TWO Australian Soldiers Who Served In The First Iraq War Have Tested Positive to Depleted Uranium

[Jcrowley]

Iraq diggers 'contaminated with radiation'
By Rosemary Desmond
March 27, 2007 04:42pm

TWO Australian soldiers who served in the first Iraq war have tested positive to depleted uranium (DU) contamination despite assurances from the Federal Government they had not been exposed, an anti-nuclear group said today. Any such admission from the Government would leave it open to millions of dollars in compensation, said Pauline Rigby, project co-ordinator for the group Depleted Uranium Silent Killer (DUSK).

Urine samples from each of the men, who served in different areas of Iraq, were sent last year for uranium isotope analysis at the JW Goethe University in Germany at a cost of $1200 each under the auspices of DUSK and the Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC) in Canada, Ms Rigby said.

<snip>

It's going to be Agent Orange all over again, except this time it's going to be a little bit worse because the mutations go into the general community from blood and organ donations."

<snip>

Frank's wife, from whom he is now separated, had cervical cancer and burning semen syndrome, a condition reported by American Gulf War veterans or their sexual partners since returning from the Persian Gulf.

<snip>

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0%2C21985%2C21456111-5005961%2C00.html

[seemslikeadream]

1. 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability.

http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/01/mushrooming_dep.html



Here is the living proof of what every returning soldier faces after spending time in Iraq and Afghanistan - and Kosovo. Mutant babies. And for every one such American baby, there are hundreds of Iraqi babies.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by Bob Nichols, SF Bay View
January 21, 2006

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.
_______________

Bob Nichols is a Project Censored Award Winner.

[PreacherCasey]

5. Jesus Christ. This world on the whole is completely insane.

:cry:

[PDJane]

2. This time, they're sending them back

for five and six tours, exposed to this crap.

And DON'T tell me that the government doesn't know, because they do. This is another item for the war crimes tribunals.

Don't forget the piece in Salon; apparently the army is sending seriously injured troops for training and back to Iraq.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/26/fort_irwin/

I personally think the idea is to lessen the impact of "excess mortality" on the Pentagon's budget, but that may be needlessly cynical.

[bananas]

6. Cannon fodder.

Those cannons have to graze on something.

[Hekate]

3. KnR. Man's inhumanity to man redux.

:cry:

Hekate

[seemslikeadream]

4. He has been here

http://nobravery.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

No Bravery

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

Houses burnt beyond repair.
The smell of death is in the air.
A woman weeping in despair says,
He has been here.
Tracer lighting up the sky.
It's another families' turn to die.
A child afraid to even cry out says,
He has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
But no one asks the question why,
He has been here.
Old men kneel and accept their fate.
Wives and daughters cut and raped.
A generation drenched in hate.
Yes, he has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

James Blunt

[Jcrowley]

8. Is it for freedom?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5764491652159571047

Is It For Freedom?


Rulers of the nations as you fuss and fight
Over who owns this or that and who has the right
To design, build, sell and store and fire
All the bombs and guns to defend your holy empire

There are children hungry, children sick and dying
There are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers crying
They’re only pawns in your play of power and corruption
Slowly starve them, your new weapon of mass destruction

And prove to me, America, that you care
And prove to me, America, you’re aware
Who’s dying for your freedom in this land
Who pays the cost for the liberties you demand

Is it for freedom, or our comfort and convenience
Is it to profit for big business we pledge our allegiance
Are we prisoners in the land of the brave and the bold?
Held by indifference or hearts grown hard and cold (refrain)

Children of the world, you have the right
To sing and dance, run and play, let your dreams take flight
As the innocent die you rulers carry the shame
And if we stand idly by we share in the blame

And oh, America, do we care
Oh, America, are we aware
Who’s dying for our comfort in this land
Who pays the cost for the convenience we demand?

Children of the world, you have the right
To sing and dance, run and play, let your dreams take flight

- Sara Thomsen

[benld74]

7. Dear Pentagon, Get F*UCKED!

[juno jones]

9. They hid this shit after Bush 1...

Gulf War syndrome has been in the background since the first round of this conflict. Of course, it takes another country complaining about it to finally bring it to light. It's worse now of course, with the re-deployments. I know a couple of older guys who went over in GW1 as consultants. They are very ill now, and their wives are sick as well...

[OneBlueSky]

10. wanna bet that our veterans aren't even tested for this shit? . . . even if . . .

their symptoms are indicative of possible DU contamination? . . . I've certainly never heard of such testing . . .