Thousands US Troops
Medically Evacuated From Iraq
Rense.com
By
James Conachy
9-11-3
Citing the US military Central
Command as its source, the Washington Post reported on September 2 that "more
than 6,000 service members" had
been medically evacuated from Iraq since
the launch of the war. At the time, the number of combat wounded stood at 1,124.
A further 301personnel had been injured in non-combat incidents such as vehicle
accidents. The figure of "more than 6,000" supplied to the Post therefore
implies that over 4,500 US troops have required evacuation from Iraq for medical
reasons other than combat or non-combat injuries.
The Washington
Post article did not include any further information on what is a staggering admission
by the military. At no point in the last six months have the American people been
told that for every soldier who has been killed in Iraq, at least another 15 have
fallen so ill that they had to be flown back to the United States. The Post described
the unexplained evacuations simply as the "thousands who became physically
or mentally ill".
The obvious questions that must be answered
are: what were they diagnosed with; what units are they from; what duties were
they were performing; what long-term effects have they suffered; and what treatment
are they receiving?
While large numbers of the evacuations may
well be for routine medical reasons, such a detailed breakdown is essential. Apart
from providing an insight into the true impact of the war on the American troops,
it may provide evidence that supports the concerns among military personnel and
their families that service in Iraq is exposing them to long-term and potentially
fatal medical problems. In particular, there are fears that soldiers have already
died or are falling ill due to their exposure to depleted uranium (DU) or the
anthrax vaccine they have been compelled to take.
On July 31, the
Army Surgeon General announced an investigation into the deaths of two soldiers,
Michael Tosta and Josh Neusche, and the hospitalisation of another 100, diagnosed
with severe pneumonia. It has been established that inhaling large concentrations
of DU-contaminated
particles damages the lungs and kidneys and can cause respiratory
illness. There are also recorded medical suspicions that the US military's anthrax
vaccine can trigger pneumonia. In August 2002, three military doctors noted in
the Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care Journal that a case of pneumonia in a healthy
39-year-old soldier "may be due to the anthrax vaccine".
The US Department of Defense has only made public one progress report on the
pneumonia investigation. On August 22 it announced that it was
"making
significant progress" in eliminating SARS and vaccines as a possible cause.
It revealed that 10 alleged pneumonia cases showed a higher than normal number
of the white blood cell eosinophils. It also reported that none of the 19 most
severe cases belonged to the same units, that 13 had fallen ill in Iraq and that
the remaining six fell ill in Kuwait, Qatar, Uzbekistan, and Djibouti. The Office
of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner was reportedly investigating the "specific
cause or causes of death" of Tosta and Neusche.
Since July
31, however, another soldier, Zeferino Colunga, has died allegedly from pneumonia
while Sergeant Richard Eaton has died from a pulmonary edema or fluid in the lungs.
Two other soldiers have been found dead in their beds for as yet unexplained reasons.
Such is the distrust of the military that the families of both
Josh Neusche and Colunga have demanded access to their loved ones' medical records,
personal effects and blood and tissue samples, so that independent medical opinions
can be sought on the cause of death. The families sent letters on August 12 to
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stating: "We as a family are concerned
that we are not being told the truth."
Stephanie Tosta, the
22-year-old widow of Michael Tosta, has publicly speculated the military is lying
about the cause of her husband's death. She told United Press International last
month: "More and more I think it was the [anthrax] shots. I think they [the
Army] might be lying about this stuff. I really feel like it. Nobody can tell
me anything. If it is the shots, then of course they are lying. We just want to
know what happened and we have a right to know. But the Army is acting like they
are trying to hide something, and that just makes it harder."
The family of Rachael Lacy, a young soldier who died in Kuwait on April 4
from a "pneumonia-like illness" but whose death is not included in the
military
investigation, is also alleging her death was due to the anthrax vaccine. Connecticut
congressman Chris Shays, who chaired hearings last year on the possible side-effects
of the anthrax vaccination program, is reportedly monitoring the investigation
into the death of Sergeant Richard Eaton.
The website of "Bring
Them Home Now"-an organisation of military families demanding the immediate
withdrawal of US forces from the Middle
East-bluntly warns soldiers that the
only guaranteed way to limit the medical consequences from exposure to DU is to
"get out of Iraq or Afghanistan".
The groups' statement
of purpose declares: "Not one more troop killed in action. Not one more troop
wounded in action. Not one more troop psychologically damaged by the act of terrifying,
humiliating, injuring or killing innocent people. Not one more troop spending
one more day inhaling depleted uranium. Not one more troop separated from spouse
and children. This is the only way to truly support these troops, and the families
who are just as much part of the military as they are." (http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
)
The National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC), an advocacy organisation
for veterans of the first 1991 US war on Iraq, is assisting the military
families
who believe they are being lied to. Among the suspected causes of a range of illnesses
commonly referred to as "Gulf War syndrome" are
DU exposure and complications
triggered by vaccinations. By 1999, as many as 110,000 Gulf War veterans had reported
health problems that they
believe are due to their service in Iraq.
The sensitivity of the military hierarchy to the suspicions among rank-and-file
troops, families and veterans is demonstrated by the reassurances on the official
Army medical website that neither DU nor the anthrax vaccine pose a health risk.
(http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/default2.htm ) The US government also rejects
any link between "Gulf War syndrome", DU and vaccines. In 1998 however,
the US military did finally admit that at least 436,000
American troops entered
into areas during the first Gulf War that were contaminated to some extent by
DU radioactive dust.