From: "David M", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
A friend sent me the following. Sorry I don't have a source for it but you
may be interested anyway.
DM
Tests show Gulf war victims have uranium poisoning
Jonathon Carr-Brown and Martin Meissonnier
NEW evidence that Gulf war syndrome exists and was caused by radiation
poisoning will be revealed today by a former American army colonel who
was at the centre of his government's attempts to diagnose the
illness. Dr Asaf Durakovic will tell a conference of eminent nuclear
scientists in Paris that "tens of thousands" of British and American
soldiers are dying from radiation from depleted uranium (DU) shells
fired during the Gulf war.
The findings will undermine the British and American governments'
claims that Gulf war syndrome does not exist and intensify pressure
from veterans on both sides of the Atlantic for compensation.
Durakovic, who is professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown
University, Washington, and the former head of nuclear medicine at the
US Army's veterans' affairs medical facility in Delaware, will tell
the conference that he and his team of American and Canadian
scientists have discovered life-threateningly high levels of DU in
Gulf veterans 10 years after the desert war.
His findings, which have been verified by four independent experts, is
embarrassing for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and American Defence
Department, which have consistently refused to test Gulf war veterans
for DU.
Durakovic will tell the European Association of Nuclear Medicine that
tests on 17 veterans have shown DU in the urine and bones of 70% of
them.
Depleted uranium does not occur naturally. It is the by-product of the
industrial processing of waste from nuclear reactors and is better
known as weapons-grade uranium. It is used to strengthen the tips of
shells to ensure that they pierce armour.
Durakovic, who left America because he was told his life was in danger
if he continued his research, has concluded that troops inhaled the
tiny uranium particles after American and British forces fired more
than 700,000 DU shells during the conflict.
The finding begins to explain for the first time why medical orderlies
and mechanics are the principal victims of Gulf war syndrome.
British Army engineers who removed tanks hit by DU shells from the
battlefield and medical personnel who cut off the clothes of Iraqi
casualties in field hospitals have been disproportionately affected.
Once inside the body, DU causes a slow death from cancers,
irreversible kidney damage or wastage from immune deficiency
disorders.
In the UK, where more than 400 veterans are estimated to have died
from "Gulf war syndrome", at least 50 of those victims came from Reme
(Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) units. Others, such as Ray
Bristow, 42, of Hull, who was a theatre technician for 32 Field
Hospital, are now wheelchair-bound.
Tests carried out by Durakovic on Bristow showed that, nine years
after leaving the Gulf, he had more than 100 times the safe limit of
DU in his body.
Durakovic said: "I doubt whether the MoD or Pentagon will have the
audacity to challenge these results. I can't say this is the solitary
cause of Gulf war syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that it is
a leading factor in the majority of victims.
"I hope the US and UK governments finally realise that, by continuing
to use this ammunition, they are effectively poisoning their own
soldiers."
An MoD spokesman said it would study any new evidence: "Our aim is to
get the best care for British veterans and our views are based on the
best evidence around."
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