[ RadSafe ] is uranium genotoxic? (was Re: CB interviewonenrichedU)

[Steven Dapra]

Oct. 29

At 03:15 AM 10/29/2011, you wrote:
>You should read a book called "The battle of Fallujah" cited in the paper
>C


         This book is "Operation Phantom Fury. The assault and 
capture of Fallujah, Iraq," by Dick Camp (New York: Zenith Press; 
2009).  Camp is a Marine Corps full colonel.  Busby's Fallujah hair 
sample paper (fn. 54) has the correct citation.  I have not read Dick's book.

         Looking on Wikipedia, I found an entry about the 
Italian-made movie "Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre."  This movie 
claims, with some merit, that the U.S. used white phosphorus in its 
invasion and destruction of Fallujah.  The Wikipedia entry about the 
movie says nothing about depleted uranium, however DU may have been 
beyond the scope of the movie.

         The Wikipedia entry "Fallujah during the Iraq War" also says 
nothing about DU.  Busby's interest in this may be 
self-generated.  The last section of the "during" entry ("Health 
Effects") reads:

"In July 2010, BBC reported a study by Dr. Chris Busby, detailing 
increases in infant mortality, such as a 12 fold increase in 
childhood cancer reported in Fallujah since the attack. [48]  It 
alleges that in 2004, Iraq had the world's highest rate of leukaemia, 
in which significant increased are also reported. The report also 
noted that the sex ratio had declined from normal to 86 boys to 100 
girls, together with a spread of diseases indicative of genetic 
damage similar to but far greater than Hiroshima. The study concludes 
however that the evidence is anecdotal and that the identity of the 
agents causing the increases in illness were not determined. 
[49]  There is also evidence that the report suffers from bias, and 
that its methods fail to meet the standards of a legitimate, 
peer-reviewed, scientific study. [50]"  (I have omitted the 
hyperlinks from the Wikipedia article.)

         Footnote 48 is a link to a BBC story titled "Fallujah 
childrens' 'genetic damage' ".  I can't download the BBC story 
because my computer doesn't have some necessary software.  The 
portion I can obtain says that according to a "new survey," cancer, 
leukemia, and infant mortality are all increasing in Fallujah; and 
that "doctors have been reporting a large number of birth defects 
since the 2004 offensive."  Remember, the study is by Busby.  The BBC link is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10721562

         Footnote 49 is to an intermediate web site which has a link 
to Busby's co-authored paper "Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth 
Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq" (Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 
2010, 7, 2828-2837).  In fairness to Busby and his co-authors, the 
Conclusions of the paper say, "Finally, the results reported here do 
not throw any light upon the identity of the agent(s) causing the 
increased levels of illness and although we have drawn attention to 
the use of depleted uranium as one potential relevant exposure, there 
may be other possibilities and we see the current study as 
investigating the anecdotal evidence of increases in cancer and 
infant mortality in Fallujah."

         Footnote 50 is to Junk Science's "Chris Busby Exposed" article.

http://junksciencewatch.wordpress.com/

         So . . . although pathetic and exasperating, this whole 
thing now becomes somewhat comical.  Busby recommends a book.  He has 
the title wrong (here).  He claims or broadly insinuates that DU was 
used in Fallujah.  His co-authored paper acknowledges that there are 
"other possibilities" than DU for the medical problems he reports in 
Fallujah.

         It seems to me that Dr. Chris Busby is increasingly becoming 
entangled in a web of his own lies, deceit, and incompetence.

Steven Dapra


At 03:15 AM 10/29/2011, you wrote:
>You should read a book called "The battle of Fallujah" cited in the paper
>C
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Brennan, Mike  (DOH)
>Sent: Fri 28/10/2011 16:53
>To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
>Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] is uranium genotoxic? (was Re: CB 
>interviewonenrichedU)
>
>What would be the point in using something like that at Fallujah?  To
>the best of my knowledge, the fighting was mostly in residential areas,
>of houses made of ordinary building materials (mostly concrete block,
>from what I could see.  There would be no reason to use some
>super-secret advanced bunker-busting weapon.  Even conventional armor
>piercing projectiles would be of less value in that kind of environment,
>as they would pass right through the target building, leaving relatively
>neat holes front and back, with matching holes in non-targets down
>range.  Much more desirable from the military's point of view would be
>weapons that would enter the target and blow up, killing the people in
>the target without doing damage to nearby structures, where your people
>might be.  Given that the military has many such weapons, and that they
>are undoubtedly cheaper that the hypothetical super-secret weapons, it
>seems unlikely the military would go with the more expensive, less
>effective option, just to give activists something to catch them at.

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