Dioxin Compensation for Vietnam Veterans Still Costing Billions

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB2GN42W2E.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States sprayed more than 19 million gallons of defoliant over the jungles of Vietnam, a tactic designed to kill the forests and deny cover to the enemy.
The chemical worked. Miles of vegetation withered and died.

Under President Clinton, Congress added diabetes to the list. An estimate at the time, Brown said, was that the addition of diabetes - a lingering disease that is expensive to treat - added $3 billion every five years to the Agent Orange compensation costs to Vietnam veterans. snip

"Since all of the other diseases were relatively rare and less expensive to treat, the addition of diabetes completely dwarfed all the other disorders," Brown said.

The government also began providing for the treatment of children with spina bifida who were born to Vietnam veterans. The coverage was virtually for a lifetime, said Brown, and covered rehabilitation, special training and even wheelchairs. He said about 1,000 children - now adults - receive that benefit.

Some veterans have been judged disabled because of their contact with Agent Orange. Disability payments can range from $108 a month to almost $3,000 a month, depending on the level of disability and the number of dependents supported by the veteran.

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[jody]

1. And we continue to poison in Colombia and Afghanistan

Press releases say Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with tetrachlorodibenzoparadioxin (TCDD) an ingredient of Agent Orange. The U.S. used Agent Orange extensively in the Vietnam War killing thousands, causing birth defects, and injuring both natives and U.S. troops. Currently in our war on drugs, the U.S. is using similar poisons on suspected coca fields in Colombia and poppy fields in Afghanistan with devastating health effects like Agent Orange on native populations. Unfortunately drug production is at record levels.

In the meantime, President George W. Bush continues his preemptive war and search for evidence of chemical production in Iraq that could be used to poison Americans along with other WMD. We must all give special thanks this Christmas that God spoke directly to Bush and told him we are exempt from the moral standards we apply to the rest of the world.

[bin.dare]

2. The use of Depleted Uranium in Iraq will have a similar ...

toll and cost in the future.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. My my my haven't we been good stewards of the earth... not. n/t