-Caveat Lector-
>From www.lineone.net/express/99/08/26/news/n0100splash-d.html
<>
> COVER-UP
> EXCLUSIVE BY GREG SWIFT
>
> THE Government has been accused of a cover-up after new evidence
> emerged proving that British soldiers suffered massive radiation
> poisoning during the Gulf War.
>
> Tests 500,000-times more accurate than any previously conducted
> have shown beyond doubt that servicemen and women were exposed to
> terrifying levels of depleted uranium after it was used by the
> Allies to crush Saddam Hussein's army.
>
> The revelation comes as Gulf War veterans have accused former
> Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson of misleading Parliament
> about the Ministry of Defence's knowledge of the poisoning
> suffered by British troops.
>
> The veterans claim that at a defence select committee meeting on
> April 28 this year, Mr Henderson told members that the MoD had
> not received any evidence of depleted uranium (DU) tests from
> former soldiers.
>
> But, they say, he neglected to mention a meeting between himself
> and the veterans on March 18, attended by Deputy Prime Minister
> John Prescott, at which evidence that 30 British veterans had
> tested positive for DU poisoning was presented.
>
> The Government has repeatedly insisted that troops who handled
> DU-tipped weapons during the 1991 conflict were not at risk of
> radiation poisoning.
>
> It has always insisted there has been no point testing British
> veterans because DU is passed from the system naturally within a
> few weeks and there was no risk from any contaminated dust with
> which troops may have come into contact.
>
> More than 700,000 rounds of DU-coated missiles and bullets were
> fired during the conflict. Produced from nuclear waste, the DU
> gives weapons amazing armour-piercing powers.
>
> But critics have argued that they are indiscriminate weapons of
> mass destruction which should be banned. Confirmation that
> veterans were poisoned and accusations that the MoD has
> deliberately covered up its knowledge of the facts, has led to
> calls for a public inquiry into how the Gulf War Syndrome issue
> has been handled by successive governments.
>
> Professor Malcolm Hooper, a Government-appointed scientific
> advisor investigating Gulf-related illnesses, warned: "These
> results are unequivocal and extremely worrying. The MoD has
> insisted there is no danger from DU but these results say
> otherwise.
>
> "This is a cock-up fast becoming a cover-up and unless the MoD
> says it is prepared to act swiftly then it must be accused of
> covering this up."
>
> Earlier this year, 20 veterans sent urine samples to a Canadian
> geochemist for detailed analysis. As The Express has already
> exclusively revealed, two previous tests conducted by respected
> scientists indicated DU poisoning.
>
> But the mass spectrometer tests conducted by Patricia Horan at
> the Memorial University of Newfoundland are up to 500,000 times
> more accurate than the earlier tests.
>
> Only one veteran, Shaun Rusling, has so far received his results
> which show that eight years after the end of the Gulf War, he is
> still passing 60 per cent DU in his urine.
>
> The highly-toxic compound attacks the lungs, liver and bones and
> can cause genetic mutations which are passed on through the
> generations. Sufferers of DU poisoning are susceptible to cancers
> at any time, anywhere in the body. Mr Rusling, head of the
> National Gulf War Veterans and Families Association, yesterday
> demanded a public inquiry into DU poisoning.
>
> "As a former soldier, I can't feel anything other than let down,"
> said the 40-year-old father-of-two at his home in Hull. "The
> Government appears to be waiting until the vets die of cancer or
> until our levels of DU excretion are low enough for them to say
> that it is not a hazard.
>
> "To be excreting the amount of DU that I am now, eight years
> after the end of the war, shows that I was exposed to a massive
> amount at the time.
>
> "All we want is for the vets to be properly tested, to have the
> medical treatment that we have so far been denied and for an
> acceptance from the MoD that they know about DU poisoning and an
> apology.
>
> "I look at my nine-month-old baby and it breaks my heart because
> I know I will never see her grow up. I already have 23
> acknowledged illnesses as a result of my Gulf service and the DU
> poisoning means that I could develop something fatal at any time.
>
>
> "It is rather like sitting around having a gun held against your
> head and waiting for it to go off."
>
> Professor Hooper said: "Patricia Horan's data makes it imperative
> that we begin an exhaustive study of British veterans. The
> results are reliable and a thorough investigation is urgently
> required, not only of Gulf War veterans but also those troops who
> have served in Kosovo where the Allies also used DU-tipped
> weapons."
>
> Tam Dalyell, Labour MP for Linlithgow, also called for an
> inquiry. "Any one who has seen the
