[ RadSafe ] Re: Proposed Rebuttal to the Laura Weldon Article in bold Text

[Dave Blaine]

Bob,

I have recently been stuck with some DU toxicology and epidemiology
questions. Your statement that "Competent, unbiased scientists know of
and can find no links" caught my eye, and I wonder if you can point to
some such scientists and/or their publications.

What I have so far is very much in line with army research --
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17508699 -- which sings a rather
different tune.

Dave Blaine

----- original message -----
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:08:31 -0600
From: bobcherry at satx.rr.com
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Re: Proposed Rebuttal to the Laura Weldon Article
       in      bold Text
To: Roger Helbig <rhelbig at california.com>, radsafe at radlab.nl
Message-ID: <f7fdc84378b4b.78b4bf7fdc843 at texas.rr.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Roger,

"Military personnel and civilians who have been exposed to DU have
linked the toxin to illness, birth defects and death. "

This is most certainly true. However, these people have no scientific
basis for making these links. Competent, unbiased scientists know of
and can find no links.

Here is the scientific question: If the hypothesis is that DU has
caused the myriad illnesses, birth defects, and deaths that the
activists have alleged, what is the mechanism that is behind it? After
more than 60 years of highly funded research, radioactivity and
chemical toxicity at the levels to which these people were allegedly
exposed cannot explain it .

I offer two alternate explanations, which may be considered together
or separately:

1. The alleged number of illnesses, birth defects and deaths is highly
exaggerated, to put it tactfully, and/or

2. Something else is the cause (such as parasites, chemical exposure,
genetic proclivity, insect bites, or disease).

Accepting at face value the activists' allegations of the incidence of
these maladies is not a good idea. Neither is accepting at face value
the activists' allegations that DU is the one and only cause of these
alleged maladies. Doing so is not scientific, is not responsible,
gives comfort to our enemies, provides unwarranted stress to our
soldiers and their families, sends truly ill soldiers and their
families down false paths for explanations and compensation, harms the
pride in service of our soldiers, provides fodder for irresponsible
politicians, and wastes resources better spent on real issues.

I have no gripe against anyone who is against the war in Iraq or who
is against the use DU munitions. My gripe is with those who make false
allegations about DU for their own hidden and not so hidden agendas.
They are hurting our military and our Veterans and I don't like it.

Bob Cherry, PhD, CHP
Colonel, US Army (retired)

--
This message represents the views of myself alone and not those of any
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personal opinions and must not be construed as professional opinions
or advice.