Re: WHICH SCIENCE OR SCIENTISTS CAN YOU TRUST?

From: Dirk Bruere at Neopax (dirk_at_neopax.com)
Date: 03/03/05 

Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 15:58:02 +0000

Dr. Jai Maharaj wrote:

> In article <38n139F5q3hedU1@individual.net>,
> Dirk Bruere at Neopax <dirk@neopax.com> posted:
>
>
>>Dr. Jai Maharaj wrote:
>>
>>
>>>In article <38m2ckF5j7b55U5@individual.net>,
>>> Dirk Bruere at Neopax <dirk@neopax.com> posted:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Dr. Jai Maharaj posted:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Forwarded message:
>>>>>[...]
>>>>>Gulf War Syndrome has been a persistent disabling, and
>>>>>sometimes lethal, condition since the first war in Kuwait in
>>>>>1991. Both UK and US soldiers and their independent
>>>>>scientific advisers are convinced that the soldiers were
>>>>>poisoned by the OP insecticides that they were liberally
>>>>>sprayed with. But the MOD and chemical companies insist
>>>>>there is no evidence for this. Whom do you believe?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I tend to believe the latest research which suggests mass poisoning from low
>>
>>
>>
>>>>levels of nerve gas exposure from Iraqi chemical weapons dumps thoughtfully
>>>>blown up by the coalition forces with no consideration as to the effects.
>>>
>>>
>>>Forwarded message:
>>>
>>>THE POISONS OF WAR
>>>
>>>[ Subject: The poisons of war
>>>[ From: davey garland <thunderelf@yahoo.co.uk>
>>>[ NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.206.49.147
>>>[ Date: 2 Mar 2005
>>>
>>>http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2005/02/27/news/opinion/edit03.txt
>>>
>>>The poisons of war
>>>
>>>Today my brother passed away. He was one of the latest and I hope
>>>one of the last casualties of the insult to civilization we call
>>>war. Not the current idiocy in Iraq, Or even the First adventure
>>>into that country. My brother was a lingering casualty of the war
>>>in Vietnam.
>>>
>>>He did not perish as a result of enemy fire, but in a way he was
>>>downed by "friendly fire." He died of cancers related to a lovely
>>>little tool of jungle warfare called Agent Orange. While the Vietnam
>>>conflict may be old news, the stonewalling, lying, and lack of
>>>support that sealed his fate are as fresh as today's headlines.
>>>
>>>Today our brave men and women at arms returning from Iraq are in a
>>>similar jeopardy. No, not Agent Orange, but a substance so much
>>>more insidious and deadly: depleted uranium, a metal that is
>>>commonplace in the tools of modern warfare.
>>>
>>>This poisonous metal is being used in ammunition, artillery shells,
>>>tank rounds, and the armor plating on our tanks, APCs and even some
>>>Humvees. Like the Agent Orange of the Vietnam war, our military and
>>>civilian leaders tell us that this depleted uranium is safe. They
>>>say that the radiation levels are so low as to be benign. They tell
>>>us that today. Years down the line when these fine soldiers begin
>>>to develop tumors, leukemias, neurological disorders, and even
>>>worse, birth defects in their children, the denials and stonewalling
>>>will begin anew.
>>>
>>>To my way of thinking, this is a shameful way to treat those who
>>>took up arms and answered their country's call. It will be on you,
>>>the husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, children, and those who
>>>feel gratitude for these people's sacrifices, to hold our leaders
>>>accountable.
>>>
>>>It is my sincere wish that those of you welcoming your family members
>>>back home can stop this turning away of those responsible so that
>>>you need not lose and bury your own as I have had to.
>>>
>>>J.M. Collins, Lebanon
>>>
>>>respond & create DU in the news with letter to ed. at
>>>
>>>http://www.mvonline.com/support/contact/DHedletters.php
>>>
>>>Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
>>>
>>>Brought to you by http://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
>>>
>>>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/
>>>
>>>End of forwarded message
>>>
>
>
>
>>I don't believe DU is a major hazard.
>>Uranium exists in topsoil to the extent of about 10 tonnes per sq km.
>
>
> Another DU item:
>
> Forwarded message
>
> [ Subject: study of DU Effects called for
> [ From: davey garland <thunderelf@yahoo.co.uk>
> [ Date: 2 Mar 2005 01:16:04 -0600
>
> Study of Depleted Uranium Effects Called For
>
> By Joel Wendland
> 2-16-05, 1:08 pm
>
> http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/678/1/77/
>
> Munitions used by US troops on a massive scale in the Iraq
> war may be injuring US soldiers. According to Veterans for
> Peace, a national organization of veterans who oppose the
> Iraq war, depleted uranium (DU), a substance used in bullets
> and artillery shells to increase penetrating ability, may be
> harmful to anyone exposed to spent DU munitions or areas in
> which DU materials have been heavily used.
>
> DU is a by-product of uranium enrichment and is used in the
> manufacture of weapons. Weapon such as tanks, machine guns,
> artillery, armored vehicles, and aircraft use DU munitions.
>
> DU munitions have some radioactivity, but their main
> strength, from the view of weapons manufacturers, is their
> density. DU is nearly 2 and 1/2 times denser than steel.
>
> Some DU-tipped projectiles are powerful enough to penetrate
> tank armor. Others are used to penetrate body armor, trucks,
> and other defensive materials.
>
> While DU munitions are slightly radioactive, the main cause
> of concern is the metal fragments that enter the environment
> after explosion. Soldiers and civilians who breath in the
> dust created by a burning DU weapon may intake radioactive
> deposits in their lungs. Lung cancer can result.
>
> The potential dangers of DU munitions were revealed to the
> world during the first Gulf War. The Pentagon sent Major
> Doug Rokke to the Persian Gulf region to lead its depleted
> uranium assessment team. Rokkes team spent several months
> there on DU-related projects: cleanup, research, and
> follow-up medical care for US personnel exposed to DU. Rokke
> has since become seriously ill, and many on his team have
> already died.
>
> Rokke concluded that anyone who comes in contact with DU
> must get medical attention. The Pentagon ignored Rokkes
> advice and refused to distribute the information to military
> personnel. DU weapons have been used in every major armed
> conflict since the first Gulf War: Somalia, Yugoslavia, and
> Iraq again.
>
> "An increasing number of studies, says Veterans for Peace,
> "have linked DU with Gulf War syndrome, and DU is strongly
> implicated in birth defects among veterans children."
>
> Disabled American Veterans, an 85-year old national
> organization that advocates for service members disabled
> during war or armed conflict, concurs. "There is an ongoing
> debate as to whether a well-defined Gulf War Syndrome
> actually exists, but most experts agree that the health of
> as many as 80,000 of the 700,000 U.S. military personnel who
> began deploying to Saudi Arabia in late 1990 have been
> harmed. A variety of illnesses may have been caused by
> exposure to chemical and biological weapons, depleted
> uranium, experimental drugs and vaccines, environmental
> toxins, and infectious diseases."
>
> A study done in Germany in 2002 indicated that DU molecules
> can travel to different parts of the body, including to
> sperm and eggs damaging genes and increasing the risk of
> cancer. In the study, birth defects were also been blamed on
> the exposure of US soldiers to DU munitions during the first
> Gulf War.
>
> Critics of this particular study argue that exposure to
> other chemical dangers in Kuwait and Iraq in that war may be
> the cause of health problems in returning soldiers, though
> no serious or sustained study of this question has been
> undertaken.
>
> Soldiers arent the only people who are exposed to the
> risks, however. DU dust also can enter the environment,
> especially the ground, possibly contaminating anyone who may
> ingest through eating or breathing the material even decades
> later. Again, the possible health risks have not been fully
> studied.
>
> Inconclusiveness about the full dangers and long-term impact
> of DU weapons has not stopped much of the world from trying
> to ban the substance. In 1999, the US blocked a United
> Nations subcommittee initiative calling for a ban on the use
> of DU worldwide. In 2003 the European Parliament called for
> a moratorium on the use of depleted uranium. The Bush
> Pentagon continues to deny that DU is dangerous.
>
> Some members of Congress have introduced bills calling for
> study of DUs long-term impact and medical treatment for
> those who have been exposed. The Depleted Uranium Munitions
> Study Act (H.R. 1483), proposed by Jim McDermott (D-WA) in
> 2003, which has yet to be reintroduced in the current
> Congress, would require a study of the effects of DU and
> report its findings. H.R. 202, a bill introduced recently by
> Jose Serrano (D-NY) on this matter, calls for identifying
> current and former service members exposed to DU and
> provision of medical testing and treatment.
>
> Republican congressional leaders have safely tucked such
> proposals away in subcommittees to limit public discussion
> and debate. Supporters of more detailed studies of the
> dangers of DU munitions say broader public support is needed
> to pressure Congress to take up this matter seriously.
>
> - Joel Wendland is managing editor of Political Affairs and
> can be reached at jwendland@politicalaffairs.net.
>
> Brought to you by http://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/
>
> End of forwarded message

Strange that these problems are largely absent from Uranium miners.
However, the symptoms are very much like nerve gas poisoning, and anyone
visiting targets in Iraq would inevitably be well exposed to such agents. 

-- 
Dirk
The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org

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