Can soldiers sue their governments?
Chris Burford
London
At 14:51 07/01/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Sunday Herald (Scotland)
>7 January 2001
>
>Allies 'told in 1991 of uranium cancer risks'
>
>Leaked documents back cover-up claim.
>Exclusive, by Felicity Arbuthnott and Neil Mackay.
>Publication Date: Jan 7 2001
>
>THE Pentagon scientist who briefed Britain and America on the lethal
>health risks to Western troops of using depleted-uranium (DU) shells
>claims he warned the allied powers as far back as 1991 that the explosives
>could cause cancer, mental illness and birth defects.
>
>Professor Doug Rokke, ex-director of the Pentagon's Depleted-Uranium
>Project, says the USA and UK have covered up the hazards, despite the
>rising death toll among allied troops who fought in the Gulf from
>illnesses linked to DU exposure, including Gulf War syndrome. The UN
>Environment Programme has also found traces of radiation at eight sites in
>Kosovo hit by Nato DU shells.
>
>The Sunday Herald has been passed a restricted MoD document dated February
>25, 1991 - four days before the Gulf War ceasefire. It states that full
>protective clothing and respirators should be worn when close to DU shells
>and that human remains exposed to DU should be hosed down before disposal.