My Little Cousin is in Iraq! What the hell is a "burn pit?"

[goclark]

I just learned today that he was notified that his location, BALAD, is the site of a "burn pit" that is one of the "worst environmental sites."

I hate this war,not just because of my precious cousin!

We can't even imagine all the health issues that will go unnoticed after this UGLY Bush WAR is forced to end!

[Rick Myers]

1. It's exactly what it sounds like...

A hole in the ground to burn just about ANYTHING, including chemicals, pesticides. Hell, there ain't no law in Iraq, toss it in the burn pit.

[whistle]

2. In Nazi Germany it was were all of the holocaust victims were burned

....so it could be where the 2.5 million Iraqi corpses from the beginning of this war are being disposed of. Please keep us posted.

[MADem]

5. That's not true. Those bastards used ovens. NT

[TheWraith]

6. Both were used at times by the Nazis, as well as mass graves. However, ovens predominated. NT.

[MADem]

7. Well, the whole statement was hogwash. It's a trash dump, not a crematorium. NT

[TheWraith]

8. True. Also, there aren't even close to 2.5 million dead. More like 700k. NT.

[razors edge]

3. That will all biodagrade

long before the DU reaches it's half life.

[MADem]

4. It's a garbage dump where they burn stuff as opposed to doing a landfill type operation

BURN PIT — Smoke billows in from all sides as Sgt. Richard Ganske pushes a bulldozer deep into the flames of the burn pit on Logistics Support Area Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. Ganske is assigned to the 84th Combat Engineer Battalion, which uses heavy equipment to dispose of the installation's refuse. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Abel Trevino

Read all about it, here: http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/oct2004/a102104c.html

[roody]

9. In the film "Iraq for Sale" a soldier says that

they throw brand new computers into the burn pit because they were the wrong kind. Halliburton bills for cost plus, so they make lots of money on it.

[goclark]

11. Is that sick or what!

Bet Halliburton runs the Burn Pits too. :puke:

[walldude]

16. Beat me to it. According to that soldier they were burning

literally tons of brand new stuff. Why? Because the taxpayers are covering it so who cares. They were talking about trucks needing minor repairs left on the side of the road, 50 tons of the wrong size nails being buried in the sand, when that movie was over I was so pissed I couldn't see straight.

[rec_report]

10. Kick. n/t

n/t

[Solon]

12. Its a trash pit that's burned occasionally, when needed...

I had a co-worker who was a veteran of Gulf War 1, and he described a burn pit as a trash pit, that, when full, they would throw a mixture of diesel/gasoline, 4 parts diesel, 1 part gasoline, I think, on it and light it up. He said that one of the soldiers screwed up the mix once, reversing the mix, and the ensuing explosion knocked them all off their feet, though he said no one was seriously hurt.

[goclark]

13. Thanks for the information

about a previous War.

I am so upset.

[Solon]

14. I think the reason for such pits is practical...

Even if not environmentally safe. I don't know if they always dug the things upwind of most settlements or camps, but, considering that they threw EVERYTHING in those things, can you imagine the toxic fumes that come up from burning plastic and styrofoam? That shit, by itself, can kill people, just burning it. Not to mention what it would do to the area, they probably thought: "Hey its a desert, who care about a few lizards dying", I really hate that attitude.

[dkofos]

15. tell him to keep his gas mask handy and wear it often

[goclark]

17. Thanks for letting us know, we will tell him right away nt