U.S Troops In Iraq Exposed To Radiation Poisoning

[Bronco_Beerslug]

This is absolutely sickening, what the United States government is doing to our soldiers!!

-------------------------------------------------------
Sickened Iraq vets cite depleted uranium
By DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP National Writer

NEW YORK - It takes at least 10 minutes and a large glass of orange juice to wash down all the pills — morphine, methadone, a muscle relaxant, an antidepressant, a stool softener. Viagra for sexual dysfunction. Valium for his nerves.

Four hours later, Herbert Reed will swallow another 15 mg of morphine to cut the pain clenching every part of his body. He will do it twice more before the day is done.


http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060810/capt.21c3010898944c69a3202d2873f03bee.radiation_so ldiers_ny382.jpg?x=380&y=288&sig=ndHUchEul0ttGsndPvGNng--
Herbert Reed, 52, a veteran of Iraq, sits at the kitchen table of his home with the medicines and medical records that he keeps with him Wednesday, May 17, 2006, in Columbia, S.C. Reed was exposed to radioactive depleted uranium while serving a few months with the 442nd Military Police out of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)


Since he left a bombed-out train depot in
Iraq, his gums bleed. There is more blood in his urine, and still more in his stool. Bright light hurts his eyes. A tumor has been removed from his thyroid. Rashes erupt everywhere, itching so badly they seem to live inside his skin. Migraines cleave his skull. His joints ache, grating like door hinges in need of oil.

There is something massively wrong with Herbert Reed, though no one is sure what it is. He believes he knows the cause, but he cannot convince anyone caring for him that the military's new favorite weapon has made him terrifyingly sick.

In the sprawling bureaucracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs, he has many caretakers. An internist, a neurologist, a pain-management specialist, a psychologist, an orthopedic surgeon and a dermatologist. He cannot function without his stupefying arsenal of medications, but they exact a high price.

"I'm just a zombie walking around," he says.

Reed believes depleted uranium has contaminated him and his life. He now walks point in a vitriolic war over the Pentagon's arsenal of it — thousands of shells and hundreds of tanks coated with the metal that is radioactive, chemically toxic, and nearly twice as dense as lead.

A shell coated with depleted uranium pierces a tank like a hot knife through butter, exploding on impact into a charring inferno. As tank armor, it repels artillery assaults. It also leaves behind a fine radioactive dust with a half-life of 4.5 billion years.

Depleted uranium is the garbage left from producing enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and energy plants. It is 60 percent as radioactive as natural uranium. The U.S. has an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of it, sitting in hazardous waste storage sites across the country. Meaning it is plentiful and cheap as well as highly effective.

Reed says he unknowingly breathed DU dust while living with his unit in Samawah, Iraq. He was med-evaced out in July 2003, nearly unable to walk because of lightning-strike pains from herniated discs in his spine. Then began a strange series of symptoms he'd never experienced in his previously healthy life.

At Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C, he ran into a buddy from his unit. And another, and another, and in the tedium of hospital life between doctor visits and the dispensing of meds, they began to talk.

"We all had migraines. We all felt sick," Reed says. "The doctors said, 'It's all in your head.' "

Then the medic from their unit showed up. He too, was suffering. That made eight sick soldiers from the 442nd Military Police, an Army National Guard unit made up of mostly cops and correctional officers from the New York area.

But the medic knew something the others didn't.

Dutch marines had taken over the abandoned train depot dubbed Camp Smitty, which was surrounded by tank skeletons, unexploded ordnance and shell casings. They'd brought radiation-detection devices. The readings were so hot, the Dutch set up camp in the middle of the desert rather than live in the station ruins.

"We got on the Internet," Reed said, "and we started researching depleted uranium."

Then they contacted The New York Daily News, which paid for sophisticated urine tests available only overseas.

Then they hired a lawyer.
___

Reed, Gerard Matthew, Raymond Ramos, Hector Vega, Augustin Matos, Anthony Yonnone, Jerry Ojeda and Anthony Phillip all have depleted uranium in their urine, according to tests done in December 2003, while they bounced for months between Walter Reed and New Jersey's Fort Dix medical center, seeking relief that never came.

The analyses were done in Germany, by a Frankfurt professor who developed a depleted uranium test with Randall Parrish, a professor of isotope geology at the University of Leicester in Britain.

The veterans, using their positive results as evidence, have sued the U.S. Army, claiming officials knew the hazards of depleted uranium, but concealed the risks.

The Department of Defense says depleted uranium is powerful and safe, and not that worrisome.

Four of the highest-registering samples from Frankfurt were sent to the VA. Those results were negative, Reed said. "Their test just isn't as sophisticated," he said. "And when we first asked to be tested, they told us there wasn't one. They've lied to us all along."

The VA's testing methodology is safe and accurate, the agency says. More than 2,100 soldiers from the current war have asked to be tested; only 8 had DU in their urine, the VA said.

The term depleted uranium is linguistically radioactive. Simply uttering the words can prompt a reaction akin to preaching atheism at tent revival. Heads shake, eyes roll, opinions are yelled from all sides.

"The Department of Defense takes the position that you can eat it for breakfast and it poses no threat at all," said Steve Robinson of the National
Gulf War Resource Center, which helps veterans with various problems, including navigating the labyrinth of VA health care. "Then you have far-left groups that ... declare it a crime against humanity."

Several countries use it as weaponry, including Britain, which fired it during the 2003 Iraq invasion.

An estimated 286 tons of DU munitions were fired by the U.S. in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991. An estimated 130 tons were shot toppling
Saddam Hussein.

Depleted uranium can enter the human body by inhalation, the most dangerous method; by ingesting contaminated food or eating with contaminated hands; by getting dust or debris in an open wound, or by being struck by shrapnel, which often is not removed because doing so would be more dangerous than leaving it.

Inhaled, it can lodge in the lungs. As with imbedded shrapnel, this is doubly dangerous — not only are the particles themselves physically destructive, they emit radiation.

A moderate voice on the divisive DU spectrum belongs to Dan Fahey, a doctoral student at the University of California at Berkeley, who has studied the issue for years and also served in the Gulf War before leaving the military as a conscientious objector.

"I've been working on this since '93 and I've just given up hope," he said. "I've spoken to successive federal committees and elected officials ... who then side with the Pentagon. Nothing changes."

At the other end are a collection of conspiracy-theorists and Internet proselytizers who say using such weapons constitutes genocide. Two of the most vocal opponents recently suggested that a depleted-uranium missile, not a hijacked jetliner, struck the Pentagon in 2001.

"The bottom line is it's more hazardous than the Pentagon admits," Fahey said, "but it's not as hazardous as the hard-line activist groups say it is. And there's a real dearth of information about how DU affects humans."

There are several studies on how it affects animals, though their results are not, of course, directly applicable to humans. Military research on mice shows that depleted uranium can enter the bloodstream and come to rest in bones, the brain, kidneys and lymph nodes. Other research in rats shows that DU can result in cancerous tumors and genetic mutations, and pass from mother to unborn child, resulting in birth defects.

Iraqi doctors reported significant increases in birth defects and childhood cancers after the 1991 invasion.

Iraqi authorities "found that uranium, which affected the blood cells, had a serious impact on health: The number of cases of leukemia had increased considerably, as had the incidence of fetal deformities," the U.N. reported.

Depleted uranium can also contaminate soil and water, and coat buildings with radioactive dust, which can by carried by wind and sandstorms.

In 2005, the U.N. Environmental Program identified 311 polluted sites in Iraq. Cleaning them will take at least $40 million and several years, the agency said. Nothing can start until the fighting stops.

CONT (http://tinyurl.com/s6nvb)

[Spider]

support the troops Poision the hell out of them then cut Vet Benifits .........

[defenseman]

Interesting. I'm interested in the on contact rad levels of the depleted uranium. Once could easily calculate whole body and acute doses not only to the organs, but other parts of the body. I'm not totally convinced. In addition, military study? I would have heard of this and have NEVER heard of it. doesn't sound totally on the up and up to me at initial review.....dman

[defenseman]

support the troops Poision the hell out of them then cut Vet Benifits .........

Being in print, makes it neither true or a lie. Just print. I'd wait a bit on this and hope more will follow. I can tell you, something doesn't look right though. It appears to me, given his symptoms, there may be some exageration and some parts of the body he's complaining about, quite honestly aren't normally any sort of target of this type of exposure......dman

[Spider]

Being in print, makes it neither true or a lie. Just print. I'd wait a bit on this and hope more will follow. I can tell you, something doesn't look right though. It appears to me, given his symptoms, there may be some exageration and some parts of the body he's complaining about, quite honestly aren't normally any sort of target of this type of exposure......dman
Agent Orange was just a vicious Rumor started by a bunch of Liberal Vets right ?
come off it ........this has happened more often then not ........

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Being in print, makes it neither true or a lie. Just print. I'd wait a bit on this and hope more will follow. I can tell you, something doesn't look right though. It appears to me, given his symptoms, there may be some exageration and some parts of the body he's complaining about, quite honestly aren't normally any sort of target of this type of exposure......dman This has been a huge issue since '91 (Gulf War Syndrome), not something just now happening.

And you do know that thyroid exposure exposes the entire body?

Watch the Army's own training video that they don't show to troops.

---------------------------------------------------
Army Not Adequately Prepared to Deal with Depleted Uranium Contamination
Why Has Our Military Refused to Show This Training Video To Our Troops Now Serving In Iraq?

US ARMY TRAINING VIDEO (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3581.htm):

Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness
Source File (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1/DU-A28K.WMV)
Between October and December 1995, the U.S. Army's Depleted Uranium (DU) Project completed a series of training videos and manuals about depleted uranium munitions. This training regimen was developed as the result of recommendations made in the January 1993 General Accounting Office (GAO) report, "Army Not Adequately Prepared to Deal with Depleted Uranium Contamination."



The training materials were intended to instruct servicemen and women about the use and hazards of depleted uranium munitions. In addition, the training regimen included instructions for soldiers who repair and recover vehicles contaminated by depleted uranium.
Throughout 1996, these videos sat on a shelf, while U.S. soldiers continued to use and work with depleted uranium munitions. In June 1997, Bernard Rostker, The Department of Defense (DoD) principle spokesperson for their investigation of Gulf War hazardous exposures, stated that the depleted uranium safety training program would begin to be shared by a limited number of servicemen and women in July 1997.



STILL TODAY the vast majority of servicemen and women in the U.S. military, and likely in the armed forces of other countries which are developing or have obtained depleted uranium munitions, are unaware of the use and dangers of depleted uranium munitions, or of the protective clothing and procedures which can minimize or prevent serious short-term exposures.

[mhgaffney]

The problem is not limited to Iraq.

The US also used depleted uranium shells in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, and the recent shipment of bunker buster bombs to Israel were also tipped with depleted uranium. This is one of the most horrible weapons ever conceived by the human mind.

The shells do not have explosives. The uranium alone does the job. No armor can withstand it. DU penettrates the heaviest steel like a hot knife through butter. If you are in a tank or vehicle that gets hit by one of these shells you are dead. The Uranium explodes into a toxc fire on contact. The fire kills everything that is near. The uranium is also dispersed across the battlefield. Soldiers who visit the place later become contaminated -- and later their health is affected.

We have spread toxic uranium across huge areas of the planet. The winds blow the toxic dust everywhere. The rates of leukemia in Iraq are now off the chart. We've threatened all human life in Iraq -- and hardly anyone in America knows there is a problem. Again, the press are asleep. They merely parrot the US government propaganda. The US army does not want to give up these weapons, because they kill with unsurpassed efficiency. It doesn't matter to them that we are also affecting our own troops -- and the whole plaet.

This thinking is despicable -- and must be challenged at every turn. For more info ahbout DU weapons check out this site

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/19news02.htm

[elsid13]

Interesting. I'm interested in the on contact rad levels of the depleted uranium. Once could easily calculate whole body and acute doses not only to the organs, but other parts of the body. I'm not totally convinced. In addition, military study? I would have heard of this and have NEVER heard of it. doesn't sound totally on the up and up to me at initial review.....dman

There was studies done by both DoD Heath Affairs, DOA and VA. It was aimed at the Army and Corp because the depleted uranium is used in M-1A/M-1A1 as main component in its armor. And it also used to in Sabot rounds and other armor piercing munitions.

Do a search on the Defenselink for the studies.

[SteveTensi13]

This is absolutely sickening, what the United States government is doing to our soldiers!!

-------------------------------------------------------
Sickened Iraq vets cite depleted uranium
By DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP National Writer

NEW YORK -

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060810/capt.21c3010898944c69a3202d2873f03bee.radiation_so ldiers_ny382.jpg?x=380&y=288&sig=ndHUchEul0ttGsndPvGNng--
Herbert Reed, 52, a veteran of Iraq, sits at the kitchen table of his home with the medicines and medical records that he keeps with him Wednesday, May 17, 2006, in Columbia, S.C. Reed was exposed to radioactive depleted uranium while serving a few months with the 442nd Military Police out of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)



There is something massively wrong with Herbert Reed, though no one is sure what it is. He believes he knows the cause, but he cannot convince anyone caring for him that the military's new favorite weapon has made him terrifyingly sick.

Reed believes depleted uranium has contaminated him and his life. He now walks point in a vitriolic war over the Pentagon's arsenal of it — thousands of shells and hundreds of tanks coated with the metal that is radioactive, chemically toxic, and nearly twice as dense as lead.

A moderate voice on the divisive DU spectrum belongs to Dan Fahey, a doctoral student at the University of California at Berkeley, who has studied the issue for years and also served in the Gulf War before leaving the military as a conscientious objector."I've been working on this since '93 and I've just given up hope," he said. "I've spoken to successive federal committees and elected officials ... who then side with the Pentagon. Nothing changes."

At the other end are a collection of conspiracy-theorists and Internet proselytizers who say using such weapons constitutes genocide. Two of the most vocal opponents recently suggested that a depleted-uranium missile, not a hijacked jetliner, struck the Pentagon in 2001.

Iraqi doctors reported significant increases in birth defects and childhood cancers after the 1991 invasion.Iraqi authorities "found that uranium, which affected the blood cells, had a serious impact on health: The number of cases of leukemia had increased considerably, as had the incidence of fetal deformities," the U.N. reported.

Depleted uranium can also contaminate soil and water, and coat buildings with radioactive dust, which can by carried by wind and sandstorms.

In 2005, the U.N. Environmental Program identified 311 polluted sites in Iraq. Cleaning them will take at least $40 million and several years, the agency said. Nothing can start until the fighting stops.

CONT (http://tinyurl.com/s6nvb)


Lets see, where do I start? Ok, for one, no evidence links depleted uranium to health problems. Two, his "sources" are a medical student from Berkley, a conscienteous objector at that, so its not like this student is studying this "problem" from an unbiased view point. Third, UN environmental program that in itself calls into question again any unbiased research. Everyone knows that the UN is blatantaly anti-American and will skew its "research" to drag down America. Fourth, Iraqi doctors, whats that? Your talking about their research after the 91 gulf war. You don't think they would also skewer their research to lay blame on the US? Remember, Saddam was in charge, so they'll say anything to keep their jobs and lives.

Sorry, WEAK article and just another BLAME AMERICA FIRST reaction from the left.

[loborugger]

This isnt the first time that accusations of illness have been leveled by troops at the military due to exposure to depleted uranium. I hope it isnt true as so many troops are exposed to it in so many different forms.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Lets see, where do I start?
Sorry, WEAK article and just another BLAME AMERICA FIRST reaction from the left.

You, of course, know the numbers, right? 250,000 Veterans from the Gulf war are disabled, 11,500 dead. How long did that war last, 3 weeks?

You should visit the Gulf War Veterans home page and educate yourself.

------------------------------------------------------
Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens Requiring Immediate Action
By President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister Olmert

Dr. Doug Rokke, PhD.
Former Director, U.S. Army Depleted Uranium project
July 26, 2006

The delivery of at least 100 GBU 28 bunker busters bombs containing depleted uranium warheads by the United States to Israel for use against targets in Lebanon will result in additional radioactive and chemical toxic contamination with consequent adverse health and environmental effects throughout the middle east. Israeli tank gunners are also using depleted uranium tank rounds as photographs verify.

Today, U.S., British, and now Israeli military personnel are using illegal uranium munitions- America's and England's own "dirty bombs" while U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, and British Ministry of Defence officials deny that there are any adverse health and environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture, testing, and/or use of uranium munitions to avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material - depleted uranium.

The use of uranium weapons is absolutely unacceptable, and a crime against humanity. Consequently the citizens of the world and all governments must force cessation of uranium weapons use. I must demand that Israel now provide medical care to all DU casualties in Lebanon and clean up all DU contamination.

U.S. and British officials have arrogantly refused to comply with their own regulations, orders, and directives that require United States Department of Defense officials to provide prompt and effective medical care to "all" exposed individuals. Reference: Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties, DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93, Medical Management of Army personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU) Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command 29 April 2004, and section 2-5 of U.S. Army Regulation 700-48. Israeli officials must not do so now.

They also refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive Contamination as required by Army Regulation- AR 700-48: "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., September 2002) and U.S. Army Technical Bulletin- TB 9-1300-278: "Guidelines For Safe Response To Handling, Storage, And Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions Or Armor Which Contain Depleted Uranium" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., JULY 1996). Specifically section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation-AR 700-48 dated September 16, 2002 requires that:
(1) "Military personnel "identify, segregate, isolate, secure, and label all RCE" (radiologically contaminated equipment).
(2) "Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented as soon as possible."
(3) "Radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment" and
(4) "All equipment, to include captured or combat RCE, will be surveyed, packaged, retrograded, decontaminated and released IAW Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, DA PAM 700-48" (Note: Maximum exposure limits are specified in Appendix F).

The previous and current use of uranium weapons, the release of radioactive components in destroyed U.S. and foreign military equipment, and releases of industrial, medical, research facility radioactive materials have resulted in unacceptable exposures. Therefore, decontamination must be completed as required by U.S. Army Regulation 700-48 and should include releases of all radioactive materials resulting from military operations.

The extent of adverse health and environmental effects of uranium weapons contamination is not limited to combat zones but includes facilities and sites where uranium weapons were manufactured or tested including Vieques; Puerto Rico; Colonie, New York; Concord, MA; Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Therefore medical care must be provided by the United States Department of Defense officials to all individuals affected by the manufacturing, testing, and/or use of uranium munitions. Thorough environmental remediation also must be completed without further delay.

I am amazed that fifteen years after was I asked to clean up the initial DU mess from Gulf War 1 and over ten years since I finished the depleted uranium project that United States Department of Defense officials and others still attempt to justify uranium munitions use while ignoring mandatory requirements. I am dismayed that Department of Defense and Department of Energy officials and representatives continue personal attacks aimed to silence or discredit those of us who are demanding that medical care be provided to all DU casualties and that environmental remediation is completed in compliance with U.S. Army Regulation 700-48.

But beyond the ignored mandatory actions the willful dispersal of tons of solid radioactive and chemically toxic waste in the form of uranium munitions is illegal ( http://www.traprockpeace.org/karen_parker_du_illegality.pdf ) and just does not even pass the common sense test and according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DHS, is a dirty bomb. DHS issued "dirty bomb" response guidelines, http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html
, on January 3, 2006 for incidents within the United States but ignore DOD use of uranium weapons and existing DOD regulations. These guidelines specifically state that: "Characteristics of RDD and IND Incidents: A radiological incident is defined as an event or series of events, deliberate or accidental, leading to the release, or potential release, into the environment of radioactive material in sufficient quantity to warrant consideration of protective actions.

Use of an RDD or IND is an act of terror that produces a radiological incident." Thus the use of uranium munitions is "an act or terror" as defined by DHS. Finally continued compliance with the infamous March 1991 Los Alamos Memorandum that was issued to ensure continued use of uranium munitions can not be justified.

http://tinyurl.com/kfjkp

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Depleted Uranium - Far Worse Than 9/11

Depleted Uranium Dust - Public Health Disaster For The People Of Iraq and Afghanistan

May, 3, 2006
Vital Truths and Information Clearing House

by Doug Westerman
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060503&articleId=2374

In 1979, depleted uranium (DU) particles escaped from the National Lead Industries factory near Albany, N.Y.,which was manufacturing DU weapons for the U.S military. The particles traveled 26 miles and were discovered in a laboratory filter by Dr. Leonard Dietz, a nuclear physicist. This discovery led to a shut down of the factory in 1980, for releasing morethan 0.85 pounds of DU dust into the atmosphere every month, and involved a cleanup of contaminated properties costing over 100 million dollars.

Imagine a far worse scenario. Terrorists acquire a million pounds of the deadly dust and scatter it in populated areas throughout the U.S. Hundreds of children report symptoms. Many acquire cancer and leukemia, suffering an early and painful death. Huge increases in severe birth defects are reported. Oncologists are overwhelmed. Soccer fields, sand lots and parks, traditional play areas for kids, are no longer safe. People lose their most basic freedom, the ability to go outside and safely breathe. Sounds worse than 9/11? Welcome to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dr. Jawad Al-Ali (55), director of the Oncology Center at the largest hospital in Basra, Iraq stated, at a recent ( 2003) conference in Japan:

"Two strange phenomena have come about in Basra which I have never seen before. The first is double and triple cancers in one patient. For example, leukemia and cancer of the stomach. We had one patient with 2 cancers - one in his stomach and kidney. Months later, primary cancer was developing in his other kidney--he had three different cancer types. The second is the clustering of cancer in families. We have 58 families here with more than one person affected by cancer. Dr Yasin, a general Surgeon here has two uncles, a sister and cousin affected with cancer. Dr Mazen, another specialist, has six family members suffering from cancer. My wife has nine members of her family with cancer".

"Children in particular are susceptible to DU poisoning. They have a much higher absorption rate as their blood is being used to build and nourish their bones and they have a lot of soft tissues. Bone cancer and leukemia used to be diseases affecting them the most, however, cancer of the lymph system which can develop anywhere on the body, and has rarely been seen before the age of 12 is now also common.",

"We were accused of spreading propaganda for Saddam before the war. When I have gone to do talks I have had people accuse me of being pro-Saddam. Sometimes I feel afraid to even talk. Regime people have been stealing my data and calling it their own, and using it for their own agendas. The Kuwaitis banned me from entering Kuwait - we were accused of being Saddam supporters."

John Hanchette, a journalism professor at St. Bonaventure University, and one of the founding editors of USA TODAY related the following to DU researcher Leuren Moret. He stated that he had prepared news breaking stories about the effects of DU on Gulf War soldiers and Iraqi citizens, but that each time he was ready to publish, he received a phone call from the Pentagon asking him not to print the story. He has since been replaced as editor of USA TODAY.

Dr. Keith Baverstock, The World Health Organization's chief expert on radiation and health for 11 years and author of an unpublished study has charged that his report " on the cancer risk to civilians in Iraq from breathing uranium contaminated dust " was also deliberately suppressed.

The information released by the U.S. Dept. of Defense is not reliable, according to some sources even within the military.

In 1997, while citing experiments, by others, in which 84 percent of dogs exposed to inhaled uranium died of cancer of the lungs, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, then Professor of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington was quoted as saying,

"The [US government's] Veterans Administration asked me to lie about the risks of incorporating depleted uranium in the human body."


At that time Dr. Durakovic was a colonel in the U.S. Army. He has since left the military, to found the Uranium Medical Research Center, a privately funded organization with headquarters in Canada.

PFC Stuart Grainger of 23 Army Division, 34th Platoon. (Names and numbers have been changed) was diagnosed with cancer several after returning from Iraq. Seven other men in the Platoon also have malignancies.

Doug Rokke, U.S. Army contractor who headed a clean-up of depleted uranium after the first Gulf War states:,

"Depleted uranium is a crime against God and humanity."

Rokke's own crew, a hundred employees, was devastated by exposure to the fine dust. He stated:

"When we went to the Gulf, we were all really healthy,"

After performing clean-up operations in the desert (mistakenly without protective gear), 30 members of his staff died, and most others"including Rokke himself"developed serious health problems. Rokke now has reactive airway disease, neurological damage, cataracts, and kidney problems.

"We warned the Department of Defense in 1991 after the Gulf War. Their arrogance is beyond comprehension.


Yet the D.O.D still insists such ingestion is "not sufficient to make troops seriously ill in most cases."

Then why did it make the clean up crew seriously or terminally ill in nearly all cases?

Marion Falk, a retired chemical physicist who built nuclear bombs for more than 20 years at Lawrence Livermore Lab, was asked if he thought that DU weapons operate in a similar manner as a dirty bomb.

"That's exactly what they are. They fit the description of a dirty bomb in every way."

According to Falk, more than 30 percent of the DU fired from the cannons of U.S. tanks is reduced to particles one-tenth of a micron (one millionth of a meter) in size or smaller on impact. "The larger the bang" the greater the amount of DU that is dispersed into the atmosphere, Falk said. With the larger missiles and bombs, nearly 100 percent of the DU is reduced to radioactive dust particles of the "micron size" or smaller, he said.

When asked if the main purpose for using it was for destroying things and killing people, Falk was more specific:

"I would say that it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people."


When a DU round or bomb strikes a hard target, most of its kinetic energy is converted to heat " sufficient heat to ignite the DU. From 40% to 70% of the DU is converted to extremely fine dust particles of ceramic uranium oxide (primarily dioxide, though other formulations also occur). Over 60% of these particles are smaller than 5 microns in diameter, about the same size as the cigarette ash particles in cigarette smoke and therefore respirable.

Because conditions are so chaotic in Iraq, the medical infrastructure has been greatly compromised. In terms of both cancer and birth defects due to DU, only a small fraction of the cases are being reported.

Doctors in southern Iraq are making comparisons to the birth defects that followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII. They have numerous photos of infants born without brains, with their internal organs outside their bodies, without sexual organs, without spines, and the list of deformities goes on an on. Such birth defects were extremely rare in Iraq prior to the large scale use of DU. Weapons. Now they are commonplace. In hospitals across Iraq, the mothers are no longer asking, "Doctor, is it a boy or girl?" but rather, "Doctor, is it normal?" The photos are horrendous, they can be viewed on the following website

Ross B. Mirkarimi, a spokesman at The Arms Control Research Centre stated:

"Unborn children of the region are being asked to pay the highest price, the integrity of their DNA."

Prior to her death from leukemia in Sept. 2004, Nuha Al Radi , an accomplished Iraqi artist and author of the "Baghdad Diaries" wrote:

"Everyone seems to be dying of cancer. Every day one hears about another acquaintance or friend of a friend dying. How many more die in hospitals that one does not know? Apparently, over thirty percent of Iraqis have cancer, and there are lots of kids with leukemia."

"The depleted uranium left by the U.S. bombing campaign has turned Iraq into a cancer-infested country. For hundreds of years to come, the effects of the uranium will continue to wreak havoc on Iraq and its surrounding areas."

This excerpt in her diary was written in 1993, after Gulf War I (Approximately 300 tons of DU ordinance, mostly in desert areas) but before Operation Iraqi Freedom, (Est. 1,700 tons with much more near major population centers). So, it's 5-6 times worse now than it was when she wrote than diary entry!! Estimates of the percentage of D.U. which was 'aerosolized' into fine uranium oxide dust are approximately 30-40%. That works out to over one million pounds of dust scattered throughout Iraq.

As a special advisor to the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, Dr. Ahmad Hardan has documented the effects of DU in Iraq between 1991 and 2002.

"American forces admit to using over 300 tons of DU weapons in 1991. The actual figure is closer to 800. This has caused a health crisis that has affected almost a third of a million people. As if that was not enough, America went on and used 200 tons more in Bagdad alone during the recent invasion.

I don"t know about other parts of Iraq, it will take me years to document that.

"In Basra, it took us two years to obtain conclusive proof of what DU does, but we now know what to look for and the results are terrifying."

By far the most devastating effect is on unborn children. Nothing can prepare anyone for the sight of hundreds of preserved fetuses " scarcely human in appearance. Iraq is now seeing babies with terribly foreshortened limbs, with their intestines outside their bodies, with huge bulging tumors where their eyes should be, or with a single eye-like Cyclops, or without eyes, or without limbs, and even without heads. Significantly, some of the defects are almost unknown outside textbooks showing the babies born near A-bomb test sites in the Pacific.

Cont (http://tinyurl.com/k5zl3)

[mhgaffney]

Bronco Beerslug is right.

Imagine the worst -- and the truth about DU is much worse than that.

These are weapons of mass destruction. Pure and simple.
MG

[elsid13]

Bronco Beerslug is right.

Imagine the worst -- and the truth about DU is much worse than that.

These are weapons of mass destruction. Pure and simple.
MG


And your basing your assessment on??? Do understand why the DoD use DU material in the first place?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Gulf War Vets Home Page (http://www.gulfwarvets.com/index.html)
The U.S. Military is in DU Denial
Wednesday 12 April @ 23:25:30
by Susu Jeffrey

http://www.gulfwarvets.com/du-bullett.jpg

“My name is John Marshall. I was exposed to DU (depleted uranium). I am 100 percent disabled and I am pissed-off. In fact, I was advised by a couple of my counselors not to do this [interview] because I’m so angry with the government—at the VA system, at the way I’m treated and other veterans are treated. It’s very impersonal. They don’t give you any time. They ask us to go fight their wars, do the dirty work and then they can’t take care of you.”

http://pulsetc.com/image/2006/0315/du_body.jpg

Most people don’t believe the U.S. has been poisoning its own troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, or they’ve heard about uranium “tipped” bombs—like fingernail polish painted on the outside of a shell casing. On the contrary, these are solid uranium core projectiles.

“I got a thank you (letter) from some lieutenant colonel. ‘Thank you for serving our country. We express our deepest gratitude but we believe you were one of these men who were exposed to depleted uranium either through shrapnel or inhalation of dust.’

“I’m 35, I take 17 medications, I’ve had cancer—lymphatic cancer, Hodgkin’s disease—Lennert’s lymphoma was the initial diagnosis—immune system.”

At age 35 John Marshall should be beginning to peak in his career. As a handsome man, married with three children, Marshall exudes energy. He looks strong, earthy, limps a bit on the left, has a thick build with a lean neck and chin. The military was his career. Being exposed to DU has been called a death sentence.

“Of course they [the VA] downplay everything. There’s latency periods. The bottom line is, they don’t know the long-term effects. Everybody’s going to react different. Some are going to get sick. Some might be able to last a little bit longer. I’ve been sick since I’ve been back.”

Friendly Fire
On Jan. 6, 1991, Corporal John Marshall flew to the Persian Gulf and waited for the equipment for his mechanized infantry group to arrive. “A Bradley is a tin casket” with a 25 mm cannon and “every piece of armament you can think of” but no outside shielding armor. Marshall didn’t feel safe inside a Bradley. He preferred being a ground soldier, trusting his legs more than an aluminum transport on tracks.

“I was a team leader on the ground. I had my own fire team. I didn’t want to be a [Bradley] gunner because I didn’t want to be responsible for the men’s lives because if a gunner screws up, you got nine men dead. And I didn’t want to take that burden. And that’s where a lot of my guilt, my survivor guilt, comes from.

“I was with the 2nd Armored Division, forward, it was brigade sized, and we were attached to the 7th Corps, 1st Infantry Division. The initial reports were that in the first 24 hours of the ground war 3,000 out of 4,000 just in my brigade were supposed to die. That was scary going into Iraq. That’s what they projected. Thank God things didn’t work out that way.

“When the ground campaign kicked off [February 24, 1991] we cleared numerous bunkers. We did lots of things that I don’t really want to talk about too much. We went north into Iraq, then we did a fish-hook to cut off the supply lines and communication of the Republican Guard. They were retreating. It was a Kill and Destroy Mission, kill and destroy everything that was enemy. That’s what we did.

“We had some resistance. Most of them were not Republican Guard. Most of them were civilian Iraqis. But on the night of the 26th we hit a dug-in position and everybody in the vehicle was pretty much banged up except for two of us.”

Marshall was asked to go up in the Bradley gun turret. “I could have done it. I should have done it. I had the capability. Partially it was a small percent of fear but I’d rather fight on the ground. We dismounted; we were throwing hand grenades down the hatch—a lot of times Iraqi tanks would play possum with us.

“When we hit that [resistance] the rest of the task force continued on. We got separated from them for the entire night. We were maneuvering for the entire night alone. We were getting out [of the Bradleys], we were engaging. So anyway we managed to get through the night and on the morning of the 27th we came across a large enemy bunker complex. We figured it’s a company size, there’s 120-or-so Iraqis. There’s 18 men in two Bradleys and these guys are surrendering to us.

“So we’re taking them prisoner. The LT [lieutenant] finally gets radio contact with the commander and says we have prisoners.” They were ordered to take the prisoners to a support unit to the south and then rendezvous with the rest of the task force.

“I just checked on one of my soldiers who had a gash on his head and then the commander comes over the radio and says get the **** out of there—there’s supposed to be a counter attack by a large element.

“I started walking and all of a sudden we started taking heavy fire. Two sabot rounds hit our Bradley within 6 feet of me. It’s a dart of depleted uranium. I’m breathing radioactive dust and the toxins from the Bradley. I got sparks flying all over me.

CONT (http://tinyurl.com/k8hpt)


http://www.gulfwarvets.com/DU-dust-storm.jpg

[Spider]

Got the perfect plan for this tiny little mishap .......... Cut the Vets benifits .....go out fight a war , you get sick you are on your own tough guy ....... WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS even got a little magnet on the car proving it .......

[Spider]

of course it is a magnet , wont mess up my paint job for that ....... sheesh supporting the troops only goes so far .......

[Bronco_Beerslug]

U.S. WEAPONS POISON EUROPE
RADIATION FROM IRAQ WAR DETECTED IN UK ATMOSPHERE
rss202
By Leuren Moret

A shocking new scientific study by British scientists Dr. Chris Busby and Saoirse Morgan asks: “Did the use of uranium weapons in Gulf War II result
in the contamination of Europe?”

High levels of depleted uranium (DU) have been measured in the atmosphere in Britain, transported on air currents from the Middle East and Central Asia. Scientists cited the U.S. bombing of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in 2001 and the “Shock and Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq in 2003 as one of the main reasons.

In the 1950s the British government had established an air monitoring facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston to measure radioactive emissions from British nuclear power plants and atomic weapons facilities.

Ironically, AWE was taken over three years ago by Halliburton, which at first refused to release key data as required by law to Busby.

An international expert on low-level radiation, Busby serves as an official advisor on several British government committees. He recently co-authored an independent report on low-level radiation with 45 scientists with the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) for the European Parliament.

Busby was eventually able to get Aldermaston’s air monitoring data from Halliburton by filing a freedom of information request using a new British law that became effective Jan. 1, 2005. Critical data from 2003 was missing, however, so he had to obtain the information from the Defence Procurement
Agency.

Aldermaston is one of many nuclear facilities throughout Europe that regularly monitor atmospheric radiation levels transported by sand, dust storms and air currents from radiation sources in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

After the “Shock and Awe” campaign in Iraq in 2003, very fine particles of depleted uranium were captured along with larger sand and dust particles in filters in Britain. These particles traveled in seven to nine days from Iraqi battlefields as far away as 2,400 miles.

The radiation measured in the atmosphere quadrupled within a few weeks after the beginning of the 2003 campaign, and at one of the five monitoring locations, the levels twice required an official alert to the British Environment Agency.

In addition, according to Busby, the Aldermaston air monitoring data provided a continuous record of depleted uranium levels in Britain from other recent wars.

Extensive video news footage of the 2003 Iraq war, including Fallujah in 2004, provided evidence that the United States has illegally used depleted uranium munitions on civilian populations. These military actions are in direct violation of not only international conventions but also violate U.S. military law because the United States is a signatory to The Hague and Geneva conventions and the 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol.

Depleted uranium weaponry meets the definition of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) in two out of three categories under U.S. Code Title 50, Chapter 40 Sec. 2302. After action mandates have also been violated such as U.S. Army Regulation AR 700-48 and TB 9-1300-278, which requires treatment of radiation poisoning for all casualties, including enemy soldiers and civilians.

In the mainstream press, British officials have attempted to counter the study by blaming the elevated uranium levels on “local sources.” Anonymous statements by government scientists used by the media thus far, however, have been contradicted by evidence disclosed in the report.

Naturally occurring uranium in the crust of the Earth is only 2.4 parts per million and could not become concentrated to the high levels measured in Britain. As far as nuclear power plants are concerned, the lowest levels of uranium measured at monitoring stations around Aldermaston were actually taken at the facility, which designs and tests nuclear weapons—meaning this could not possibly be a source.

Atomic weapons facilities would be more likely to produce plutonium contamination, which was not reported as a contaminant.

This wasn’t the first time a noted scientist has discussed global pollution from the use of DU.

Dr. Keith Baverstock, an expert on radiation, exposed a World Health Organization (WHO) cover-up on depleted uranium. Baverstock leaked an official WHO report that he had written for the organization but was never published. He warned in the report about the environmental contamination from tiny DU particles formed from U.S. munitions.

In addition, Dr. Katsuma Yagasaki, a Japanese physicist at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, estimated that the atomic equivalent of at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs has been released into the global atmosphere since 1991 from the use of DU munitions. He said it is mixed in the atmosphere in one year.

DU PROFITS

As if Busby’s report is not bad enough, a new book by a leading scientist notes who is making billions from nightmare armaments.

Dr. Jay Gould revealed in his book The Enemy Within that the British royal family privately owns investments in uranium holdings worth over $6 billion through Rio Tinto Mines in Australia. The mining company was formed for the British royal family in the late 1950s by Roland Walter “Tiny” Rowland, who was known as the queen’s banker and the master financial manipulator behind billionaire Robert Maxwell’s fortune.*

The Rothschilds are also profiting enormously from their control of the price and supply of uranium globally.

The ubiquitous Halliburton just recently finished construction of a 1,000-mile railway from the mining area to a port on the north coast of Australia to transport the ore.

The queen’s favorite American buccaneers, Dick Cheney and the Bush family, are tied to her through uranium mining and the shared use of DU munitions in the Middle East, Central Asia and Kosovo.

The role that such diverse groups and individuals as the Carlyle Group, George H.W. Bush, former Carlyle CEO Frank Carlucci, Los Alamos and Livermore labs, and U.S. and international pension fund investments have played in proliferating depleted uranium weapons is not well known. God save the queen from her complicity in turning planet Earth into a death star.

Leuren Moret is an international expert on the environmental effects of depleted uranium and has worked at two U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories.

(Issue #10/11, March 6 & 13, 2006)
http://tinyurl.com/m5mhy

[defenseman]

There was studies done by both DoD Heath Affairs, DOA and VA. It was aimed at the Army and Corp because the depleted uranium is used in M-1A/M-1A1 as main component in its armor. And it also used to in Sabot rounds and other armor piercing munitions.

Do a search on the Defenselink for the studies.

I will. And thanks for addressing the statement and providing a source for research (many here just jump up and down and call me a righty instead of giving a couple of good sources). this is concerning to me, dont' get me wrong. However, I won't just jump off the ledge on this till I see the data...dman

[Spider]

I will. And thanks for addressing the statement and providing a source for research (many here just jump up and down and call me a righty instead of giving a couple of good sources). this is concerning to me, dont' get me wrong. However, I won't just jump off the ledge on this till I see the data...dman
be honest do you deserve more of a responce then that ? after all you told me i was ruining this country , basicaly a traitor , why should I treat you with the same respect I was when you talked out of the side of your neck about me ?

[W*GS]

[...]In addition, Dr. Katsuma Yagasaki, a Japanese physicist at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, estimated that the atomic equivalent of at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs has been released into the global atmosphere since 1991 from the use of DU munitions. He said it is mixed in the atmosphere in one year.[...]

What does "the atomic equivalent of at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs" mean, exactly?

Sounds to me like little more than scare-mongering. Why associate a nuclear weapon (which used plutonium, not uranium, BTW) to the alleged contamination caused by DU? Is Dr. Yagasaki claiming that 400,000 20 kT nuclear weapons have been detonated in the atmosphere since 1991? If so, I must have missed the news in the paper or on the Web...

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

This is absolutely sickening, what the United States government is doing to our soldiers!!


When you read about things like this, it's just incomprehensible how anyone could support this handjob of an administration.

Apparently, willfull ignorance is the key.

[elsid13]

LABF, before you get to excited. The use of DU for armor and Sabot rounds goes back decision of the late 80s. The weapon systems used today by the American troops are the fruits of research and procurements of previous administrations. It due to the length of the acquisition process.

[elsid13]

I will. And thanks for addressing the statement and providing a source for research (many here just jump up and down and call me a righty instead of giving a couple of good sources). this is concerning to me, dont' get me wrong. However, I won't just jump off the ledge on this till I see the data...dman

No problem Rand.org will also have some studies.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

LABF, before you get to excited. The use of DU for armor and Sabot rounds goes back decision of the late 80s. The weapon systems used today by the American troops are the fruits of research and procurements of previous administrations. It due to the length of the acquisition process.

W*GS?

Is that you?

[gunns]

“My name is John Marshall. I was exposed to DU (depleted uranium). I am 100 percent disabled and I am pissed-off. In fact, I was advised by a couple of my counselors not to do this [interview] because I’m so angry with the government—at the VA system, at the way I’m treated and other veterans are treated. It’s very impersonal. They don’t give you any time. They ask us to go fight their wars, do the dirty work and then they can’t take care of you.”

This is what I thought when I read the first post. Not only have these guys developed such disabling conditions but they have to go to the VA for medical help. Worse place on earth to get medical help. They are treated like cattle and the medical assistance is extremely sub standard. I wouldn't take my worse enemy to the VA for treatment. But of course, let's cut the veterans benefits even more.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

What does "the atomic equivalent of at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs" mean, exactly? A measuring stick (radiation exposure).

Sounds to me like little more than scare-mongering. Why associate a nuclear weapon (which used plutonium, not uranium, BTW) to the alleged contamination caused by DU? Is Dr. Yagasaki claiming that 400,000 20 kT nuclear weapons have been detonated in the atmosphere since 1991? If so, I must have missed the news in the paper or on the Web... An equivalent for comparison to get an idea of what's happening with DU exposure.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
105th Congress, 1st Session House Report 105-388

I. SUMMARY


Responding to requests by veterans, the subcommittee in March 1996 initiated a far-reaching oversight investigation into the status of efforts to understand the clusters of symptoms and debilitating maladies known collectively as ``Gulf War Syndrome.'' We sought to ensure sick Gulf War veterans were being diagnosed accurately, treated effectively and compensated fairly for service-connected disabilities, despite official denials and scientific uncertainty regarding the exact causes of their ailments. We also sought to determine whether the Gulf War research agenda was properly focused on the most likely, not just the most convenient, hypotheses to explain Gulf War veterans' illnesses.


After 19 months of investigation and hearings, the subcommittee finds the status of efforts on Gulf War issues by the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], the Department of Defense [DOD], the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] and the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] to be irreparably flawed. We find those efforts hobbled by institutional inertia that mistakes motion for progress. We find those efforts plagued by arrogant incuriosity and a pervasive myopia that sees a lack of evidence as proof. As a result, we find current approaches to research, diagnosis and treatment unlikely to yield answers to veterans' life-or-death questions in the foreseeable, or even far distant, future.


We do not come to these conclusions lightly. Nor do we discount all that has been done to care for, cure and compensate Gulf War veterans. But lives have been lost, and many more lives are at stake.
Six years and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in the effort to determine the causes of the illnesses besetting Gulf War veterans. Yet, when asked what progress has been made healing sick Gulf War veterans, VA and DOD can't say where they've been and concede they may never get where they're supposed to be going. The CIA continues to resist broader declassification of Gulf War records. The FDA meekly chastises the Defense Department for the failure to observe agreed-upon rules for the humane use of experimental drugs.


Sadly, when it comes to diagnosis, treatment and research for Gulf War veterans, we find the Federal Government too often has a tin ear, a cold heart and a closed mind.
Our hearings convinced us the journey from cause to cure for Gulf War veterans runs through the pools, clouds and plumes of toxins in which they lived and fought. It is a journey VA and DOD might never have taken but for persistent pressure from this subcommittee, and other House and Senate panels, that forced the Pentagon to acknowledge a ``watershed event'' - the probable exposure of United States troops to chemical weapons fallout at Khamisiyah, Iraq.


With that first admission, the three pillars of Government denial - no credible detections, no exposures, no health effects - began to crumble. As the number of U.S. troops presumed exposed grew from 400 to almost 100,000, as the credibility of other chemical detections was sustained, and as private research probed the parallels between Gulf War illnesses and the known symptoms of chemical poisoning, some significant role for toxins in causing, triggering or amplifying neurological damage and chronic symptoms could no longer be denied.
Before Khamisiyah, voluminous and compelling, albeit circumstantial, evidence regarding neurotoxic exposures had been ignored, denied or discredited, while far less abundant evidence and far less plausible psychological theories of causation were pursued with vigor. As a result, diagnostic protocols were insensitive to exposure effects, treatments were limited and vital research was delayed.


Only recently were VA and DOD health registry questionnaires modified to consistently capture the best and only remaining evidence of toxic exposures: veterans' recollections. Only recently was research funded to measure the health effects of sustained, low-dose exposure to the combinations of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and environmental toxins to which Gulf War veterans were exposed.
Those denials and delays are symptomatic of a system content to presume the Gulf War produced no delayed casualties, and determined to shift the burden of proof onto sick veterans to overcome that presumption. That task has been made difficult, if not impossible, because most of the medical records needed to prove toxic causation are missing or destroyed. Nevertheless, VA and DOD insist upon reaping the benefit of any doubts created by the absence of those records.
The subcommittee believes the current presumptions about neurotoxic causes and effects should be reversed and the benefit of any doubt should inure to the sick veteran.


Finally, we reluctantly conclude that responsibility for Gulf War illnesses, especially the research agenda, must be placed in a more responsive agency, independent of the DOD and the VA.
Fortunately for Gulf War veterans, excellent research into Gulf War illnesses has taken place outside Government sponsorship. This research has advanced a case definition for some illnesses, an important step toward improved diagnosis and treatment. Some experimental treatments have brought relief to afflicted veterans and their families. The subcommittee believes this work must be included within the scope of that agency made responsible for Federal efforts to solve the puzzle of Gulf War illnesses.


We note with approval efforts at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [NIEHS] and other public health agencies to study exposure effects and genetic susceptibility to environmental toxins. Funding for this research would be an important first step in the effort to have an independent agency, with significant expertise in environmental hazards, involved in the solution to Gulf War veterans' health problems.


There is no ``silver bullet'' to explain or cure so-called Gulf War Syndrome, which is not a discrete syndrome at all, but a variable cluster of symptoms and disease states with different triggers and susceptibilities. The battle to cure Gulf War illnesses must be fought at the cellular, molecular and genetic levels if we hope to heal the delayed wounds of that war and protect future warriors. Absent precise exposure data which can never be recaptured, the best evidence linking toxic causes to chronic effects lies within the bodies and minds of Gulf War veterans. That evidence has been too long ignored.


A. FINDINGS IN BRIEF


Diagnosis
1. VA and DOD did not listen to sick Gulf War veterans as to possible causes of their illnesses.
2. The presence of a variety of toxic agents in the Gulf War theater strongly suggests exposures have a role in causing, triggering or amplifying subsequent service-connected illnesses.
3. Gulf War troops were not trained to protect themselves from the effects of exposure to depleted uranium dust and particles.
4. Pyridostigmine bromide [PB] can have serious side effects and interactions when taken in combination with other drugs, vaccines, chemical exposures, heat and/or physical exercise.
5. VA and DOD health registry diagnostic protocols relied on the unfounded conclusion there were no chemical, biological or other toxic exposures to U.S. troops in the Gulf War theater.
6. VA and DOD health registry diagnosis protocols continue to be based on the unwarranted conclusion that, unless there is an immediate and acute reaction, exposures to chemical weapons and other toxins do not cause delayed or chronic symptoms.
7. Prematurely ruling out toxic exposures as causative, VA and DOD doctors relied on diagnoses of somatoform disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] to explain Gulf War veterans' illnesses.
8. There is no credible evidence that stress or PTSD causes the illnesses reported by many Gulf War veterans.
9. Accurate diagnosis of veterans' illnesses remains difficult due to inadequate or missing personal medical records, missing toxic detection logs, and unreleased classified documents.
10. Accurate diagnosis of veterans illnesses was also hampered by the VA's lack of medical expertise in toxicology and environmental medicine.
11. Exposures to low levels of chemical warfare agents and other toxins can cause delayed, chronic health effects.

CONT.
http://tinyurl.com/rzxz4

[W*GS]

A measuring stick (radiation exposure).

Not all radiation is created equal. The "at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs" bit is designed to scare and enflame, not enlighten and educate.

I'd really like to see the math behind that number.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Not all radiation is created equal. The "at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs" bit is designed to scare and enflame, not enlighten and educate.

I'd really like to see the math behind that number.
Yeah, the education is coming now, in the form of 10s of thousands of U.S. veterans exposed to DU and who knows how many civilians that have been contaminated.

---------------------------------------------------------
Military Use of Depleted Uranium


Documented evidence shows that U.S. authorities have long been aware of possible dangers associated with depleted uranium (DU), but civilians returning to live in combat zones and U.S. troops formerly stationed in these zones have never been warned of health threats that might result from exposure to DU. Meanwhile, officials who knew something of the potential dangers have been ordered to keep quiet. Continued use of DU by the U.S. Army reflects a lack of interest in the well-being of both U.S. soldiers and the civilians of other nations. Furthermore, refusal by the U.S. government and public health organizations to acknowledge the unethical exposure of military personnel and civilians to a hazardous substance brings into question the integrity of global policy makers. Until conclusive research has been gathered and evaluated by multiple interest groups, the United States should establish a moratorium on military use of DU.
The heavy metal has both chemical and radiological toxicity, and is thought to be especially dangerous to the kidneys and lungs. DU, which is weakly radioactive, emits alpha particles, beta particles, and photons (x-rays and gamma rays). If it enters the body, the worst cell damage occurs from alpha particles. The greatest risk of inhalation is thought to be increased risk of lung cancer, while there is less estimated risk of contracting leukemia or other cancers. DU may also cause hepatic, hematological, respiratory, and cardiac toxic effects, and may even directly damage DNA because of the enhancement of chemical effects by alpha-particle radiation. Laboratory research performed over the last few years has shown that cells exposed to DU experience chromosome breaks, DNA cleavage, and cell death—effects that are all commonly accepted precursors to cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and genetic disturbances, including sterility and birth defects.
A 1994 report to Congress by the U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute provides an example of the way in which United States authorities have denied all adverse effects of depleted uranium, while refusing to support their claims with any evidence. The report states, “It is highly unlikely that DU is a contributing factor to the unexplained illnesses currently being reported by veterans of Desert Storm. This conclusion is based on assessment that there was little or no internal DU exposure by most Desert Storm soldiers.” Yet such a claim now seems naïve, if not downright misleading in light of subsequently released data. According to a 1991-1995 survey of 10,051 Gulf War I veterans, 82% of veterans reported having entered captured Iraqi vehicles—suggesting that about 123,000 soldiers were directly exposed to DU during that conflict.
In addition to the untruthful claim that U.S. soldiers probably were not exposed during the First Gulf War, the Environmental Policy Institute report is filled with statements that use the lack of conclusive data to support evidence of no risk: “While there are no data [emphasis added] that can be used directly to establish the human cancer and hereditary risks from low-level, low-dose radiation, there is general agreement that the models currently in use do not underestimate either the cancer or hereditary risks.” This sentence exemplifies the rhetoric the Army has continued to use in its attempt to avoid being held accountable for exposing large numbers of people—usually unknowingly—to a toxic and radioactive heavy metal.

http://rooseveltinstitution.org/policy/112_military_use_of_depleted

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Bill to study effects of uranium on soldiers moves to state Senate
By STEVE COLLINS, The Bristol Press
06/03/2005

HARTFORD -- A measure aimed at studying the health effects on Connecticut National Guard members of depleted uranium, a heavy metal used in armor-piercing weapons, got the unanimous backing of the state House Thursday.

"This is the Agent Orange of today," said state Rep. Roger Michele, a Bristol Democrat who co-chairs the Select Committee on Veterans Affairs.

"We have to make sure the members of the Armed Services we have jurisdiction over get the best treatment possible," Michele said.

The bill, which heads to the state Senate next, would establish criteria for testing members of the National Guard and veterans who have served since the Gulf War for exposure to the potentially hazardous material.

The bill would also create a task force to begin establishing a health registry for veterans and military personnel returning from Afghanistan, Iraq or other countries where depleted uranium or other hazardous materials have been used.

It would also develop a plan to reach out to military personnel and report to service members about precautions they can take.

"We want to catch it as quick as we can, diagnose it and treat it," Michele said.

There is substantial debate in health circles about the hazards of depleted uranium, with some circles warning it can cripple and kill while others dismiss it as more or less harmless.

State Veterans Commissioner Linda Schwartz told the veterans panel this spring the data the state collects can help document what is happening to veterans.

"Something happened to them between the time they left and the time they returned," Schwartz told the committee. "We may theorize it could be depleted uranimum, but it may be a number of things."

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that "exposure occurred during both the 1991 war and the current Iraqi war."

"Unfortunately, the Defense Department has not fully acknowledged the potential scope of exposure, nor has the department fully tested all veterans who may have been exposed to depleted uranium," the attorney general said.

"Regrettably, the Defense Department’s response to depleted uranium exposure approximates its approach to anthrax vaccine," he said. "Rather than fully study the problem and provide transparency, the department attempts to minimize the problem and delay or discourage testing."

Blumenthal said that "Connecticut can provide leadership on this issue by assuring that our veterans have access to the best testing and information."

After fiscal experts warned a first draft of the bill could be costly, lawmakers rewrote it to clarify that the testing itself would be a federal government responsibility.

Michele said he’s concerned that the depleted uranium weapons the military is using so freely today could be used against American troops before long.

He said that in Iraq, the military has used nearly 10,000 tank shells made of the material and expended more than 850,000 rounds from aircraft.

With so much use, he said, it’s important to understand the health impact, particularly since enemies are likely to fire depleted uranium shells at U.S. troops someday.

"It doesn’t take long for the other side to catch up" with technological advances, Michele said.

Depleted uranium is the material left over when enriched uranium used for nuclear power plant fuel or bombs is separated from uranium. The U.S. government has immense amounts of it so its use is so cheap that weapons makers are given the metal, Michele said.

It is used to make armor and armor-piercing shells more effective.

State Sen. Gayle Slossberg, a Milford Democrat who is a co-chair of the veterans panel, said the state "is going to lead the nation in taking care of -- and insuring the health and well being of -- our servicemen and servicewomen. We’re keeping our promise to them."


©The Bristol Press 2006 (http://tinyurl.com/pcyaj)

[elsid13]

W*GS?

Is that you?

LABF

I just trying to provide some historical context on the potential problem. It just didn't show up overnight, and suddenly appear because W took the oath of office. And this problem won't go overnight.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

LABF

I just trying to provide some historical context on the potential problem. It just didn't show up overnight, and suddenly appear because W took the oath of office. And this problem won't go overnight.

:bs:

You were trying to suggest that there was no reason to 'get excited' about the current administration's use of DU in Iraq and elsewhere because DU has been used in the past.

The typical W*GS defense.

But I guess I shouldn't expect much more from a guy who isn't much more than a shill for the military industrial complex.

[W*GS]

LABF

I just trying to provide some historical context on the potential problem. It just didn't show up overnight, and suddenly appear because W took the oath of office. And this problem won't go overnight.

Big mistake - providing LABF with anything other than his "It's all Bush's fault" mantra. As you've seen, that earns you nothing but scorn and a personal attack.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Radioactive Ammunition Fired in the Middle East May Claim More Lives Than Hiroshima and Nagasaki

by Sherwood Ross | Nov 20 2007 - 9:05am |

By firing radioactive ammunition, the U.S., U.K., and Israel may have triggered a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East that, over time, will prove deadlier than the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan.

So much ammunition containing depleted uranium(DU) has been fired, asserts nuclear authority Leuren Moret, "The genetic future of the Iraqi people for the most part, is destroyed."

"More than ten times the amount of radiation released during atmospheric testing (of nuclear bombs) has been released from depleted uranium weaponry since 1991," Moret writes, including radioactive ammunition fired by Israeli troops in Palestine.

Moret is an independent U.S. scientist formerly employed for five years at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and also at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, both of California.

Adds Arthur Bernklau, of Veterans For Constitutional Law, "The long-term effect of DU is a virtual death sentence. Iraq is a toxic wasteland. Anyone who is there stands a good chance of coming down with cancer and leukemia. In Iraq, the birth rate of mutations is totally out of control."

Moret, a Berkeley, Calif., Environmental Commissioner and past president of the Association for Women Geoscientists, says, "For every genetic defect that we can see now, in future generations there are thousands more that will be expressed." She adds, "the (Iraq) environment now is completely radioactive."

Dr. Helen Caldicott, the prominent anti-nuclear crusader, has written: "Much of the DU is in cities such as Baghdad, where half the population of 5 million people are children who played in the burned-out tanks and on the sandy, dusty ground."

"Children are 10 to 20 times more susceptible to the carcinogenic effects of radiation than adults," Caldicott wrote. "My pediatric colleagues in Basra, where this ordnance was used in 1991, report a sevenfold increase in childhood cancer and a sevenfold increase in gross congenital abnormalities," she wrote in her book, "Nuclear Power is not the Answer"(The New Press).

Caldicott goes on to say the two Gulf wars "have been nuclear wars because they have scattered nuclear material across the land, and people---particularly children--- are condemned to die of malignancy and congenital disease essentially for eternity."

Because of the extremely long half-life of uranium 238, one of the radioactive elements in the shells fired, "the food, the air, and the water in the cradle of civilization have been forever contaminated," Caldicott explained.

Uranium is a heavy metal that enters the body via inhalation into the lung or via ingestion into the GI tract. It is excreted by the kidney, where, if the dose is high enough, it can induce renal failure or kidney cancer. It also lodges in the bones where it causes bone cancer and leukemia, and it is excreted in the semen, where it mutates genes in the sperm, leading to birth deformities.

Nuclear contamination is spreading around the world, Caldicott adds, with heaviest concentrations in regions within a 1,000-mile radius of Baghdad and Afghanistan. These are, notably, northern India, southern Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tibet, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Gulf emirates, and Jordan.

"Downwind from the radioactive devastation in Iraq, Israel is also suffering from large increases in breast cancer, leukemia and childhood diabetes," Moret asserts. Doug Rokke, formerly the top U.S. Army DU clean-up officer and now anti-DU crusader, says Israeli tankers fired radioactive shells during the invasion of Lebanon last year. U.S. and NATO forces also used DU ammunition in Kosovo. Rokke says he is quite ill from the effects of DU and that members of his clean-up crew have died from it.

As a result of DU bombardments, Caldicott writes, "Severe birth defects have been reported in babies born to contaminated civilians in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan and the incidence and severity of defects is increasing over time."
Like symptoms have been reported among infants born to U.S. service personnel that fought in the Gulf Wars. One survey of 251 returned Gulf War veterans from Mississippi made by the Veterans Administration found 67% of children born to them suffered from "severe illnesses and deformities."

Some were born without brains or vital organs or with no arms, hands, or arms, or with hands attached to their shoulders. While U.S. officials deny DU ammunition is dangerous, it is a fact Gulf War veterans were the first Americans ever to fight on a radioactive battlefield, and their children apparently are the first known to display these ghastly deformities.

Soldiers who survived being hit by radioactive ammunition, as well as those who fired it, are falling ill, often showing signs of radiation sickness.

Of the 700,000 U.S. veterans of the first Gulf War, more than 240,000 are on permanent medical disability and 11,000 are dead, published reports indicate. This is an astonishingly high toll from such a short conflict in which fewer than 400 U.S. soldiers were killed on the battlefield.

Of course, "depleted uranium munitions were and remain another causative factor behind Gulf War Syndrome(GWS)," writes Francis Boyle, a leading American authority on international law in his book "Biowarfare and Terrorism," from Clarity Press Inc.

"The Pentagon continues to deny that there is such a medical phenomenon categorized as GWS---even beyond the point where everyone knows that denial is pure propaganda and disinformation," Boyle writes.

Boyle contends, "The Pentagon will never own up to the legal, economic, tortious, political, and criminal consequences of admitting the existence of GWS. So U.S. and U.K. veterans of Gulf War I as well as their afterborn children will continue to suffer and die. The same will prove true for U.S. and U.S. veterans of Bush Jr.'s Gulf War II as well as their afterborn children."

Boyle said the use of DU is outlawed under the 1925 Geneva Convention prohibiting poison gas.

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, writes in his "The Sorrows of Empire"(Henry Holt and Co.) that, given the abnormal clusters of childhood cancers and deformities in Iraq as well as Kosovo, the evidence points "toward a significant role for DU."

By insisting on its use, Johnson adds, "the military is deliberately flouting a 1996 United Nations resolution that classifies DU ammunition as an illegal weapon of mass destruction."

Moret calls DU "the Trojan Horse of nuclear war." She describes it as "the weapon that keeps killing." Indeed, the half-life of Uranium-238 is 4.5-billion years, and as it decays it spawns other deadly radioactive by-products.

Radioactive fallout from DU apparently blew far and wide. Following the initial U.S. bombardment of Iraq in 2003, DU particles traveled 2,400 miles to Great Britain in about a week, where atmospheric radiation quadrupled.

But it is in the Middle East, predominantly Iraq, where the bulk of the radioactive waste has been dumped.

In the early Nineties, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority warned that 50 tons of dust from DU explosions could claim a half million lives from cancer by year 2000. Not 50 tons, but an estimated two thousand radioactive tons have been fired off in the Middle East, suggesting the possibility over time of an even higher death toll.

Dr. Keith Baverstock, a World Health Organization radiation advisor, informed the media, Iraq's arid climate would increase exposure from its tiny particles as they are blown about and inhaled by the civilian population for years to come.

The civilian death toll from the August, 1945, U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been put at 140,000 and 80,000, respectively. Over time, however, deaths from radiation sickness are thought to have claimed the lives of another 100,000 Japanese civilians.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/11125

[Hotrod]

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