> Wednesday, September 13 6:16 AM SGT
>
> Scores of US warplanes, support troops go to Gulf: Pentagon
>
> WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (AFP) -
>
> The United States is flying scores of warplanes and thousands of support
> troops to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as part of a scheduled rotation
> of forces that coincides with heightened concern about Iraq, Pentagon
> officials said Tuesday.
>
> The forces, which began moving into the region in late August, will
> temporarily overlap with forces in those countries that are being sent home
> after a 90-day tour, the officials said.
>
> Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the current rotation was "fairly
> standard" and that there were no plans to increase the size of the US force
> in the region.
>
> "Now, I will tell you that we obviously watch Iraq very, very closely, but
> particularly at this time of year, because August, September and October
> tend to be the times when Saddam Hussein historically has either decided to
> attack his neighbors or attack his own people," he said.
>
> Iraq's regular fall training exercises are under scrutiny because they "can
> be used to disguise movements that he might make toward either his own
> people or toward neighboring states," Bacon said.
>
> Iraq went to war against Iran at this time of year in 1980, invaded Kuwait
> in 1990, and attacked the Kurds in the north in 1996.
>
> "We haven't seen any unusual buildups," Bacon said. "Last week, we saw some
> aircraft dispersion but the aircraft were returned to their bases."
>
> "One explanation is that they're practicing defensive maneuvers. But that's
> the type of thing we've been seeing," he said.
>
> US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, speaking to reporters at the
> United Nations Tuesday, called Iraqi President Saddam Hussein the "real
> villain" responsible for the suffering of his people as she defended UN
> sanctions against Iraq.
>
> US and British warplanes have been patrolling no-fly zones in southern and
> northern Iraq to guard against Iraqi attacks almost since the end of the
> 1991 Gulf War.
>
> About 20,000 US military personnel currently are stationed in the Gulf,
> including the carrier USS George Washington.
>
> An air expeditionary force of 60 aircraft, including 50 fighters, has been
> assembling at bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as part of the latest air
> force rotation, officials said.
>
> Some 5,000 support personnel also have deployed with the aircraft, they said.
>
> Another air expeditionary force of 45 aircraft and 1,400 support troops is
> being moved into Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to replace a similar sized
> force that has been enforcing the northern no-fly zone, they said.
> ___________________________________________
> Published on Tuesday, September 12, 2000 in the Toronto [Canada] Globe &
> Mail
>
> It's Time For Answers
>
> Evidence is mounting that allied soldiers may have been
> fighting more than Saddam Hussein
>
> by Scott Taylor
>
> For the past 10 years the medical staff at the Basra Pediatric Hospital
> have compiled a very disturbing photographic record, which catalogues
> thousands of patients born with "congenital anomalies." Due to its
> strategic location -- just north of Kuwait -- Basra was one of the most
> heavily targeted Iraqi cities during the Coalition Forces' aerial
> bombardments of the Gulf War.
>
> In the decade since Operation Desert Storm, the lethal legacy of that
> conflict continues unabated in the form of widespread cancer, an epidemic
> of renal disease and a tremendous increase in genetic birth defects. The
> collection of photos which line the walls of the Basra Hospital "memorial
> gallery" are horrific: grotesque babies born with two heads; tiny infants
> with internal organs protruding through their chest cavities; numerous
> limbless children; and an alarming number of newborns who reached full term
> without developing any skin.
>
> "To find similar congenital anomalies we have had to research the
> radioactive aftermaths of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," said Dr. Khalid
> Al-Abidi, Iraq's Deputy Minister of Health when I interviewed him in August.
>
> Iraqi doctors are firmly convinced that many of their populace's current
> health woes stem from the U.S. military's use of depleted uranium munitions
> during Desert Storm. The results of a 1999 World Health Organization
> initial probe into the health risks posed by depleted uranium in Iraq
> concluded that full-scale study was warranted. To date such an initiative
> has been blocked by the U.S. government.
>
> Ever since tens of thousands of Coalition troops returned from service in
> the Persian Gulf and began complaining of various illnesses, U.S., British
> and Canadian military medical authorities have vehemently denounced the
> existence of a Gulf War Syndrome. There can be no denying that a tremendous
> proportion of these veterans are suffering from "symptoms," such as chronic
> fatigue, respiratory disease and chronic dysfunction. Numerous official
> studies conducted to date have examined possible links between such health
> problems and Gulf War veterans' exposure to various vaccines, poison gas
> and depleted uranium. All have tabled results deemed to be "inconclusive."
>
> Despite claims by military medical officials that these studies represent
> "exhaustive" research, this is not the case. Virtually all of the testing
> done in these studies has been conducted under the auspices of the Pentagon
> and British Ministry of Defence, through their departments of Veterans
> Affairs. So far the Canadian government has not funded any separate
> research, but instead relies on the U.S. and British results.
>
> Many of those veterans who are suffering from Gulf War "symptoms" feel that
> any such probe should not be conducted by those who would be the most
> implicated by a positive result.
>
> In the latest inconclusive study results tabled on Sept. 8 by the National
> Academy of Sciences, the accompanying data revealed that the majority of
> those examined weren't even Gulf War veterans.
>
> In contrast to official results, independent research laboratories have
> turned up some startling evidence. Following the April, 1999, death of
> Canadian Gulf War veteran Terry Riordan, his widow had the body tested by
> the Uranium Metal Project -- a private research initiative. In February of
> this year, it was confirmed that Mr. Riordan's tissue, hair and bones
> contained levels of isotope 236 -- weapons-grade depleted uranium.
>
> Two weeks ago, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, the head of the Uranium Metal Project
> (and a former U.S. army colonel), tabled some preliminary findings at the
> European Association of Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Durakovic's team of Canadian
> and American scientists had tested 17 Gulf War veterans and detected
> disturbing amounts of depleted uranium in more than 70 per cent of their
> case studies. These statistics run in stark contrast to urine testing which
> was conducted this past spring by the Canadian military's medical branch.
>
> In February, 2000, in response to public pressure following the startling
> revelations of Terry Riordan's toxic results, Defence Minister Art Eggleton
> established a forces-wide program to test Gulf War veterans. Some 69
> soldiers volunteered to provide samples, which were then tested at two
> "government approved" labs.
>
> "The 'inconclusive' results of these tests were a foregone conclusion,"
> according to Louise Richard, a former Canadian Navy lieutenant who has been
> suffering from a wide range of debilitating ailments (tuberculosis,
> incontinence, hair loss, etc.) ever since serving as a field nurse during
> Desert Storm. "All you had to do was to read the official disclaimer which
> accompanied each of the test kits," she told me.
>
> Those instructions read in part "Based on a careful review of all known
> science concerning depleted uranium, there is essentially no chance that
> depleted uranium is [affecting] the health of Canadian Forces members who
> served in the Gulf." It was subsequently announced by Col. Ken Scott, the
> individual responsible for the depleted uranium testing, that the levels of
> uranium detected were so low he deemed further testing "unnecessary."
>
> In response to Col. Scott's claims that these service members had lower
> levels of depleted uranium than the general population, Dr. Durakovic urged
> Canadian veterans to seek additional testing at "independent" laboratories.
> Dr. Durakovic denounced Col. Scott's statement as being "total and complete
> nonsense."
>
> In a sternly worded Sept. 9 letter to the Fredericton Daily Gleaner, Col.
> Scott asked the rhetorical question: "Canadians served in Saudi Arabia,
> Bahrain, Qatar and with the Naval blockade in Sector Charlie of the Gulf.
> Canadians returned home within a few weeks of the end of hostilities. If
> depleted uranium was a factor in their illnesses, why are civilians who
> live in these countries not similarly unwell?"
>
> Of course Col. Scott is aware that these civilians, unlike our service
> members, did not deploy into, nor did they fly over, the bomb-impacted
> areas. Most interesting is the fact that Col. Scott, along with his U.S.
> counterparts, consistently fails to mention the impact the bombardment has
> had on Iraqi citizens. How can anyone proclaim an examination of Gulf War
> Syndrome to be exhaustive -- without a single test being conducted at
> Ground Zero?
>
> If the Canadian government is to be seen as serious in its claims of
> concern for the health and welfare of these ailing soldiers, it must
> establish an independent, scientific, medical commission. Rather than
> continuing to rely upon "inconclusive results" from our allies who employ
> these depleted uranium munitions, perhaps it is time for Canada to take a
> leading role in studying the deadly effects of such weapons.
>
> Scott Taylor is the editor of Esprit de Corps Magazine. He has just
> returned from two weeks in Iraq.