Former US army colonel, Dr Asaf Durakovic, who was at the center the government's supposed attempts to diagnose 'gulf war sydrome', told a conference of eminent nuclear scientists in Paris that "tens of thousands" of British and US soldiers are dying from radiation from depleted uranium (DU) shells fired during the Gulf war. Dr. Durakovic is professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University, Washington, and the former head of nuclear medicine at the US Army's veterans' affairs medical facility in Delaware.

• He and his team of US and Canadian scientists have discovered life-threateningly high levels of DU in Gulf veterans 10 years after the Gulf War.

• He claims that his findings have been verified by four independent experts.

• The Department of Defense (DoD) and the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) have consistently refused to test Gulf war veterans, or any veterans or active personnel for DU.

• Dr. Durakovic claims that in tests performed on 17 veterans, he found DU in the urine and bones of 70% of them.

Depleted uranium does not occur naturally, but is the by-product of the industrial processing of waste from nuclear reactors and is better known as weapons-grade uranium. It is used to strengthen the tips of shells to ensure that they pierce armour.

• According to Dr. Durakovic, he left the US because he was told his life was in danger if he continued his research.

• He as maintains that most likely troops inhaled the tiny uranium particles after more than 700,000 DU shells were used during the conflict.

• According to Dr. Durakovic, once inside the body, DU causes a slow death from cancers, irreversible kidney damage or wastage from immune deficiency disorders.

• As an example, Dr. Durakovic presented British veteran Ray Bristow, 42, who was a theater technician in the Gulf War, and is now wheelchair-bound. Tests showed that, even nine years after leaving the Gulf, he had more than 100 times the safe limit of DU in his body.

Durakovic said: "I doubt whether the MoD or Pentagon will have the audacity to challenge these results. I can't say this is the solitary cause of Gulf war syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that it is a leading factor... I hope the US and UK governments finally realise that, by continuing to use this ammunition, they are effectively poisoning their own soldiers."

The Sunday Times (London) September 3, 2000

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

S: Last week, we reported on the story in the USA Today about the workers unknowingly exposed to high levels of radiation back in the 1950's and the many contaminated sites across the country. Most people probably read that and said "I can't believe that the government did that back then." Well folks, as you can see from this story, the gross atrocities continue to this very day, with no signs of stopping. Although it may be more comforting to think that terrible things can't happen today, the sad fact is that they can and they do. I would guess that most people are completely unaware of the use of this radioactive toxic substance by the military, which as far as I know, continues to this day. Not only are we continuing to poison our own troops, but also poisoning entire ecosystems and exposing innocent women and children to these substances as well. There is a serious moral issue here. Even if one were to concede the fact that some wars may be justified, even in the most "morally-justifiable" conflict it is still not justifiable to knowingly harm innocent civilians, including children. Previous studies have shown that in soldiers who have retained DU shrapnel fragments in their bodies continued to excrete uranium in their urine 7 years later, and that effects of this can be seen in both the reproductive and central nervous systems (Environ Res 2000 Feb;82:168-80). One thing that people should glean from this story is that it is a sad and unfortunate fact that those who are supposed to protect us, very often will not. Certainly, most people in government are good and want to do what is best. However, the system is not set-up so that "truth" always prevails. This is why other travesties such as mandatory vaccinations, water fluoridation, and the drugging of our children and our entire population continues. Hopefully the internet will provide people with the power to change things for the better.