New York (VNA) – “The Last Ghost of War,” a documentary film on the ongoing lawsuit filed by the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin against American chemical firms, was screened at Rutgers University in the US eastern state of New Jersey on Feb. 24.
In the 57-minute documentary, produced by the Gardner Documentary Group, viewers could see some of the Vietnamese AO victims suing 32 American chemical firms that had produced defoliant for US troops to spray over Viet Nam during the Viet Nam war. They could also see heart-rending situations of Vietnamese AO victims at the Ho Chi Minh City-based Tu Du Hospital, as well as in southern Bien Hoa city, central Quang Tri province and other areas in Viet Nam .
The documentary provides evidence showing that the defendants had been aware of the danger of the chemicals that they produced, and that American scientists had warned the US authorities against the danger of the chemicals used by the US military during the Viet Nam war.
The film also deals with research projects by Vietnamese scientists, including Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan in the central city of Hue , Dr. Phan Thi Phi Phi and Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong at the Tu Du Hospital, who all proved connections between the Agent Orange/Dioxin and many hazardous human diseases.
After the film show, some American scientists, including the former chief of the New Jersey Committee for Agent Orange, Prof. Peter Kahn; the lawyer for the prosecution, Constantine Kokkoris; and lobbyists for the Vietnamese AO victims’ lawsuit had a Q&A session with viewers. They shared a common view that the Vietnamese AO victims should be compensated.
Lawyer Kokkoris told a Viet Nam News Agency correspondent that the US ’s recent decision to provide Viet Nam ’s central city of Da Nang with a 400,000 USD technical grant to help improve the environment was a welcome move, but it was not related to the lawsuit.
The money is very little as compared to the required for detoxifying dioxin-contaminated areas, social activists elaborated.
Prof. Kahn suggested the US Congress pass a bill establishing a scientific committee to determine the connection between the Agent Orange/Dioxin and human diseases.
“The Last Ghost of War” is the fourth documentary on Viet Nam produced by the Gardner Documentary Group and is the first film on the Vietnamese AO victims’ lawsuit screened in the US .
The three documentary films are “Precious Cargo: Vietnamese Adoptees Come of Age” about a coming back by American children of Vietnamese origin, who were brought to the US in 1975; “A World Beneath the War” about Vinh Moc Tunnel in Vinh Linh district, central Quang Tri province; and “Viet Nam: Land of the Ascending Dragon”. They were first screened in 2001, 1998 and 1994, respectively.-Enditem
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