-Caveat Lector-
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Medical consequences of attacking Iraq
Helen Caldicott
Thursday, October 10, 2002
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle.
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/10/10/ED44718.DTL
As the Bush administration prepares to make war on the Iraqi people -- and make no
mistake, it is the civilian population of that country and not Saddam Hussein who will
bear
the brunt of the hostilities -- it is important that we recall the medical
consequences of the
last Gulf War. That conflict was, in effect, a nuclear war.
During the 1991 Gulf War, the United States deployed hundreds of tons of weapons, many
of them anti-tank shells made of depleted uranium 238. This material is 1.7 times more
dense than lead, and hence when incorporated into an anti-tank shell and fired, it
achieves
great momentum, cutting through tank armor like a hot knife through butter.
What other properties does uranium 238 possess? First, it is pyrophoric: When it hits
a tank
at high speed it bursts into flames, producing tiny aerosolized particles less than 5
microns
in diameter that are easily inhalable into the terminal air passages of the lung.
Second, it is
a potent radioactive carcinogen, emitting a relatively heavy alpha particle composed
of 2
protons and 2 neutrons. Once inside the body -- either in the lung if it has been
inhaled, or
in a wound if it penetrates flesh, or ingested since it concentrates in the food chain
and
contaminates water -- it can produce cancer in the lungs, bones, blood, or kidneys.
Third, it
has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, meaning the areas in which this ammunition was
used in
Iraq and Kuwait during Gulf War will remain effectively radioactive for the rest of
time.
Children are 10 to 20 times more sensitive to the effects of radiation than adults. My
fellow
pediatricians in the Iraqi town of Basra, for example, are reporting an increase of 6
to 12
times in the incidence of childhood leukemia and cancer. Yet because of the sanctions
imposed upon Iraq by the United States and United Nations, they have no access to drugs
or effective radiation machines to treat their patients.
The incidence of congenital malformations has doubled in the exposed populations in
Iraq
where these weapons were used. Among them are babies born with only one eye or
missing all or part of their brain.
The medical consequences of the use of uranium 238 almost certainly did not affect only
Iraqis. Some U.S. veterans exposed to it are reported, by at least one medical
researcher,
to be excreting uranium in their urine a decade later. Other reports indicate it is
being
excreted in their semen. (The fact that almost one-third of the American tanks used in
Desert Storm were themselves made of uranium 238 is another story, for their crews were
thereby exposed to whole-body gamma radiation.)
Would these effects have surprised the U.S. authorities? No, for incredible as it may
seem,
the American military's own studies prior to Desert Storm warned that aerosol uranium
exposure under battlefield conditions could lead to cancers of the lung and bone,
kidney
damage, non-malignant lung disease, neurocognitive disorders, chromosomal damage and
birth defects.
Do George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice, and Donald Rumsfeld
understand the medical consequences of the 1991 war and the likely health effects of
the
next one they are now planning? If they do not, their ignorance is breathtaking; even
more
incredible though -- and alas, much more likely -- is that they do understand, but do
not
care.
Helen Caldicott has devoted the last 25 years to an international campaign to educate
the
public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age. She spoke in San Francisco
recently in
a benefit for the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, which she founded an
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle. Page A - 23
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A<>E<>R
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Forwarded as information only; I don't believe everything I read or send
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without
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--- Ernest Hemingway
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