Re: More Anti-Nuke Media Coverage....

[Mark Steinbuchel <markst@ONC.hhsys.org>]

Robin, She is not totally wrong. In my former job with a 
government contractor have done non-DODclassifed work on 
and in some of what we referred to as "Rusty/Dusty" tracked 
hardware that was brought to us to characterize the 
electronics and failure modes of its systems.  Sadam 
(pronounced like Geo Bush did in his early speeches) 
Hussin's technical people would paint radium on the 
switches so his not well educated but elite guardsmen could 
jump into a dark weapon system and power up without 
referring to the Russian tech manuals. We did find 
removable DU contamination and I know the GI's did also 
before it came to us.
 
On Fri, 7 Nov 1997 12:38:55 -0600 (CST) 
Robin_Siskel@notes.ymp.gov wrote:

> 
> Here we go again guys.... Thought you all may be interested in this.  Hope
> a number of you will use the contact information to flood these people,
> particularly the Arts & Entertainment channel, with complaints.  From this
> release it certainly promises to be an extremely biased presentation -- or
> perhaps, hopefully, its just the press release that's biased!  The Arts &
> Entertainment channel can be found on the web at:
> http://www.aetv.com/index2.html
> 
> ________
> 
> 
> PRESS RELEASE:  Gabriel Films, Producer; 457 Washington St.; NY., NY.,
> 10013, (212)941-6200
> 
> October 17, 1997
> Arts and Entertainment's Investigative Report series will be airing
> DESERT STORM'S DEADLY WEAPON on November 8.  Check local listings for
> time schedule.
> Carol Picou, SFC(RET), a 15 year Army veteran nurse and member of Desert
> Storm, takes us on her search to find answers to the strange assortment
> of ailments which forced her out of the Army.  While the most popular
> theory
> focuses on chemical weapons, Carol's search uncovers a radioactive weapon
> as one possible culprit.
> Despite the heavy public relations efforts promoting the so called
> 'smart weapons', it was Depleted Uranium (DU) Penetrators that were the
> 'stars' of Desert Storm.  These weapons have been described by top
> Pentagon officials as the most significant development in battlefield
> weaponry since the machine gun.
> The 41st Combat Support Hospital, a fast action response unit that moved
> at the head of the attack, served as a front line medical team during
> the ground war.  Carol and her female colleagues were among the first women
> to ever serve as front line troops in the US Army.
> Picou's unit witnessed first hand the full ferocity of the new DU
> weapons.  Remembering how different it was to anything she had seen in
> her 15 years of service, she states; "It just wasn't normal.  To me it
> looked like we nuked them...The bodies were as black as black can be and
> some of the bodies melted into the vehicles."
> Until the Gulf War, Carol had been in excellent health, but today, like
> tens of thousands of other Desert Storm veterans, she is seriously ill
> with a range of debilitating sicknesses.  She sought answers at all
> levels, but Pentagon and Government officials offered few.
> Picou's husband Anthony has become a full time activist, working to
> educate other vets, as well as the general public.  Based on various
> government reports that confirm DU weapons as being hazardous, Anthony
> asks, "If they knew of the danger of potential exposure why aren't they
> trying to find out what happened to those who were exposed?" Presently
> less than 100 Desert Storm veterans are being monitored for DU exposure.
> The film takes the viewer on a journey across America to find answers to
> these difficult questions.  In addition to the Picou's, we meet
> scientist, Michio Kaku, veterans Jerry Wheat and Mike Flores, former DU
> assessment leader, Doug Rokke, Dr. Terry Pelmar of the Armed Forces
> Radiobiology Research Institute (A.F.R.R.I.) and Arjun Makhijani from
> the Energy Institute.
> The search for the truth takes Carol and Anthony back to the
> battlefields of Iraq.  They encounter complete devastation as symbolized
> by radioactive tank 'carcasses' left behind.  More tragically are the
> number of children with strange deformities and illnesses, much like
> many of the offspring of our own Desert Storm veterans.  Is it DU?
> The military does not think so.
> Tune in and form your own opinion.  If you would like more information
> on DU contact Mission Project, Military Issues Surfacing In Our Nation,
> the non-profit organization founded by Carol and Anthony Picou at
> <missionproject@popalex1.linknet.net> and find out what you can do to
> keep this important issue from disappearing.
> Source:  Veterans News and Information Service [ http://www.vnis.com/ ]
> __________
> 
> 
> I found the description of the tank victims particularly strange.... does
> this nurse think that people blasted by mortar, grenade, landmines, rifle,
> etc. look "normal?"  Now, I'm no forensic expert, but it sure seems to me
> that the remains nurse Picou describes would result from any extremely high
> temperature fire...not from being "Nuked."
> 
> Also, from everything I've heard, epidemiological studies have found no
> cluster illnesses among Desert Storm veterans, let alone any in children,
> unless the data was skewed, similar to the Rocketdyne study we've all been
> discussing.  Perhaps some of you have better/more information?
> 
> I don't know much about the some of the individuals mentioned in this
> article, but the release itself indicates that the Picou's are obviously
> biased, already convinced that their problems are probably from DU.  NEI
> (Nuclear Energy Institute) information reports that Makhajani was
> repeatedly corrected or called down for misquoting or misrepresenting CFR's
> and other pertinent data in an attempt to decrease the 25 millirem
> performance measure for the proposed Yucca Mountain Repository during a
> recent Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board hearing.
> 
> Rokke apparently has an agenda to get broadest possible treatment for gulf
> war veteran's regardless of cause -- DU is only being used to lever the
> issue...  Rokke's biases are evident in a recent "Nation" article (July 14,
> 1997) on the DU issue.  Staff members of the "Nation" are identified by
> Gabriel as consultants on this production.  The Nation Institute
> (212-242-8400, extension 226) has recently published "The Medal of
> Dishonor", an extremely biased and very "loosely" edited perspective on
> U.S. Military use of DU.  I haven't seen it myself, but I heard that this
> document has pictures of deformed children, that WERE NOT even involved in
> Desert Storm, and who's parents weren't either, or in any other way exposed
> to radiation (other than background of course & normal medical procedures
> perhaps).
> 
> In regards to the military supposedly indicating that they don't think DU
> was a health issue, its my understanding that the DU penetrator
> developmental and fielding program included extensive research and reports
> on potential hazards associated with use of DU.  Results were that the
> extremely low specific activity of DU and the density of its particulate
> oxides act together to result in extremely low exposure potentials.
> Reportedly, the only individuals which might be at limited risk of low, but
> perhaps detectable, respiratory intakes are damaged equipment recovery
> crews (operating without precautions) and occupants of vehicles engaged by
> DU penetrators.  I think that individuals of that sort may be the "less
> than 100 veterans being monitored for DU exposure referred to in the press
> release below.  Also, it's speculated that potential opposing forces now
> have DU penetrators, so the U.S. military won't necessarily be the only
> forces using them.
> 
> 
> 
> Robin Siskel
> email:  Robin_Siskel@ymp.gov
> The opinions expressed are strictly my own.