Subject: Vietnamese Agent Orange lawsuit dismissed Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 23:54:58 -0600 Message-ID: <B14120EE5C432443B21102F7925DAD0201420688@COKE.uwec.edu> From: "Grossman, Zoltan C." <GROSSMZC@uwec.edu>
Judge dismisses Vietnamese lawsuit against Agent Orange makers
Thursday, March 10, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal judge Thursday dismissed a lawsuit claiming
that American chemical companies committed war crimes against Vietnamese
citizens by making Agent Orange, the defoliant used during the Vietnam
War that has been blamed for birth defects, miscarriages and cancer.
"There is no basis for any of the claims of plaintiffs under the
domestic law of any nation or state or under any form of international
law," U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein in Brooklyn wrote in a
233-page ruling. "The case is dismissed."
Lawyers who sued on behalf of some four million Vietnamese argued that
Agent Orange, which is laden with the highly toxic chemical dioxin, was
a poison barred by international rules of war. Lawyers for Monsanto, Dow
Chemical and more than a dozen other companies said they should not be
punished for following what they believed to be the legal orders of the
nation's commander in chief. They also argued that international law
generally exempted corporations, as opposed to individuals, from
criminal and civil liability for alleged war crimes.
The Department of Justice filed a brief supporting the chemical
companies, saying a ruling against the firms had the potential to
cripple the president's powers to direct U.S. armed forces in wartime.
The lawsuit was the first attempt by Vietnamese plaintiffs to seek
compensation for the effects of Agent Orange, which has been linked to
cancer, diabetes and birth defects among Vietnamese soldiers, civilians
and American veterans.
U.S. aircraft sprayed more than 21 million gallons (79.5 million liters)
of the chemical between 1962 to 1971 in attempts to destroy crops and
remove foliage used as cover by communist forces. Some 10,000 U.S. war
veterans receive medical disability benefits related to Agent Orange.
The Vietnamese government has said the United States has a moral
responsibility for the damage to Vietnam's citizens and environment.