Veterans’ Rare Cancers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefields (the other DU)

[babylonsister]

Veterans’ Rare Cancers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefields
by R. B. Stuart

WASHINGTON - In the wake of an Iraqi official last month blaming America’s use of depleted uranium munitions in its 2003 “Shock and Awe” campaign for a surge in cancer there, the Defense Department is facing an October deadline for providing a comprehensive report to Congress on the health effects of such weapons.

The report is required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, which President Bush signed into law last year.

The request for the study is an outgrowth of claims by Iraq war veterans that exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic substances there has negatively affected their health and that, therefore, their illnesses should be recognized as war-related and the treatment covered by the Veterans Administration.0806 04 1

Currently, the State Department’s Web site says fears about adverse health effects of depleted uranium, or DU, are “unwarranted,” and it lists worries about DU under a section called “identifying misinformation.”

The site says the American military uses the material in ammunition “to take advantage of its unsurpassed ability to penetrate armored vehicles,” and it cites four separate studies - by NATO, the Rand Corporation, the European Commission, and the World Health Organization - that found no evidence of adverse health effects from depleted uranium.

Even so, worries persist. According to Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat of Washington who pushed for the report from the Pentagon, “There are countless stories of mysterious illnesses, higher rates of serious illnesses, and even birth defects. We do not know what role, if any, DU plays in the medical tragedies in Iraq, but we must find out.”

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/06/3010/

[MasonJar]

1. And this means what for the Iraqi people? This is second time the good

old USofA has used depleted uranium against the country. We are indeed the "evil empire"!

[Decruiter]

2. And so it finally begins again.

I've been telling everyone for years now Depleted Uranium is going to put the Agent Orange disaster to shame.

I was privileged to be in the audience of a few people in Dallas when the pastor of the Mennonite Church in Dallas had him come and speak.
It was in 2003 or 2004.

Look up Doug Rokke and the TrapRock Peace Center.

Doug Rokke was in charge of cleaning up DU after the first Gulf War.

Our military men and women are so screwed and I am so sorry for we as citizens have allowed to happen.

Now, lets all go shopping and take our families to Disneyland, we'll all feel better.

[acmavm]

3. Good thing the poor guys will have veterans medical benefits

to rely on, huh? :sarcasm:

[Karenina]

4. Poison 'em ALL, Iraqi or Ami

No need to sort...