Agent Orange victims have day in court

by Libero Della Piana via PWW (reposted)

Sat, Jun 23, 2007 8:35AM

Friday, June 22, 2007 : Ken BeSaw/PWW. NEW YORK — In 1964 Nguyen Thi Hong, then a young woman of 17, joined the struggle against the U.S. occupation of her country, Vietnam. She knew that she might lose her life. But she had no idea that she would become sick and remain so for more than 30 years.

“I was exposed to dioxin during the war,” Hong told reporters outside a federal courtroom here June 18.

Dioxin, a deadly carcinogen, is the most lethal ingredient in Agent Orange, one of several chemical herbicides used by the U.S. military over 2.6 million acres of Vietnamese countryside from 1961 to 1971. The U.S. sprayed more than 660 pounds of dioxin, mainly in southern and central Vietnam, but also in Laos and Cambodia. By way of comparison, scientists estimate only 3 ounces of dioxin in New York’s water supply would be enough to kill the city’s entire population.

More than 3 million Vietnamese suffer from Agent Orange exposure.

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For more information: http://www.pww.org/article/view/11282/

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