[ RadSafe ] Asaf Durakovic Hoodwinking the World on CNN Part 1

[Roger Helbig]

I appreciate the discussion that began with my posting of a link to these videos .. here is the first of two transcripts that have been posted by CNN .. they are of the full program, not just the Greg Hunter portion on DU, so I have extracted that and posted it below for your comments.

Thank you.

Roger Helbig

Shortcut to: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/05/ltm.02.html

Here's one highly effective and also very highly controversial weapon in
the U.S. military arsenal. It's called depleted uranium or DU and some
veterans are now suing the Army over what they say are health risks from
their exposure to DU. Greg Hunter joins us this morning. He's got a
special AMERICAN MORNING investigation. Good morning, Greg. 

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Depleted uranium, the
issue is exactly what U.S. soldiers may or may not know about its
potential health impact. 

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 

HUNTER (voice-over): It's the U.S. military's most potent anti- tank
weapon. Depleted uranium or DU, on impact, it burns through armor like a
hot knife through butter, creating a plume of radioactive dust.
Specialist Gerard Matthew cleaned up vehicles hit by DU during his five
months in Iraq in 2003. He says breathing in depleted uranium dust made
him sick. 

GERARD MATTHEW, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I came back with chronic migraines,
swelling in my face and vision problems. 

HUNTER: Matthew also says his 2 1/2-year-old daughter's birth defect is
a direct result of his DU exposure. He and seven other vets are suing
the army over depleted uranium. The U.S. army insists its own testing of
Iraq veterans shows no direct link between DU and illness or birth
defects in humans. 

COL. MARK MELANSON, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: The radioactivity
from depleted uranium is localized within the site of impact and it's
not posed a significant immediate health hazard. 

HUNTER: The World Health Organization and the Institute of Medicine seem
to agree. They found no direct evidence linking DU to birth defects or
cancer in humans, but a Pentagon sponsored study by the armed forces
radio biology institute showed the combined effect of DU's heavy metal
and its radioactivity can damage DNA and may cause genetic defects and
tumors in animals and human stem cells. The military has warned about
the potential dangers of breathing in DU- contaminated dust, like in
this instructional video produced for the U.S. military in 1995. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heavy metal poisoning may occur, which can cause
damage to internal organs and tissue.

HUNTER: That same video talks about radioactive particles that could be
trapped in the lungs and possible water and soil contamination. The
army's leading expert on DU hazard awareness training concedes these are
all possibilities, but U.S. troops going over to Iraq never saw this
tape. 

MELANSON: There were lots of errors and conflicting messages in that
training video, so it was not finalized and distributed to the troops. 

HUNTER: Instead, the army's official training video, used since 2000,
describes DU contamination this way. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These emissions are well below U.S. safety standards
and do not pose a hazard to soldiers working with or around DU
munitions. 

HUNTER: The new video does tell soldiers to wear gloves and masks,
especially inside DU-damaged vehicles or within 50 meters of fires that
may involve DU. The problem is some soldiers like Gerard Matthew, say
they never saw it. Dr. Asaf Durakovic studied the effects of DU on
veterans of the first Gulf war for the U.S. military. He was alarmed by
his findings. Now a private researcher, he also tested recent Gulf war
vets, including Gerard Matthew whom Durakovic says has dangerously high
levels of DU in his body. 

DR. ASAF DURAKOVIC, URANIUM MEDICAL RESEARCH CTR: Inhalation of uranium
dust is harmful. 

HUNTER: Even in small amounts? 

DURAKOVIC: Even in the amount of one atom. 

HUNTER: Durakovic says those small atoms emit radiation for the rest of
a soldier's life. Can't that hurt a soldier in the long run? 

DR. MICHAEL KIRKPATRICK, DOD HEALTH AFFAIRS: It would come then to the
dose, the total dose in their body and those particles are very, very
small. 

HUNTER: Matthew's wife wishes her husband had known more about the
potential dangers of DU. 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn't told it's out there. He exposed my
daughter to this, but it's not his fault. He was just trying to help the
country. 

(END VIDEOTAPE) 

HUNTER: Defense Department officials say the U.S. military used 320 tons
of depleted uranium during the first Gulf war, but they were unable to
tell us how much DU they have used in the current Gulf war, despite our
repeated request for that information Published reports suggest the
military has used between 1,100 and 2,200 tons. That's up to six times
the amount of DU in Iraqi freedom than in the first Gulf war. 

S. O'BRIEN: So they're testing all these soldiers to see if they're
emitting radioactivity? HUNTER: The government is. The Pentagon is, but
there are some states out there passing laws to test their own National
Guard troops because they say the test the government is using is not
sensitive enough. We'll find out about that tomorrow in part two. 

S. O'BRIEN: All right, part two, Greg Hunter, thank you. Miles.