Iraqis & Former GIs to Sue in US Over DU

Iraqi victims of cancer and former American soldiers suffering from Gulf war syndrome are joining forces to sue the US government over use of depleted uranium (DU) missiles. Meetings have been held between US-based families of the Iraqis, former American service personnel and lawyers over legal action in America. Former British personnel who say they have been affected by DU will be invited to join the multi-million-dollar claims.

A decade after Operation Desert Storm, lawyers believe there is enough evidence to link the massive rise in cancer in Iraq and the effect on British and American soldiers to almost 950,000 DU missiles and shells fired. At the conference in Gijon, Spain held last month, (see page 7) the impending legal action was high on the agenda. International medical experts, Gulf war veterans including Ray Bristow, a Briton, and the former US sergeant Carol Picou, and lawyers, including Ramsay Clark, a former American attorney general discussed the action

Lawyers for the veterans claim the American government "recklessly" used DU, knowing its devastating effect. One of the main arguments expected to be put forward is that American soldiers were not given protective clothing when sent to inspect damage caused by shells coated with DU.

Taken from a story by By Kim Sengupta in Baghdad http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Middle_East/2000-11/iraqi141100.shtm