HAVE DU WILL TRAVEL: ‘It violates all traditional ideas of war.’An Interview Wit

[Guest guest]

http://lonestaricon.com/2006/Archives/09/news08.htm

 

 

 

February 28, 2006 7:38 PM

HAVE DU WILL TRAVEL

 

`It violates all traditional ideas of war.'

An Interview With Dr. Rosalie Bertell

 

By W. Leon Smith

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

 

ICONOCLAST: I have some questions regarding DU and thought you might

be willing to discuss it with me.

 

DR. ROSALIE BERTELL: I am an environmental epidimiologist and have

worked for more than 30 years on low-dose radiation. I do know a lot

about DU.

 

ICONOCLAST: I understand we are seeing a higher incidence of diabetes,

cancer, and leukemia because of DU. Have you done any studies

regarding that?

 

BERTELL: Well, obviously, they've used so much of it and it's an

aerosol. An aerosol can float in the air a long time and can go great

distances. So, that said, it's probably pretty well spread at least in

the northern hemisphere from both Gulf Wars, and also they used it in

Kosovo and apparently in Afghanistan. A lot of it's out there. But

whether or not it's connected with diabetes I can't prove.

 

ICONOCLAST: How does exposure affect the body?

 

BERTELL: First of all, it's an internal exposure, and the current

studies on internal exposure are not very reliable, so people have

been speculating on what might be a reasonable outcome. It certainly

can upset the hormone system and that is one of the causes of

diabetes. But there is no hard evidence that it really does this. It

is logical and credible, but the government is so focused on cancer

that it doesn't ever study it.

 

ICONOCLAST: Are you familiar with the report due out on March 1

regarding the travel of DU to the UK.

 

BERTELL: Yes.

 

ICONOCLAST: What are your thoughts on that?

 

BERTELL: Well, it's a well-done study and, you now, I always keep a

little reservation because often we don't have any idea what NATO or

Aldermaston or the British military are doing, and so when you find DU

in the air, you can assume it's coming from the Gulf War, but it might

be the military's doing something that you don't know.

 

Actually Chris Busby who wrote this is a yatchsman and he did check

all the weather and the wind and the back breeze that does come from

Iraq and he did a pretty good study. It's just that you always have an

unknown factor because the military is not accountable to people.

 

ICONOCLAST: Do you think the people in the UK need to be alarmed at

the results of this study?

 

BERTELL: Not just the people in the UK, but people all over.

 

ICONOCLAST: All over the world?

 

BERTELL: Yeah, at least the northern hemisphere.

 

ICONOCLAST: Is there anything people can do to protect themselves from

the radiation that you know of.

 

BERTELL: I wish there was. About the only thing we know to do is drink

distilled water to get heavy metals out of the body. That's one thing.

Another is replace the proteins which would be lost. You know, a heavy

metal does two things. It forms a compound with the chemicals in the

body to get rid of heavy metals and it also causes free radicals and

the same enzyme that gets rid of a heavy metal is also the one that

fights the free radicals. Because you have a heavy metal which is

radioactive, if it tries to get rid of the heavy metal it's not going

to be there to fight the free radicals, so you are going to have some

kind of problems internally with this. You can't use the same enzyme

for two purposes.

 

ICONOCLAST: So we need to eat more protein?

 

BERTELL: Proteins would help because it would replace the enzyme that

you need.

 

ICONOCLAST: As far as trying to put a stop to the use of depleted

uranium, do you think the public should do that?

 

BERTELL: I think it shouldn't be used. It's a gas, and we've already

signed the Geneva protocol not to use gas in warfare. It's already

illegal. It's a metal fume. A metal fume is a gas.

 

ICONOCLAST: I see.

 

BERTELL: I think a weapon like this is so indiscriminate, it's going

to be exposing civilians, women and children and the elderly. You

know, it violates all traditional ideas of war. And it exposes people

who are not fighting, whether it's countries not fighting or civilians

in the country where the war is.

 

That is unacceptable.