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Fwd: Vanity Fair DU Positive
Radsafers:
Got this (direct) reply to my recent post, which perhaps the author meant
to share with the Radsafe community?
My basic problem with the VF article is that it is front-loaded with
graphic descriptions of illnesses that are attributed to DU exposure (and
not giving much comment on the possible other sources of the illnesses),
fills in the middle with "expert testimony" and explanations of how
"deadly" DU armaments are (hey, it is a weapon we are talking about) but
then, in an effort to disarm any criticism, mention in the tail end that
the case for DU causing any illnesses is not proven or accepted......
I would like to have seen a better effort at balanced reporting!
And Sandra: sorry, but you have not made a convincing case....
Doug
(PS: personal comments - not in any way linked to my professional affiliations)
>Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 14:04:31 -0500
>From: "Sandra Benge, Recruiter, 203-925-1500" <bengeks@connix.com>
>Subject: Vanity Fair DU Positive
>To: Doug Aitken <daitken@sugar-land.oilfield.slb.com>
>Reply-to: bengeks@connix.com
>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0)
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>Original-recipient: rfc822;daitken@sugar-land.oilfield.slb.com
>
>Doug, I read the term DU-Positve in an article on the bulletin board at the
>West Haven Veterans Hospital in CT, so DU-Positive is not Vanity Fairs
>invention, or coined word. These article were quoted from Scientific
>Journals dumbed down for the lay person or disabled vet to read and
>understand written up in magazines for Vets to read. They denied that the
>Vets from the Gulf War were ever exposed to DU. But they did not say why
>the veterans were ill.
>
>I have read many articles in the news that DU bombs were used and being used
>in the USA's slaughter of the Iraqi people, that radioactivity has increased
>through out Iraq, especially in Bagdad, because of the USA refusing to stop
>dropping these bombs.
>
>Politicians and experts are closed lipped and refuse to discuss the issue
>openly. What are they hidding? What is an expert really going to say that
>will bring truth and answers? So many times experts hide behind the jargon
>and the lack of studies to say it is all in the heads of veterans-- not what
>they were exposed to.. remember Agent Orange the years of denial. I suspect
>this is happening again. The present administration would rather bury a
>disabled veteran than give the necessary treatment. Their reduction of VA
>funds and allocations are proof of this.
>
>An effected veteran will not believe anything an expert says, they know that
>something is very wrong with them, that their health has changed since they
>were "exposed" to DU Bombs and other substances in the air, water and their
>environment while on active duty. So who are they trying to convince?
>Does it make the expert feel some detatchment to the real problem to say its
>not DU, and how dare you coin a word "DU-Positive"?
>
>So what if the studies are done and in 15 or 20 years the truth comes out
>and it is DU and the soliders are DU-Positive? How many military members
>will still be alive to say I told you so? Not too many.. and how far gone
>will they be? Much like the radiation exposure military survivors today.
>Denial.. Denial.. Denial.. Denial.. oh, yea we used real people in our
>radiation experiments.... but hey we had to figure out what was going to
>happen. It was not my child, not my brother, not my sister, or my mother,
>not my father.. certainly no one with the last name Bush or Clinton or
>Reagan.. who were exposed.. so what's the problem? We had to do what we had
>to do.. Bikini Island? There are many examples of political lies that went
>on for years and were hidden for years or simply society is prompted to
>forget about them.. or question -- who was effected? when? and WHY?
>
>Is this DU-Positive just another political lie? Many like myself know the
>real truth will never be found or exposed-- and should it ever be.... then
>society turns a blind eye and does not care.
>
>Concerned--
>
>Sandy
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
>[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf Of Doug Aitken
>Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 11:10 AM
>To: RADSAFE (E-mail)
>Subject: Vanity Fair Article on DU - with an Ed Battle recommendation of
>Rokke!
>
>
>The December issue od Vanity Fair has a major article on DU and its health
>hazards.
>If I knew nothing about the topic I would definitely be influenced to
>believe that DU was truly deadly!
>
>and the list of effects is truly staggering (right down to "burning semen"
>- the effects of which are described in great deatail...) and they have
>highlighted a new catch phrase "DU-positive" (in an obvious attempt to
>compare its danger to AIDS!).
>
>As for Rokke, he gets a majot exposure, including his Dec 1995 appraisal
>from Ed Battle "Captain Rokke has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to
>function well above his current rank and is as effective as any I have
>known" ......... "his achievements have been absolutely phenomenal"......
>
>Maybe a letter to the editor from an expert in the field is called for?
>
>I know that Vanity Fair is an extremely "liberal" magazine, but it has a
>pretty wide readership.....
>
>Regards
>Doug Aitken
>
>Doug Aitken
>Schlumberger D&M QHSE Advisor
>Office 281-285-8009
>Home 713-797-0919
>Cell 713-562-8585
>
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Doug Aitken
Schlumberger D&M QHSE Advisor
Office 281-285-8009
Home 713-797-0919
Cell 713-562-8585
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