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Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed for Sec of Veterans Affairs departure
by Open-Publishing - Tuesday 1 March 20057 comments
Edito Nuclear Wars and conflicts International USA
Project Censored Award Winner
Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.
Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated, “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.”
Bernklau continued, “This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.”
He added, “Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of ‘Disabled Vets’ means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!” The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.
“The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,” wrote Bernklau. “He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret’s report, (it) ... is far too big to hide or to cover up!”
“Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, at the VA Central Office, recently reported that ‘Gulf Era Veterans’ now on medical disability, since 1991, number 518,739 Veterans,” said Berklau.
“The long-term effects have revealed that DU (uranium oxide) is a virtual death sentence,” stated Berklau. “Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist, who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in the soldiers (from the 2003 Iraq War) as ‘spectacular ... and a matter of concern!’”
When asked if the main purpose of using DU was for “destroying things and killing people,” Fulk was more specific: “I would say it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people!”
Principi could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.
References
1. Depleted uranium: “Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets: A death sentence here and abroad” by Leuren Moret, http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml.
2. Veterans for Constitutional Law, 112 Jefferson Ave., Port Jefferson NY 11777, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director, (516) 474-4261, fax 516-474-1968.
3. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. Email Gary Kohls, gkohls@cpinternet.com, with “Subscribe” in the subject line.
Email Bob Nichols at bobnichols@cox.net.
Forum posts
2 March 2005, 04:56
Can you say "Nuclear Proliferation"?
Bush can’t, but he and his dad have done more in that realm than any terrorist.
I’m outraged that American military men and women are being subjected to depleted uranium and its long-term effects.
I am equally as outraged that innocent people in Iraq and perhaps other countries are being subjected to such weapons of long-term destruction.
The fact that not enough people seem to notice is disturbing.
3 March 2005, 17:02
it shows you what the military thinks of its soldiers.they are nothing.
3 March 2005, 17:04
soldiers are nothing to the military,just trash to be used and thrown away.
5 March 2005, 05:24
Don’t be too harsh on our idiot president, he hasn’t got the brains of a gerbil, so it is not his fault that he agrees with a policy that destroys thousands and thousands of lives. His "advisers" have told him how we can get rid of all that nasty NUKULAR waste in little "harmless" doses, thus helping to keep the industry from having to clean up after itself. Its all about the corporate profits folks Bu$hco is all about the bottom line no matter who gets hurt or how the earth is raped, money is the god and Bu$hco is god’s representative.
5 March 2005, 06:12
Now we know what can happen if people don’t know about contraception: George Bush.
5 March 2005, 14:55
It’s hard to believe that a sweet old lady like Barbara Bush gave birth to the Antichrist!
21 March 2005, 19:46
Babs Bush is no sweet old lady lately. Heck she threatened people one time with death if they insulted her retarded offspring. We’re all going to wind up dead with that looney family in power. Those people are terrifying.