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This 2 part report
aired on CNN's "American Morning" on Feb.5 & 6, 2007. Featured in the
report are NYS Guard Troops Gerard Matthew, Ray Ramos, Anthony Yonnone;
Col. Mark Melanson, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Dr. Asaf
Durakovic, Uranium Medical Research Center; Dr. Michael Kirkpatrick,
Dept. of Defense Health Affairs; Pat Dillon, Connecticut State
Representative.
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to assisting members and veterans in obtaining treatment services for exposure to toxic materials or harmful physical agents such as depleted uranium; to amend the public health law, in relation to providing information on harmful physical agents to veterans; and to establish a task force to study the effects of health problems due to military service such as the exposure to depleted uranium became a law November 10, 2006, with the approval of the Governor. It passed by a majority vote, three-fifths being present. Afghans' Uranium Levels Spark Alert Alex Kirby, BBC
May 22, 2006 A small sample of Afghan civilians have shown "astonishing" levels of uranium in their urine, an independent scientist says. He said they had the same symptoms as some veterans of the 1991 Gulf war. But he found no trace of the depleted uranium (DU) some scientists believe is implicated in Gulf War syndrome.Other researchers suggest new types of radioactive weapons may have been used in Afghanistan. The scientist is Dr Asaf Durakovic, of the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC), based in Canada. Dr Durakovic, a former US army adviser who is now a professor of medicine, said in 2000 he had found "significant" DU levels in two-thirds of the 17 Gulf veterans he had tested. In May 2002, he sent a team to Afghanistan to interview and examine civilians there. The UMRC says: "Independent monitoring of the weapon types and delivery systems indicate that radioactive, toxic uranium alloys and hard-target uranium warheads were being used by the coalition forces." There is no official support for its claims, or backing from other scientists. Shock results It says Nangarhar province was a strategic target zone during the Afghan conflict for the deployment of a new generation of deep-penetrating "cave-busting" and seismic shock warheads. The UMRC says its team identified several hundred people suffering from illnesses and conditions similar to those of Gulf veterans, probably because they had inhaled uranium dust. To test its hypothesis that some form of uranium weapon had been used, the UMRC sent urine specimens from 17 Afghans for analysis at an independent UK laboratory. It says: "Without exception, every person donating urine specimens tested positive for uranium internal contamination. "The results were astounding: the donors presented concentrations of toxic and radioactive uranium isotopes between 100 and 400 times greater than in the Gulf veterans tested in 1999. "If UMRC's Nangarhar findings are corroborated in other communities across Afghanistan, the country faces a severe public health disaster... Every subsequent generation is at risk." It says troops who fought in Afghanistan and the staff of aid agencies based in Afghanistan are also at risk. Scientific acceptance Dr Durakovic's team used as a control group three Afghans who showed no signs of contamination. They averaged 9.4 nanograms of uranium per litre of urine. The average for his 17 "randomly selected" patients was 315.5 nanograms, he said. Some were from Jalalabad, and others from Kabul, Tora Bora, and Mazar-e-Sharif. A 12-year-old boy living near Kabul had 2,031 nanograms. The maximum permissible level for members of the public in the US was 12 nanograms per litre, Dr Durakovic said. A second UMRC visit to Afghanistan in September 2002 found "a potentially much broader area and larger population of contamination". It collected 25 more urine samples, which bore out the findings from the earlier group.Dr Durakovic said he was "stunned" by the results he had found, which are to be published shortly in several scientific journals. Identical outcome He told BBC News Online: "In Afghanistan there were no oil fires, no pesticides, nobody had been vaccinated - all explanations suggested for the Gulf veterans' condition. "But people had exactly the same symptoms. I'm certainly not saying Afghanistan was a vast experiment with new uranium weapons. But use your common sense." The UK Defence Ministry says it used no DU weapons in Afghanistan, nor any others containing uranium in any form. A spokesman for the US Department of Defense told BBC News Online the US had not used DU weapons there. He could not comment on Dr Durakovic's findings of elevated uranium levels in Afghan civilians. Top of Page
May
11, 2006-
After years of relentless and unwavering efforts, including speeches, interviews, news conferences, working with groups like Physicians for Social Responsibility, and even appearing on a song in a newly released Punk Rock album, in order to raise public awareness, the House of Representatives today passed legislation (DoD Authorization) that includes an amendment by Rep. Jim McDermott (WA-D) ordering a comprehensive study on possible health effects from exposure to depleted uranium on U.S. soldiers and their children. “As long and winding as the road has been to get where we are today, this is only the beginning- but this is a great day because we have taken the first step to defend the U.S. soldiers who protect and defend us,” McDermott said. Shortly after passage, Rep. McDermott received a letter from James King, the national executive director of AMVETS, the American Veterans organization: “This is a very important issue for AMVETS and its membership. Our ultimate goal is to provide atomic veterans with the tools necessary to file a claim and be considered for due compensation. Your amendment will help begin this process. “Again, thank you for your amendment and your support of veterans and their families.” Rep. McDermott has spent several years working to get the House to study DU. He explained the reason behind hispassionate advocacy for the issue in this way: “For me, this is a personal, not political, quest. My professional life turned from medicine to politics after my service in the U.S. Navy during the 1960s, when I treated combat soldiers returning from Vietnam. “Back then, the Pentagon denied that Agent Orange posed any danger to U.S. soldiers who were exposed. Decades later, the truth finally emerged. Agent Orange harmed our soldiers. It made thousands sick and some died. During all those years of denial, we stood by and did nothing while soldiers suffered. No more Agent Orange! “If DU poses no danger, we need to prove it with statistically valid, and independent scientific studies. If DU harms our soldiers, we all need to know it, and act quickly as any doctor would, to use all of our power to heal the sick. We owe our soldiers a full measure of the truth, wherever that leads us.” The amendment to undertake a comprehensive study of possible health effects to soldiers from exposure to depleted uranium was contained in the Department of Defense Authorization Bill, which passed the House on Thursday evening. Depleted uranium is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process. Because it is very dense, the U.S. military uses DU for munitions like armor-piercing bullets and tank shells, and as a protective shield around tanks. When used in munitions, DU pulverizes into a fine dust upon impact; it can hang in the air, be inhaled or seep into the soil. During the Gulf War, the U.S. military used approximately 300 metric tons of DU as munitions. To date in the Iraq War, approximately 150 metric tons have been used. During conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro, about 12 metric tons were used. (A metric ton is slightly more than 2,200 pounds.) In addition to its own use, the United States has provided or sold DU and DU munitions to several other nations. Mike DeCesare Communications Director Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) Seattle: (1) 206-553-7170 Fax: (1) 206-553-7175 DC Office: (1) 202-225-3106 Fax: (1) 202-225-6197 1809 7th Avenue, Suite 1212 Seattle, WA 98101-1399 1035 Longworth Building Washington, DC 20515 Please also see: Weapons to die for: from that Pentagon Death Star and the University that poisoned the world by Leuren Moret http://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=2445 McDermott Presses Amendment to Study Possible DU Health Impacts on U.S. Soldiers, notes Ken Kadlec http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=2335&blz=1 Depleted Uranium 3 Hour Update on The ‘X’ Zone Radio Show http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=2334&blz=1 SEC. 716. STUDY OF HEALTH EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO DEPLETED URANIUM.
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