U.K. Study Confirms Depleted Uranium Particles Live in Environment

U.S. Soldiers Return From Iraq With Cancer


ICBUW

30 January 2014

  

New research from the UK has found that DU particles can persist in the environment for 30 years and that short-term studies cannot accurately predict the corrosion of penetrators.

 Campaigners have long argued that DU residues from conflict present a long-term risk to civilians. Not only is this due to the rate of radioactive decay from the isotopes in DU – and indeed DU gets more radioactive for thousands of years due to the in-growth of decay products – but also because of the rate at which DU dust particles and intact or fragmentary penetrators corrode.

Two new studies from the UK have now shed more light on the processes that impact on DU’s environmental persistence. The studies were undertaken at the UK’s two DU firing ranges, Kircudbright in Scotland, where DU rounds are fired into the sea, and Eskmeals in England, where DU was fired into hard targets to examine its effectiveness against different types of armour.

The testing at Eskmeals produced considerable quantities of DU dust, some of which was found to have spread 6km from the site to the nearby village of Milom. Researchers took samples of DU particles from the site and subjected them to analysis to assess how they had changed over the 30 years since they were produced. Given the high rainfall and oxidising conditions at the site, surprisingly the researchers found that:

 "The persistence of U oxide phases such as U3O7 and U3O8 reflects the low solubility and mobility of the primary species in surface soils at the Eskmeals site. However, the presence of primary impact particles results in the persistence of health risks associated with inhalation, should these particles be disturbed.”

 

In other words, the uranium oxides particles that had been produced by the testing were found to be highly resistant to corrosion and as a result, 30 years after firing the particles would still present an inhalational hazard if resuspended. This finding fits with the results of a study around a former speciality metals factory in Colonie north of New York. Researchers there showed that particles produced between the 1960s and 1980s were still intact and present in the environment. In that case the particles had been produced through the incineration of DU, not by its use in weapons. However this new study demonstrates that DU residues from munitions use are similar in composition and persistence.

 

That these particles can survive for so long in the comparatively wet conditions of the UK and northern US suggest that particles in the arid conditions of Iraq may be even more long-lived.

 

Meanwhile a second study, this time of fragments of DU, has again highlighted the significant gaps in our ability to predict the future behaviour of solid contamination. During test-firing at Kircudbright, intact or partially intact DU rounds have ended up in the sea but also on the range due to firing malfunctions. It was therefore felt necessary to study the behaviour of DU in soils and the marine environment. The results showed that DU corrosion is highly complex:

 

“The experiments highlight that the corrosion of DU is controlled in the environment by a number of factors that are not fully understood. It is therefore difficult to undertake laboratory experiments to truly replicate the conditions in real corrosion environments.”

 

While the researchers were more confident about predicting the behaviour of DU in the marine environment, where chemical conditions are less variable, predicting the behaviour of DU in soils was shown to be far more difficult.

 

The findings support ICBUW’s view that attempts by the UK and US government to downplay concerns based on the findings from a limited number of contaminated site assessments in the Balkans are not supported by the available science. ICBUW has long argued that the variability of conditions at different sites requires that each is individually assessed and the risks they may pose to civilians and the environment calculated.

 

Following its assessments in the Balkans, the UN Environment Programme suggested that intact or fragmentary penetrators in soils may have completely corroded in 25 years. These new studies suggest that the actual picture may be far more complicated than originally assumed.  

Notes:http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/new-studies-on-du-environment

 

Microanalytical X-ray Imaging of Depleted Uranium Speciation in Environmentally Aged Munitions Residues  http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es403938d

 

The corrosion of depleted uranium in terrestrial and marine environments: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24315120

“Honoring Our Nations Veteran’s: As Cancer Stricken Soldiers Go Ignored”

Sister Soldier: A Chronicle of Life After Iraq

By R. B. STUART

Post XXII

In the Vietnam war the U. S. Military sprayed the herbicide created by Dow Chemical, Agent Orange (also Purple, Green, Pink, White and Blue) for the improvement of road and waterway visibility and clearing camp perimeters of weeds. The military authorized its use assuring the deployed soldiers it was harmless. But reports circulated in 1964 of increased miscarriages, stillbirths and birth defects among exposed Vietnamese women and animals. In essence performing genocide on the East Asian population. By sabotaging the reproduction system of the would-be mothers---of future Red Soldiers. With 36 forms of Cancer associated to the “approved” chemical, and a 30-year incubation period---it would continue to do the U. S. Military’s handy work long after the end of the war.

Our use of carcinogenic chemicals and a cozyness with Big Pharma seems to fester during war time, as a more potent cocktail with severe adverse reactions is introduced with each war. In 1990 soldiers deployed for the Persian Gulf - Desert Storm war under Bush Senior's regime, the soldiers witnessed piles of dead animals in the desert. They were stacked into decomposing mounds five months prior to the troops arrival.

The animals weren't considered a direct threat since the soldiers weren't camped directly beside them. But the potential for breeding grounds of diseases remained. To contain the existing problem military personnel thoroughly sprayed the decaying animals with the insecticides; methyl carbamate and “Baygon” (a propxur produced by Bayer, the aspirin makers), “Sevin” (a carbaryl produced by Aventis, a French company and smallpox vaccine maker that donated close to $2 million to the Bush camp in 2000), and “Lannate” (a methomyl produced by the chemical making machine DuPont). All are listed as poisons. Our military has already chosen to die for their country---but does that include by the hand of Big Pharma too?

From their deployment, over the past twenty years Gulf War Veterans have faced an endless battle with the VA for their array of chronic health issues. Only to be pacified with an all-inclusive watered-down diagnosis of Gulf War Illness, and mediocre benefits for their exposure.

Our current Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF] Veterans have since 2003, encountered a gamut of toxins in theatre; from the carcinogenic smoke of Burn Pits that includes feces from port-a-potty’s, to radiological exposure from inhalation or ingestion of depleted Uranium dust from spent munitions, both of which has infiltrated their camp environment, as well as the Iraqi civilians, via air, soil and water.

Without the DoD willingly coming forward with their cancer diagnoses amongst deployed soldiers, and refuting cancer as a war wound----medical doctors at the VA and other medical institutions are meeting challenges they’ve never seen before. As a percentage of soldiers are being diagnosed with rare, aggressive cancers post-deployment 4 – 36 months---that don’t fit the criteria of the illness.

Wyoming native, Cody Feeback [pictured above] joined the United States Marine Corps in 2002 at 18. The teen whose penchant for hunting, fishing, camping and spending time with his friends and family---would take second place to the Military service in which he became a devotee. “I loved the Marine Corps the friendships are like none other…it is a wonderful bond you experience with your fellow Marines,” explained SGT. Feeback whose home base from 2002 to 2005 was Camp Lejeune, N.C.

In February 2003 the 19 year-old deployed from Camp Lejeune in good health for his first tour in Kuwait, Iraq. He spent the next five months in northern Kuwait at Camp Coyote where as a Combat Engineer was in charge of Convoy Security. Like most soldiers, SGT. Feeback experienced vomiting and diarrhea in theatre, but like most soldiers deployed since 2003, was told it was normal. “I didn’t want my family to worry any more than they already were,” so SGT. Feeback never mentioned it. [on a night convoy below]


In the DoD’s own December 20, 2001 Field Manual, “Treatment of Nuclear and Radiological Causalities.” Chapter Three, page 13 outlines the radiological exposure dosages from 0 – 5 cGy being nominal and acceptable for military personnel during peacetime. But during war, if the dosages are from 75 – 300 cGy, onset in 6 hours the symptoms are headache and nausea at the low end of cGy, vomiting for the high range of cGy with an onset of 2 – 3 hours. The low range of duration is 12 hours upward to 3 – 4 days.

When diarrhea is included to the aforementioned symptoms, the cGy dosage ranges from 300 – 530. The onset of diarrhea within 2 – 6 hours with a duration of 2 – 3 weeks. There is a minimal 24-hour window after exposure to Uranium to order a urine or fecal bioassay. If ordered, those results are kept confidentially in the soldiers RER records [Radiation Exposure Records].

On Chapter Five, section I, Low Level Radiation, 5-2, B, Exposure Guidance page 5 – 1 and 5 – 2, “The risks associated with radiation exposure within the range of 5 – 75 cGy are confined primarily to the risk of increased incidence of malignant diseases, including solid tumors and leukemia.” So from their own admission, the U. S. Military is fully aware of radiation exposure of deployed troops resulting in a Cancer diagnoses, but maintain ignorance when a soldier is actually diagnosed post deployment.

SGT. Feeback’s tour ended July 2003 and returned to Camp Lejeune. He reconnected with his parents and three siblings, then in 2005 he transferred to Camp Pendleton, California. By that September he received orders to re-deploy. His second tour sent him to Fallujah, Iraq where over the next seven months he made a home at Camp Fallujah. Unaware that local doctors were recording high-rates of abnormal birth defects in Fallujah civilians.


Study Finds Iraq Littered with High Levels of Nuclear and Dioxin Contamination

The Guardian UK
--Jan. 22, 2010

• Greater rates of cancer and birth defects near
sites
• Depleted uranium among poisons revealed in report

More than 40 sites across Iraq are contaminated with high levels or radiation and dioxins, with three decades of war and neglect having left environmental ruin in large parts of the country, an official Iraqi study has found.

Areas in and near Iraq's largest towns and cities, including Najaf, Basra and Falluja, account for around 25% of the contaminated sites, which appear to coincide with communities that have seen increased rates of cancer and birth defects over the past five years. The joint study by the environment, health and science ministries found that scrap metal yards in and around Baghdad and Basra contain high levels of ionizing radiation, which is thought to be a legacy of depleted uranium used in munitions during the first Gulf war and since the 2003 invasion.

So when SGT. Feeback’s tour ended in March 2006 he returned to Camp Pendleton where he awaited the completion of his stint in the USMC. And by September 21, 2006 SGT. Feeback was honorably discharged. The only thing the 23 year-old had on his mind was living a comfortable and fun life with his family, so he moved back home to Wyoming. The next two years he worked as an equipment operator until a position opened at the local VA, in their warehouse shipping and receiving. Within a month he met Roxan, and 16 months later, in March 2010 they were engaged, and prepared for a September wedding.

Then without warning in July 2010 he developed Flu-like symptoms that sent him to the Sheridan VA Medical Center. “I complained of abdominal and lower back pain, the Doctor assumed it was appendicitis and ordered a urinalysis and CT scan,” the 27 year-old informed. “But when the Doctor read the CT scan they saw a mass on the right kidney.”

Immediately they medEvac him to the Denver VA for a biopsy. “The Doctors were certain after the biopsy it was Wilms Tumor, but were perplexed since it is a pediatric kidney cancer usually found in three to six year-old children.” The following day when the urine results came back he was diagnosed with Stage III.

“At first my response was disbelief and fear for my family,” he admitted. “I don’t have any idea if I was exposed to burn pits or had depleted Uranium exposure. Even so, I don’t blame anybody for this sickness…I just don’t like putting my family through all this stress.”

Within a month his right kidney was removed. “I underwent eleven rounds of radiation and am currently going through 24 weeks of chemotherapy,” SGT. Feeback informed. “I’ve had good care at the VA, and have had a lot of support with visitors and phone calls.” [Marine Feeback below]


On September 4, 2010, while undergoing treatments, SGT. Feeback married Roxan, and after serving 4 years and 8 months in the USMC he conveyed, “I was very proud to serve my country and I would do it again.”

The dedication a majority of soldiers have for the military is palpable. And no matter what they were exposed to during deployments, the selfless, courageous men and women serve with honor and devotion never blaming….even at their own peril. And if the U. S. Military subjugates the evidence of cancer stricken soldiers in attempts to hide the environmental genocide in Iraq….then its higher ranking officials will find themselves marred in the history books, as a disloyal superpower that thoughtlessly devoured its own.

In June 2010, Doug Rokke, Ph.D. retired, U.S. Army Major commented on the predicament Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF] Veterans and civilians of war torn countries are subjected to. “We’ve ignored what we have done to the residents of the nations. We [the U.S. Military] has invaded without justification and then trashed their country. I have come to the realization that based on history we in the military bought the notion ‘to protect,’ but who are we protecting, and from whom?”

“We in the military are simply the extension of power and greed, reality not myth. And the abandonment of our Veteran’s is because of the casualty numbers, that we ourselves are responsible.”

“I am constantly bombarded by telephone, E-mail, knocks at my door, and stopped wherever I go. Every day more Veterans or their families seek help, and suffice to say it’s becoming worse---while we continue to set-up more of the same,” concluded the disabled Veteran Doug Rokke.

UN Health Agency, Iraq Studying Birth Defects

AFP Agence France-Presse
--Oct. 5, 2010

GENEVA (AFP) – The UN Health Agency, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Iraqi authorities are carrying out a survey of birth defects in Iraq following media reports of abnormal patterns in Fallujah, a WHO spokeswoman said.

“An investigation has begun in six governorates (administrative region) of Iraq into these reports of congenital defects,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told journalists.

The BBC reported in March 2010 that large and growing numbers of birth defects were observed by doctors in Fallujah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad that was at the heart of some of the fiercest fighting with US forces.

Chaib said the scientific “pilot assessment” by “the Iraqi government with the help of the... WHO” began in July and would take about 18 months to complete.

The study covers Sulemaniah, Diyala, Baghdad, Dhi-Qar, Basra and Anbar province, which includes Fallujah.

It will lay out “the magnitude, distribution and trends of Congenital Birth Defects” in Iraq and establish a basis for comparison with today as well as between different parts of the country, according to the UN health agency.

Reports of health abnormalities among civilians in Iraq or soldiers who served there have sparked claims of links with special weaponry allegedly used during successive wars, including armour-busting depleted Uranium shells.

UN First Committee Sends Clear Message to Depleted Uranium Users Over Transparency

International Coalition To Ban Uranium Weapons, U.K.
--Oct. 29, 2010

The United Nations First Committee has voted, by an overwhelming margin, for state users of depleted Uranium weapons to release data on where the weapons have been used to governments of states affected by their use.

136 states voted in favor of a resolution calling on state users of depleted Uranium weapons to release quantitative and geographical data to the governments of affected states. The resolution will now go forward to the United Nations General Assembly for a second vote at the end of November 2010.

Although UN resolutions are non-binding, they are a useful means of focusing attention on key issues. In this case the ongoing failure of the US to release data on its use of depleted Uranium in Iraq and concerns over the use of the weapons in other conflicts, such as the interventions in Somalia in the mid-1990s.

The resolution was opposed by only four states - the US, UK, France and Israel. These four also voted against previous resolutions accepting that DU has the potential to damage human health (2007) and calling for more research in
affected states (2008).

CNN Audit: Military Using Potentially Harmful Methods of Burning Trash

By Adam Levine, CNN
--Oct. 15, 2010

Military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to use waste methods that expose troops to potentially toxic emissions without fully understanding the effects, according to a new government audit obtained by CNN.

Between September 2009 and October 2010, investigators from the Government Accountability Office visited four bases in Iraq and reviewed planning documents on waste disposal for bases in Afghanistan. None of the Iraq bases visited were in compliance with military regulations. All four burned plastic--which generates harmful emissions--despite regulations against doing so.

The emissions have been the source of controversy as troops have complained about a host of problems, from cancerous tumors to respiratory issues, blaming exposure to burn pits. Military officials have denied any consequential effects on most troops.

Prior to an initial outcry about the pits more two years ago, the largest base in Iraq -- Balad Air Base -- was burning everything from hazardous and medical waste to plastics, using jet fuel as accelerant, according to military documents. The smoke poured over the living quarters and the base hospital, exposing thousands of troops to the emissions.

The U.S. military generates about 10 pounds of non-hazardous waste per service member each day and "may consist of plastic, Styrofoam, and food from dining facilities; discarded electronics; shipping materials such as wooden pallets and plastic wrap; appliances; and other items such as mattresses, clothing, tires, metal containers, and furniture," the report says.

According to the report, there were 221 burn pits in Afghanistan by August and more are anticipated. Only 21 remained in Iraq and, like the troop levels there, the numbers are expected to decrease. The burn pits are operated by either the military or contractors.

While the pits have been in use since the beginning of each war, regulations and guidance were only issued in 2009 -- eight years into the Afghanistan conflict and six years after the start of the war in Iraq.

The military's attitude about the impact of the burn pits has shifted. When complaints initially arose in 2008 military officials denied there was any hazard to troops. Last year the Pentagon changed that position, declaring long-term effects for troops who had pre-existing conditions was foreseeable.

A GAO analysis of the data from the samples collected found matter named on the CENTCOM list of potentially harmful substances. Investigators found that the samples which exceeded the levels considered safe if exposed for a year mostly contained fine particles. Fine particles can embed in the lung tissue, and of particular concern is when there is prolonged exposure.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, who has been vocal in his concern about troops' exposure to burn pits, urged the Pentagon to restrict the use of the pits in Afghanistan. “I am deeply troubled to learn that the Defense Department has not taken simple steps, such as segregating plastics, to ensure that our troops are not exposed to harmful emissions,” Feingold said in a statement.

The acting commander of Central Command, Lt. Gen. John Allen, wrote a letter to Feingold in July saying the military is trying to eliminate the use of burn pits at bases that are active for 90 days or more and occupied by 100 personnel or more. In Iraq, Allen anticipates there will be no burn pits by December of this year. Afghanistan is more challenging, but the military is in the process of procuring “almost 200 incinerators,” he said in the letter, obtained by CNN.

Radiation, DU & Burn Pits--Iraq’s Cancer: “America’s Gift That Keeps Giving”

IMAGE above: Japanese campaigners investigate a DU contaminated tank graveyard in Iraq, 2002. Credit: Naomi Toyoda

Sister Soldier: A Chronicle of Life After Iraq
By R. B. STUART
Post XXI



Memorial Day makes us remember that no matter how many wars, generations and decades go by---we as a human race never seem to learn. The exploitation of our military is a cruel punishment our enemies don't even deserve. What “we” do to our own with radioactive weapons, and the catastrophe of environmental carcinogens left behind---makes water boarding look like shooting a beer keg at a water park.

Most heart wrenching is the disservice by the DoD for those brave and healthy men and women who join the ranks of service to protect us. To be careless with their courageous souls is incomprehensible, but that’s exactly what the U. S. does generation after generation. As they string the Veteran’s together with empty medals from Korea, to Vietnam, to the Gulf War and now Iraq and Afghanistan. Their Purple Hearts, missing limbs, PTSD and aggressive rare cancers are less about the casualties of war, and more about the severity of illnesses that emerge with each generation of deployed military.

The DoD drapes their denial with the American flag---while hiding beneath their crooked smile---vats of mustard gas, Agent Orange and depleted Uranium masked in red, white and blue lies. It is unpatriotic to question their motives, but it is also inhumane to willingly contaminate and kill your own. As this new chapter of Iraq war crimes lends itself to the horrors of science fiction….it is another black mark upon our future.

After seven years, the VA Director of Compensation and Pension Service, Bradley G. Mayes sent a training letter on April 26, 2010 to all VA Regional Offices, “Environmental Hazards in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Military Installations.” Informing regional employees on specific environmental hazard incidents that present health risks to service members and Veterans. And provide guidance on handling claims for disabilities potentially resulting from exposure to environmental hazards while on active duty. As well as “fact sheets” for VA examiners when conducting Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations associated with such exposure.

Mayes outlined; Service members can be exposed to environmental hazards in the course of their military duties, which may result in adverse health effects. Numerous environmental hazards in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other military installations that could potentially present health risks to service members and Veterans have been identified. The hazards discussed in this training letter are as follows: (1) Large burn pits throughout Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa; (2) ”particulate matter” in Iraq and Afghanistan; (3) a large sulfur fire at Mishraq State Sulfur Mine near Mosul, Iraq; (4) hexavalent chromium exposure at the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant in Basrah, Iraq; (5) contaminated drinking water at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina; and (6) pollutants from a waste incinerator near the Naval Air Facility (NAF) at Atsugi, Japan. And stressed, “It is imperative that regional office personnel are aware of these environmental health hazards and are well-trained to handle disability claims from Veterans based on exposure to them.”

In May 2006 the VA sent the letter below to, 25-year-old Army Specialist Travis Bromfield admitting to his exposure while deployed in Iraq. By September 2005 seven months into his year tour, he was diagnosed with a terminal, stage IV Poorly Differentiated Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of unknown primary, of the liver, bones, lungs, kidneys, brain and spine. Spc. Bromfield was given a two-month life expectancy, this particular cancer only occurs in patients age 55 or older. He died February 20, 2007. For him and his family, the information about the hazardous environment in Iraq was withheld, and he was unable to protect himself while deployed. But how many more have to die needlessly while the U. S. war machine burns through the Middle East?

Two international workshops/conferences on Depleted Uranium were held earlier this month at the United Nations by the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons . ICBUW’s focus has been to inform and advise policy makers and governments on the threat to human health and the environment of uranium weapons. ICBUW was formed in 2003 in Berlaar, Belgium and is based in Manchester UK.

They campaign for a ban on the use of uranium in all conventional weapons and weapon systems and for monitoring, health care, compensation and environmental remediation for communities affected by their use.

ICBUW represents more than 120 NGOs worldwide and seeks to do for uranium weapons what the International Coalition to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition did for those types of weapons, in essence to develop a uranium weapons treaty that would prohibit the use of uranium in all conventional, i.e. non-nuclear, weapons. research projects.

An ICBUW spokesperson said: “We warmly welcomed the interest in uranium weapons shown by activists from the US and elsewhere in the world during the recent civil society NPT UN conference. Global opinion is rapidly turning against uranium weapons - something clearly seen by the UN resolutions on the issue, where 141 states accepted that uranium weapons have the potential to harm human and environmental health. In 2008, UN member states called for more research on the issue yet the US's refusal to release the firing coordinates from 1991 and 2003 is hampering this work and leading to unnecessary civilian exposures. ICBUW calls on the US government to urgently release this data to the UN and NGOs.”

Their world map of DU User Nations shows in red confirmed, grey suspected use.

The map above reflects the murky world of arms industry exports and the proliferation of DU weapons around the world.

An overview of ICBUW’s impressive timeline in the last two years highlights
the progress of their campaign:

March 2010
UK MPs accuse US military of human rights atrocity over use of toxic munitions in Fallujah.
Irish depleted uranium ban bill receives warm reception.

February 2010
Costa Rica bans production of depleted uranium weapons in their free trade zones.

January 2010
US set to discontinue depleted uranium in medium calibre ammunition.

November 2009
Netherlands Parliament approves motion for a moratorium on depleted uranium weapons.
Kiwi MP submits Members Bill calling for depleted uranium ban.
University of Vermont divests from cluster munition and depleted uranium manufacturers.

September 2009
Latin America Parliament calls for a moratorium on uranium weapons.
British jury rules that DU was likely cause of dead Gulf Veteran's colon cancer.

July 2009
The Belgian parliament votes unanimously to ban depleted uranium weapon investments.
German Bundeswehr manual challenges US and UK denials over depleted uranium in Afghanistan.

June 2009
UK Uranium Weapons Network launched as Belgium becomes first country to ban
depleted uranium weapons.

May 2009
The First International Cancer Conference held in Basrah, Iraq due to the alarming increase of cancer reports.
DU exhibition opens at Berlin's Anti-War Museum .

April 2009
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs agrees to fund ICBUW research projects.
Belgian Senate approves prohibition on financing of depleted uranium weapons.

March 2009
Costa Rica to ban depleted uranium weapons.

February 2009
UK Co-operative Bank ceases all investment in DU weapon manufacturers.

January 2009
Italy approves a 30 Million Euro for DU Compensation Package for Veterans’.

December 2008
UN General Assembly passes its second DU resolution.

November 2008
Nordic Network Against Uranium Weapons established in Oslo.

September 2008
UN Secretary General publishes report on DU weapons.

February 2008
Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs acknowledges need for uranium weapons treaty.
European Parliament establishes a DU Working Group.
UK politicians and NGOs condemn renewed DU test firing.

And on the home front in the U.S., the Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Burke PLLC which pursued claims for Abu Ghraib torture victims and Iraqi civilians killed by Blackwater guards, has joined forces with the Charleston, S.C. law firm, Motley Rice, the firm responsible for bringing down the tabacco industry in 1997. They are teaming up against Iraq environmental violators, Halliburton and Kellog, Brown & Root [former Vice President, Dick Cheney’s companies] on behalf of about 500 injured veterans and their survivors. The firm estimates that over 100,000 soldiers have been exposed to, and injured by the smoke and the toxins while deployed in Iraq since 2003.

In late 2008 Burke PLLC became aware that cancer cases amoungst soldiers began to surface. Although, I began reporting on cancer stricken soldiers in 2006 ….it has taken that long for injured parties ignored by the DoD and VA, to step forward, while the mainstream media lags behind barely covering the topic of cancer in the military post Iraq----which 95 percent of the American public is unaware of.

Lead council in Multi District Litigations, Susan Burke and sister, attorney Elizabeth Burke, filed 43 different lawsuits, all statewide legal actions in 2009. “When you look at the number of troops deployed to Iraq, the majority have been exposed to burn pits and contaminated water,” Susan Burke said.

It is only a matter of time before the contractors placed in Iraq, responsible for willingly exposing our troops to carcinogens, are placed before the firing squad of outraged American’s. Till then, it’s buisness as usual for our troops in Iraq; DU with their morning coffee, doughnuts and Burn Pits…a breakfast of champions for our future Veterans.’ So don’t be fooled this Memorial Day when you see the flags flying half mass in Washington, nor the fraudulent salute from our Former Administration, Bush and Cheney. As they are the two responsible for creating the war, and for sacrificing our men and women for their own diety; no longer a golden cow, but a pig made of green tresury paper with red, white and blue threads, dripping in brown sludge: their money hog [god] drentched in oil. Burn baby burn…..

KILLING US SLOVENLY: "DEPLETED URANIUM WHO USES IT & WHY"

Sister Soldier: A Chronicle of Life After Iraq
By R. B. STUART
Part XI


UN Depleted Uranium Resolution in Landslide Vote
11/2/07
http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/a/144.html

The UN First Committee passed, by an overwhelming majority, a resolution highlighting concerns over the military use of uranium.

Vote on Use of Depleted Uranium in Armaments:
For: 122 countries (including Japan)
Against: 6 countries (US, UK, France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Israel)
Abstentions: 35 countries

The draft resolution on the effects of the use of armaments and ammunition containing depleted uranium was approved by a recorded vote of 122 in favor to 6 against, with 35 abstentions, as follows:
In favor: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against: Czech Republic, France, Israel, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States.

Abstain: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine.

“EFFECTS OF THE USE OF ARMAMENTS AND AMMUNITION CONTAINING DEPLETED URANIUM”

http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/

--ICBUW Coordinator Doug Weir--

The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons is a global coalition of 91 members in 25 countries. It campaigns for a ban on the use, transport, manufacture, sale and export of all conventional weapon systems containing uranium. It also seeks compensation for communities affected by the use of Uranium weapons and the environmental remediation of such sites. For more information on the campaign read below or view the link for thier site.

What is Depleted Uranium and how is it used in Weapons?Depleted Uranium (DU) is nuclear waste. Uranium naturally occurs as three different isotopes U234, U235 and U238. Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons but the same number of protons. This means that they behave in the same way chemically, but different isotopes release different amounts and types of radiation.

The radioactive properties of DU, which is chiefly uranium 238, differ from those of uranium 235. Unlike U238, U235 is fissionable. This means that it is so unstable that firing neutrons at it can produce a self-sustaining series of nuclear reactions, releasing huge amounts of energy. This is the basis of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. However, before U235 is used, it needs to be concentrated as it only makes up a small proportion of naturally occurring uranium, around 0.7%. U238 makes up more than 99% of natural uranium and is less radioactive. After natural uranium has had most of the U235 removed from it, it is called ‘depleted uranium’ i.e. uranium depleted in the isotope U235. Each kilo of reactor ready enriched uranium produced leaves you with 7kg of DU.

Depleted Uranium itself is a chemically toxic and radioactive compound, which is used in armour piercing munitions because of it's very high density. It is 1.7 times denser than lead, giving DU weapons increased range and penetrative power. They belong to a class of weapons called kinetic energy penetrators. The part of the weapon that is made of DU is called a penetrator: this is a long dart weighing more than four kilograms in the largest examples: it is neither a tip nor a coating. The penetrator is usually an alloy of DU and a small amount of another metal such as titanium and molybdenum. These give it extra strength and resistance to corrosion.

Who owns DU Weapons and who has used them?
At least 18 countries are thought to have weapon systems with DU in their arsenals. These include: UK, US, France, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Pakistan, Oman, Thailand, China, India and Taiwan. Many of them were sold DU ammunition by the US while others, including France, Russia, Pakistan and India are thought to have developed it independently.

Governments have often initially denied using DU because of public health concerns. Estimates of DU munitions expended run to 280 tonnes in the Gulf War of 1991 by US and UK forces; and 14 tonnes in the Balkans in the latter half of the 1990s by NATO. There was further large-scale use in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 but there is little data on this.

It is suspected that the US also used DU in Afghanistan in 2001, although both the US and UK governments have denied using it there. Leaked US transport documents suggest that US forces in Afghanistan had DU weapons, and the continued use of A10 ‘Tankbuster’ aircraft in the country indicates that DU continues to be used.

What are the Health Hazards of Uranium Weapons?
There are three chief hazards associated with DU: its chemical toxicity, radioactivity and the effects of fine metal particles, or fumes, on the body. Both of these hazardous properties are exacerbated by the fact that DU is pyrophoric. A pyrophoric material is one that oxidizes rapidly and can burst into flame at low temperatures in the proximity of oxygen. As the projectile hits a hard target, the DU burns at temperatures of between 3000°C and 6000° C. As it oxidizes, it turns into a fine dust, which can be blown for long distances from the place of the impact; this dust can then be inhaled by soldiers and civilians alike.

We do not as yet understand the full impact that fine particles of DU oxide may have on the human body. We do not have an accurate internal dose assessment; we have little information on the precise distribution and dynamics of internalised particles, and we are still lacking a complete understanding of the mechanisms by which damage to cells and organs occurs. Despite this, there is mounting scientific evidence from both animal, and in vitro studies that suggest deleterious effects on human health from inhaled DU particles.

Animal and cellular studies have shown clear evidence of the carcinogenic (transforming healthy cells into cancerous ones), neurotoxic and immuno-toxic effects of DU (the immune system defends the body from Infections and even some types of cancerous cells); as well as its ability to damage the reproductive system and foetus (which may cause birth defects). Some data also suggests that uranium can directly damage the DNA and enzyme proteins in living cells. Many scientific and medical papers on the chemical and radiological toxicities of uranium have been published.

Assessing the precise mechanisms by which DU may damage the human body Is made more difficult because both Its chemical toxicity and radioactivity can cause similar effects, such as the generation of free radicals within the body.

--International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons
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