WMD - Bravo- equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs dropped on Pacific Islands

"On March 1, 1954, U.S. bomb-makers caught up by unleashing from Bikini Atoll a deliverable hydrogen weapon, code-named Bravo, its 15 megatonnage making it nearly one and a half times the yield of the Mike shot. Bravo was the most powerful U.S. bomb ever detonated and one equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs, according to U.S. government documents released in 1994. Weisgall observes, "Hiroshima paled in comparison to Bravo, which represented as revolutionary an advance in explosive power over the atomic bomb as the atomic bomb had over the conventional weapons of World War II." . . .

The Runit Island entombment is of special interest because a nuclear-waste crypt is now being finished 800 miles from Honolulu to bury plutonium-laced materials under a cap of coral soil at Johnston Island, where four failed nuclear-tipped missile shots in 1962 showered the atoll and waters with radioactive debris. "

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Military Jargon - Misleading, Doublespeak

When the military uses a term like collateral damage - you hardly blink an eye, sounds like a building or some object was destroyed. NO

collateral damage: the killing of innocent bystanders, ecological destruction and environmental contamination.
aerial ordnance (military): bombs and missiles.
dehousing: (WWII) allied bombing of German civilian homes.
alleged: actually perpetrated
enhanced interrogation: torture
freedom fighter: A terrorist furthering American interests
asymmetric warfare: suicide bombing attacks, local violent unrest, almost anything that one does not wish to call war or terrorism. Military scientists define asymmetry in warfare as circumstances in which one side continues to fight regardless the disproportionate military capacity of an opponent.
American interests: 1. Corporate interests; keeping share prices up. 2. For the benefit of the rich
irregularities: 1. corporate accounting fraud 2. evidence of election fraud
manifest destiny: imperialism
From SourceWatch encyclopedia

Doublespeak (sometimes called doubletalk) is language constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs) or deliberate ambiguity.

Words "deliberately constructed for political purposes: words, that is to say, which not only had in every case a political implication, but were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them."

This is an interesting mind-expanding intro.

Language of War
Produced July 29, 1990
Welcome to "AMERICA'S DEFENSE MONITOR."

. . . Bill Lutz is a professor of English at Rutgers University. He has written a number of revealing books on mis-leading language in the military and elsewhere. His latest is called "Doublespeak: From Revenue Enhancement to Terminal Living."

Depleted Uranium and the Medical Mismanagement of Gulf War Veterans

Friday 20 November 2009

by: Paul Zimmerman, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

(Photo: US Marines)

The United States insists that weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) pose no health hazards to exposed populations. This charade persists because an artful propaganda matrix has infiltrated and corrupted certain aspects of the radiation and biological sciences. The facts which follow will introduce how our debilitated veterans are being misinformed of the possible role played by uranium in their illnesses.

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How to Detox Your Body of Depleted Uranium Residues, the Effects of Radiation, and Radioactive Contamination

. . . . Modifilin, perhaps the best seaweed chelator (containing anti-cancer properties, too) than anything else out there. . .

. . . At the time of the atomic bombing, Tatsuichiro Akizuki, M.D. was Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis's Hospital in Nagasaki and he fed his staff and patients a strict diet of brown rice, miso and tamari soy soup, wakame, kombu and other seaweed, Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt. He also prohibited the consumption of sugar and sweets since they suppress the immune system.

By imposing this diet on his staff and patients, no one succumbed to radiation poisoning whereas the occupants of hospitals located much further away from the blast incident suffered severe radiation fatalities.

Much of this positive result has to do with the fact that the sea vegetables contain substances that bind radioactive particles and escort them out of the body. This is why seaweed sales usually skyrocket after radiation disasters, and why various seaweeds and algae are typically used to treat radiation victims.

In Chernobyl, for instance, spirulina was used to help save many children from radiation poisoning. By taking 5 grams of spirulina a day for 45 days, the Institute of Radiation Medicine in Minsk even proved that children on this protocol experienced enhanced immune systems, T-cell counts and reduced radioactivity. Israeli scientists have since treated Chernobyl children with doses of natural beta carotene from Dunaliella algae and proved that it helped normalize their blood chemistry. Chlorella algae, a known immune system builder and heavy metal detoxifier, has also shown radioprotective effects. Because they bind heavy metals, algae should therefore be consumed after exposure to any type of radioactive contamination. . . .

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Ocean Medicine

Legacy of Treason Depleted Uranium and the Poisoning of Humanity

By Alok O'Brien

In recent years I have become aware of the issue of depleted uranium (DU) and its use by the US Military in Iraq in 1991 and again in the current Iraq war. The photos of birth deformities and stories of suffering resulting from DU shocked me, reminding me of the Agent Orange victims of America's Vietnam war. Then I watched David Bradbury and Peter Scott's new film, "Blowin' in the Wind ". Its content shocked and appalled me, and spurred me into researching and writing this article. It is undoubtedly by far the most significant issue on the planet today, and yet the mainstream media stays quiet.

Depleted uranium (DU) is what is left after raw uranium has been enriched to the highly radioactive isotope U-235 used for weapons and power generation. For every ton of U-235 produced, there are seven tons of DU. Estimates vary, but it seems that currently the US alone has in excess of five million tons of stockpiles of DU. This has no commercial use beyond its use as a radiation shield in medical devices, and for adding to concrete to form radiation containing bunkers. However, this requires an insignificant quantity of the DU produced each year.

The half-life of DU is 4.5 billion years, so storing it safely and indefinitely is cost prohibitive. To remedy the situation, the US Department of Energy has made it freely available to the Pentagon and US armaments and armour manufacturers, and it has been used in weapons exported to 29 countries. It is simply cheaper to make it into weapons than store it.

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T R E A S O N

1 betrayal of one's sovereign or country.

2 any treachery or betrayal.

treasonable, treasonous

Depleted Uranium: Nuclear Holocaust and The Politics of Radiation

Doug Rokke, a Vietnam and Gulf War I Veteran and the Army's expert on depleted uranium; Leuren Moret, a whistle-blower from Livermore National Laboratory, expert lecturer on the health effects of depleted uranium; and Veteran Staff Sergeant Dennis Kyne who served as an Army medic during Gulf War I shared their expertise at the Women's Solidarity Movement in California April of 2003.

Because they speak out about depleted uranium (DU), all three of these people are constantly harassed by the US government and its agents. Both Rokke and Kyne are in extremely serious medical condition because of their exposure to depleted uranium and other toxicants that the military tells our valiant warriors are safe.

Click to listen on Mindfully.org to these lectures

Huge Rise in Birth Defects in Falluja

Iraqi former battle zone sees abnormal clusters of infant tumours and deformities.

Fallujah - Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.

The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in Falluja's over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies born.

Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian say the rise in birth defects – which include a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple tumours, and others with nervous system problems - are unprecedented and at present unexplainable.
Continue.

further info:

* Depleted Uranium to Blame for Iraq's Cancer Problem

* IRAQ: Cancer emerges as major cause of death in south

* Depleted Uranium - The Perfect Monster Kills Quietly

"D.U. doesn't dissolve in water, meaning it is never excreted from an animal's body. It is passed on into any offspring and into their offspring."

White phosphorus called Shake and Bake

Exclusive: Classified Pentagon Document Described White Phosphorus As ‘Chemical Weapon’-

To downplay the political impact of revelations that U.S. forces used deadly white phosphorus rounds against Iraqi insurgents in Falluja last year, Pentagon officials have insisted that phosphorus munitions are legal since they aren’t technically “chemical weapons.”


Napalm was used in Viet Nam - then the U.S. modified it to make it even Worse - White Phosphorus.

a MUST READ. I won't put up any photos I've seen as to the effects of WHITE PHOSPHORUS - they're too too awful. You can do a search and find them yourself. It's beyond atrocious!

Used by U.S. in Fallujah

Depleted Uranium in Hawaii - by Doug Rokke

Doug Rokke; Ph.D.; Major, retired/disabled; U.S. Army
former Director, U.S. Army Depleted Uranium project

***

I recently was asked to provide technical guidance to Hilo Hawaii residents regarding the participation of military vehicles and equipment that had returned from Iraq. The extensive radiological, chemical, and biological contamination in Iraq once transported back to and consequently released into Hawaii's pristine environment poses both unacceptable medical and environmental risks. Consequently based on U.S. Army regulations I wrote that:

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Joyce Riley, Important Health Info for Veterans and Everyone!

Joyce Riley is an outspoken, upholder of American ideals and traditions with seemingly limitless charisma. She is fueled by her desire to keep Americans informed of the challenges this country is faced with everyday.

In the spirit of democracy Joyce welcomes callers to speak their minds and share their knowledge. As we all know knowledge is power, that's why we call this The Power Hour!

Help us restore the Constitution to its rightful place of importance in the United States.

www.thepowerhour.com

http://gcnlive.com/podcast/power_hr/pcast.php

Depleted Uranium Alert! by Doug Rokke

The extent of adverse health and environmental effects of uranium weapons contamination is not limited to combat zones in the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan but includes facilities and sites where uranium weapons were manufactured or tested including Vieques; Puerto Rico; Colonie, New York; Concord, MA; Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana; and Schofield Barracks**, Hawaii. (excerpt from Dr. Rokke's article below)

**MORE evidence of DU contamination in the Hawaiian Islands coming soon

LISTEN to Dr. Doug Rokke on the TRUTH about DU

Dr. Doug Rokke, PhD. Dlind49@aol.com wrote:

please distribute this world wide...

Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens Requiring Immediate Action By President Bush, Prime Minister Brown, and Prime Minister Olmert

Dr. Doug Rokke, PhD. Dlind49@aol.com
former Director, U.S. Army Depleted Uranium project
June 11, 2008

During the summer of 1991, the United States military had collected artillery, tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, conventional and unconventional munitions, trucks, etc. at Camp Doha in Kuwait. As result of carelessness this weapons depot caught fire with consequent catastrophic explosion resulting in death, injury, illness and extensive environmental contamination from depleted uranium and conventional explosives. Recently the emirate of Kuwait required the United States Department of Defense to remove the contamination. Consequently, over 6,700 tons of contaminated soil sand and other residue was collected and has been shipped back to the United States for burial by American Ecology at Boise Idaho. . . .

Continue . . . .

Depleted Uranium: Ethics of the Silver Bullet

White Paper on Depleted Uranium: Ethics of the Silver Bullet
By Iliya Pesic

“All the soldiers there were wearing NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical warfare) protective clothing. We said: ‘What’s going on here?’ And their answer was: ‘Didn’t you know? This ammunition is a bit dodgy.’” – Tim Pubrick, Gulf War veteran, British Royal Army tank commander." . . . continue

Depleted Uranium: Pentagon Poison

What's New | Documents | News Feeds | Links | Photos | Supporters | FAQ | Awards | Contact Us

Gulf War Veteran Resource Pages

Pentagon Poison: The Great Radioactive Ammo Cover-Up

Author:	By Bill Mesler
Publication:	The Nation
Document Dated:	May 13, 1997
Date Posted:	May 13, 1997
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Rounds made of depleted uranium have exposed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of G.I.s to radiation without warning -- here's evidence the army knew the danger.

There were five of them. Small, BB-shaped pellets, shrapnel from wounds Jerry Wheat suffered in the Gulf War in 1991. They were lodged in the back of his neck and in his right shoulder. It took six months for them to worm their way close enough to the surface of his skin to be squeezed out. Wheat never paid much attention to the little pellets. Not until his father, an industrial hygienist at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, took them to work, measured them with a Geiger counter and discovered they were pieces of uranium-238, a radioactive and toxic byproduct of the process used to make fuel for nuclear weapons and reactors. For the first time in battle, the United States had used radioactive ammunition -- poisoning an unknown number of our own soldiers in addition to the Kuwaiti and Iraqi environment, a story the Pentagon is doing its best to keep quiet but for which a Nation investigation has found abundant evidence.

In fact, extensive interviews with exposed soldiers and veterans' doctors, government documents obtained by The Nation and results of emerging medical research show that the Pentagon knew as early as 1990 of the dangers of its new antitank ammunition made of uranium-238, or depleted uranium (D.U.), but was mainly worried about bad P.R.; that soldiers in the Gulf War were not warned of its toxicity; that hundreds and perhaps thousands of G.I.s were exposed; that the Pentagon at least once rephrased description of this ammunition to hide its radioactivity; that researchers are on the verge of publishing a study documenting a strong connection to cancer; that at least one former Veterans Affairs doctor accuses the V.A. of engaging in a "conspiracy of silence"; and that, six years after the last rounds were fired in the Gulf, concern among veterans has convinced Congressional investigators exploring the causes of Gulf War Syndrome to begin calling for testimony on D.U. next month.

U.S. forces quietly began introducing D.U. rounds into their arsenals in the late seventies but never fired a round in combat before the Gulf War. It turned out to be the most devastating tank-killing ammunition ever used on a battlefield, accounting for about one-third of all Iraqi tank kills. "By using these D.U. weapon systems, the Army gave its soldiers better protection from enemy action and greater confidence in their ability to engage in and survive combat," Department of Defense spokesman Bryan Whitman told The Nation. But the use of D.U. weapons also left behind a host of problems the Pentagon did not foresee. What do you do with the tons of radioactive waste left behind? What do you tell soldiers exposed to burning D.U. rounds? And what do you tell at least thirty-three U.S. veterans who, like Wheat, were left with D.U. shrapnel wounds?

The last question is the one researchers at the Defense Department's Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) in Bethesda, Maryland, are trying to answer. AFRRI scientists have been trying to determine the effects of embedded D.U. by inserting shrapnel-like pellets of the substance into the legs of rats. According to abstracts of preliminary results of the studies obtained by The Nation, AFRRI scientists have discovered that D.U. leads to the occurrence of oncogenes, tumorous growths believed to be the precursors to cancerous growth in cells, and that it kills suppressor genes. They also found that embedded D.U., unlike most metals, dissolves and is spread through the body, depositing itself in organs like the spleen and the brain; and that a pregnant female rat will pass depleted uranium along to a developing fetus.

Some of the results have been presented to the American Association for Cancer Research and the Society of Toxicology; more is being submitted to the scientific journal Nature this month. Researchers stress that their work is only preliminary. But Dr. David Livengood, the chairman of the department of cellular radiobiology at AFRRI, said, "We were particularly surprised at how quickly we found oncogenes."

Despite the significance of their discoveries, the research has so far drawn scant attention. Money for the studies will run out later this year, and no new appropriations are on the horizon, although scientists are trying to find out more about the interrelationship between uranium's radioactivity and its toxicity (uranium is both a toxic heavy metal and radioactive) and to develop new ways to test for uranium in the human body.

"Even if we would never use it [D.U.] again, other potential enemies will," said Livengood. "And we have to be prepared to know what to do with injured individuals. What do we say, for instance, to a woman with D.U. fragments in her who wants to know if she can safely have children? Nobody knows." He speaks urgently of the need for further study.

So does Jerry Wheat. During the Gulf War, Wheat drove a Bradley armored personnel carrier for the Third Armored Division and won a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Twice Wheat was knocked unconscious when his vehicle was hit by Iraqi rounds. The Iraqi fire caused the Bradley's own ammunition to explode, leaving him with D.U. shrapnel. Wheat came home from the Persian Gulf a hero, but also sick. "I had these stomach cramps that went on real severe for about six weeks," says Wheat, who used to weigh 220 pounds and now weighs 160. "I couldn't hold anything in me, couldn't eat any food. I still have stomach trouble. And now I have joint pains, fatigue. My bones won't heal right. I broke my collarbone last year and it still hasn't healed."

Wheat believes his ailments are related to the unexplained symptoms reported by other veterans, which have come to be known as Gulf War Syndrome. Since his father's discovery in 1993 that his shrapnel wounds were from D.U., Wheat has been part of a D.U. monitoring program run by the Veterans Affairs Department. Doctors at the V.A. hospital in Baltimore are following closely the health of Wheat and nearly three dozen other veterans known to have suffered D.U. shrapnel wounds.

Nobody at the V.A. told Wheat about the preliminary results of the animal studies at AFRRI, even though he and other vets in the D.U. program were recently flown to Baltimore for a round of testing. "They have a real good way of covering stuff up," said Wheat, who never would have learned his shrapnel was D.U. if his father hadn't taken the initiative to check it with a Geiger counter. "I never even heard of depleted uranium until 1993. They've never warned me about anything at all."

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Depleted Uranium: Poisoning Our Planet

Soldier Health Scare Back in News

. . . . Lori Brim has joined other parents, hundreds of other sick soldiers, legislators, research scientists and environmental activists who say the cause of their problems results from exposure to depleted uranium, a radioactive metal used in the manufacture of U.S. tank armor and weapon casings . . . . continue

Sickened Iraq Vets Cite Depleted Uranium

. . . . . Reed believes depleted uranium has contaminated him and his life. He now walks point in a vitriolic war over the Pentagon's arsenal of it - thousands of shells and hundreds of tanks coated with the metal that is radioactive, chemically toxic, and nearly twice as dense as lead. . . .

His Story

Why have so many Iraqi Academics been Assassinated

How can research be done on DU effects in Iraq if there has been assassinations of an estimated 300 Iraqi scientists since the invasion of Iraq - Brussels Tribunal (as of 2005)

There are WMD in Iraq - ours

Depleted uranium (DU) is the waste product from the process of enriching uranium ore for use in nuclear weapons and reactors. It is a very heavy substance, 1.7 times denser than lead, it is highly valued by armies for its ability to punch through armored vehicles. When a weapon made with a DU tip or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight through it and then erupts in a burning cloud of vapor. The vapor settles as dust, which is both chemically poisonous and also radioactive. (BBC News, 4 January 2001)

As an alpha particle emitter, DU has a half life of 4.5 billion years. DU materials are in the warheads of 23 weapon systems, including cruise missiles, bunker busting bombs and cluster bombs. DU munitions were central to the "shock and awe‚" attack on Iraq in 2003 and the continued military conflict since.

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The War Against Ourselves, an interview with Doug Rokke

An interview with Major Doug Rokke by Sunny Miller

by Doug Rokke

posted Mar 31, 2003

Doug Rokke has a PhD in health physics and was originally trained as a forensic scientist. When the Gulf War started, he was assigned to prepare soldiers to respond to nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare, and sent to the Gulf. What he experienced has made him a passionate voice for peace, travelling the country to speak out. The following interview was conducted by the director of the Traprock Peace Center, Sunny Miller, supplemented with questions from YES! editors - Read the Interview here

"DU is a crime against God and humanity. It has to be stopped"
Major Doug Rokke, Health Physicist assigned to US Army DU Assessment Team, 1991. US Army DU Project Director, 1994-1995

Uranium Toxicity known since 1896

Democratic Underground.com

Depleted Uranium is a Waste Product of the nuclear industry

Depleted Uranium (DU) is the byproduct of uranium enrichment or, as described by the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW),"DU is a waste product of the nuclear industry." The ICBUW adds: "Depleted Uranium itself is a chemically toxic and radioactive compound, which is used in armor piercing munitions because of its very high density. It is 1.7 times denser than lead. This allows it to easily penetrate the steel armor of tanks and other vehicles when fired at high velocity."
read more at the Green Glossary

Depleted Uranium & Gulf War Syndrome

Beyond Treason
Watch video clip

Depleted Uranium & Gulf War Syndrome

Depleted Uranium Blamed for Cancer Clusters Among Iraq War Vets

The Real Dirty Bombs: Depleted Uranium

Critical Analysis ... Depleted Uranium

Dissident Voice, DU issues

There Are No Words . . Radiation in Iraq Equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs
by Bob Nichols, March 27, 2004, revised July 12, 2004

. . . This story is about American weapons built with Uranium components for the business end of things. Just about all American bullets, tank shells, missiles, dumb bombs, smart bombs, 500 and 2,000 pound bombs, cruise missiles, and anything else engineered to help our side in the war of us against them has Uranium in it. Lots of Uranium.

In the case of a cruise missile, as much as 800 pounds of the stuff. This article is about how much radioactive uranium our guys, representing us, the citizens of the United States, let fly in Iraq. Turns out they used about 4,000,000 pounds of the stuff, give or take, according to the Pentagon and the United Nations. That is a bunch.

Now, most people have no idea how much Four Million Pounds of anything is, much less of Uranium Oxide Dust (UOD), which this stuff turns into when it is shot or exploded. Suffice it to say it is about equal to 1,333 cars that weigh three thousand pounds apiece. That is a lot of cars; but, we can imagine what a parking lot with one thousand three hundred and thirty three cars is like. The point is: this was and is an industrial strength operation. It is still going on, too. . .read more on Radioactive Uranium Dust

White Phosphorous, Daisy cutters, Depleted Uranium, Thermobaric bombs, Clusterbombs, Napalm...

The US uses WMD against civilians.

This site shows the effects of the terrible weapons the U.S. is using in the Middle East - The site is deeply disturbing to the emotions and for some may make physically sick.

DU in Hawaii

Doug Rokke; Ph.D.; Major, retired/disabled; U.S. Army
former Director, U.S. Army Depleted Uranium project

2737 CR 1200 E
Rantoul, Illinois 61866
United States of America

217 643 6205
dlind49@aol.com
***

I recently was asked to provide technical guidance to Hilo Hawaii residents regarding the participation of military vehicles and equipment that had returned from Iraq. The extensive radiological, chemical, and biological contamination in Iraq once transported back to and consequently released into Hawaii's pristine environment poses both unacceptable medical and environmental risks. Consequently based on U.S. Army regulations I wrote that:

"Any and all combat vehicles and equipment (everything) returned from Iraq should be prohibited from any civilian area. Although some Army officials claim that vehicles can be decontaminated i found as the Army's Depleted Uranium Project director that cleaning using a standard wash rack is useless for decontamination. Therefore it was and remains imperative to keep all contaminated equipment isolated to a secure isolated area on the army post as specified U.S. Army Regulation 700-48, section 2-4. to prevent all human contact and uncontrolled environmental releases.

As the Army's expert, I previously verified that even after extensive depot level cleaning, depleted uranium and other radiological, chemical and biological contamination remains in vehicles years later.

The gross contamination of equipment, vehicles, terrain, air water, soil and food is reflected in, and verified by the hundreds of thousands of US casualties with serious medical problems that are unrelated to bullets or bombs, but are directly related to all of these toxic exposures.

Hawaii's citizens and isolated and pristine environment should not be exposed to, and consequently placed in danger through, any exposure to any of the contaminants brought back by the US military from war zones.

**
supporting documentation with references follows. if you need more or additonal clarification i will provide those documents to you.

.Kyodo News (Japan)
January 7, 2004

War in Iraq devastating environment: UN report

TOKYO, Jan 06, 2004 (Kyodo via COMTEX) -- The U.S.-led
war and its aftermath have resulted in serious
environmental problems in Iraq, including those caused
by depleted uranium weapons, a U.N. Environment
Program (UNEP) report says.
The UNEP progress report on the environment in Iraq
dated Oct. 20 draws attention to the use of depleted
uranium weapons by U.S. and British forces during
their military operations.

"UNEP concludes that there are problems in Iraq that
require immediate attention. These include
environmental contamination exacerbated by military
actions as well as looting of sites holding nuclear
and toxic materials," the document states.

"Iraq has also long-standing environmental problems,
such as the destruction of the Mesopotamian Marshlands
and pollution from the oil and chemical industries,"
it adds.

The report emphasizes the need for prompt measures to
deal with the situation, including studying the
effects on local residents and finding ways to
minimize immediate environment-related threats to
human health.

It suggests that contaminated areas must be identified
and assessed and nearby residents be tested and
monitored and that steps be taken to raise awareness
among the Iraq people of the potential risks of
depleted uranium.

But there is little the group itself can do now as the
United Nations withdrew its staff from Iraq following
a car bomb attack at its headquarters in Baghdad in
August that killed 24 people, including top U.N. envoy
to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The deteriorating security situation in Iraq and the
slowed reconstruction efforts are also hindering its
efforts.

Although U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end
to major combat operations in Iraq in May last year,
there have been ensuing attacks on the U.S. forces and
those from countries supporting reconstruction efforts
in Iraq.

UNEP compiled its latest progress report based on its
past assessment of the environment in Iraq as well as
its two fact-finding missions to Baghdad and Basra
last summer.

The document says the British authorities have
provided detailed information about the use of
depleted uranium weapons, including British tanks
expending 1.9 tons of such weapons, about twice the
amount British troops used in the 1991 Gulf War.

It also names a number of contaminated industrial
sites that pose environmental hazards, including the
al-Mishraq Sulphur State Co. near Mosul where there
was a fire of unknown cause from June to July,
emitting a huge plume of gas over Iraq and other
Middle Eastern countries.

Also of concern is the looting of nuclear materials
from the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Facility near
Baghdad around April 2003, the report says. "High
levels of radiation have been detected in several
neighborhoods as a result of looters carting off
nuclear materials," it said.
*

The Health and Environmental Effects of Uranium Munitions- Report for Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations Office and other International Observations.

Prepared by:
Doug Rokke; Ph.D.; Major, retired/disabled; U.S. Army
former Director, U.S. Army Depleted Uranium project

December 13 , 2008

2737 CR 1200 E
Rantoul, Illinois 61866
United States of America

217 643 6205
dlind49@aol.com


The continued use and prior use of uranium munitions is causing adverse health and environmental effects that are being ignored by the leaders those nations and their military commanders who are responsible for uranium weapons use.

During the summer of 1991, the United States military had collected artillery, tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, conventional and unconventional munitions, trucks, etc. at Camp Doha in Kuwait. As result of carelessness this weapons depot caught fire with consequent catastrophic explosions resulting in death, injury, illness and extensive environmental contamination from depleted uranium and conventional explosives. Recently the emirate of Kuwait required the United States Department of Defense to remove the contamination. Consequently, over 6,700 tons of contaminated soil sand and other residue was collected and has been shipped back to the United States for burial by American Ecology at Boise Idaho. When Bob Nichols, an investigative journalist, and I contacted American Ecology we found out that they had absolutely no knowledge of U.S. Army Regulation 700-48, U.S. Army PAM 700-48, U.S. Army Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, and all of the medical orders dealing with depleted uranium contamination, environmental remediation procedures, safety, and medical care . They had never heard of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for dealing with mixed – hazardous waste such as radioactive materials and conventional explosives byproducts. (reference "Approaches for the Remediation of Federal Facility Sites Contaminated with Explosives or Radioactive Wastes", EPA/625/R-93/013, September 1993). The shipment across the ocean, unloading at Longview, Washington State port, transport by rail, and burial in Idaho endangers not only the residents of these areas but poses a significant agricultural threat through introduction of pests, microbes, etc. foreign to our nation.

Sadly the known adverse health and environmental hazards from uranium weapons contamination also are prevalent throughout the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency has listed the former Nuclear Metals- Starmet uranium weapons manufacturing site in Concord Massachuetts on EPA’s Superfund National Priority List because it poses a significant risk to public health and the environment. Consequently the community in which the United States was born on April 18, 1775 is now the location of America’s own closed dirty bomb factory that will endanger the health and safety of the descendants of our original patriots- “the Minutemen”. The closed “National Lead” uranium weapons manufacturing site in Albany New York also poses a significant health and environmental risk. There is also substantial uranium weapons contamination as a consequence of combat training, manufacturing, or research operations in Maryland, Nevada, Hawaii, Florida, Indiana, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Texas, and Puerto Rico. In all probability uranium weapons contamination is abundant throughout United States weapons firing ranges and those ranges located throughout Europe.

The previous delivery of at least 100 GBU 28 bunker busters bombs containing depleted uranium warheads by the United States and their use by Israel against Lebanese targets during 2006 has resulted in additional radioactive and chemical toxic contamination with consequent adverse health and environmental effects throughout the middle east. Israeli tank gunners are also using depleted uranium tank rounds as photographs verify.

Today, United States, British, Canadian, Australian, and Israeli military personnel are using illegal uranium munitions- their own "dirty bombs" while U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, British Ministry of Defence, Canadian Ministry of Defence, Australian Defence Ministry, and Israeli officials deny that there are any adverse health and environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture, testing, and/or use of uranium munitions to avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material - depleted uranium. This directly contradicted by internal United States Department of Defense documents such as the Pentagon briefing given by Colonel J. Edgar Wakayama, Director of the Operational Test and Evaluation Command (http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html) that confirms not only lung cancer but other serious medical problems such as respiratory, eye, skin, genetic abnormalities, and specific warnings about food, water, air, and soil contamination. It is critical to understand that Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army Walker ordered the Director of the United States Army Environmental Policy Institute to determine how to reduce the toxicity of uranium munitions and the reported conclusion was that quote “Ways to Reduce DU Toxicity No available technology can significantly change the inherent chemical and radiological toxicity of DU. These are intrinsic properties of uranium. “ end quote. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 11 recently distributed a booklet “Some things you need to know about veterans- A Clinicians Guide to Veteran’s Specific Issues” in which they state quote:
“Some of the physical symptoms which may occur as a result of exposure to depleted uranium are: sleep problems, mood swings, symptoms in upper or lower respiratory system, neuropsychological symptoms (including memory loss), chronic fatigue and immune system dysfunction (CFDIS), skin rashes and unusual hair loss, aching joints, headaches, abdominal pain, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, menstrual disorders, gastrointestinal symptoms (recurrent diarrhea), nervous disorders (such as numbness in a limb), multiple chemical sensitivity, birth defects in children whose parents were exposed.” End quote


The use of uranium weapons (radioactive chemically toxic dirty bombs) is absolutely unacceptable, and a crime against humanity because they do not discriminate between combatants and noncombatants; they permanently contaminate air, water, soil, and food; and they can not be cleaned up to restore contaminated areas to pre-war or pre-uranium use conditions that would allow unrestricted use of the area. The intended use of uranium weapons while ignoring all adverse health and environmental effects was specified in the March 1, 1991 Los Alamos memo even while the March 1991 memo from the Defense Nuclear Agency warned of serious hazards (http://www.traprockpeace.org/twomemos.html). Consequently the citizens of the world and all governments must force cessation of uranium weapons use. I demand that Israel now provide medical care to all DU casualties in Lebanon and clean up all DU contamination.

Simply, U.S., British, Australian, Canadian, and Israeli officials arrogantly refuse to comply with regulations, orders, and directives that require officials to provide prompt and effective medical care to "all" exposed individuals. Reference: Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties, DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93, Medical Management of Army personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU) Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command 29 April 2004, and section 2-5 of U.S. Army Regulation 700-48.

They also refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive Contamination as required by Army Regulation- AR 700-48: "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., September 2002) and U.S. Army Technical Bulletin- TB 9-1300-278: "Guidelines For Safe Response To Handling, Storage, And Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions Or Armor Which Contain Depleted Uranium" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., JULY 1996). Specifically section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation-AR 700-48 dated September 16, 2002 requires that:
(1) "Military personnel "identify, segregate, isolate, secure, and label all RCE" (radiologically contaminated equipment).
(2) "Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented as soon as possible."
(3) "Radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment" and
(4) "All equipment, to include captured or combat RCE, will be surveyed, packaged, retrograded, decontaminated and released IAW Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, DA PAM 700-48" (Note: Maximum exposure limits are specified in Appendix F).

United States Department of Defense leaders are not showing the depleted uranium training tapes to military personnel. These three video tapes: (1) "Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness", (2) "Contaminated and Damaged Equipment Management", and (3) "Operation of the AN/PDR 77 Radiac Set" are essential to understanding the hazards from the use of uranium weapons and management of uranium weapons contamination. These educational videos must shown to not only United States but all military personnel from every nation that is involved in use of uranium munitions and the consequent management of uranium contamination.

The previous and current use of uranium weapons, the release of radioactive components in destroyed U.S. and foreign military equipment, and releases of industrial, medical, research facility radioactive materials have resulted in unacceptable exposures. Therefore, decontamination must be completed as required by United States Army Regulation 700-48 that includes not only uranium weapons but releases of all radioactive materials resulting from military operations.

The extent of adverse health and environmental effects of uranium weapons contamination is not limited to combat zones in the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan but includes facilities and sites where uranium weapons were manufactured or tested including Vieques; Puerto Rico; Colonie, New York; Concord, MA; Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Therefore medical care must be provided by the United States Department of Defense officials to all civilians and military personnel affected by the manufacturing, testing, research, and/or use of uranium munitions. Thorough environmental remediation also must be completed without further delay.

I am disgusted that seventeen years after I was tasked to clean up the depleted uranium mess from Gulf War 1 and over thirteen years since I completed the depleted uranium project that United States Department of Defense officials and others still attempt to justify uranium munitions use while refusing to provide mandatory medical care and complete mandatory environmental remediation. Sadly, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and Department of Veterans Affairs officials, and their representatives continue personal attacks aimed to silence or discredit those of us who demand that medical care be provided to all DU casualties and that environmental remediation be completed in compliance with U.S. Army Regulation 700-48. But beyond the ignored mandatory actions the willful dispersal of tons of solid radioactive and chemically toxic munitions contamination in the form of uranium munitions is illegal (http://www.traprockpeace.org/karen_parker_du_illegality.pdf) and just does not even pass the common sense test. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DHS, uranium munitions are dirty bomb. DHS issued "dirty bomb" response guidelines, http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html, on January 3, 2006 for incidents within the United States but ignore DOD use of uranium weapons and existing DOD regulations. These guidelines specifically state that: "Characteristics of RDD and IND Incidents: A radiological incident is defined as an event or series of events, deliberate or accidental, leading to the release, or potential release, into the environment of radioactive material in sufficient quantity to warrant consideration of protective actions. Use of an RDD or IND is an act of terror that produces a radiological incident." Thus the use of uranium munitions is "an act or terror" as defined by DHS. Finally continued compliance with the infamous March 1991 Los Alamos Memorandum that was issued to ensure continued use of uranium munitions can not be justified.

Specific actions to mitigate the adverse health and environmental effects caused by the previous and current use of uranium munitions must be implemented. The leaders of the nations who have used and are using uranium munitions must acknowledge and accept responsibility for willful use of illegal uranium munitions- their own "dirty bombs"- resulting in adverse health and environmental effects.

They must order:
1. medical care for all civilian, combatant, and noncombatant casualties,
2. thorough environmental remediation,
3. immediate cessation of retaliation against all individuals who demand compliance with medical care and environmental remediation requirements,
4. and stopping the already illegal the use (UN finding) of depleted uranium munitions.

I pray that you and our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will able to provide some influence to stimulate leaders of nations responsible for the uranium weapons catastrophe to finally provide medical care to all casualties and to complete environmental remediation. I pray that we can finally encourage the leaders all nations to never use uranium munitions again. I pray that you will join me in my hope for Divine intervention. I pray that together we can motivate God’s children, the citizens of all nations, to live together in peace. In conclusion I wish to quote Archbishop Tutu’s comments to the United Nations Human Rights Council on September 18, 2008; “God is hoping that somehow you will help to make God’s world a more gentle place, more compassionate place, a more caring place. And God has no one except such as you. I pray that you will be able to fulfill this high calling. It is a high calling. It is a divinely given vocation.” I have accepted this calling but I pray for your help and assistance. I pray for God’s assistance.
THANK YOU.

References- The following web sites provide copies of the actual regulations and orders and other pertinent official documents related to the use of uranium weapons and mandatory but ignored response to the adverse health and environmental effects. I will also send copies of these documents these as attachments. The web site reference to http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html is a copy of a hidden internal United States Department of Defense briefing given by Colonel J. Edgar Wakayama that confirms adverse health and environmental effects.

http://www.traprockpeace.org/twomemos.html
http://www.traprockpeace.org/rokke_du_3_ques.html
http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html
http://www.traprockpeace.org/karen_parker_du_illegality.pdf
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html
http://cryptome.org/dhs010306.txt
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/15/razing_urged_for_waste_site/ http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/04/29/area_news/doc4816651072f72767559743.txt>

Photo by David Silverman (Getty Images ) Image 71440735 http://editorial.gettyimages.com

**
A MATTER OF INTEGRITY
Doug Rokke, Ph.D.
Major, retired, U.S. Army
Revised – October 27, 2009

As this war proceeds too many of our sons and daughters are dying. War is touching each and every one of us and at some point we must stop the madness. Our small community has now been touched by death of two of our loved ones in just two weeks - Chris Rudzinski and Dave Audo. I pray that GOD has already taken them into his arms and that God provide’s comfort too all of those who loved these young men.

And my thoughts: “YOU ARE GOING TO WAR"-- those words echoed through my mind, bringing back memories of my Vietnam experiences, as I sat down in my physics research laboratory at the University of Illinois after receiving a telephone call from the Lieutenant Colonel I worked for in the Army Reserve during November 1990. I knew this would happen after Iraq invaded Kuwait during August 1990. I just did not know when my activation order would arrive. Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day 1990 I would be on my way to war again just as I did on Thanksgiving Day of 1969. Twenty-one years to the day after going to South East Asia (Vietnam War) for the 2nd time, I was going back to war for the third time. Significant events in my military career all revolve around Thanksgiving Day because I was released from active duty once more just in time for Thanksgiving Day 1995 after serving as the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project director from August 1994 through November 1995.
Today, I am a disabled and retired Army Reserve Medical Service Corps officer who specialized in nuclear medicine; and nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare operations (NBC); intelligence; medical operations; and emergency field medicine as a former enlisted combat medic. When Gulf War 1 started during August 1990, I was initially assigned to teach nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare (NBC) operations to 4th U.S. Army personnel. I was finally ordered to active duty and sent to Saudi Arabia with the order "to bring them home alive". That was quite a contrast from my duties during Vietnam as a Bomb Navigation Hard-Hat on B-52's when my job was to ensure weapons systems were optimized to kill. Astonishingly I had deployed to South East Asia on Thanksgiving Day 1969 and then again for Gulf War 1 on Thanksgiving Day 1990. I was sent to Saudi Arabia as the theater health physicist assigned to the 12th Preventive Medicine (P.M.) Command professional staff. The 12th P.M. was in charge of all Preventive Medicine within the combat theater. Basically we were the public health department. I also was assigned to three special operations teams: Bauer's Raiders, the Depleted Uranium Assessment team, and the Captured Equipment team.
Today, 17 years since the completion of Desert Storm, with 1994 and 1999 combat actions in the Balkans, and with Gulf War 2 (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom) ongoing, I am frustrated that the required medical care for "all" (combatants and noncombatants) casualties and environmental remediation of all contamination still is delayed, denied, or for many cases ineffective. Casualties include those who were killed in action (KIA), wounded in action (WIA), and disease and non-battle injuries (DNBI). Sadly the majority of casualties or those classified as disease and non-battle injuries are not reported in the public media. As of May 2007 over 407,911 of our nations sons and daughters have applied for lifetime VA medical care and a pension as result of combat- military service related injuries, illnesses, and wounds (www.va.gov “May 2007 GWVIS report). Medical problems (ICD –9 diagnoses) that have been verified in over 400,304 DNBI casualties between FY 2002 and January 2009 (Analysis of VA Health Care Utilization Among US Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Veterans; Operation Enduring Freedom; Operation Iraqi Freedom; VHA Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards; VA; January 2009) include: Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Malignant Neoplasms, Benign Neoplasms, Diseases of Endocrine/Nutritional/ Metabolic Systems, Diseases of Blood and Blood Forming Organs, Mental Disorders, Diseases of Nervous System/ Sense Organs, Diseases of Circulatory, Disease of Respiratory System, Disease of Digestive System, Diseases of Genitourinary System, Diseases of Skin, Diseases of Musculoskeletal System/Connective System, Symptoms, Signs and Ill Defined Conditions, and Injury/Poisonings. An April 6, 2008 Army Times report written by Kelly Kennedy “Reservists confused about disability benefit eligibility” reveals that too many injured and ill warriors have been given administrative discharges and have not been told that they are eligible for medical disability. Sadly U.S. Air Force Colonel Kenneth Cox verified that Department of Defense medical officials deliberately delayed and denied medical diagnosis of traumatic brain injury (“Colonel: Pentagon delayed brain injury exams”; By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today; Posted : Tuesday Mar 18, 2008 8:08:48 EDT ). Sadly we also found out recently that "8,763 vets died waiting for benefits" because of administrative snafus (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_concurrent_receipt_071508/).
Since 1991 authors of numerous Department of Defense reports have stated that medical and tactical commanders were unaware of the probable NBC-E (WMD) exposures and never told about the adverse medical and environmental consequences of these exposures. They were told! They were warned! We recommended immediate and long-term medical care. We identified the probable threats and expected adverse health and environmental consequences in written messages and during courses we taught. These courses included the 3rd U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) & 3rd U.S. Army Central Command (ARCENT) Medical Management Of Chemical And Biological Casualties Course (http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/), the NBC-E Defense Refresher Course, the COMBAT LIFESAVER COURSE, and the Decontamination Procedures Course. We taught these courses to over 1200 persons assigned to individual units and those assigned to the theater command staff between December 1990 and February 1991. I gave the threat briefing specifically identifying the anticipated NBC-E exposures and taught the NBC-E Defense Refresher Course, the Combat Lifesaver Course, and Decontamination Procedures Course between December 1990 and February 25, 1991. We also discussed preventive medicine issues such as food and water borne illnesses, endemic diseases, and hazardous materials exposure issues. Therefore, most unit commanders, medical; staff, specified individuals at all levels knew what to expect and how to respond to any given incident! On November 17, 2008 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses committee chaired by James Binns published a report (http://sph.bu.edu/insider/racreport) acknowledging that complex set of diagnosed and reported medical problems collectively known as Gulf War Illness do exist and are a result of complex synergistic exposures that occurred. The committee concluded that "Illness profiles typically include some combination of chronic headaches, cognitive difficulties, widespread pain, unexplained fatigue, chronic diarrhea, skin rashes, respiratory problems, and other abnormalities. This symptom complex, now commonly referred to as Gulf War illness, is not explained by routine medical evaluations or by psychiatric diagnoses and has persisted, for many veterans, for 17 years. While specific symptoms can vary between individuals, a remarkably consistent illness profile has emerged from hundreds of reports and studies of different Gulf War veteran populations from different regions of the US and from allied countries." Since the medical problems emerged while individuals were still deployed, upon return to military bases, and homes across our country Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs officials have attempted to classify all these medical problems as psychological or stress related. Sadly, while at least 278,713 Operation Desert Storm veterans have applied for medical care and pensions with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the medical problems affect hundreds of thousands of other military personnel and noncombatants around the world who faced the same exposures as a consequence of coalition military operations known as Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Uranium munitions are still being used during ongoing combat actions causing air, water, soil, and food contamination with consequent adverse health effects even though the United Nations Sub-commission on Human Rights has ruled DU munitions are an illegal weapon. Recently uranium weapons contamination as a result of U.S. Army operations has been confirmed at two locations in Hawaii after initial denials (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/08/ap_hawai). During the summer of 1991, the United States military had collected artillery, tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, conventional and unconventional munitions, trucks, etc. at Camp Doha in Kuwait. As result of carelessness this weapons depot caught fire with consequent catastrophic explosions resulting in death, injury, illness and extensive environmental contamination from depleted uranium, conventional explosives, and unconventional munitions. Recently the emirate of Kuwait required the United States Department of Defense to remove the contamination. Consequently, over 6,700 tons of contaminated soil sand and other residue was collected and has been shipped back to the United States for burial by American Ecology at Boise Idaho. When Bob Nichols, an investigative journalist, and I contacted American Ecology we found out that they had absolutely no knowledge of U.S. Army Regulation 700-48, U.S. Army PAM 700-48, U.S. Army Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, and all of the medical orders dealing with depleted uranium contamination, environmental remediation procedures, safety, and medical care. They had never heard of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for dealing with mixed – hazardous waste such as radioactive materials and conventional explosives byproducts. (reference "Approaches for the Remediation of Federal Facility Sites Contaminated with Explosives or Radioactive Wastes", EPA/625/R-93/013, September 1993). The shipment across the ocean, unloading at Longview, Washington State port, transport by rail, and burial in Idaho endangers not only the residents of these areas but poses a significant agricultural threat through introduction of pests, microbes, etc. foreign to our nation.
Sadly the known adverse health and environmental hazards from uranium weapons contamination are in our own backyard. The EPA has listed the former Nuclear Metals- Starmet uranium weapons manufacturing site in Concord, Ma. on EPA’s Superfund National Priority List because it poses a significant risk to public health and the environment. Consequently the community in which our nation was born on April 18, 1775 is now the location of America’s own closed dirty bomb factory that will endanger the health and safety of the descendants of our original patriots- “the Minutemen”.
Unbelievably, U.S. Department of Defense officials continue to refuse to comply with their own written directives requiring immediate medical care "Medical Management of Army Personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU)" Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command 29 April 2004 and the previous directive "Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties", DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93 and still refuse to complete thorough environmental clean up as required by U.S. Army Regulation 700-48,Logistics, "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities", Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., 16 September 2002 and Department Of The Army Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278: Guidelines For Safe Response To Handling, Storage, And Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions Or Armor Which Contain Depleted Uranium (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, July 1996). Basically United States military personnel have illegally disposed of tons of solid radioactive waste in other nations then ignored the consequences. The primary U.S. Army training manual: STP 21-1-SMCT: Soldiers Manual of Common Tasks states "NOTE: (Depleted uranium) Contamination will make food and water unsafe for consumption." [Task number: 031-503-1017 "RESPOND TO DEPLETED URANIUM/LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS (DULLRAM) HAZARDS"]. This acknowledgment indicates that uranium munitions should never be used because food and water contamination will affect all individuals for eternity. The critical fact is that the contaminated food and water can never be made safe for consumption. The toxicity of uranium munitions also is acknowledged by Army leaders. Assistant Army Secretary Walker, in a December 1992 memorandum ordered the Director of the U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute, AEPI, as mandated by the U.S. Senate to figure out how to reduce the toxicity of depleted uranium. The AEPI director stated in the final report that "No available technology can significantly change the inherent chemical and radiological toxicity of DU. These are intrinsic properties of uranium." (AEPI Executive Summary, June 1995). A internal Department of Defense briefing conducted by Colonel J. Edgar Wakayama also confirmed the known and serious adverse health and environmental effects (http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_dtic_wakayama_Aug2002.html). These acknowledgments substantiate the ruling by the United Nations Sub-commission on Human rights that DU munitions are illegal.
(http://www.traprockpeace.org/karen_parker_du_illegality.pdf)
The continuing concerns regarding known adverse health and environmental effects of depleted uranium, confirmed inadequate preparation of military personnel, and preliminary findings of the AEPI study resulted in the creation of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project. On August 1, 1994 I was recalled to active duty as the Director of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project in response to congressional inquiries and the June 8, 1993 order from the Deputy Secretary of Defense to:
"1. Provide adequate training for personnel who may come in contact with depleted uranium equipment.
2. Complete medical testing of personnel exposed to DU contamination during the Persian Gulf War.
3. Develop a plan for DU contaminated equipment recovery during future operations."
The Depleted Uranium Project and review of previous research reinforced our original 1991 conclusions and recommendations that:
1. All DU contamination must be physically removed and properly disposed of to prevent future exposures.
2. Specialized radiation detection devices that detect and measure alpha particles, beta articles, x-rays, and gamma rays emissions at appropriate levels from 20 dpm(cpm) up to 100,000 dpm (cpm) and from .1 mrem/ hour to 75 mrem/ hour must be acquired and distributed to all individuals or organizations responsible for medical care and environmental remediation activities involving depleted uranium / uranium 238 and other low level radioactive isotopes that may be present. Standard equipment will not detect contamination.
3. Medical care must be provided to all individuals who did or may have inhaled, ingested, or had wound contamination to detect mobile and sequestered internalized uranium contamination.
4. All individuals who enter, climb on, or work within 25 meters of any contaminated equipment or terrain must wear respiratory and skin protection.
5. Contaminated and damaged equipment or materials should not be recycled to manufacture new materials or equipment.
Since 1991 numerous DOD and VA directives (http://www.traprockpeace.org/rokke_du_3_ques.html) based on the previous directives and then the findings and recommendations of the AEPI study and DU Project have required medical care and environmental clean up. However even though DOD, VA, and UN officials know what should be done, visual evidence, photographic and video tape evidence, on site radiological measurements, personal experience, and published reports verify that:
1. Medical care has not been provided to all DU
casualties.
2.Environmental remediation has not been completed.
3. Individuals are not wearing respiratory or skin
protection.
4. Contaminated and damaged equipment and materials
have been recycled to manufacture new products.
5. Training and education has only been partially
implemented.
6. Contamination management procedures have not been distributed and implemented.

The unceasing efforts by senior U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, British, Canadian, Australian, and United Nations officials to prevent acknowledgment of these problems and their refusal to accept responsibility must be stopped. For example, Colonel Robert Cherry, U.S. Army retired and formerly the Pentagon's Senior Radiation Protection officer, has sent out emails stating that (quote): 'He (Dr. Rokke) was not the director of the "U.S. Army depleted uranium project." No such project with that name ever existed' (end quote). This and other lies by senior Department of Defense officials are designed to sustain use of uranium munitions and avoid liability for adverse health and environmental effects by discrediting and destroying any of us who attempt to ensure DOD officials comply with their own existing medical care and environmental remediation requirements as specified in the March 1991 Los Alamos memorandum-directive even though the March 1991 Defense Nuclear Agency memorandum warned us of serious adverse health and environmental hazards (http://www.traprockpeace.org/twomemos.html).
U.S., Israeli, Australian, Canadian, and British officials have arrogantly refused to comply with their own regulations, orders, and directives that require United States Department of Defense officials to provide prompt and effective medical care to "all" exposed individuals. Reference: Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties, DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93, Medical Management of Army personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU) Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command 29 April 2004, and section 2-5 of U.S. Army Regulation 700-48. Sadly after the Israeli use of uranium munitions during their combat actions in Lebanon and probable use recently in the Gaza Strip Israeli officials must also provide medical care to all casualties and clean up all environmental contamination.
United States Department of Defense officials simply refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive Contamination as required by Army Regulation- AR 700-48: "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., September 2002) and U.S. Army Technical Bulletin- TB 9-1300-278: "Guidelines For Safe Response To Handling, Storage, And Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions Or Armor Which Contain Depleted Uranium" (Headquarters, Department Of The Army, Washington, D.C., JULY 1996). Specifically section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation-AR 700-48 dated September 16, 2002 requires that:
(1) "Military personnel "identify, segregate, isolate, secure, and label all RCE" (radiologically contaminated equipment).
(2) "Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented as soon as possible."
(3) "Radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment" and
(4) "All equipment, to include captured or combat RCE, will be surveyed, packaged, retrograded, decontaminated and released IAW Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, DA PAM 700-48" (Note: Maximum exposure limits are specified in Appendix F).
DOD leaders are not showing the congressionally mandated depleted uranium training tapes to military personnel. These three video tapes: (1) "Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness", (2) "Contaminated and Damaged Equipment Management", and (3) "Operation of the AN/PDR 77 Radiac Set" are essential to understanding the hazards from the use of uranium weapons and management of uranium weapons contamination. DOD leaders must show these tapes to all military personnel involved in the use of uranium weapons and the consequent management of uranium contamination.
The previous and current use of uranium weapons, the release of radioactive components in destroyed U.S. and foreign military equipment, and releases of industrial, medical, research facility radioactive materials have resulted in unacceptable exposures. Therefore, decontamination must be completed as required by U.S. Army Regulation 700-48 and should include releases of all radioactive materials resulting from military operations.
We can not continue to ignore the consequences of depleted uranium weapons use that include adverse health and environmental effects. No person or nation has the right to disperse tons of radioactive toxic waste throughout any other or their own nation then ignore adverse health and environmental effects. There is one question that U.S., British, and Australian officials refuse to answer. That is: What right do they have to willfully disperse radioactive materials into any nation then refuse to clean the contamination and refuse to provide medical care for all exposed individuals?
Consequently, all citizens of the world must raise a unified voice to force the leaders of those nations that have used depleted uranium munitions to recognize the immoral consequences of their actions and assume responsibility for medical care of all individuals exposed to uranium contamination and the thorough environmental remediation of all uranium contamination left as a result of combat and peacetime actions.
During January 2004, Mr. David Kay, U.S. chief weapons inspector, acknowledged that there is no evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, an ongoing program, nor the ability to deliver these weapons as claimed by President Bush. Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister Howard in their justification for the 2003 preemptive invasion of Iraq. This revelation verifies that statements by Scott Ritter (http://www.traprockpeace.org/scott_ritter_disarmament.html)and Richard Butler (http://www.abc.net.au/adelaide/stories/s897035.htm) prior to and since the invasion were correct. Sadly, White House and DOD officials have finally acknowledged that they knew there were no WMDs but still attempt to justify the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq based on changing reasons. While casualties from our military actions throughout the world and specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to increase there has still been no justification for our preemptive invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, continued occupation of those nations, and no end in sight.
Given the expected threat of chemical and biological weapons from those that the United States and other nations provided to Iraq and from those Iraq then manufactured, General Schwartzkopf and General Horner with General Powell's approval decided during December 1990 to blow up Iraq's known stockpiles of WMDs (N. Schwartzkopf, It Doesn't Take A Hero, pg 390, Bantam books, 1992). Iraq also released WMDs on coalition troops during Gulf War 1 as verified by thousands of chemical agent alarm activations. Although U.S. Army personnel started on-site destruction of Iraq's WMD stockpiles during March 1991 UNSCOM continued this effort until 1998. Consequently adverse health and environmental effects have occurred due to uncontrolled and deliberate releases and exposures. During 1998 UNSCOM team members under Scott Ritter (W. Pitt & S. Ritter, War on Iraq, Context Books, 2002) were ordered to leave Iraq by U.S. Department of Defense officials and President Clinton's staff.

My source of frustration is that today our warnings, requests for medical care, and requests for environmental remediation have been ignored! I and others who care must continue to try to obtain medical care and completion of environmental remediation even though United States, British, Canadian., Australian, United Nations, and NATO officials do not care because they deny what has occurred to avoid liability for economic and political reasons. Coalition forces have, are, and will apply technology during battle thus we must consider the potential and expected adverse health and environmental consequences of our actions. The United States shipped WMD agents including anthrax to Iraq; released toxic chemicals during combat actions; used depleted uranium munitions; destroyed Iraq’s and Afghanistan’s infrastructure resulting in air, water, soil, and food contamination; administered experimental vaccines to hundreds of thousands of us; and now our leaders ignore these facts in order to avoid liability. We have contaminated the earth! Our actions have resulted in and continue to cause serious adverse health and environmental effects!
Since 1967, I have answered "the call" during two wars and various special projects. Today, I am retired from the U.S. Army Reserve with a 60% VA disability. My objectives throughout my military career were to research, write procedures, write education and training programs, teach, and evaluate programs to improve combat readiness, complete environmental remediation, and provide medical care for all casualties. I was assigned, accepted, and then completed various dangerous missions.
These included: (1) planning, conducting, and evaluating military medical operations, (2) making sure everyone was prepared for expected use of weapons of mass destruction, (3)cleaning up the hazardous materials and uranium contamination, (4)developing the U.S. Army environmental compliance and education programs, (5) serving as the Depleted Uranium Project Director, (6) serving as Director of the U.S. Army's Edwin R. Bradley Radiological Laboratories, (7) developing, teaching, and evaluating civilian and military emergency WMD response programs, (8) researching and developing the U.S. Department of Defense's environmental remediation and education program for Formerly Used Defense Sites.
The personal cost for trying to finish my assigned mission and to make our leaders take care of the troops has been rejection, lost jobs, family turmoil, missing and probably destroyed medical and personnel records, and medical problems. I and hundreds of thousands of other warriors now receive delayed or inadequate medical care. We served our nation and thus earned optimal medical care for service-connected wounds, injuries, and illnesses. But instead, we have been abandoned! We have been raped! I now experience retaliation from Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs officials because I refused to comply with the March 1991 Los Alamos memorandum (http://www.traprockpeace.org/twomemos.html) to ensure depleted uranium can always be used during U.S. Department of Defense combat or peacetime actions because at the same time a memorandum from an officer at the Defense Nuclear Agency cited serious health effects. But I am not alone. Anyone who demands medical care and environmental remediation faces ongoing and blatant retaliation.
Today, war must be considered obsolete because we can not deal with either the adverse health or environmental consequences caused by destroying a nation's infrastructure thus releasing toxins that affect all combatants and noncombatants. We can not deal with the adverse health and environmental effects of the weapons we use to destroy the targets- a nation’s infrastructure. The human cost of war is staggering. According to the May 2007 VA GWVIS report, at least 407,911 Gulf War 1, Balkans Conflict, Afghanistan, and Gulf War 2 U.S. military combat veterans who are wounded, ill, or injured must fight for the medical care they earned while serving our nation. The most recent U.S. Department of Veterans affairs casualty report: Analysis of VA Health Care Utilization Among US Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Veterans; Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF); Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); VHA Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards; January 2009 reveals that over 400,304 U.S. combat veterans have serious medical problems related to toxic exposures that mirror the same medical problems diagnosed by Operation Desert Storm combat veterans. Sadly, medical care is still ineffective for both groups because the diagnosed medical problems are a result of deliberate United States actions or failure to act. For example, physicians are diagnosing serious neurological problems in returning OIF – OEF combat veterans similar to those diagnosed in Desert Storm combat veterans. These problems are probably a function of pesticide exposures, troops wearing flea collars, and uranium toxicity. But, those and other exposures are ignored. DOD officials continue to deny any correlation between current open pit burning throughout Iraq and Afghanistan releasing complex toxic materials and consequent verified and diagnosed adverse health effects. Although DOD and VA officials continue to deny any correlation between toxic exposures their own manual: “USACHPPM TG 230A- May 1999 : Short Term Chemical Exposure Guidelines for Deployed Military Personnel” specifically confirms the expected and now documented physiological effects from these exposures.
We are also seeing increasing numbers of spinal injuries because of operational procedures and equipment overloading (“Stress injuries rising due to combat loads”, Richard Lardner - The Associated Press, March 11, 2009). These spinal, nervous system, and muscular injuries with accompanying neurological problems are a function of body mechanics and toxic exposures. Thus the warriors need for prompt and optimal medical care is urgent. However, before wounded, ill, or injured veterans can even hope for rudimentary medical care their disability claims must be processed and approved. Sadly with the confirmation that some claims have been shredded and Department of Veterans Affairs employees squirreled away tens of thousands of unopened disability claims letters (www.armytimes.com) medical care is denied. When a injured, ill, wounded warrior submits a claim VA officials often ask for the veteran for additional information in addition to requesting medical files directly from the Department of Defense to assist in processing of the claim. The veteran is asked to send those via the U.S. Mail through the regional office mailroom. This does not guarantee that the documents will be included or considered in the claims process. Unless tracking is assured there is no method to maintain accountability or chain of possession and security. Given the verified squirreling away of and shredding of claims records by VA personnel an accountability process must be established and maintained by providing the veteran the specific name of and direct communication with the person processing their claim. However, even if claims are processed because processors do not even have or disregard primary information or reports regarding toxic exposures; uranium; nuclear, biological, radiological, and conventional weapons toxicity, and battlefield trauma medical care will never be prompt and optimal until those problems are resolved must claims may be denied! .

Although we have thousands of U.S. casualties who have been wounded in action or killed in action the actual casualty count also includes hundreds of thousands of disease and non-battle injury casualties including combatants and noncombatants, primarily children, woman, and the elderly who live in nations we attacked. Sadly DNBI casualties including thousands of our own personnel do not have access to prompt and optimal medical care. Today the numbers of personnel with adverse medical effects of Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI, and Post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, are increasing. It is imperative that we look at the possible enhancement of adverse medical effects due to documented toxic exposures. We should also recognize the enhancement of PTSD as a result of the poor treatment veterans have received from those leaders and administrators we trusted but who abandoned us. .

Health problems are not limited to U.S. warriors but affect all exposed individuals.
World-wide estimates exceed 2 million casualties while over 1,000,000 of America's finest sons and daughters are wounded, injured, or ill, and thousands have died, including too many of my friends. Consequently, as one of the individuals who was assigned as part of my military duties to resolve the problems it is frustrating when United States Department of Defense and United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials do not implement the programs we developed to protect our earth and treat all casualties.

Beyond the battlefield and training casualties we have thousands of civilian and military casualties as a direct result of the U.S. Department of Defense operations throughout he United States and abroad that have contaminated air, water, soil and food with resulting adverse health effects. We must address the medical care of those casualties. BUT WE MUST TAKE ACTION TO PREVEN T OR REMEDIATE ANY AND ALL FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND CONSEQUENT ADVERSE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS. We must understand that “the government isn't required to notify veterans of their possible exposure to contaminants and their health effects” and consequently does not do so leaving ill warriors, family members, and the public in the lurch. (http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march062009/el_toro_3-5-09.php).

Our nation's sons and daughters answered our nation's call to fight and consequently die, get injured, get wounded, or get ill as a consequence of combat operations that were conducted without justification. Too many have died and continue to die while others who were injured, exposed to toxic compounds, and became sick have been abandoned by our Nation's leaders as has happened throughout history. Sadly the most casualties are classified as “disease and non-battle injuries” and are the direct result of our own actions or failures. The human cost is increasing because many got sick and died after they returned home and that number is still increasing at this time. Our leaders knew what happened and is happening! However, these same DOD, DA, VA leaders still keep denying what has occurred and will not implement the programs we designed to resolve the serious health and environmental issues. Numerous orders and military regulations specifying medical care for depleted uranium exposures have been ignored and continue to be ignored. These requirements always will be ignored. This is about avoiding liability for observed adverse health and environmental problems caused by combat and peacetime military actions.

When political correctness and avoiding economic costs are used to determine what medical care is provided, to whom medical care is provided, when care is provided, and what environmental remediation is completed then we, warriors and civilians alike, lose. Our leaders have decided to ignore the problems hoping that they will just go away. Their objective is to avoid liability for adverse health and environmental consequences of their willful actions and war.
Recently, the Department of Defense has instituted the “wounded warrior” program to begin resolution of the serious and lingering delay, denial of, and delivery of ineffective medical care to our nation’s ill, wounded, and injured warriors. If our nation’s leaders had not abandoned ill, injured, wounded, and deceased warriors resulting from Department of Defense actions since the early days of WW2 (atomic test veterans); Cold War (Project Shad); Vietnam War (Agent Orange); Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom (Depleted uranium, chemical agents, biological agents, immunizations, hazardous materials, pesticides, RF beam weapons, etc.) then we would not have the hidden and abandoned casualties that we have today with a staggering toll. Although the wounded warrior program staff are helping they still refuse to help resolve the fundamental problems – policy decisions to deny and delay prompt and effective medical care, retaliation efforts, and destruction-altering of records. Warriors who have been assigned to these units are dying while awaiting medical care that is limited because of administrative snafus. Sadly the overloading of these units is resulting in assignment restrictions and consequently ill, injured, or wounded personnel are not being assigned to these units and when assigned some are expected to run the units instead of focusing their efforts on getting well (Army Times, December 22, 2008, pages 14-16). Recently, it was confirmed that wounded, ill, and injured warriors assigned to “WTU units have high rate of punishment’ (By Kevin Maurer - The Associated Press, Mar 11, 2009). According to retired Army Lt. Col. Mike Parker “It creates a hostile environment where soldiers buckle and take a low-balled disability rating and benefits just to get out when they can”. Thus we have additional evidence of the abandonment of ill, injured, ands wounded warriors. .
Our leaders have abandoned our nation's and the world's citizens and consequently I believe they are ignoring President Lincoln's immortal words spoken during his Gettysburg Address: "It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us---that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under GOD, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Today as a combat veteran and patriot; I pray that GOD will answer my and others call for intervention and thus guide our leaders to finally provide the necessary medical care to all casualties and to complete the environmental remediation required to restore our precious resources. I will never cease my efforts to do what is right for GOD and the citizens of the world because this has become "A MATTER OF INTEGRITY". Although I have been a "warrior in battle" today I must be a "warrior for peace".
The three questions that each of us must ask are: (1) When will United States Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs officials acknowledge the adverse health and environmental effects of military operations then provide prompt and effective medical care to all military and civilian casualties? (2) When will they finally clean up all environmental contamination in order to mitigate future adverse health and environmental effects? (3) When will the citizens of the world demand an end to this nightmare and find a way to live together in peace? While we wait we must act. Thank God that on March 13. 2009; General Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Department of Veterans Affairs, wrote “"Veterans are our clients, and delivering the highest quality care and services in a timely, consistent and fair manner is a VA responsibility. I take that responsibility seriously and have charged all of the department's employees for their best efforts and support every day to meet our obligations to you (www.va.gov). The hope and dreams that these comments may fulfill was shattered briefly on March 19, 2009 when the Obama Administration suggested then withdrew the proposal to have private insurance companies pay for the medical care provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to those of us who have been wounded, injured, or become ill while serving our nation. Then on August 20, 2009, Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press reported quote “IG: Millions in bonuses paid to VA employees: WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general says thousands of technology office employees at the VA received a total of $24 million in bonuses over a two-year period. And it spells out alleged abuses ranging from nepotism to an inappropriate relationship. The IG says some bonuses were issued under questionable circumstances. It says one recently retired official acted "as if she was given a blank checkbook" to issue bonuses” end quote.

Considering we have a million casualties from recent Department of Defense “adventures” our nation’s leaders must come up with some way to provide costly medical care and disability pensions. But where the money will come from is unknown. Maybe it is time for us to strive to live together in peace rather sustain war with the continued creation of casualties.