In a decision that could close a contentious chapter of America's involvement in Vietnam, a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday dismissed a damage suit filed on behalf of millions of Vietnamese that claimed US chemical companies committed war crimes by supplying the military with the defoliant Agent Orange.
The civil suit, filed last year, had sought what could have been billions of dollars in damages and the environmental cleanup of Vietnam. The suit drew international attention for its claims about Agent Orange, which was widely used by the US military to clear the jungle until 1971.
The suit claimed that the defoliant, which contained the highly toxic substance dioxin, left a legacy of poison in Vietnam that caused birth defects, cancer, and other health problems and amounted to a violation of international law.
Judge Jack Weinstein, of US District Court in Brooklyn, sided with the chemical companies and the US Justice Department, which argued that supplying the defoliant did not amount to a war crime.
"No treaty or agreement, express or implied, of the United States," Weinstein wrote, "operated to make use of herbicides in Vietnam a violation of the laws of war or any other form of international law until at the earliest April of 1975."
A Vietnamese group in Hanoi expressed anger yesterday over the judge's ruling. Weinstein also found that the plaintiffs could not prove that Agent Orange had caused their illnesses, largely due to a lack of large-scale research.
Though the ruling is a big blow, Nhan said the group is already thinking about filing an appeal.
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.
"We've said all along that any issues regarding wartime activities should be resolved by the US and Vietnamese governments," said Dow Chemical spokesman Scot Wheeler. "We believe that defoliants saved lives by protecting allied forces from enemy ambush and did not create adverse health effects."
Many US veterans and Vietnamese have long blamed Agent Orange for a variety of illnesses, including cancer, diabetes and spina bifida. The US government claims there is no direct evidence linking dioxin with the illnesses.
However, about 10,000 Vietnam War veterans in the US receive disability benefits related to Agent Orange exposure.
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