriages and we could not have children, " she said.

 

US forces routinely sprayed the defoliant to clear areas of jungle

where they believed Communist forces were hiding, and to destroy their

crops.

 

Although $300m (£160m) has been paid out to American troops who fought

in Vietnam, there has never been any compensation paid to the

Vietnamese. Scientists have stated that the defoliant can cause

cancer, diabetes, birth defects and other problems.

 

Jonathan Moore, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said: " The companies ...

knew Agent Orange contained high levels of dioxin and did not care

because ... they figured the only people getting sprayed were the enemy. "

 

The firms have sought to dismiss the claim. This week their lawyers

argued that the US courts had no power to penalise companies for

executing the orders of a president exercising his powers as commander

in chief. Lawyers also stated that companies normally enjoyed

exemption from criminal and civil liability for alleged war crimes.

The Justice Department also sought dismissal of the lawsuit, arguing

that opening the US courts to former wartime enemies could threaten

presidential power to wage war. The US government has argued that the

effects of Agent Orange are not supported by direct evidence.

 

District Judge Jack Weinstein questioned whether presidential orders

exempted the firms, citing the actions of German corporations during

the Second World War.

 

Dave Cline, of Vietnam Veterans against the War, supported the action.

He said US veterans had fought for years to receive compensation for

11 separate conditions and illnesses linked to Agent Orange. " In

Vietnam they say three million people still suffer, " he said.

 

No one from Dow Chemical was available to comment.

 

 

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=616652