US court upholds dismissal of 'agent orange' suit

[underpants]

Source: Guardian

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the dismissal of a civil lawsuit against major U.S. chemical companies brought by Vietnamese plaintiffs over the use of the defoliant "agent orange" during the Vietnam War.
The ruling, handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, found that the plaintiffs could not pursue their damage claims against Dow Chemical Co, Monsanto Co and nearly 30 other companies. The lawsuit contended that agent orange caused ailments including birth defects and cancer.

A U.S. District Court judge in Brooklyn, New York ruled in March 2005 that the plaintiffs failed to show that use of agent orange, a plant killer supplied to the U.S. military in Vietnam, violated a ban on the use of poisonous weapons in war and that the lawsuit did not prove the plaintiffs' health problems were linked to the chemical.

"Although the herbicide campaign may have been controversial, the record before us supports the conclusion that agent orange was used as a defoliant and not as a poison designed for or targeting human populations," Judge Roger Miner wrote for the three-judge appeals court panel.

The lawsuit contended that the chemical makers were directly accountable for providing the U.S. military with agent orange, which got its name because it was stored in large drums marked with orange bands. U.S. warplanes dropped about 18 million gallons (68.1 million litres) of the defoliant, also known as dioxin, on South Vietnam for most of the 1960s to destroy large areas of vegetation.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7330495

[shain from kane]

1. 2 distinct operations --- kill the plants, then kill the people. What were you people doing

walking around in the killing fields, er, bare patches?

[ixion]

2. "not as a poison designed for or targeting human populations"

well, that's the biggest load of crap I've heard today.

[underpants]

3. I didn't mean for that hand grenade to hurt YOU

I just threw into the room you were in

:eyes:

[f the letter]

9. That's exactly the argument. What a ridiculous position..

thanks, Reagan, for this judge

[cosmicdot]

4. Judge Roger Miner

wonder if Roger owns any Dow or Monsanto stock?


Miner, Roger Jeffrey

Born 1934 in Hudson, NY

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U. S. District Court, Northern District of New York
Nominated by Ronald Reagan on July 28, 1981, to a seat vacated by James T. Foley; Confirmed by the Senate on September 25, 1981, and received commission on September 28, 1981. Service terminated on August 2, 1985, due to appointment to another judicial position.

Judge, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Nominated by Ronald Reagan on June 25, 1985, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333, 346; Confirmed by the Senate on July 22, 1985, and received commission on July 22, 1985. Assumed senior status on January 1, 1997.

Education:
New York Law School, LL.B., 1956

State University of New York, B.S., 1977

Professional Career:
U.S. Army Captain, JAG Corps, 1956-1959
Private practice, Hudson, New York, 1959-1975
Corporation counsel, City of Hudson, New York, 1961-1964
Assistant district attorney, County of Columbia, New York, 1964
District attorney, County of Columbia, New York, 1968-1975
Adjunct associate professor, Columbia-Greene Community College, 1974-1979
Justice, New York State Supreme Court, 1976-1981
Adjunct professor, New York Law School, 1986-1996
Adjunct professor, Albany Law School of Union University, 1997-present

Race or Ethnicity: White

Gender: Male

http://www.fjc.gov/public/home.nsf/hisj

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. And Depleted Uranium was not "intended" to cause harm to the soldiers and civilians.

.
.
.

So even tho Depleted Uranium kills millions,

We forgive the US military.

I think I get it . . . .

Wash, Rinse, Repeat . .

(sigh)

[pleah]

6. The grand old US of A is against helping the Veterans of their own country!

:nuke:

[pleah]

7. K&R

People need to know this shit is still going on!

[booley]

8. Ok I thought Vietnam VETS had WON a similar lawsuit

Because the US gov claimed that the vet's children's birth defects and the vet's cancers were not caused by exposure to Agent Orange?

So is this a reversal?

[underpants]

11. LAst paragraph

In 1984, seven chemical companies, including Dow and Monsanto, agreed to a $180 million settlement with U.S. veterans who claimed that agent orange caused health problems. (-Additional reporting by Carey Gillam and Euan Rocha) (Reporting by Martha Graybow, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Leslie Gevirtz)

[thunder rising]

12. The suit brought by Vietnamese plaintiffs ... the civies under the spray

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. Judge Miner sounds like a real piece of shit... oops, I meant piece of work nt

[thunder rising]

13. Hey, so since nerve agents kill rats, well guess what's next.