[Peace-discuss] Statement in Support of Urbana City Council

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Statement of Dr. Doug Rokke, Major, Medical Service Corps, U.S. Army Reserve  
in support of  proposed Urbana City Council "Resolution Opposing War Against 
Iraq". 

I am a disabled combat veteran of the Vietnam War and Gulf War I.  The 
weapons and combat techniques used during Gulf War I resulted in extensive 
environmental contamination with over 221000 U.S. combat veterans now on VA 
disability and over 10000 dead as result of combat injuries and exposures. 
This represents almost 1/3 of the force.  The world wide casualty count now 
exceeds 2 million while medical care and environmental remediation are 
ignored. Urbana residents and those of surrounding communities are ill and 
some have died as a consequence of Gulf War I duties. However, combat 
veterans must fight for adequate medical care that the Danville/ Illiana VA 
and community health resources are unable to provide. Today, Congressman 
Johnson's staff still is attempting to force the VA to provide care for Gulf 
war I casualties while DOD enters another unjustified war. In too many cases, 
Gulf War I veterans including too many from our community have been denied 
care with terrible consequences.  Today, all evidence indicates that U.S. 
forces will once more use depleted uranium munitions, destroy Iraq's 
infrastructure, detonate with incomplete destruction and thus spread any 
discovered weapons of mass destruction in place, kill noncombatants, and 
cause unacceptable collateral damage through out the Persian Gulf region.  
Department of Defense officials have acknowledged that they are sending 
troops into combat with defective gas masks and chemical protection suits and 
still continue with combat plans. Our community emergency response agencies 
are also unprepared to respond to any consequent incident caused by Gulf War 
II.  As a U.S. Army officer; Gulf War I and Army expert in nuclear, 
biological, and chemical warfare; member of Gulf War I theater medical 
command staff, the Army health physicist who cleaned up depleted uranium 
contamination, counter-terrorism instructor, and as an U.S. Army medical 
intelligence and operations officer who helped plan Gulf War II, I must 
request and urge the Urbana City Council to pass the Resolution Opposing War 
Against Iraq because we cannot deal with the adverse health and environmental 
consequences of war.  War has become obsolete and if we support the 
administration and thus send the pride of our community into this toxic 
wasteland for an illegal preemptive attack our lives will be affected for 
decades. I must emphasize that opposing war is pro-veteran and warrior 
because it preserves life. Thank you.