Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 22:23:32 -0500 (EST)
From: "Liam R.Flynn" <trinity-AT-hot-shot.com>
Subject: M-G: gulf war contamination


> (Redirected by Thomas P.Murray <tmurpat-AT-sprynet.com>)
>                                                                 global
village.wireless.service.

> *********** BEGIN REDIRECTED MESSAGE ***********
> 
> >Return-Path: <bfacundo-AT-worldnet.att.net>
> >Reply-To: <bfacundo-AT-worldnet.att.net>
> >From: "Blanca Facundo" <bfacundo-AT-worldnet.att.net>
> >To: "Fred Chase" <iww-AT-igc.apc.org>
> >Subject: Fw: NEW Casulties (FYI)
> >Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 07:37:10 -0500
> >X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
> >
> >
> >
> >----------
> >> From: Blasini, Roland <RBLASINI-AT-radar.sc.whecn.edu>
> >> To: 'coqui-AT-tribaltech.poly.edu'
> >> Subject: NEW Casulties (FYI)
> >> Date: Sunday, November 16, 1997 1:38 AM
> >> 
> >> Saludos Lectores de COQUI:
> >> 
> >>     Adjunto la siguiente informacion como 
> >> SERVICIO PUBLICO, es un articulo publicado 
> >> en "The Nation."
> >> 
> >>     Cuyo contenido NO ES APTO para
> >> militares activos, y sus familares.
> >> 
> >>     Hasta Luego.
> >> 
> >>    Roland Blasini
> >>    Sheridan College
> >>    Business and Social Science Division
> >>    P.O. Box 1500
> >>    Sheridan, Wyoming 82801
> >> .  Disclaimer: The views expressed are my OWN.
> >>    Copyright Notice: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 1997.
> >> 
> >> ENCLOSURE:
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> > The Gulf War's New Casualties 
> >> > 
> >> > Tales of sickness from the Pentagon's own weaponry, made of
> >depleted
> >> > uranium. 
> >> > 
> >> > By Bill Mesler 
> >> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >> > --
> >> > 
> >> > 
> >> > It was perhaps the most toxic "conventional" war in history. Huge
> >oil
> >> > fires
> >> > burned for weeks. A new nerve-gas vaccine was administered to
> >G.I.s.
> >> > Chemical weapons were released into a harsh desert environment as
> >> > enemy
> >> > stockpiles were detonated. But six years after the last shots
> >were
> >> > fired in
> >> > the Gulf War, little has been said about U.S. soldiers sickened
> >by the
> >> > military's use of antitank shells made from depleted uranium
> >(D.U.), a
> >> > toxic radioactive waste. 
> >> > 
> >> > Gulf War Syndrome is suddenly a hot issue. A report to be
> >released any
> >> > day
> >> > now by the General Accounting Office is sharply critical of White
> >> > House and
> >> > Pentagon handling of inquiries into it. Feeling the heat from as
> >many
> >> > as
> >> > 80,000 veterans requesting special government checkups,
> >Representative
> >> > Christopher Shays' subcommittee of the Government Reform and
> >Oversight
> >> > Committee is conducting an inquiry of its own into the medical
> >> > maladies
> >> > arising from the Gulf War. But while the Pentagon admits, after
> >years
> >> > of
> >> > stonewalling, that upwards of 20,000 U.S. troops were exposed to
> >> > chemical
> >> > weapons, it has claimed that only a relatively small number of
> >these
> >> > troops
> >> > -- about sixty -- were exposed to dangerous levels of D.U. 
> >> > 
> >> > This is untrue, says Doug Rokke, until earlier this year the
> >> > Pentagon's
> >> > main expert on D.U. During the Gulf War, the health physicist was
> >a
> >> > member
> >> > of the Army's D.U. Assessment Team, measuring contamination on
> >the
> >> > battlefield; later he became director of the Pentagon's D.U.
> >Project,
> >> > carrying out testing of the new weapon in Nevada. He even put
> >together
> >> > almost all of the Pentagon's training materials on D.U., which
> >have
> >> > yet to
> >> > be seen by all combat troops despite a 1993 Congressional order
> >to
> >> > that
> >> > effect. 
> >> > 
> >> > Rokke told The Nation he believes the Pentagon brass "have made a
> >> > political
> >> > decision and are totally unwilling to recognize that there are
> >health
> >> > consequences of the use of depleted uranium in the Gulf War."
> >Neither
> >> > the
> >> > G.A.O. report nor the latest hearings are likely to pierce the
> >> > Pentagon's
> >> > protective armor on the subject. Those at risk, said Rokke, who
> >has
> >> > developed signs of uranium poisoning himself, include "anybody
> >> > involved in
> >> > friendly fire incidents, rescue personnel that transported or
> >moved
> >> > equipment, soldiers in or near vehicles hit by D.U., soldiers who
> >> > entered
> >> > bunkers hit by D.U., all maintenance people who worked on
> >> > D.U.-contaminated
> >> > vehicles, or curiosity seekers who entered the vehicles after the
> >> > shooting." In other words, thousands of U.S. troops, none of whom
> >have
> >> > been
> >> > told. 
> >> > 
> >> > Rounds made from depleted uranium proved incredibly effective in
> >> > piercing
> >> > tank armor. At least 4,000 large-caliber rounds were fired by
> >U.S. M1
> >> > Abrams tanks and 960,000 smaller-caliber rounds by the A-10
> >Warthog
> >> > "tank
> >> > killer" airplane. "We found out real fast that the [D.U.]
> >penetrator
> >> > devastated anything it hit -- bunkers, trucks, tanks, anything,"
> >says
> >> > Michael Stacy, a gun loader in an Abrams tank in the 2nd Armored
> >> > Division.
> >> > It was, said Rokke, as revolutionary a new weapon as the machine
> >gun.
> >> > But
> >> > what makes D.U. so effective on the battlefield also makes it
> >> > exceedingly
> >> > dangerous: It is pyrophoric, burning on contact. People can
> >inhale the
> >> > D.U.
> >> > dust or be hit by shrapnel. So not only is the shrapnel
> >radioactive
> >> > but
> >> > there is significant risk to anyone who inhales the burning D.U.
> >or
> >> > inhales
> >> > or ingests the dust left behind [see Mesler, "The Pentagon's
> >> > Radioactive
> >> > Bullet," October 21, 1996, and "Pentagon Poison," May 26, 1997;
> >and
> >> > this
> >> > issue's "Letters"]. 
> >> > 
> >> > The long-term risk is lung and bone cancer. The more immediate
> >risks
> >> > associated with D.U. include kidney and respiratory problems and
> >> > dermatitis. Rokke -- with kidney stones, a chronic cough (despite
> >> > never
> >> > smoking) and severe dermatitis -- has all three. "These are the
> >> > classic
> >> > symptoms of uranium exposure, the things you see in any medical
> >> > textbook,"
> >> > says Rokke. And it's not just him: Several of the original
> >members of
> >> > the
> >> > Army's D.U. Assessment Team are sick with medical problems
> >commonly
> >> > associated with uranium exposure. (The Pentagon declined to
> >comment
> >> > for
> >> > this story.) 
> >> > 
> >> > "The Pentagon thinks the problems associated with depleted
> >uranium
> >> > will
> >> > just go away if it doesn't talk about it," says Rokke, who
> >stopped
> >> > working
> >> > for the Army in January. But what really upsets him is the fact
> >that
> >> > the
> >> > training materials he prepared for the Army are still not being
> >> > distributed
> >> > to all U.S. combat forces. "Soldiers, sailors and airmen may be
> >put in
> >> > harm's way because they don't know the simple safety procedures
> >that
> >> > will
> >> > permit mission completion in a D.U. environment," he says. 
> >> > 
> >> > Until a couple of weeks before the air war started, Rokke, who
> >served
> >> > in
> >> > the command and control unit for preventive medicine in the
> >Persian
> >> > Gulf,
> >> > had no idea that the Army was using D.U. rounds. He quickly
> >realized
> >> > "we
> >> > had a problem, but we didn't know what to do about it. And our
> >main
> >> > concern
> >> > then was getting everybody up to speed on chemical weapons." 
> >> > 
> >> > As soon as the shooting stopped, soldiers swarmed over the
> >> > D.U.-contaminated equipment. "We were all over those vehicles,"
> >says
> >> > Stacy,
> >> > who has had kidney and stomach problems since he returned from
> >the
> >> > war. "We
> >> > were like kids in a candy store. We crawled around in those
> >bunkers.
> >> > We
> >> > crawled in those tanks." 
> >> > 
> >> > When the war was over, it was becoming clear that the Army had a
> >> > problem.
> >> > First, there were the veterans who were hit by D.U. shrapnel or
> >were
> >> > in
> >> > U.S. vehicles when they were hit; there were hundreds of
> >> > D.U.-contaminated
> >> > Iraqi vehicles and dozens of contaminated U.S. vehicles hit by
> >> > friendly
> >> > fire; and there were thousands of radioactive rounds of D.U.
> >spread
> >> > out
> >> > over the desert sands of Iraq and Kuwait. According to one memo
> >from
> >> > Lieut.
> >> > Col. Gregory Lyle of the Defense Nuclear Agency written soon
> >after the
> >> > end
> >> > of the ground war: "As Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), ground
> >> > combat
> >> > units, and the civilian populations of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and
> >Iraq
> >> > come
> >> > increasingly into contact with DU ordnance, we must prepare to
> >deal
> >> > with
> >> > the potential problems. Toxic war souvenirs, political furor, and
> >post
> >> > conflict clean-up...are only some of the issues that must be
> >> > addressed.
> >> > Alpha particles (uranium oxide dust) from expended rounds is a
> >health
> >> > concern but Beta particles from fragments and intact rounds is a
> >> > serious
> >> > health threat, with a possible exposure rate of 200 millirems per
> >hour
> >> > on
> >> > contact. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's maximum limit for
> >> > radiation
> >> > exposure is 100 millirems per year." 
> >> > 
> >> > "We were out there with pretty perfunctory equipment," says Dave
> >> > Nelson, a
> >> > civilian health physicist who was contracted to do D.U.-related
> >> > cleanup
> >> > work in the gulf and became a member of the Pentagon's D.U.
> >Assessment
> >> > Team. "I didn't have any air monitoring equipment. We didn't wear
> >> > respirators. We certainly didn't wear any protective suits." Soon
> >> > after
> >> > Nelson returned from the gulf, he developed kidney problems,
> >> > dermatitis and
> >> > sleep apnia. 
> >> > 
> >> > In 1994, the Army conducted new tests to determine how soldiers
> >could
> >> > be
> >> > exposed to D.U. in combat. When these were performed, "the
> >> > contamination
> >> > levels were much greater than we ever found in Saudi Arabia,"
> >says
> >> > Rokke.
> >> > "We realized that we never measured vehicles for contamination
> >until
> >> > they
> >> > were transported through the desert with the wind blowing." 
> >> > 
> >> > "D.U. is a piece of a larger puzzle," Rokke points out. "Soldiers
> >were
> >> > exposed to a complex mixture of environmental problems. And the
> >mixed
> >> > effect of D.U. combined with those other hazards is unknown. What
> >> > happens
> >> > if you give a person P.B. [nerve-gas vaccine] tablets, then spray
> >> > pesticides, and then expose them to chemical weapons while you're
> >> > firing
> >> > D.U.? Nobody knows. But this isn't just a Gulf War issue. The
> >most
> >> > important thing is that the next time soldiers go into combat
> >with
> >> > D.U.,
> >> > they know what they are dealing with and how to protect
> >themselves
> >> > from
> >> > unnecessary harm. 
> >> > 
> >> > 
> >> > Bill Mesler is a reporter working with the Investigative Fund of
> >The
> >> > Nation
> >> > Institute.
> >> _______________________________________________________
> >
> >
> 
> *********** END REDIRECTED MESSAGE ***********

                                       Liam R.Flynn
                                  liam-AT-stones.com
                                       ICQ*5031073
                  
                 


     --- from list marxism-general-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---