No subject
Sun Feb 8 03:56:54 CST 2004
and be swallowed. The effects would be local irritation just as in the
bronchi and exposures of the same amount would be required. The stomach,
caecum and rectum, where contents remain for longer periods than elsewhere
would be most likely affected. It is conceivable that ulcers and
perforations of the gut followed by death could be produced, even without an
general effects from radiation". Verified adverse health effects from
personal experience, reported by physicians, and from personal reports from
individuals with known DU exposures include: (a) Reactive airway disease, (b)
neurological abnormalities, (c) kidney stones and chronic kidney pain, (d)
rashes, (e) vision degradation, cataracts, and night vision losses, (f) gum
tissue and teeth problems, (g) lymphoma, (h) various forms of skin and organ
cancer, (I) neuro-psychological disorders, (j) uranium in semen, (k) sexual
dysfunction, and (l) birth defects in offspring. Similar health effects also
have been documented in uranium processing facility employees of and
residents living near Puducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio; Los Alamos, New
Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington who made the DU.
Employees at uranium manufacturing or processing facilities in New York,
Tennessee, Iowa, Massachusetts, and the four corners area of southwest
Colorado also have repeatedly reported health effects similar to those
reported by verified Gulf War DU casualties. Iraqi and other humanitarian
agency physicians are reporting the same health effects in exposed
populations. Scottish scientists recently verified that residents of the
Balkans were excreting uranium in their urine. This indicates that the
uranium is mobile in the environment and is more evidence to support what we
found during the DU tests in 1994 and 1995. Consequently we can not ignore
the serious adverse health effects from DU exposures and these known effects
substantiate the banning of DU munitions.
As a result of the 1993 GAO report, congressional inquiries, our
recommendations, and an increase in observed adverse health and environmental
effects; I was recalled to active duty in the United States Army as Director
of the Depleted Uranium Project. I supervised the research to verify DU
hazards and processing procedures and to develop the training and education
and formal guidelines for management of DU contaminated equipment,
facilities, and terrain. The products of the DU project included: Three
training curricula: (1) Tier I: General Audience, (2) Tier II: Battle Damage
and Recovery Operations, (3) Tier III: Chemical Officer / NCO; Three video
tapes: (1) "Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness", (2) "Contaminated and Damaged
Equipment Management", and (3) "Operation of the AN/PDR 77 Radiac Set"; the
draft Army Regulation: "Management of Equipment Contaminated with Depleted
Uranium or Radioactive Commodities"; an United States Army Pamphlet
specifying "Handling Procedures for Equipment Contaminated with Depleted
Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" and a redesigned radiac capable of
finding and quantifying DU contamination.
The recommendations that I derived and issued, based on extensive research
and first hand experience were:
1. All DU contamination must be physically removed and properly
disposed of to prevent future exposures.
2. Specialized radiation detection devices that detect and measure alpha
particles,
beta particles, x-rays, and gamma rays emissions at appropriate levels from
20 dpm up to 100,000 dpm and from .1 mrem/ hour to 75 mrem/ hour must be
acquired and distributed to all individuals or organizations responsible for
medical care and environmental remediation activities involving depleted
uranium / uranium 238 and other low level radioactive isotopes that may be
present. Standard equipment will not detect contamination.
3. Medical care must be provided to all individuals who did or may have
inhaled,
ingested, or had wound contamination to detect mobile and sequestered
internalized uranium contamination.
4. All individuals who enter, climb on, or work within 25 meters of any
contaminated equipment or terrain must wear respiratory and skin protection.
5. Contaminated and damaged equipment or materials should not be
recycled to manufacture new materials or equipment.
The United States Army's own task performance standards for exposure to DU
are very specific and require both respiratory and skin protection. They also
state that quote
"NOTE: Contamination will make food and water unsafe for consumption" end
quote.
The specific task performance requirements are that individual can quote"
Evaluation Preparation
HANDS-ON EVALUATION DATE:
TASK TITLE TASK NUMBER
Respond To Depleted Uranium/Low Level Radioactive Materials (Dullram)
Hazards (SL 1-4) 031-503-1017
ITEM PERFORMANCE STEP TITLE (CIRCLE ONE)
1 Identified possible hazards GO / NO GO
NOTE: Method used depends on scenario selected
2 Assumed field expedient respiratory protection cravat/handkerchief)
immediately or donned protective mask as required GO / NO GO
3 Warned others of DULLRAM hazard GO / NO GO
a. Alerted other crew members or individuals within 50 meters of the
possible DULLRAM hazard GO / NO GO
b. Got out of vehicle and seek shelter if vehicle or munitions are on
fire GO / NO GO
4 Protected himself from contact with DULLRAM
a. Administered first aid
(1) Flushed open wounds with water.
(2) Covered open wounds with field dressing.
Did not attempt to remove any imbedded fragments
b. Covered exposed skin within 50 meters of hazard (pulled down sleeves,
bloused pants, put on MOPP gloves, and buttoned up coat)
c. Sealed loose contamination on equipment surfaces GO / NO GO
GO / NO GO
GO / NO GO
5 Reported suspected contamination to supervisor GO / NO GO
Score the soldier GO if all performance measures are passed. Score the
soldier NO GO if any performance measure is failed. If the soldier scores NO
GO, show the soldier what was done wrong and how to do it correctly. Allow
the soldier time to retrain and retest.
EVALUATOR'S NAME UNIT:
SOLDIER'S NAME STATUS:
GO / NO GO
End quote. It is very important to note that respiratory and skin protection
must be worn by all individuals who are or may be exposed to DU
contamination. If this is required for United States Army personnel then it
must required for all citizens of the world. Of special significance is that
Army officials acknowledge that DU contamination will make water and food
unsafe as specified during October 1943. Consequently, it is apparent the
use of DU munitions is simply too dangerous to use even by the U.S. Army's
own safety standards.
Today, eleven years after the extensive use of depleted uranium munitions
during the Gulf War, followed by use of DU in the Balkans; on Vieques, Puerto
Rico in preparation for combat use in the Balkans, in Okinawa, and on many
military installations around the world; visual evidence, personal
experience, and published reports verify that:
1. Medical care has not been provided to all DU casualties.
2. Environmental remediation has not been completed.
3. Contaminated and damaged equipment and materials have been recycled to
manufacture new products.
4. Training and education has only been partially implemented.
5. Contamination management procedures have not been distributed and
implemented. The denials about DU hazards although obvious were and still
are guided by the infamous Los Alamos memorandum
(http://www.spidersmill.com/gwvrl/los_alamos.htm) that was sent to our team
in Saudi Arabia during March 1991. The author of this memorandum acknowledged
serious health and environmental hazards but wrote that we should only report
those findings that would permit the continued use DU munitions. IN OTHER
WORDS LIE!
If we use DU munitions again in areas already contaminated or any new
location then we will cause additional health problems and environmental
contamination. Consequently, as a scientist, educator, and military officer
who was given the responsibility by United States Army officials to clean up
the DU mess; I must issue the following recommendation to the citizens of the
world.
As the military and civilian leaders of the United States and Great Britain
contemplate preemptive attacks on the nation of Iraq; the citizens of the
world, all humanitarian agencies, the United Nations, and all concerned law
abiding governments of the world must raise a unified voice to ban the use of
depleted uranium munitions and force those nations that have used depleted
uranium munitions to recognize the immoral consequences of their actions and
assume responsibility for medical care and thorough environmental
remediation. A nation's military personnel cannot willfully contaminate any
other nation, cause harm to persons and the environment then ignore the
consequences of their actions. To do so is a crime against GOD and
humanity!!! WE MUST DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR GOD AND THE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD
--- BAN DU !!!
PART 2: George Angus Parker's comments
My name is George Angus Parker. I am a British Gulf Veteran.
The above warning issued by Professor Doug Rokke is a chilling reminder that
war is nothing more than a monument to the incompetence of politicians and
their advisors. His concerns regarding the misuse of depleted nuclear waste
(Depleted Uranium - DU) as a weapon of conventional warfare are those of a
very knowledgeable scientist, who has witnessed and made actual measurements
to support his assertions. As evidence of that fact the reader should be
aware that many of the documents and training films pertaining to depleted
uranium munitions currently used by the US and UK armed forces, were produced
by him and members of his team.
None of his measurements and reports of actual contamination should have been
news to the US or UK authorities. They had known for many years that using
depleted uranium ammunition would lead to considerable contamination of both
the environment and mankind. As early as the 1940's powdered uranium was
considered for use against German agricultural and industrial targets as an
area contamination/denial weapon. The idea was a product of the Manhattan
Project headed by J. R. Oppenheimer. It was abandoned because of the obvious
long-term health consequences for the civilian population and the
environment.
As late as July 1990 (one month before Iraq invaded Kuwait) official reports
warned against using DU as an antitank weapon. It was reported that the
public outcry regarding the use of such a controversial weapon on a
conventional battlefield would likely make it impossible to ever use it
again. Obviously, those in positions to authorise the use of depleted uranium
were well aware of the consequences.
For whatever reason, it was decided that DU would be used against Iraq and
the warnings issued by physicists, physicians and good intentioned
environmental scientists were to be ignored. That decision alone marks the
Gulf conflict of 1991 as the biggest political cock-up (military term) of
modern times. Bigger even than the first use of atomic bombs against the
already defeated Japanese, marking the end of W.W.II.
Ironically, before the start of the ground war phase of Operation Desert
Storm the British Ministry of Defence issued a warning to British ground
forces. It stated that care should be taken to avoid areas were DU had been
used. Probably for reasons of operational efficiency that warning was not
permitted to reached the front line troops. Would an infantry man be so
willing to take up his personal weapon and engage the enemy at close
quarters, if he had been warned that the burning tank only feet away was
belching radioactive dust? I think not! Particularly if he was made aware
that the dust would not only endanger his life but also those of any children
he fathered at a later date.
I am not qualified to write with the same authority as Professor Rokke on the
technical aspects of DU environmental contamination because his actual
experience and scientific knowledge of the subject is considerable. However,
as a former vice chairman of Gulf Veterans association, I can comment on the
official resistance to fully investigate the depleted uranium contamination
of Gulf War Veterans. The reluctance and obstruction of attempts made by
veterans who sought and still seek official investigations into this matter,
has uncovered a trail of deceit and lies that shook the beliefs of many.
Serving Queen and Country by placing oneself in harms way in support of the
ideals, freedom, truth, and justice, no longer has the same attraction.
It was the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (UK charity) who
on advice from independent scientists initiated the clinical testing of
veterans looking for Depleted Uranium. After encountering and defeating every
dirty trick in the political obstruction book, the findings have now been
published in a peer reviewed US medical science journal, the August 2002
issue of Military Medicine. Dr Assaf Durakovic the principle author, is
himself a Gulf Veteran and was formerly a Colonel in the US Army Medical
Corp. He was professor of nuclear medicine at George Town University School
of Medicine and was part of the United Nations quick response to nuclear
incidents.
As you can plainly see, the credentials of those learned scientists and
physicians currently issuing grave warnings regarding the future use of
Depleted Uranium, are impeccable. The fact that Professors Rokke and
Durakovic committed what is best described as professional suicide when they
decided to speak out on these issues only adds to the growing honour and
international standing of these fine gentlemen. Few other scientists have
lived up to the words of Robert Oppenheimer, the man initially responsible
for the abuse of nuclear material in warfare. He wrote:
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma
in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to
doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors."-J.
Robert Oppenheimer, Life, 10 October 1949
As veterans and human beings we owe Doug Rokke, Assaf Durakovic and others a
great debt, considerably more than we owe to J. R. Oppenheimer. Even though
as you can see above, he begged others to undo his injustice.
With all sincerity I can say that witnessing the pain and suffering of ill
Gulf Veterans and their families, has had a dramatic effect on the way I view
future military deployments by the US and UK. Things witnessed and endured
have opened my eyes to the realities of the relationship between my country's
government (together with the civil service) and members of the armed forces.
Rather than valued members of society owed a debt of honour for defending the
state, I am now aware that armed forces personnel are considered as
disposable items. Something to be used abused and then discarded when broken.
Further more, when made ill by the use of politically sensitive weapons such
as DU they are an expensive embarrassment to be silenced when voicing
concerns.
It is my sincere and heart felt belief that until such time as the UK and US
governments can properly care for ill and dying veterans of war, they should
refrain from deploying members of the armed forces over seas.
As for the contention should we invade Iraq again, this time to overthrow the
government of that country? I contest the rational, competency and therefor
the relevance of the question. My reasons are clearly explained above.
George Angus Parker
Formerly Sgt with the 1st Field Laboratory Unit, Biological-warfare Detection
Unit. Porton Down.
(Foot note: On reflection, perhaps there are good reasons to revisit the
battlefields of Kuwait and Iraq. To scrape our nuclear waste from their soil
and beg forgiveness from the Gods of the common people.)
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