Vietnam fury at Agent Orange case

[ze_dscherman]

Vietnamese plaintiffs have condemned a US court's decision to dismiss their legal action against manufacturers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

SNIP

The judge in the case said allegations the chemical caused birth defects and illness had not been proved.

"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. The case is dismissed," said US District Judge Jack B Weinstein.

SNIP

The plaintiffs had sought compensation from pharmaceutical firms including Monsanto, Dow Chemical and Hercules Incorporated, for the alleged effects of Agent Orange, a defoliation agent used to deprive communist Vietnamese forces of forest cover.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4339419.stm

[Career Prole]

1. Hey Minister of Homeland Security Police!

Don't friggin' act puzzled when those Vietnamese terrorists start popping up! No matter what your boss says, THEY DO NOT HATE YOU FOR YOUR FREEDOM!!!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. I support this case, and wish it would get a proper hearing

One of the affidavits is from a nurse who served at a military hospital for the NVA.

While we have horrific problems just from passing through areas sprayed with AO, these poor bastards had to live in it 24/7 for years.

She talks of going to a water source and having to break the scum surface of AO, sometimes as much as inches thick, in order to get water for the wounded.

I believe the affidavit is online somewhere, but I can't find it right now.

[leesa]

3. Well, I guess this 'judge' will get his Christmas bonus from Monsanto and

Dow! Good job, sleazebag. Wonder why the US finally paid off for the damage Agent Orange caused soldiers if there is no evidence....there is 40 years worth of evidence.

I cared for many of the victims of Agent Orange who got lymphoma from it.

[Roland99]

4. Pics of Five-year-old Agent Orange victim Xuan Minh

More articles
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/050311/photos_hl_afp/050311133810_uzzeaqbb_photo0&e=4&ncid=1778

http://www.cpv.org.vn/details.asp?topic=59&subtopic=157&id=BT530571467
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/625_0019000100173355,19.htm

More images
http://www.onasia.com/content/story.aspx?storyID=197&page=1

[Conscious Confucius]

5. That is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen

My father gets a really bad case of the flu every year in January. They say it's from his serving in Vietnam. Also, one of my best friends, whose father also served, supposedly has a learning disability because of his father's exposure to agent orange.

[funkybutt]

6. Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange Decry US Dismissal of Lawsuit

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-11-voa18.cfm

Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange are outraged a U.S. court has dismissed their lawsuit against the chemical's manufacturers for crimes against humanity. The U.S. military in the Vietnam War sprayed the defoliant, which Vietnamese say has caused illnesses ranging from cancer to birth defects. A federal judge in New York Thursday decided the suit had no basis in law, and the plaintiffs had failed to prove a clear link between Agent Orange and their illnesses.

The Vietnam War ended nearly 30 years ago, but there was renewed bitterness on the streets of Hanoi Friday after a United States judge threw out a lawsuit by Vietnamese victims of the Agent Orange chemical sprayed during what people here call the American War.

The lawsuit was filed against more than a dozen chemical companies who produced Agent Orange, which contains cancer causing dioxin. The suit represented some four million people that Vietnam claims are victims of the herbicide.

[struggle4progress]

7. Johnson appointee

Weinstein, Jack Bertrand
Born 1921 in Wichita, KS

Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
Nominated by Lyndon B. Johnson on January 16, 1967, to a seat vacated by Leo R. Rayfiel; Confirmed by the Senate on April 14, 1967, and received commission on April 15, 1967. Served as chief judge, 1980-1988. Assumed senior status on March 1, 1993. <snip>

http://air.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2539

[dArKeR]

8. Jesus and American Christianity has touched their lives. Blessed are those

.

Proud to be an American! Proud to see GOP Christians standing up for Democracy, justice and morality!


Lawyers for chemical manufacturers Monsanto, Dow Chemical and a dozen other companies had argued that they should not be punished for following orders of the nation's commander in chief, and that international law exempts corporations, as opposed to individuals, from liability for alleged war crimes.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/03/12/2003245928


Religion kept US married to Vietman conflict
Seth Jacobs suggests that the US' long and bloody involvement in Southeast Asia was mostly about Christian fundamentalism
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/03/06/2003225763

[NuttyFluffers]

9. because america hates children and fetuses.

ram their conservative hypocritical pro-life rhetoric up their pie holes. those images should be front page about this trial.

that judge's children or grandchildren should be held above a vat of agent orange, just about to be dipped, to see whether that opinion would still hold. utter selfishness.

i hope the vietnamese people raise holy hell about this.

[loudsue]

10. If there were such a thing as "justice" anymore....

that scenario might be true.

:kick::kick::kick:

[daleo]

11. If Agent Orange is so harmless, why the fuss over dioxin in the Ukraine?

It's the same stuff. I guess it only matters during election campaigns in other countries.

[dArKeR]

12. Some of the Agent Orange was also produced in Germany

at one of Boehringer Co's plants. In the late 70's this plant was closed down and they had to remove all the earth undernearth the factory at a depth of 30 meters in order to get
rid of the contamination...

http://books.nap.edu/books/0309075521/html/138.html

(Info sent to me from a hated French friend. I hate Europeans because I follow aWol's lead.)

[NNN0LHI]

13. Why do they hate us? n/t