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October 21, 2009
News
The most admired Independent Kurdish Newspaper from the heart of Kurdistan.
For Kurdish Women’s Issues
1. rightness n a: accordance with conscience or morality b: appropriate conduct; doing the right thing c: conformity to fact or truth 2. truth n a: the state of being the case b: the body of real things, events, and facts
An Independent Online Kurdish-English Newspaper
Response to Amy Howard’s Allegations
Kurdishaspect.com - By Kenneth F. McCallion, Attorney at Law
Mrs. Amy Howard in her article dated October 16, 2009 on the Kurdish Aspect suggests that the decision by me and my other counsel to dismiss VWR International LLC (“VWR”) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (“Thermo Fisher”) from the case a is at odds with the decision made by the same counsel in the lawsuit brought on behalf of Gulf War Veterans (Stutts v. the DE Deitrich Group et al). This is absolutely not true. Indeed, the Stutts case, which was brought in New York, is no longer pending, and the claims against VWR and Thermo Fisher were dismissed in that case as well. The only Gulf War case pending is in state court in Texas, where VWR and Thermo Fisher are not defendants and the entire focus of that case at this point is on Alcolac, Inc. and its successor companies (Rhone-Poulenc and Rhodia).
Thus, the suggestion that my law firm and other counsel are acting inconsistently as to the Gulf War Veterans versus the Kurdish victims of the chemical attacks is incorrect. The allegation in Ms. Howard’s article that “Mr. McCallion continues to build a class action suit on behalf of the Gulf War veterans containing the exact same allegations” while letting the Kurdish case “die” is false, reckless and irresponsible. If Ms. Howard had taken a few minutes to properly investigate the facts, she would have learned that the Stutts case in New York is no longer pending and that the Gulf War veterans litigation in Texas is not going to trial against VWR or Thermo Fisher, but only Alcolac.
In short, there is no conflict or inconsistency between my firm’s representation of Gulf War veterans and Kurdish victims; indeed, my experience in representing Gulf War veterans has benefited the case on behalf of the Kurdish victims since there is a wealth of information that has been obtained in the Gulf War litigation that can be helpful in the Kurdish case. The reason for this is that the Gulf War veterans litigation has been proceeding for more than a decade, and the discovery material and depositions in that case against Alcolac have proven to be very helpful in our case on behalf of the Kurdish victims. In addition, the Gulf War Veterans case is being handled almost exclusively by Texas counsel for the Gulf War veterans, with almost none of my time devoted to that case. As a result, I have been able to concentrate my efforts relating to Iraq’s chemical weapons program on the Maryland federal court litigation on behalf of the Kurdish victims.
It is correct that, as far as we know, this is the “only pending litigation being brought by Kurds against potential suppliers of the chemical weapons used in the genocide waged against them.” Apparently we are the only law firm that has been willing to pursue the issue on behalf of the victims since the chemical attacks against the Kurds took place in 1988. One reason for this is that there are powerful interests aligned against the Kurdish victims who do not want the full story to be told regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons program. If, as I suspect, there is a disinformation campaign underway to defame and undermine the reputation of my firm, it is unlikely that another law firm will ever agree to take a leadership role in pursuing this case. I hope this is not the case, but given the virulence of the personal attacks against me that are based on sheer speculation and factual errors, I do not think that such a possibility can be completely discounted.
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