Depleted Uranium - A Survivor’s Perspective

[donsu]

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/19news05.htm


Melissa Sterry is a 42-year-old Gulf War veteran who served for six months at a supply base in Kuwait during the winter of 1991-92. Her job with the National Guard’s Combat Equipment Company A was to clean out and prepare tanks and other armored vehicles that had been used during the war for storage. She was also ordered to help bury contaminated parts.
Sterry recently testified before state lawmakers in Connecticut on the effects of depleted uranium in support of a bill, introduced by State Rep. Patricia Dillon, that requires that Connecticut National Guard troops now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan be properly screened and treated for depleted uranium contamination.
Sterry lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

THE INTERVIEW

-snip-

STERRY: I had no idea. The depleted uranium issue started to reveal itself in ‘96, ’97, ’98, and ’99. We knew Desert Storm veterans were sick. We didn’t know what was making Desert Storm veterans sick. Then when depleted uranium weapons were used again in Bosnia and Kosovo, we began to understand the connection. We now know what depleted uranium does.

-snip-

ICONOCLAST: What do you think needs to be done to correct the problem of DU? Do we quit using it?

STERRY: There are several things we need to do. As a soldier, this is one extrordinary, effective weapon. I dig this stuff.
But I think we need to view it the same way we viewed mustard gas at the end of World War I, that the collateral damage that DU provides outweighs the benefits of utilizing the weapon and that we need to cease usage of this material.
The usage of this material is war on generations not yet born. It wages war on children long after military conflict has ended. It’s not just children of Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It’s the children of American soldiers because we bring this radioactive poisoning back to our families in our genetic material. It’s inside our bodies. We have to stop using it.
I think the second thing we need to do is completely, fully, accurately assess, measure, test, diagnose — pick an verb — our soldiers’ health because doctors can’t heal us until they know what the problem is.
And the third thing is we have to do everything we can to return our National Guard, our Reservists. We have to do whatever we can to bring back people’s health.

-snip-

ICONOCLAST: Are there tell-tale signs that a person has been exposed to DU?

STERRY: It doesn’t burn your skin the way external exposure does. It’s consuming your major organs on the inside.

ICONOCLAST: Like a microwave oven?

STERRY: Kind of. Depleted uranium gets funky.
A bulk of depleted uranium is insoluble. It’s organic in nature. When it slips into that uranium oxide state it attaches itself to other metals and materials that are inorganic. That makes it insoluble. But there are still parts of depleted uranium that are organic, that are soluble. So you can test for depleted uranium with a urine test, but that only gets you the soluble part of DU. A bulk of the DU is insoluble and attaches itself to your bones and your major organs, so it doesn’t wash out with your kidneys.

ICONOCLAST: You can’t test for that in any other way?

STERRY: Not yet. Those tests are being developed by people in Britain and Europe and Japan. Right now, when the government says, “Oh, we’re testing soldiers. We’re testing people. We’ve got this urine test, and we’re not getting positive results, so they weren’t ever exposed,” there’s a fault in that logic. They are using as soluble test for an insoluble item.
-snip-
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DU - a crime against humanity

[Tux]

1. Sigh

DU will always be used. Our service men and women aren't seen as people by Republicians, they're seen as pawns in a political game.

[lenidog]

3. So I guess all the DU rounds fired over Bosnia and Kosovo

during the Clinton presidency is non-toxic? This is a problem that can be laid at the foot of both Dems and Republicans.

[Tux]

5. True

However, why didn't anyone bitch about it then? Hell, I think Clinton was the best and emailed him complaints about shit he did but I never heard of DU bullets till now. Then again I had college and a job to keep busy.

[lenidog]

6. Actually, people have been talking about it for years

People started investigating it after the First Gulf War when Gulf War Syndrome started appearing. They thought it was a possible cause for it. It was dismissed because though both British and American troops were suffering from it French troops were not and all of them used DU.

[Marnieworld]

2. Kick

I know the impulse to not click on these, obviously,very depressing threads. Depleted Uranium is just another color in the rainbow of horror that we are inflicting on these people. Most of us know about it and even though we are trying to be informed and active against injustice some things are just to monstrous to contemplate.

It's not apathy that makes post like this disappear too quickly but caring too much IMO.

But I'm kicking it just the same. Let's take a moment to remember this. It's the least we can do.

[ohio_liberal]

4. Thanks for posting this

I've done some personal research over the years concerning depleted uranium. It's unbelievably difficult to prove scientifically that there is a serious problem when the WHO can't get adequate records from bombed out medical infrastructure from countries like Kosovo and Iraq. Anyone with common sense would question why American nurses who served in Iraq and Iraqi women are bearing children with identical abnormalities. But of course the DoD says there's nothing abnormal in their urine, so move along, there's nothing to see here.

[anarchy1999]

7. This is one hell of an interview and all the more reason why everyone

here at DU should subscribe if they can to The Iconoclast. Most of you here know the story of Bush's "hometown" Crawford paper.

Last year the editor endorsed Kerry for President. Most advertisers pulled their advertising and local businesses pulled it from their shelves (not that there were many to begin with), many local subscribers cancelled their subscriptions.

We here at DU then launched a campaign to support the owner/editor and subscribed, donated, sent gift subscriptions to friends, etc. Well I was in Crawford just a few weeks ago and he is still struggling according to a board member at the Crawford Peace House. I would hope that new DU'ers subscribe and that all of us continue to support the efforts of this true Patriot and speak out for real journalism.

PS/It's a wonderful paper! Reading letters to the Editor from across this nation and the world is a favorite.

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/subs.htm

They make it really easy to subscribe, I recommend the print edition, you can pass it off to friends or just leave it in places like Starbucks Sucks or friendly fundamentalist church bathrooms.

[anarchy1999]

8. Kick to the top, ignore MSM and focus on the real news!

n/t

[anarchy1999]

9. ANOTHER KICK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE!

Read and share this information! It is important! Especially to our "VETERANS"! If you care, SHARE!

[undeterred]

10. kick!

we need to get the word out on this!

[anarchy1999]

11. Kicking up again, Please share this info far and wide, there is so much

about Depleted Uraniumm, this is this war's "Agent Orange" and then some!