Gulf War Syndrome II About to Break
- Thread starter WoodPeckr
- Start date
Apparently the UN and others don't share your position........Ranger68 said:
U.N. Agency to Study Environment in Iraq
1 hour, 6 minutes ago
Add Science - AP to My Yahoo!
By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press Writer
NAIROBI, Kenya - Scientists will begin investigating environmental "hot spots" in Iraq as part of a long-term strategy to clean up the country after ten years of war and instability, the U.N. Environment Program said Tuesday.
The U.N. agency has coordinated the training of Iraqi scientists in the latest laboratory and field testing techniques to collect information on suspected hazardous sites, officials said. The work will begin soon, a spokesman said.
"We estimate that there are more than 300 sites in Iraq considered to be contaminated to various levels with a range of pollutants," said Klaus Toepfer, the agency's executive director.
The agency also has been asked by the Iraqi government to investigate possible pollution by depleted uranium ordnance used to pierce tank armor during the 1991 Gulf War and the latest war.
"We are considering this very, very clearly ... they are a very important threat," Toepfer said.
The British government has given the agency detailed information on locations where it used 1.9 tones of depleted uranium in the south of Iraq, but the U.S. government hasn't come forward with the same information despite requests from the United Nations.
The Japanese government has funded much of the US$4.7 million (euro3.8 million) project, which will be coordinated by the Nairobi-based U.N. agency and implemented by the Iraqi Ministry of the Environment.
Samples — collected by Iraqi experts — will be evaluated by the U.N. Environment Program's Post-Conflict Assessment Unit in Geneva. The unit has also worked in the Balkans, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan and Liberia.
Pekka Haavisto, who heads the post-conflict task force, said the pollution in Iraq had been caused both by conflict and by the country's isolation under Saddam.
"This region has suffered several wars, and there hasn't been a proper clean up after any of these wars. The isolation of Iraq during the times of Saddam contributed to the bad maintenance of industrial facilities. The picture is quite dark," he said.
The project will concentrate on at least five sites, including the Al-Mishaq Sulfur State Company, the Midland Refinery Stores, Al-Suwaira Seed Stores, sites were oil pipelines have been sabotaged and scrap metal yards where destroyed military vehicles have been taken.
Once the exact nature and extent of the contamination of the sites has been evaluated, the scientists will recommend remedial action to the Iraqi government, the agency statement said.
"My country is faced with a wide range of pressing issues that must be addressed if the Iraqi people are to enjoy a stable, healthy and prosperous future," said Mishkat Moumin, in a statement released in Nairobi. "Delivering a clean and unpolluted environment is a key piece in this jigsaw puzzle."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040914/ap_on_sc/un_iraq_environment_3
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=406&ArticleID=4602&l=en
Are these the same people selling Iran nuclear technology - oh great, what good is the oil if it's glowing....WoodPeckr said:
OTB
That's it, that's your big retort?WoodPeckr said:
Check out: http://www.nato.int/du/home.htm
and: http://www.nato.int/du/docu/d010108e.htm
where you will read:
"DU decays mainly through emission of alpha particles, which cannot penetrate the external skin layers but may affect internal body cells (more susceptible to the ionizing effects of alpha radiation) when DU is ingested or inhaled. However, from the studies undertaken on uranium workers, no negative health effects have been established after internal exposure to radiation through ingestion and inhalation of DU particles or through skin lesions and wounds contaminated by DU."
OTB
There may be a 'source credibility issue' here depending on whom you choose to believe. I did come across this though:onthebottom said:
What is Depleted Uranium?
http://www.cadu.org.uk/intro.htm
The misnamed 'Depleted' Uranium is left after enriched uranium is separated from natural uranium in order to produce fuel for nuclear reactors. During this process, the fissionable isotope Uranium 235 is separated from uranium. The remaining uranium, which is 99.8% uranium 238 is misleadingly called 'depleted uranium'. While the term 'depleted' implies it isn't particularly dangerous, in fact, this waste product of the nuclear industry is 'conveniently' disposed of by producing deadly weapons.
Depleted uranium is chemically toxic. It is an extremely dense, hard metal, and can cause chemical poisoning to the body in the same way as can lead or any other heavy metal. However, depleted uranium is also radiologically hazardous, as it spontaneously burns on impact, creating tiny aerosolised glass particles which are small enough to be inhaled. These uranium oxide particles emit all types of radiation, alpha, beta and gamma, and can be carried in the air over long distances. Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.5 billion years, and the presence of depleted uranium ceramic aerosols can pose a long term threat to human health and the environment.
And also this, which I guess you would merely dismiss also?.....
Depleted Uranium
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/du.htm
Don't be misled by the term 'depleted uranium'. Like spent fuel' from civilian reactors, depleted uranium is highly toxic and carcinogenic and has a half life of some 4.4 billion years. -- Alice Slater
NATO is trying to save Kosovars, but if they leave Kosovo filled with depleted uranium, it's not a happy situation. They [would be] poisoning them. If you are going to use depleted uranium in warfare, it's better to drop an atom bomb and kill 30,000 people instantaneously rather than killing them over 20 or 30 years. -- Hari Sharma
Desert Storm veterans along with the people of Iraq and Kuwait were victims of one of the latest military experiments on human beings. I believe that the ignorance was culpable and criminal. -- Rosalie Bertell
We came across a lot of destroyed vehicles and dead bodies as we moved up through Kuwait. Nobody ever told us to stay away from the vehicles that might have been contaminated with depleted uranium. -- Victor Suell, radio operator, US Marines
In Iraq in 1997, I discovered monstrous births of deformed babies and old men who, amid the wreckage which the Allies had blasted with our uranium shells, told me of daughters with breast and liver cancer. -- Robert Fisk
There is now overwhelming evidence that use of depleted uranium is killing peacekeepers from Allied countries now based in the Balkans. It is killing the soldiers who went into the Balkans when the Serbs withdrew, and it is killing the people there who we went to war to supposedly protect. It is also killing the ordinary people of Iraq who have to suffer the triple pressures of a despotic regime, international sanctions, and death from depleted uranium. Using depleted uranium is clearly immoral, but it is also against international law and UN conventions which prohibit the use of weapons which cause indiscriminate deaths and injury. -- Caroline Lucas MEP
A common myth perpetuated within the nuclear industry, is that unlike the coal industry there are few injuries and deaths. The truth has a different story to tell. From 1946 to 1968, thirteen million tons of uranium were mined in the US. Fifteen hundred miners, mainly native American Indians, worked the uranium mines. There they breathed radon gas and silica-laden dust. Today more than half of these miners have died from cancer and respiratory diseases.
and there is more.......
Whilst the rare crash of a plane carrying DU is a local problem, the main concern with depleted uranium is the use by the military, as has been recently highlighted in the Gulf and former-Yugoslavia. DU is a heavy metal, in common with other heavy metals it is highly toxic and radioactive. Wars involving the use of DU are likely to be the most toxic in human history. The 'success' of DU in its two most recent field trials both as a penetrator and armour is likely to hasten its use on the battlefield unless there is urgent international action to outlaw its use.
Many thousands of rounds of ammunition was fired in the Gulf War. Tank busting rounds were tipped with depleted uranium. A tip of depleted uranium packs a punch, high kinetic energy in technical jargon. An unexpected benefit, not only does it bust enemy tanks, it also gets rid of unwanted nuclear waste. On hitting a tank, or armoured vehicle, the force of impact causes the DU to vaporise, an aerosol of uranium dioxide and uranium trioxide is formed. The vehicle and the surrounding area becomes contaminated with radioactive depleted uranium dust. Clean up crews were given no warnings, issued with no protective clothing. Since the Gulf War, the US DoD has produced a video warning of the dangers of DU but few people have seen it.
Depleted uranium when alloyed with titanium forms a dense hard penetrator. The two together are pyrophoric, on impact they combust releasing an aerosol of fine uranium particles. 60% of the particles are less than 5 micron in diameter, 10 microns is a respirable size.
In Iraq, children are dying of cancers, birth defects.
Depleted uranium munitions were used in Kosovo. The areas where it was used show high levels of background radiation. 10,000 people are expected to die in Kosovo as a direct consequence of the amount of depleted uranium dumped on the country during the US/UK led humanitarian war.
Of the 40,000 British personnel who served in the Gulf, by the end of August 1999, only five had been screened by the MoD for DU contamination. British servicemen have suffered Gulf War Syndrome, but all they have met from the British government is a wall of secrecy. When files were obtained there was an attempted prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. Two Gulf War veterans had their homes raided by MoD police, computers seized. The purpose of the raid was to seize leaked documents that showed the MoD was aware of the effects of DU contamination and its connection to Gulf War Syndrome.
In the US 155,000 veterans of the Gulf War are sick, 36,000 are suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. The number who have died is unknown as the US government refuses to release the figures.
Asaf Durakovic served in the Gulf as a unit commander of a medical detachment. Later he was Professor of Nuclear and Medical Research, Chief of the Nuclear Medicine Service, a colonel in the US Army Medical Corps. Asaf Durakovic examined several veterans who had been contaminated. All the records have been lost, Asaf Durakovic has been fired.
Gulf War syndrome may be due to a number of factors, the cocktail of drugs combatants were forced to take, releases from Iraqi chemical and biological sites bombed by coalition forces, oil fires.
Carol Picou served in the Gulf. She was forced, under orders, to take drugs. She has subsequently fallen ill. Following her testimony to Congress she was forced out of the army, losing in the process her health insurance. She has received numerous anonymous threatening phone calls warning her to lay off. Valuable papers went up in flames when her car was fire bombed.
In the US soldiers are dying of brain tumours and cancers, young soldiers in their early twenty's with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Children are born with missing limbs, missing eyes, missing ears, hearts on the wrong side of the body. In Iraq, the Iraqi people are displaying the same symptoms and conditions, the only difference being that they lack any form of medical treatment due to the US/UK imposed and enforced sanctions which has already led to 500,000 dead children.
In Mississippi, a survey of the families of 251 veterans of the Gulf, 67% have illness rated as severe or suffer from missing eyes, fused fingers, blood disorders, respiratory problems.
Carol Picou travelled to Iraq to see for herself the devastation. Armed with a Geiger counter, she found tanks were still highly radioactive six years after the end of the Gulf War.
During the Gulf War at least 300 tons of DU tipped munitions were fired within four days.
(cont.)
Many thousands of rounds of ammunition was fired in the Gulf War. Tank busting rounds were tipped with depleted uranium. A tip of depleted uranium packs a punch, high kinetic energy in technical jargon. An unexpected benefit, not only does it bust enemy tanks, it also gets rid of unwanted nuclear waste. On hitting a tank, or armoured vehicle, the force of impact causes the DU to vaporise, an aerosol of uranium dioxide and uranium trioxide is formed. The vehicle and the surrounding area becomes contaminated with radioactive depleted uranium dust. Clean up crews were given no warnings, issued with no protective clothing. Since the Gulf War, the US DoD has produced a video warning of the dangers of DU but few people have seen it.
Depleted uranium when alloyed with titanium forms a dense hard penetrator. The two together are pyrophoric, on impact they combust releasing an aerosol of fine uranium particles. 60% of the particles are less than 5 micron in diameter, 10 microns is a respirable size.
In Iraq, children are dying of cancers, birth defects.
Depleted uranium munitions were used in Kosovo. The areas where it was used show high levels of background radiation. 10,000 people are expected to die in Kosovo as a direct consequence of the amount of depleted uranium dumped on the country during the US/UK led humanitarian war.
Of the 40,000 British personnel who served in the Gulf, by the end of August 1999, only five had been screened by the MoD for DU contamination. British servicemen have suffered Gulf War Syndrome, but all they have met from the British government is a wall of secrecy. When files were obtained there was an attempted prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. Two Gulf War veterans had their homes raided by MoD police, computers seized. The purpose of the raid was to seize leaked documents that showed the MoD was aware of the effects of DU contamination and its connection to Gulf War Syndrome.
In the US 155,000 veterans of the Gulf War are sick, 36,000 are suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. The number who have died is unknown as the US government refuses to release the figures.
Asaf Durakovic served in the Gulf as a unit commander of a medical detachment. Later he was Professor of Nuclear and Medical Research, Chief of the Nuclear Medicine Service, a colonel in the US Army Medical Corps. Asaf Durakovic examined several veterans who had been contaminated. All the records have been lost, Asaf Durakovic has been fired.
Gulf War syndrome may be due to a number of factors, the cocktail of drugs combatants were forced to take, releases from Iraqi chemical and biological sites bombed by coalition forces, oil fires.
Carol Picou served in the Gulf. She was forced, under orders, to take drugs. She has subsequently fallen ill. Following her testimony to Congress she was forced out of the army, losing in the process her health insurance. She has received numerous anonymous threatening phone calls warning her to lay off. Valuable papers went up in flames when her car was fire bombed.
In the US soldiers are dying of brain tumours and cancers, young soldiers in their early twenty's with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Children are born with missing limbs, missing eyes, missing ears, hearts on the wrong side of the body. In Iraq, the Iraqi people are displaying the same symptoms and conditions, the only difference being that they lack any form of medical treatment due to the US/UK imposed and enforced sanctions which has already led to 500,000 dead children.
In Mississippi, a survey of the families of 251 veterans of the Gulf, 67% have illness rated as severe or suffer from missing eyes, fused fingers, blood disorders, respiratory problems.
Carol Picou travelled to Iraq to see for herself the devastation. Armed with a Geiger counter, she found tanks were still highly radioactive six years after the end of the Gulf War.
During the Gulf War at least 300 tons of DU tipped munitions were fired within four days.
(cont.)
Hunkered down in their tanks, crews are exposed to low level background radiation from the DU armour and the payload of DU shells. In an M1A1 tank a tank driver receives a radiation dose of 0.13 mrem/hr to his head from overhead DU armour. After just 32 continuous days, or 64 twelve-hour days, the amount of radiation a tank driver receives to his head will exceed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual standard for public whole-body exposure to man-made sources of radiation.
The US Army and Marine Corps deployed more than 1,900 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks during the Gulf War, plus several hundred M1 and M60 model tanks. The M1A1 tanks fire 120 mm rounds, while the M1 and M60 tanks fire 105 mm rounds. The weight of the DU penetrator dart in a 120 mm tank round is 10.7 pounds; in a 105 mm round it is 8.5 pounds. The US Army reported that a total of 14,000 DU tank rounds were expended during the war - 7,000 rounds were fired during training before the war into sand berms in Saudi Arabia; 4,000 rounds were fired during combat; and 3,000 were lost due to fires or other accidents. British Challenger tanks fired at least 100 DU tank rounds in combat.
The US Air Force A-10 fired approximately 940,000 30 mm DU rounds in combat.
DU penetrator rounds fired by American aircraft and American and British tanks destroyed approximately one-third of the 3,700 Iraqi tanks lost in battle. In addition, artillery pieces, armoured personnel carriers and other equipment destroyed by DU rounds number in the thousands. By the end of the war, an estimated 300-800 tons of uranium from spent rounds lay scattered in various sizes and states of decay across the battlefields of Iraq and Kuwait.
US tank crews were not monitored for radiation exposure during the Gulf War. Servicemen were never warned of the dangers of depleted uranium. A fire at a munitions dump was dealt with by people wearing no protective clothing. Servicemen scrambled over burnt out tanks and armoured vehicles, no one was warned of the dangers.
The US Army Chemical Command produced a book Uranium Battlefields Home and Abroad, its message could not have been clearer - 'Don't go into tanks that have been hit by depleted uranium munitions. They're radioactive.' The books were deliberately withheld until after the Gulf War.
In the grain breadbasket northern wheat-growing area around Mosul, North Iraq, the wheat is stunted blades of grass. This is a region that would normally feed nineteen million people.
Siegwart-Horst Gunther, carrying out research in Iraq on the effects of DU on the local population, especially children, found the following: considerable increase in infectious diseases caused by severe immunodeficiencies in a large part of the population, frequent occurrences of massive herpes and zoster infections, AIDS-like syndromes, an hitherto unknown syndrome caused by renal and hepatic dysfunctions, leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and malignant neoplasms, congenital deformities caused by genetic defects (also in animals). Siegwart-Horst Gunther has likened what he found to the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome (the congenital defects in Iraqi children and those of US Gulf War veterans are identical). Siegwart-Horst Gunther found children playing with DU shells, one of whom later died of leukaemia. When Siegwart-Horst Gunther attempted to bring a DU shell back to Germany for analysis he was met by a large police contingent who took the projectile away for storage in a shielded depository. He was later prosecuted and found guilty for violating Atomic Energy Law.
In former-Yugoslavia, over 1,000 children are suffering from unknown diseases: headaches, aching muscles, abdominal pains, dizziness, respiratory problems etc. Symptoms similar to Gulf War Syndrome. Several hundred are receiving hospital treatment
Throughout its air bombardment of Serbia and Kosovo, Nato maintained that its use of depleted uranium munitions posed no threat to human health. A difficult argument to maintain with what is known of the hazards of low level radiation. Also in view of what we have seen with the use of DU munitions in Iraq. More recently Nato officers 'off the record' have been forced to admit that there may be problems. At least one K-For officer has warned aid workers to stay away from sites that were attacked with DU munitions. In Kosovo, DU munitions were not only used against armour. A defence installation at Djakovica was hit with DU munitions. Somewhat perversely Nato has steadfastly refused to identify targets hit with DU munitions.
The US has admitted to firing about 10 tons of air-launched DU munitions over Kosovo. To date that fired over Serbia remains classified.
(cont.)
The US Army and Marine Corps deployed more than 1,900 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks during the Gulf War, plus several hundred M1 and M60 model tanks. The M1A1 tanks fire 120 mm rounds, while the M1 and M60 tanks fire 105 mm rounds. The weight of the DU penetrator dart in a 120 mm tank round is 10.7 pounds; in a 105 mm round it is 8.5 pounds. The US Army reported that a total of 14,000 DU tank rounds were expended during the war - 7,000 rounds were fired during training before the war into sand berms in Saudi Arabia; 4,000 rounds were fired during combat; and 3,000 were lost due to fires or other accidents. British Challenger tanks fired at least 100 DU tank rounds in combat.
The US Air Force A-10 fired approximately 940,000 30 mm DU rounds in combat.
DU penetrator rounds fired by American aircraft and American and British tanks destroyed approximately one-third of the 3,700 Iraqi tanks lost in battle. In addition, artillery pieces, armoured personnel carriers and other equipment destroyed by DU rounds number in the thousands. By the end of the war, an estimated 300-800 tons of uranium from spent rounds lay scattered in various sizes and states of decay across the battlefields of Iraq and Kuwait.
US tank crews were not monitored for radiation exposure during the Gulf War. Servicemen were never warned of the dangers of depleted uranium. A fire at a munitions dump was dealt with by people wearing no protective clothing. Servicemen scrambled over burnt out tanks and armoured vehicles, no one was warned of the dangers.
The US Army Chemical Command produced a book Uranium Battlefields Home and Abroad, its message could not have been clearer - 'Don't go into tanks that have been hit by depleted uranium munitions. They're radioactive.' The books were deliberately withheld until after the Gulf War.
In the grain breadbasket northern wheat-growing area around Mosul, North Iraq, the wheat is stunted blades of grass. This is a region that would normally feed nineteen million people.
Siegwart-Horst Gunther, carrying out research in Iraq on the effects of DU on the local population, especially children, found the following: considerable increase in infectious diseases caused by severe immunodeficiencies in a large part of the population, frequent occurrences of massive herpes and zoster infections, AIDS-like syndromes, an hitherto unknown syndrome caused by renal and hepatic dysfunctions, leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and malignant neoplasms, congenital deformities caused by genetic defects (also in animals). Siegwart-Horst Gunther has likened what he found to the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome (the congenital defects in Iraqi children and those of US Gulf War veterans are identical). Siegwart-Horst Gunther found children playing with DU shells, one of whom later died of leukaemia. When Siegwart-Horst Gunther attempted to bring a DU shell back to Germany for analysis he was met by a large police contingent who took the projectile away for storage in a shielded depository. He was later prosecuted and found guilty for violating Atomic Energy Law.
In former-Yugoslavia, over 1,000 children are suffering from unknown diseases: headaches, aching muscles, abdominal pains, dizziness, respiratory problems etc. Symptoms similar to Gulf War Syndrome. Several hundred are receiving hospital treatment
Throughout its air bombardment of Serbia and Kosovo, Nato maintained that its use of depleted uranium munitions posed no threat to human health. A difficult argument to maintain with what is known of the hazards of low level radiation. Also in view of what we have seen with the use of DU munitions in Iraq. More recently Nato officers 'off the record' have been forced to admit that there may be problems. At least one K-For officer has warned aid workers to stay away from sites that were attacked with DU munitions. In Kosovo, DU munitions were not only used against armour. A defence installation at Djakovica was hit with DU munitions. Somewhat perversely Nato has steadfastly refused to identify targets hit with DU munitions.
The US has admitted to firing about 10 tons of air-launched DU munitions over Kosovo. To date that fired over Serbia remains classified.
(cont.)
British war veterans who served as part of the Kosovo peace keeping force are planning to sue the MoD for Balkan War Syndrome. The symptoms, fatigue, chronic joint pain, are similar to Gulf War Syndrome. Belgium, who had 14,000 troops in the region, in a systematic screening programme, has identified cases of uranium contamination, even where the troops were not deployed in high risk areas. Britain is still maintaining there is no problem.
Iraqi casualties were high during the Gulf War - more than one hundred thousand troops were killed. In contrast 147 allied soldiers were killed (and over half these deaths were due to 'friendly fire'). The military have cynically manipulated the figures. Bush wanted a fast, quick war that would be over before the body count started to rise and mass political opposition could be organised. To achieve that end unprecedented firepower was poured into Iraq. The casualties will come later as combatants and their children die from depleted uranium contamination, immune deficiency and genetic disorders. The military, the politicians and the arms dealers took a calculated risk - that by the time the real casualties become apparent the issue would be too diffuse to be a political problem.
It is not in the interests of the military-industrial-complex to admit the link between Gulf War Syndrome and depleted uranium, or to admit that those who were on the battlefield will suffer long-term health effects, as to do so would be to deny the use of the latest military toy.
An unpublished report by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (1 March 1991) illustrates the cynical mindset that deploys DU munitions:
There has been and continues to be a concern regarding the impact of DU on the environment. Therefore, if no one makes a case for the effectiveness of DU on the battlefield, DU rounds may become politically unacceptable and thus be deleted from the arsenal. If DU penetrators proved their worth during our recent combat activities, then we should assure their future existence (until something better is deployed).
The secrecy surrounding Gulf War Syndrome and the use of depleted uranium is not unique. US veterans of the atomic tests, British servicemen forced to witness atomic tests, people of Utah downwind of the atomic test sites in Nevada, aborigines in Australia, Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other defoliants and the 23,000 American citizens who were injected with plutonium and literally used as human guinea pigs faced the same levels of secrecy.
It took the Pentagon 46 years to admit to the problems caused by mustard gas, 22 years to acknowledge to the problems Vietnam veterans were suffering from Agent Orange, how long before it owns up to Gulf War Syndrome and its causes?
Like anti-personnel landmines, DU weapons are unfocused, indiscriminate killers, they hit more than the primary target and remain effective on the battlefield long after the period of conflict is over. The use of DU weapons is prohibited under the terms of the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects. The use of DU weapons is also prohibited under Article 35 of Additional Protocol 1 of the 1977 Geneva Convention which states 'it is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment.'
Web Resources, sources and references at the bottom of following link:
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/du.htm
Iraqi casualties were high during the Gulf War - more than one hundred thousand troops were killed. In contrast 147 allied soldiers were killed (and over half these deaths were due to 'friendly fire'). The military have cynically manipulated the figures. Bush wanted a fast, quick war that would be over before the body count started to rise and mass political opposition could be organised. To achieve that end unprecedented firepower was poured into Iraq. The casualties will come later as combatants and their children die from depleted uranium contamination, immune deficiency and genetic disorders. The military, the politicians and the arms dealers took a calculated risk - that by the time the real casualties become apparent the issue would be too diffuse to be a political problem.
It is not in the interests of the military-industrial-complex to admit the link between Gulf War Syndrome and depleted uranium, or to admit that those who were on the battlefield will suffer long-term health effects, as to do so would be to deny the use of the latest military toy.
An unpublished report by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (1 March 1991) illustrates the cynical mindset that deploys DU munitions:
There has been and continues to be a concern regarding the impact of DU on the environment. Therefore, if no one makes a case for the effectiveness of DU on the battlefield, DU rounds may become politically unacceptable and thus be deleted from the arsenal. If DU penetrators proved their worth during our recent combat activities, then we should assure their future existence (until something better is deployed).
The secrecy surrounding Gulf War Syndrome and the use of depleted uranium is not unique. US veterans of the atomic tests, British servicemen forced to witness atomic tests, people of Utah downwind of the atomic test sites in Nevada, aborigines in Australia, Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other defoliants and the 23,000 American citizens who were injected with plutonium and literally used as human guinea pigs faced the same levels of secrecy.
It took the Pentagon 46 years to admit to the problems caused by mustard gas, 22 years to acknowledge to the problems Vietnam veterans were suffering from Agent Orange, how long before it owns up to Gulf War Syndrome and its causes?
Like anti-personnel landmines, DU weapons are unfocused, indiscriminate killers, they hit more than the primary target and remain effective on the battlefield long after the period of conflict is over. The use of DU weapons is prohibited under the terms of the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects. The use of DU weapons is also prohibited under Article 35 of Additional Protocol 1 of the 1977 Geneva Convention which states 'it is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment.'
Web Resources, sources and references at the bottom of following link:
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/du.htm
http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/du_library/health.shtmlWoodPeckr said:
Apparently, the WHO as well as the Royal College, among others, don't share *your* position.
More on this Developing Disaster
Looks like more is unfolding on just how "HARMLESS" these Depleted Uranium Munitions really are.
Sleep well world the USA's Military-Industrial-Defense Complex is in CHARGE and assures you, all is well........really they do..........
Thursday, September 30th, 2004
Daughter of Soldier Contaminated with Depleted Uranium in Iraq Born with Deformities
In a major expose in the New York Daily News, Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez uncovered the story of how a new-born baby may have suffered deformities because her father was exposed to depleted uranium while deployed as a soldier in Iraq. We are joined in our studio by Guardsman Gerard Darren Matthew and Sgt. Ray Ramos, one of the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict. [includes rush transcript]
Welcome to Democracy Now!, I'm Amy Goodman in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Juan Gonzalez in New York. For the last five months Juan, you have chronicled the plight of soldiers who have returned from Iraq with mysterious illnesses. Your exclusive groundbreaking investigation in April found that depleted uranium contamination was far more widespread in the military than the Pentagon would admit.
Well in a major expose in yesterday's Daily News, Juan you uncovered the story of how a new-born baby may have suffered deformities because her father was exposed to depleted uranium while deployed as a soldier in Iraq.
Army National Guard Specialist Gerard Darren Matthew tested positive for uranium contamination after he returned from Iraq. He suffered constant migraine headaches, blurred vision, blackouts and a burning sensation whenever he urinated. Shortly after he returned home, his wife became pregnant.
When his daughter, Victoria Claudette, was born on June 29 she was missing three fingers and most of her right hand. The family believes the deformities are a result of the depleted uranium contamination. The Daily News headlined the story "The War's Littlest Victim." Today, Gerard Darren Matthew joins us in our studio in New York. Welcome to Democracy Now!
We are also joined by Staff Sgt. Ray Ramos who was deployed in Iraq with the 442nd Military Police. He is among the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict.
Gerard Darren Matthew, Guardsman sent home from Iraq with mysterious illnesses. He tested positive for uranium contamination. Shortly after his return, his wife, Janice, became pregnant. On June 29, she gave birth to a baby girl, Victoria Claudette. The baby was missing three fingers and most of her right hand.
Ray Ramos, deployed in Iraq with the 442nd Military Police. He is among the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict.
Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now! co-host and columnist with the New York Daily News. His front-page piece in yesterday's paper is entitled "The war's littlest victim."
More on this story, with voice clips and links are found below:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/30/1411222
Looks like more is unfolding on just how "HARMLESS" these Depleted Uranium Munitions really are.
Sleep well world the USA's Military-Industrial-Defense Complex is in CHARGE and assures you, all is well........really they do..........
Thursday, September 30th, 2004
Daughter of Soldier Contaminated with Depleted Uranium in Iraq Born with Deformities
In a major expose in the New York Daily News, Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez uncovered the story of how a new-born baby may have suffered deformities because her father was exposed to depleted uranium while deployed as a soldier in Iraq. We are joined in our studio by Guardsman Gerard Darren Matthew and Sgt. Ray Ramos, one of the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict. [includes rush transcript]
Welcome to Democracy Now!, I'm Amy Goodman in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Juan Gonzalez in New York. For the last five months Juan, you have chronicled the plight of soldiers who have returned from Iraq with mysterious illnesses. Your exclusive groundbreaking investigation in April found that depleted uranium contamination was far more widespread in the military than the Pentagon would admit.
Well in a major expose in yesterday's Daily News, Juan you uncovered the story of how a new-born baby may have suffered deformities because her father was exposed to depleted uranium while deployed as a soldier in Iraq.
Army National Guard Specialist Gerard Darren Matthew tested positive for uranium contamination after he returned from Iraq. He suffered constant migraine headaches, blurred vision, blackouts and a burning sensation whenever he urinated. Shortly after he returned home, his wife became pregnant.
When his daughter, Victoria Claudette, was born on June 29 she was missing three fingers and most of her right hand. The family believes the deformities are a result of the depleted uranium contamination. The Daily News headlined the story "The War's Littlest Victim." Today, Gerard Darren Matthew joins us in our studio in New York. Welcome to Democracy Now!
We are also joined by Staff Sgt. Ray Ramos who was deployed in Iraq with the 442nd Military Police. He is among the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict.
Gerard Darren Matthew, Guardsman sent home from Iraq with mysterious illnesses. He tested positive for uranium contamination. Shortly after his return, his wife, Janice, became pregnant. On June 29, she gave birth to a baby girl, Victoria Claudette. The baby was missing three fingers and most of her right hand.
Ray Ramos, deployed in Iraq with the 442nd Military Police. He is among the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict.
Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now! co-host and columnist with the New York Daily News. His front-page piece in yesterday's paper is entitled "The war's littlest victim."
More on this story, with voice clips and links are found below:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/30/1411222
Yeah..... I know what you mean......it must only be the water.........our GOV would NEVER LIE to us.......Ranger68 said:
There will always be some agenda out there. Some to try and expose the damage done.......and others that just want to hide and conceal the damage they have done.
Pick your poison.....
Pick your poison.....
More coming out on DU Army training policy
Why Has Our Military Refused to Show This Training Video To Our Troops Now Serving In Iraq?
US ARMY TRAINING VIDEO:
Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness
Here's an interesting link & video on a US Army training video:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3581.htm
Guess this should be moved to the political forum.......
Why Has Our Military Refused to Show This Training Video To Our Troops Now Serving In Iraq?
US ARMY TRAINING VIDEO:
Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness
Here's an interesting link & video on a US Army training video:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3581.htm
Guess this should be moved to the political forum.......
It seems like non scientist are trying to draw scientific conculsions. This a very interesting thread but my take is that a) the military needs to release more information about what it may or may not know. and b) more sudies need to be done. With this the questions if the use was responsible, irresponsible, or depraven can be determined.
As it is my understanding is that all think it prudent to find where the shells exploded and remove the residue from the food chain. - not be cause the problems with radiation so much as that the other metals et. al. therein are not good to inhale of ingest.
Is there any member who is expert enough to comment???
As it is my understanding is that all think it prudent to find where the shells exploded and remove the residue from the food chain. - not be cause the problems with radiation so much as that the other metals et. al. therein are not good to inhale of ingest.
Is there any member who is expert enough to comment???
The MI Complex wouldn't Lie about this.....Would They?
Heads roll at Veterans Administration
Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed
by Bob Nichols
02/23/05 "SFBV" - - Considering the tons of depleted uranium used by the U.S., the Iraq war can truly be called a nuclear war. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.
Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated, “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.”
Bernklau continued, “This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.”
He added, “Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of ‘Disabled Vets’ means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!” The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.
“The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,” wrote Bernklau. “He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret’s report, (it) ... is far too big to hide or to cover up!”
“Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, at the VA Central Office, recently reported that ‘Gulf Era Veterans’ now on medical disability, since 1991, number 518,739 Veterans,” said Berklau.
“The long-term effects have revealed that DU (uranium oxide) is a virtual death sentence,” stated Berklau. “Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist, who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in the soldiers (from the 2003 Iraq War) as ‘spectacular … and a matter of concern!’”
When asked if the main purpose of using DU was for “destroying things and killing people,” Fulk was more specific: “I would say it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people!”
Principi could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.
References
1. Depleted uranium: “Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets: A death sentence here and abroad” by Leuren Moret, http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml
2. Veterans for Constitutional Law, 112 Jefferson Ave., Port Jefferson NY 11777, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director, (516) 474-4261, fax 516-474-1968.
3. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. Email Gary Kohls, gkohls@cpinternet.com, with “Subscribe” in the subject line.
Email Bob Nichols at bobnichols@cox.net.
Copyright: San Francisco Bay View
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8172.htm
Heads roll at Veterans Administration
Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed
by Bob Nichols
02/23/05 "SFBV" - - Considering the tons of depleted uranium used by the U.S., the Iraq war can truly be called a nuclear war. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.
Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated, “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.”
Bernklau continued, “This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.”
He added, “Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of ‘Disabled Vets’ means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!” The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.
“The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,” wrote Bernklau. “He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret’s report, (it) ... is far too big to hide or to cover up!”
“Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, at the VA Central Office, recently reported that ‘Gulf Era Veterans’ now on medical disability, since 1991, number 518,739 Veterans,” said Berklau.
“The long-term effects have revealed that DU (uranium oxide) is a virtual death sentence,” stated Berklau. “Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist, who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in the soldiers (from the 2003 Iraq War) as ‘spectacular … and a matter of concern!’”
When asked if the main purpose of using DU was for “destroying things and killing people,” Fulk was more specific: “I would say it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people!”
Principi could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.
References
1. Depleted uranium: “Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets: A death sentence here and abroad” by Leuren Moret, http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml
2. Veterans for Constitutional Law, 112 Jefferson Ave., Port Jefferson NY 11777, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director, (516) 474-4261, fax 516-474-1968.
3. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. Email Gary Kohls, gkohls@cpinternet.com, with “Subscribe” in the subject line.
Email Bob Nichols at bobnichols@cox.net.
Copyright: San Francisco Bay View
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8172.htm
