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US: Agent Orange
lawsuit opens in
US
34 Hours,17 minutes Ago
[US News]: A court in
The alleged victims say the defoliant - which contains toxic dioxins - is
responsible for health problems affecting millions of Vietnamese.
However the chemical companies say no such link has been proved.
The defendants - which include Dow Chemical and the Monsanto Corporation - also
argue that the US government is responsible for how the
chemical was used, not the manufacturers.
They maintain that US courts cannot punish corporations
for carrying out the orders of a president exercising his powers as commander in chief.
Birth defects
The US justice department has urged the federal judge to
dismiss the lawsuit.
In a brief filed in January, it
said opening the courts to cases brought by former enemies would be a dangerous
threat to presidential powers to wage war.
But Jonathan Moore, a lawyer representing the Vietnamese plaintiffs, said the defence was asserting "extreme positions" to
prevent the case being heard.
"Are we going to allow the government to do whatever they want to do, on
an assertion of executive privilege, or are there limits that even the US government... and these chemical companies must obey?"
he said outside the New York court.
Between 1962 and 1971, large quantities of Agent Orange were sprayed across parts of
In 1984, several chemical companies paid $180m (£93m) to
settle a lawsuit with
Agent Orange was named after the colour of its container. The active ingredient was a strain
of dioxin that stripped the jungle bare.
In time, some contend, the dioxin spread to the food
chain causing a proliferation of birth defects.
Some babies were born without eyes or arms, or were missing internal organs.
A group representing alleged Vietnamese victims says three million people were
exposed to the chemical during the war, and at least one million suffer serious
health problems today.