Citizen G'kar: Musings on Earth

March 13, 2005

Depleted Uranium Munitions Disabling Hundreds of Thousands of Vets

San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year
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!’”

If the Director of the VA knew of the disability rate of GWI Vets, surely Rumsfeld knew about it. Yet, now we have exposed about a million of our sons and daughters to God knows what in Iraq. And this says nothing about the Iraqis who have lived with the radiation from DU munitions for the past 15 years.


More on DU:
Details on Depleted Uranium
Depleted Uranium Munitions Disabling Hundreds of Thousands of Vets
Deplete Uranium Is the Biggest Untold Story of War
Complete Article
Heads roll at Veterans Administration
Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed
by Bob Nichols
Project Censored Award Winner
Considering the tons of depleted uranium used by the U.S., the Iraq war can truly be called a nuclear war.
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.

4 comments:

Dean DeHarpporte said...

I am a journalist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune covering the DU issue.
I would like to verify Arthur Bernklau's assertion that "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". If this is true, it is surely astounding, but to comply with standard journalistic practice, I need to have someone from the Department of Veterans Affairs directly verify this statement either by email or telephone. Can anyone tell me how to contact Terri Jamison at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs so that I can ask her directly. Or, is there someplace on the offficial website that gives the number of veterans on medical disability. Thanks in advance to your help.
Sincerely,
Dean DeHarpporte

Wolfgang P May said...

Did depleted uranium ammunition contribute to the safety of our troops in combat? The slight edge in armor penetration over conventional armor-piercing systems is now causing the unnecessary deaths of our veterans. Agent Orange was supposed to make us safer in Vietnam. Although I was an Armor Officer, I served as an advisor to an ARVN battatlion in the "Iron Triangle". In areas treated with this insidious chemical, my hazardous job was made much more difficult by the grasses and weeds that proliferated under the trees killed by Agent Orange. This made it immpossible to see enemy snipers only a few feet away. It seems that our government does not know what it's doing, or it just does not care about those of us who are required to fight for it.

B Lieberman said...

My nephew served in the Persian Gulf War. He died last year with cancer of the esophagus at the age of 40. Problems began when he returned from the war. There is no history of cancer in the family.

Lonnie D. Story said...

I am a freelance writer currently researching the effects of DU on Gulf Vets. I need as many vets that have suspicion of contamination to contact me for interview. I am also looking for expert volunteers to voice their concerns in interview with me. Parents of deceased veterans are also requested if willing and able to have their names used.