Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Scoop Link: Uranium: Deja DU
The Agent Orange of
Eternity
By Ed Ward. MD
07/24/03: According to the U.S. government and affiliated agencies, Depleted Uranium (DU) is a safe, cheap and effective material. The illnesses of our soldiers and any civilians, after a thorough investigation by the government regarding government actions, are all imagined, the lies of the those that support our enemies, the result of post traumatic stress syndrome, or are no more common than what would be encountered in the general public. The exact same story told to the soldiers returning from Vietnam with similar devastating effects from the government's unbridled use of dioxin in that country.
The government merely turned on the word processors, highlighted Vietnam, dioxin, trees, and defoliant, and hit the global replace to substitute Iraq, DU, tanks and weapon. Viola! Presto! Shezaam! The new intensive study was formulated, written, completed and the finding was the same. "Spin" anything not proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Ignore, classify or delete anything showing a possible correlation. Deny treatment, clean up and responsibility. Who knew? Who could have figured? After intensive review of all information that does not show the substance to be unsafe, the substance in question is undoubtably, unquestionably, irrefutably and undeniably SAFE!
On April 19, 2001, the U.S. government signs a global treaty to ban the existence of dioxin from the face of the earth. In the words of the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Christie Whitman, dioxin is responsible for cancer, central nervous system damage, immune system disruptions, and reproductive disorders. Bush stated, "These pollutants are linked to developmental defects, cancer and other grave problems in humans and animals." "The risks are great, and the need for action is clear." Dioxin was banned as a toxin, not only because of the effects, because of the substance's "persistence", that can lead to high concentrations and increased risk from continued exposure. In some instances dioxin may be able to survive for 30 years, usually, 10 to 15 years if not in direct sunlight. The time it takes for one half the amount of DU present to break down, the half life, is 4.5 BILLION years. Thats the good news. The bad news is that the elements into which it breaks down are more dangerous than the original element.
Are there 2 different dioxins with the same chemical structure, attributes and name? This is the same dioxin that our government, after intensive investigation of their actions, found to be safe and had no correlation to the "mental delusions" of our Vietnam veteran's illnesses. This is the same dioxin in which our Vietnam veterans swam, laid, breathed and then spawned mutated chromosomal abhorations of children that had no correlation to that exposure, according to our government's thorough evaluation. Yet, 17 years after our government proved it "safe" in the following study. They suddenly realized it needs to be banned from existence. How many years earlier could this banning have been done, had the government not falsified data, ignored relevant data and stonewalled any attempts to retrieve relevant information? Our government did this to deny culpability and compensation. The lives, health, people and the begetting of abominations of nature were of little or no concern when it came to self protection of themselves and a system that has become a plague. These actions are not based on America's principles, but, the actions of a government gone awry with power.
In 1984 an Air Force government study, The Health Effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam War Veterans, which announced a "reassuring" study that showed there were no ill health problems as compared to the normal veteran. This study was used to deny veterans compensation for legitimate claims and the government from legitimate liability. The author urges the reader to take the previous link to a fine article dealing with the study. The article shows how the cover-up was initiated, the falsified data, the unlikely retrieval of the true data and the subsequent lack of release of the true data to the media. The comparisons to the present day investigations are almost identical. The denial of danger, the difference in independent and government studies, a falsifying of government data and, finally, after the danger was shone, the denial of a correlation of the illness and cause of the illness to the veterans. It almost appears that there is a script for dealing with government atrocities committed on the soldiers and civilians that have been harmed or killed.
Scoop
Scoop Independent News
Scoop is NZ's largest independent news source; respected widely in media, political, business and academic circles for being the place on the internet for publishing "what was really said", and for the quality of its analysis of issues.
Martin LeFevre - Meditations: What Being “Inward Looking” Really Means
Binoy Kampmark: Blinken Atrocious In A Dangerous World
Jim Mikoz: Look Out Rocks … Oops Too Late
Peter Dunne: Dunne’s Weekly - National And Labour Combine To Shut Out Greens
Ramzy Baroud: Voting Against Genocide - How Gaza Defeated The Democratic Establishment 
Alastair Thompson: Google's Support For Democracy And Media In NZ | Part 2