Attorneys representing major US chemical companies defended them against charges Monday that the companies committed war crimes by supplying the military with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War...If the lawsuit were successful, billions of dollars could be awarded toward an environmental cleanup and in compensation to the Vietnamese people. [refers to Dow Chemical, Monsanto, Pharmacia, Hercules, Occidental Chemical (part of Occidental Petroleum), Ultramar Diamond Shamrock (part of Valero Energy), Maxus Energy (now Diamond Shamrock [part of Valero Energy]), Thompson Hayward Chemical (now part of Harcros), Harcros Chemicals, Uniroyal (part of Crompton), C.D.U. Holding, Diamond Shamrock (part of Valero Energy), Occidental Electrochemicals, Diamond Alkali, Ansul, Hooker Chemical, Hooker Chemical Far East, Hooker Chemicals & Plastics, American Home Products (now Wyeth), Wyeth, Hoffman-Taff Chemicals, Chemical Land Holdings, T-H Agriculture & Nutrition, Thompson Chemical Corp, Riverdale Chemical, Elementis Chemicals, United States Rubber, Syntex Agribusiness, ABC Chemical]