[Peace-discuss] casualty count

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Subject: D/U
>
> this came out 15 mins ago in UNObserver:
> Thousands of U.S. Troops Evacuated from Iraq for Unexplained Medical  
> Reasons, by James Conachy
>
> 2003-09-09 | Citing the US military Central Command as its source, the  
> Washington Post reported on September 2 that “more than 6,000 service  
> members” had been medically evacuated from Iraq since the launch of  
> the war. At the time, the number of combat wounded stood at 1,124. A  
> further 301 personnel had been injured in non-combat incidents such as  
> vehicle accidents. The figure of “more than 6,000” supplied to the  
> Post therefore implies that over 4,500 US troops have required  
> evacuation from Iraq for medical reasons other than combat or  
> non-combat injuries.
>
> The Washington Post article did not include any further information on  
> what is a staggering admission by the military. At no point in the  
> last six months have the American people been told that for every  
> soldier who has been killed in Iraq, at least another 15 have fallen  
> so ill that they had to be flown back to the United States. The Post  
> described the unexplained evacuations simply as the “thousands who  
> became physically or mentally ill”.
>
> The obvious questions that must be answered are: what were they  
> diagnosed with; what units are they from; what duties were they were  
> performing; what long-term effects have they suffered; and what  
> treatment are they receiving?
>
> While large numbers of the evacuations may well be for routine medical  
> reasons, such a detailed breakdown is essential. Apart from providing  
> an insight into the true impact of the war on the American troops, it  
> may provide evidence that supports the concerns among military  
> personnel and their families that service in Iraq is exposing them to  
> long-term and potentially fatal medical problems. In particular, there  
> are fears that soldiers have already died or are falling ill due to  
> their exposure to depleted uranium (DU) or the anthrax vaccine they  
> have been compelled to take.
>
> On July 31, the Army Surgeon General announced an investigation into  
> the deaths of two soldiers, Michael Tosta and Josh Neusche, and the  
> hospitalisation of another 100, diagnosed with severe pneumonia. It  
> has been established that inhaling large concentrations of  
> DU-contaminated particles damages the lungs and kidneys and can cause  
> respiratory illness. There are also recorded medical suspicions that  
> the US military’s anthrax vaccine can trigger pneumonia. In August  
> 2002, three military doctors noted in the Cardiopulmonary and Critical  
> Care Journal that a case of pneumonia in a healthy 39-year-old soldier  
> “may be due to the anthrax vaccine”.
>
> The US Department of Defense has only made public one progress report  
> on the pneumonia investigation. On August 22 it announced that it was  
> “making significant progress” in eliminating SARS and vaccines as a  
> possible cause. It revealed that 10 alleged pneumonia cases showed a  
> higher than normal number of the white blood cell eosinophils. It also  
> reported that none of the 19 most severe cases belonged to the same  
> units, that 13 had fallen ill in Iraq and that the remaining six fell  
> ill in Kuwait, Qatar, Uzbekistan, and Djibouti. The Office of the  
> Armed Forces Medical Examiner was reportedly investigating the  
> “specific cause or causes of death” of Tosta and Neusche.
>
> Since July 31, however, another soldier, Zeferino Colunga, has died  
> allegedly from pneumonia while Sergeant Richard Eaton has died from a  
> pulmonary edema or fluid in the lungs. Two other soldiers have been  
> found dead in their beds for as yet unexplained reasons.
>
> Such is the distrust of the military that the families of both Josh  
> Neusche and Colunga have demanded access to their loved ones’ medical  
> records, personal effects and blood and tissue samples, so that  
> independent medical opinions can be sought on the cause of death. The  
> families sent letters on August 12 to Secretary of Defense Donald  
> Rumsfeld stating: “We as a family are concerned that we are not being  
> told the truth.”
>
> Stephanie Tosta, the 22-year-old widow of Michael Tosta, has publicly  
> speculated the military is lying about the cause of her husband’s  
> death. She told United Press International last month: “More and more  
> I think it was the [anthrax] shots. I think they [the Army] might be  
> lying about this stuff. I really feel like it. Nobody can tell me  
> anything. If it is the shots, then of course they are lying. We just  
> want to know what happened and we have a right to know. But the Army  
> is acting like they are trying to hide something, and that just makes  
> it harder.”
>
> The family of Rachael Lacy, a young soldier who died in Kuwait on  
> April 4 from a “pneumonia-like illness” but whose death is not  
> included in the military investigation, is also alleging her death was  
> due to the anthrax vaccine. Connecticut congressman Chris Shays, who  
> chaired hearings last year on the possible side-effects of the anthrax  
> vaccination program, is reportedly monitoring the investigation into  
> the death of Sergeant Richard Eaton.
>
> The website of “Bring Them Home Now”—an organisation of military  
> families demanding the immediate withdrawal of US forces from the  
> Middle East—bluntly warns soldiers that the only guaranteed way to  
> limit the medical consequences from exposure to DU is to “get out of  
> Iraq or Afghanistan”.
>
> The groups’ statement of purpose declares: “Not one more troop killed  
> in action. Not one more troop wounded in action. Not one more troop  
> psychologically damaged by the act of terrifying, humiliating,  
> injuring or killing innocent people. Not one more troop spending one  
> more day inhaling depleted uranium. Not one more troop separated from  
> spouse and children. This is the only way to truly support these  
> troops, and the families who are just as much part of the military as  
> they are.”
> ( http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/ )
>
> The National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC), an advocacy  
> organisation for veterans of the first 1991 US war on Iraq, is  
> assisting the military families who believe they are being lied to.  
> Among the suspected causes of a range of illnesses commonly referred  
> to as “Gulf War syndrome” are DU exposure and complications triggered  
> by vaccinations. By 1999, as many as 110,000 Gulf War veterans had  
> reported health problems that they believe are due to their service in  
> Iraq.
>
> The sensitivity of the military hierarchy to the suspicions among  
> rank-and-file troops, families and veterans is demonstrated by the  
> reassurances on the official Army medical website that neither DU nor  
> the anthrax vaccine pose a health risk. (  
> http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/default2.htm ) The US government also  
> rejects any link between “Gulf War syndrome”, DU and vaccines. In 1998  
> however, the US military did finally admit that at least 436,000  
> American troops entered into areas during the first Gulf War that were  
> contaminated to some extent by DU radioactive dust.
>
> James Conachy
> Article reprinted courtesy of the World Socialist Web Site:  
> http://www.wsws.org
>
> Please See Also:
> Why are they dying? More questions over US military fatalities in Iraq
> [20 August 2003]  
> http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/aug2003/fat-a20.shtml
>
> Are American soldiers in Iraq dying due to depleted uranium?
> [4 August 2003] http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/aug2003/du-a04.shtml
>
> America’s maimed come home from Iraq
> [30 July 2003] http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/jul2003/maim-j30.shtml
>
> AND
>
> Military Families Concerned With Depleted Uranium
> Voices For Change, September 9, 2003
> http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=030908~bthn.asp
>
> Navy Coverup Alleged On Drug Side Effects
> By Mark Benjamin and Dan Olmsted
> http://www.rense.com/general41/sdsue.htm
>
> SEPTEMBER 09, 2003
> AP Staffer Fact-Checks Powell's UN Speech
> Key Claims Didn't Hold Up
> By E&P Staff
> http://editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/ 
> article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1971092
>
>