Letters–The Nation, July 5, 2004
YOU CAN HELP AGENT ORANGE VICTIMS
New York City
Chris Hedges’s May 24 “Evidence of Things Not Seen” has so much power as an essay that readers may lose sight of the important book he is reviewing, Philip Jones Griffiths’s Agent Orange: “Collateral Damage” in Viet Nam. For information on the impact of defoliant weapons in Vietnam and on a campaign to educate the public on US responsibility, visit www.ffrd.org/indochina/agentorange.html.
Readers wishing to assist Vietnamese children and other victims of Agent Orange may make tax-deductible contributions through our nonprofit organization, addressing war legacy issues since 1985. They will be passed along promptly. Larger donations can be channeled to specific Vietnamese groups.
JOHN MCAULIFF
Fund for Reconciliation and Development
Durham, NC
Chris Hedges’s review is a stark reminder of the continuing legacy of chemical warfare in Vietnam. At the end of January, the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims’ Association and three of the estimated 3 million Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange filed a lawsuit in the US federal court in Brooklyn against a number of US chemical manufacturers. This is the first legal action brought by Vietnamese against the makers and suppliers of the lethal herbicide used by the US military during the war. The association has expressed concern for US veterans and their families as well as Vietnamese victims, and the presiding judge says the case will raise questions of genocide and war crimes if Agent Orange can be classified as a chemical weapon that violates international law. The complaint and more information about the lawsuit are posted at www.oneworld.net/article/archive/6297.
A Justice for Victims of Agent Orange Petition can be accessed at www.petitiononline .com/AOVN. As of May 30, nearly 23,000 people worldwide had signed the petition; the campaign will continue until December 31.
Readers interested in helping to organize a traveling exhibit on human health and ecological consequences of warfare in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos called the Agent Orange Educational Project can contact Diane Fox at dnfox@u.washington.edu or Susan Hammond of Fund for Reconciliation and Development at shammond@ffrd.org.
TRUDE BENNETT
DIANE FOX
SUSAN HAMMOND
CONSTANTINE KOKKORIS
BILL GOODMAN