Washington: The Bhopal gas disaster verdict has brought into sharp focus the double standards that the United States has in dealing with disasters.
Compare action in what is being described as the worst oil spill in US history and the world's worst industrial disaster caused by the US-based Union Carbide.
The US government is aggressively going after British Petroleum over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But when asked to react to the verdict in the Bhopal gas case, the US state department rejected any new inquiry into Union Carbide's role in the disaster of 1984.
British Petroleum has already paid $69 million as a first installment for damages caused by the oil spill. When questioned on the issue of extraditing Warren Anderson to India, the state department today sidestepped the issue.
The oil spill has caused extensive damage to marine life, birds and the environment and experts have estimated the losses at 5 billion dollars. In Bhopal, 20,000 Indians were killed in the gas disaster and many are still suffering from the after-effects. At what cost?