Veterans' Rare Cancers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefields

The New York Sun ^ | 06 Aug 2007 | R. B. STUART

[BGHater]

In the wake of an Iraqi official last month blaming America's use of depleted uranium munitions in its 2003 "Shock and Awe" campaign for a surge in cancer there, the Defense Department is facing an October deadline for providing a comprehensive report to Congress on the health effects of such weapons.

The report is required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, which President Bush signed into law last year.

The request for the study is an outgrowth of claims by Iraq war veterans that exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic substances there has negatively affected their health and that, therefore, their illnesses should be recognized as war-related and the treatment covered by the Veterans Administration.

Currently, the State Department's Web site says fears about adverse health effects of depleted uranium, or DU, are "unwarranted," and it lists worries about DU under a section called "identifying misinformation."

The site says the American military uses the material in ammunition "to take advantage of its unsurpassed ability to penetrate armored vehicles," and it cites four separate studies — by NATO, the Rand Corporation, the European Commission, and the World Health Organization — that found no evidence of adverse health effects from depleted uranium.

Even so, worries persist. According to Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat of Washington who pushed for the report from the Pentagon, "There are countless stories of mysterious illnesses, higher rates of serious illnesses, and even birth defects. We do not know what role, if any, DU plays in the medical tragedies in Iraq, but we must find out."

[SandRat]

[television is just wrong]

my brother-in-law, passed 2003. He was exposed to agent orange and got an extremely rare fast growing form of prostate cancer. He left 4 children and one wife.

The govt still denies it.

[oldvike]

bump

[Michael Barnes]

My Dad was exposed to Agent Orange. Battled through prostate cancer recently and has multiple benign lumps all over him (not exactly “seen”, but they are golfball sized). Passed the benign thing on to me (only smaller versions) while there is no history of it in his family..

[television is just wrong]

I heard that it is passed on to the children. Sad.

[television is just wrong]

I heard that it is passed on to the children. Sad.

[television is just wrong]

I heard that it is passed on to the children. Sad.

[Clam Digger]

The bumps are called lipoma. My dad was in VN, before agent orange was used. He doesn’t have them, but I have them.

[crazyhorse691]

According to Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat of Washington..... “There are countless stories of mysterious illnesses, higher rates of serious illnesses, and even birth defects. We do not know what role, if any, DU plays in the medical tragedies in Iraq, but we must find out.”

---

The demented moonbats have been alleging this even before the Shock and Awe campaign when they stumbled upon the word uranium, which we all know is highly radioactive, and claim that the rate of cancer in Iraq is up 600% from prewar levels. So far, our local Fox news has tried to blame 1 death(Marine in Ca. that never went to Iraq) and one leukemia case(discharged Marine vet of Iraq under going treatment) on depleted uranium. I still am of the opinion that the whole thing is just a talking point relying on the fears of Agent Orange as the catalyst to spark fears and to expose the treachery of Bush and company.

[Clam Digger]

My uncle, who was a huey pilot did get non-hodgkins lymphona, most likely from agent orange exposure. he was given an expiremental treatment about 5 years ago and is in complete remission.

[Dilbert56]

This article is supposed to be about depleted uranium used during “Shock and Awe”. Not sure what armor penetrating projectiles could have been dropped in the air campaign so the article may be a bit unhinged.

[festus]

We should cancel all wars until the battlefields can be made safe for our soldiers.