US Marines carry an injured soldier under heavy fire within the DMZ in Vietnam
New Zealand war veterans plan to sue the government claiming US$3.65 billion for exposure to the deadly defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, the Sunday News said.
It said the lawsuit would claim that consecutive governments and officials since 1962 have been guilty of "malfeasance" – breaking the law and bringing harm to others while in office – and failing to provide duty of care.
Prime Minister Helen Clark, four former prime ministers, ex-ministers and governors general are all targeted in the suit, the paper reported.
The veterans have hired Australian law firm Slater and Gordon, which two years ago won $1.24 billion from James Hardie for clients affected by asbestos poisoning.
Agent Orange was used by US forces in southern Vietnam during the conflict to deprive Vietnamese resistant forces of jungle cover and destroy food crops.
It contained dioxin, a chemical linked to a variety of diseases and which veterans have blamed for a spate of birth deformities, including babies with brain damage and shortened limbs.
Source: AFP
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