U.S. Soldiers are being poisoned in Iraq

The new Gulf war syndrome

US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are being exposed to toxic chemicals that pose serious health risks

Read the article in The Guardian.

In case they change the link or deleted the story, here it is...
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What does a war injury look like? In the case of Iraq, we tend to picture veterans bravely getting on with their lives with the help of steel legs or computerised limbs. Trauma injuries are certainly the most visible of health problems – the ones that grab our attention. A campaign ad for congressman Tom Udall featured an Iraq war veteran who had survived a shot to his head. Speaking through the computer that now substitutes for his voice, Sergeant Erik Schei extols the top-notch care that saved his life.

As politicians argue about healthcare for veterans, it is generally people like Sgt Schei that they have in mind, men and women torn apart by a bullet or bomb. And of course, these Iraq war veterans must receive the best care available for such complex and catastrophic injuries.

Unfortunately, the dangers of modern war extend far beyond weapons. As Iraqis know only too well, areas of Iraq today are among the most polluted on the planet – so toxic that merely to live, eat and sleep (never mind to fight) in these zones is to risk death. Thousands of soldiers coming home from the war may have been exposed to chemicals that are known to cause cancers and neurological problems. What's most tragic is that the veterans themselves do not always realise that they are in danger from chemical poisoning. Right now, there is no clear way for Iraq war veterans to find out what they've been exposed to and where to get help.

In October, the Military Times reported on the open-air pits on US bases in Iraq, where troops incinerate tons of waste. Because of such pits, tens of thousands of soldiers may be breathing air contaminated with burning Freon, jet fuel and other carcinogens. According to reports, soldiers are coughing up blood or the black goop that has been nicknamed "plume crud".

In other cases, soldiers may have been exposed to poisons spread during efforts to restore Iraq's infrastructure. In 2003, for instance, members of the Indiana national guard were put in charge of protecting a water-treatment plant. They were told not to worry about the bright orange dust lying in piles around the plant, swirling in the air and gathering in the folds of their uniforms. In fact, Indiana soldiers spent weeks or months in a wasteland contaminated with sodium dichromate. The chemical, made famous after its role as the villain in the movie Erin Brockovich, is used to peel corrosion off of water pipes. It is a carcinogen that attacks the lungs and sinuses.

Today, a decade and a half after the first Gulf war, we know that such exposure may lead to widespread suffering. In 1991, veterans began to exhibit fatigue, fevers, rashes, joint pain, intestinal problems, memory loss, mood swings and even cancers, a cluster of symptoms and conditions referred to now as Gulf war syndrome (or illness). For years, the US department of defence maintained that stress caused the veterans' symptoms. Veterans groups blamed war-related toxins. This year, the National Academy of Sciences published an extensive review of years of scientific study of Gulf war illness that concluded a cause and effect relationship existed between the widespread illnesses among veterans and exposure to powerful neurotoxins. Complementing the US studies is an emerging body of epidemiological data linking increased incidence of Iraqi cancer, birth defects, infant mortality and multi-system diseases to toxic exposure.

Strangely enough, though, there has been almost no discussion of whether today's soldiers – those fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan – have also been injured by wartime poisons. We don't have a word yet for the constellation of cancers, psychological ills and systemic diseases that may be caused by toxins in today's wars.

In order to care for our veterans, we must do more than offer state-of-the-art hospitals and high-tech prosthetics. Veterans will need information about what poisons they have breathed or touched or drunk and when.

What would such an effort look like? First the military would need to disclose all known incidents of toxic exposure. Then it would have to reach out to veterans and give them information about how to receive care for conditions that arise from this exposure.

This summer, senator Evan Bayh made a first stab at such a system. Bayh pushed the national guard to track down hundreds of those Indiana soldiers who may have breathed orange dust back in 2003. Most of the soldiers are now civilians scattered across the US, unaware that they are at high risk for lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Some of them may already be struggling with illness. The national guard is making an effort to search for these veterans and provide them with a phone number to call in order to seek medical help.

That's a good first step. But what about all the other veterans who believe that they have returned home from the war healthy? Without knowing it, they may be carrying a small bomb inside them. And they have a right to know.

Police Horses Trample Iraq Vets

That's the kind of thanks they get from the U.S. government. And that's what they get for trying to ask real questions outside of the allowed "town hall" "talking points" talking heads "debate". It's all bullshit people! We're through the "looking class".

Vote for real change: Vote Ron Paul. Or vote your conscience by staying in bed and rolling over and farting for change.

FART PROUDLY FOR CHANGE! GIVE PIECE OF MY ASS A CHANCE!

Next they won't use horses, they'll use beam weapons.

October 16, 2008

15 Arrested Outside Presidential Debate in Protest Led by Iraq Veterans Against the War

Outside the Obama-McCain debate, at least fifteen people were arrested at a protest organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War. IVAW member Nick Morgan was left bloodied and nearly unconscious after being trampled by a police officer on horseback.

As John McCain and Barack Obama prepared to face off in their third and final debate last night, outside the gates of Hofstra University, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, backed by hundreds of demonstrators, protested at the campus gates.
At least fifteen people were arrested, including at least five members of IVAW, on charges of disorderly conduct. Nassau County Police on horseback trampled one member of IVAW, Nick Morgan, a veteran who served in Iraq for about a year. His condition is unknown.

The protest was organized by IVAW members Matthis Chiroux and Kris Goldsmith. Last week, Chiroux sent a letter to CBS debate moderator Bob Schieffer spelling out the demands of IVAW and demanding that at least two veterans be allowed entry into the debate to ask Senators Obama and McCain one question each. He did not receive a response.

Voices from the IVAW Debate, produced by Matt Hegedus and Richard Sackett.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to what happened in the streets last night outside, of the protest. This is Matthis Chiroux, speaking just as the protest outside the debate was to begin.

MATTHIS CHIROUX: Iraq Veterans Against the War is out here today at the final presidential debate to force the issue to these candidates that this government is not listening to or taking care of its veterans, as it promised to do when we all enlisted. As I told Detective Calver [sic.] yesterday during our meeting, “Sir, I hope the next time I see you you’ll be escorting me inside the debate and not putting a pair of handcuffs on me, because we’re both veterans, and you understand the importance of these issues.” And he seemed to concur.

Right now, five minutes to deadline, we are preparing to form it up and march to the main gate of Hofstra, where Kristofer Goldsmith and myself will be attempting to enter the debate and ask our question. The butterflies in my stomach are pretty big, but so is my determination and my resolve to have our voices heard. Our troops demand nothing less. What we do here mirrors the courage displayed on the battlefield. What we do here mirrors the courage displayed in every nonviolent protest in history.

IVAW MARCHERS: Left, left, left, right, right, left, the other left, left. It’s alright, it’s OK. It’s alright, it’s OK. Remember MLK. Remember MLK. He tried to lead the way. He tried to lead the way.

CROWD: Let them in! Let them in!

MATTHIS CHIROUX: One moment, one moment, so we can get clear. The two questions we wish to ask the candidates are: one, Barack Obama, you yourself have said that the war and occupation of Iraq is illegal. If, by your words, it is illegal, then it is not the right of servicemembers such as myself to refuse deployment and participation in Iraq; it is our responsibility. So, sir, as president, are you willing to go by your own words to back them up and support servicemembers refusing to participate in what you yourself have termed an illegal occupation? Kris Goldsmith.

KRISTOFER GOLDSMITH: My question is addressed to Senator John McCain. Senator, as a veteran who claims that he has been endorsed by every major veterans’ organization in America, you continually refused to fund the VA. In the years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, you have refused or voted against VA funding. We currently have 1,000 servicemembers, 1,000 veterans, attempting suicide each month in this country. We have an average of seventeen or eighteen succeeding in killing themselves each month in this country. Senator McCain, what are you doing? Are you prepared to fully fund the VA system? Are you prepared to fully staff the VA system? And what are you going to do about your poor voting record according to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Disabled American Veterans?

CROWD: Let them in! Let them in! Let them in! Let them in! Let them in!

MATTHIS CHIROUX: Freedom! Justice! Democracy!

CROWD: Let them in! Let them in! Let them in! Let them in!

PROTESTER: You just stepped on his head!

PROTESTER: The police arrested the members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. And we were standing in solidarity with them in the line of people in this rally, and the police continued to charge their horses at the protesters, at the activists, at the civilians, at the people who care about this country, resulting in the stepping on an Iraq veteran, or at least one Iraq veteran, by a horse. And I believe that that veteran is receiving medical attention right now.

IVAW MEMBER: They were arrested for trying to use their freedom of speech, arrested for trying to ask a question that did not come through—you know, through the filtered process in which we elect our presidents. They’re elected to actually bring a little bit of grassroots democracy to America. And you saw tonight how veterans of this country are treated. And that’s a shame.

At least one, we believe two, were trampled, because another one was knocked down. His name is also Geoff Millard. And another woman was trampled, as well. And I have not seen injuries like that since Iraq, seeing him laying on the ground like that. I don’t need to go through that here in the streets. I don’t need to go through that here in America. I don’t need to relive that. And this is what I got tonight trying to peacefully bring a message to these candidates and which we’re trying to elect. And both of them claim that they support veterans. And this is how we got supported tonight, by being pushed back, trampled and arrested.

AMY GOODMAN: Special thanks to Matt Hegedus, Richard Sackett and Emily Forman for that report.