[Peace-discuss] Olean N.Y. Times Herald editorial

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

ECKSTROM: Hot ammo hasn’t been hot topic of discussion 

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=386&dept_id=444925&newsid=6907854&PAG=4

61&rfi=9
  
 02/02/2003 
  
Jim Eckstrom
Editor of The Times Herald

My early reaction was to look for holes in his story, to somehow discern a 
way to discount the claims of Dr. Doug Rokke as an anti-war quack enlisted by 
the mobilizing peace movement in the country.
But as the lecture at St. Bonaventure University Thursday night went on it 
was hard not to take note of what he was saying and, while the information 
wasn’t totally new, to really listen for the first time. 
Dr. Rokke was discussing the U.S. military’s use of depleted-uranium 
ammunition — tank-busting ordnance that pierces armor and then detonates in 
searing explosions — an issue which has barely registered in the U.S. while a 
small group of scientists swears it is the cause of thousands of illnesses in 
Gulf War veterans, not to mention civilians where the weapons have been used.
Dr. Rokke, a nuclear physicist and major in the Army Reserves, was a 
hand-picked Army expert on cleanup of radioactive debris when he was exposed 
to depleted uranium on a Persian Gulf War battlefield. Looking more like a 
rumpled professor (actually, that’s exactly what he is) than a Reserve 
officer who still speaks with reverence of the “American warrior,” he stakes 
his career and reputation on the claims while warning that the Pentagon fully 
intends to use a greater concentration of DU weapons if (when?) military 
action against Iraq commences.
Dr. Rokke talked about his own health problems, which he is convinced are the 
result of DU exposure, and he almost quivers with frustration when discussing 
the neglect American soldiers have been subjected to when seeking treatment 
for their illnesses. He said DU caused many of the more than 206,000 cases of 
Gulf War Syndrome reported by veterans of the Gulf War; 8,000 veterans have 
died. Two members of his Gulf War team, good friends, are dead from cancer.
Dr. Rokke said it’s a travesty that, despite the increased use of 
depleted-uranium ordnance expected in the almost-imminent conflict, U.S. 
military gas masks and protective clothing are useless in keeping out DU 
particles. He said he expects DU to permeate battlefield sites.
The Pentagon denounces Dr. Rokke as a liar and insists soldiers are safe from 
DU exposure. Gulf War Syndrome? That’s discounted as a mass case of 
goldbricking, soldiers seeking disability benefits.
Perhaps.
Perhaps the professor, Army officer and veteran of two wars (Vietnam being 
the other) with rapidly developed cataracts and kidney problems is lying 
while the Pentagon, which over the decades has covered up, lied about or 
ignored exposing soldiers to radiation, syphilis and Agent Orange is telling 
the truth this time.
Why hasn’t the effects of DU and it alleged connection to Gulf War Syndrome 
been more widely reported?
John Hanchette, the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for Gannett who covered 
the story and now a professor at St. Bonaventure, participated in the program 
and his explanation was simple. With the Pentagon unwilling to discuss the 
matter there are few credible sources, so the story dries up. Meanwhile, 
calls might be made to editors in an effort to discredit reporters attempting 
to pursue the story and, for some journalists, it becomes easier to turn to 
something else, like politics.
One wonders how U.S. troops feel about the potential exposure to DU. Dr. 
Rokke said if they are aware of the dangers, being young and having the sense 
of invincibility, he doubts they give it much thought. He also noted the 
military doesn’t give much thought to the long-term effects DU can have on a 
battlefield, contamination that can effect civilians for years to come.
After Vietnam, morale and the overall quality of our military sank low. By 
the late ’70s, according to the military’s own assessments, effectiveness 
was alarmingly sub par. An overhaul of our armed forces was adopted and, with 
a new commitment to improvement, the pendulum swung the other way.
Modest successes in Grenada and Panama lent even more momentum to the new 
high tide of our military. With the Persian Gulf War, in all its 
made-for-prime-time-TV glory, our armed forces reached a new apex of 
excellence that, by all appearances, has remained through today.
The military isn’t doing itself any favors if it’s beginning to see troops 
as expendable parts that are secondary to newer and better ways to kill the 
enemy.

(Jim Eckstrom is managing editor of The Times Herald.) 
 
©The Times Herald, Olean, N.Y. 2003