DEPLETED URANIUM SAFETY FEARS CONTINUE + UPDATES

2004-02-20 | It has been reported that the U.K. Ministry of Defence have performed an astonishing u-turn on the safety of Depleted Uranium. All serving personnel working in IRAQ have now been issued with a Depleted Uranium information card. ( * Ed. Note: Please see copy below. ) For over a decade many 1990-91 Gulf War veterans have complained of ill health possibly associated with exposure to DU. To date many veterans still await tangible testing for their exposures and have faced a wall of opposition in their efforts to acquire help and advice. The decision raises many disturbing questions about the issues of DU. For instance why were 1990-91 Gulf war service veterans not informed about the dangers of DU or given advice cards? Why were they not given appropriate guidance on the use of DU and why are they still waiting to be tested for possible service-attributable exposures? We have all marvelled at the media images of this powerful weapon and we have been reassured for years that Depleted Uranium is safe, so why have the Ministry of Defence decided to issue the new FMED 1018 DU information cards? The card offers the following information_ ‘You have been deployed to a theatre where Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions have been used’ ‘DU is a weakly radioactive heavy metal, which has the potential to cause ill health’ ‘You may have been exposed to dust containing DU during your deployment’ For many veterans this action and news has come as too little, too late. To date some 650 Gulf War veterans have lost their lives and hundreds, if not thousands have been left sick and disabled by their loyal war time service. Many of the worlds battlefields have been left contaminated and civilian populations now live under the shadow of the Depleted Uranium legacy. GULF WAR SYNDROME UK SUPPORT GROUP calls upon the Government to take urgent action in addressing the issues of Depleted Uranium. We would also like to see immediate testing for evidence of exposure to Depleted Uranium and additional Chromosome Aberration testing of service veterans and affected civilian populations. For further details refer to http://www.gwsuk.org.uk and/or http://www.mod.uk/issues/depleted_uranium/index.htm * MoD Accept DU has the potential to cause ill health British Troops serving in Iraq are now being issued with an F Med 1018. Why not before the Iraq war, Balkans or Gulf War? Are service personnel from other nations aware that British Troops carry this warning card? Are Iraqi Civilians aware of this warning card? Are Civilians aware of this warning card who around the world live near test firing range's? Copies of this card should be made for the Iraqi civilians to turn up at British & American Military establishments in Iraq and ask for testing as it was the US and the UK that used Uranium Munitions. Please distribute the faxed, photo-copy of the card that was sent to me. (Name withheld) REMEMBER The MoD have always told Gulf War 1 Vet's DU IS SAFE - another demonstration of an UNTRUTH It was said that DU was experimental during Gulf War 1 - then is this another demonstration of the breaking of the Nuremberg Code by observing the health effects on the Veterans after the War? MOD Card: "DU Information Card (introduced 03/03) F Med 1018 You have been deployed to a theatre where Depleted Uranium(DU) munitions have been used. DU is a weakly radioactive heavy metal, which has the potential to cause ill health You may have been exposed to dust containing DU during your deployment Further Information You are eligiable for a urine test to measure uranium. If you wish to know more about having this test, you should consult your unit medical officer on return to your home base. Your medical officer can provide information about the health effects of DU. Information is also available on the MOD web site: www.mod.uk/issues/depleted_uranium/index.htm" http://www.mod.uk/issues/depleted_uranium/index.htm Related Article See updated coverage at: http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_mod_warning_cards.html ITALIAN SOLDIERS DON'T USE URANIUM PROTECTION MASKS - ASSOC PRESIDENT (AGI) - Rome, Italy, Wednesday February 18, 2004 Feb. 16 - Italian soldiers deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq do not wear protective masks that impede inhalation of depleted uranium dust, wrote Falco Accame, president of the Armed Forces Victims Association, in a letter to the Italian president. According to Accame, norms were issued by the United States in 1993 for the use of masks in order to "impede the inhalation of uranium oxide that deposits in the soil of areas bombarded by weapons containing depleted uranium, which can be carried by the wind." These norms are in effect for Italian forces since 1999. Accame also said that Italy has had "twenty deaths for suspected uranium contamination, and around 200 illnesses." http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200402161848-1185-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia ________________________________________________________________________