Leaked Pentagon Doc Shows Troops Knowingly Exposed to Dangerous Chemicals
Many soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from severe health problems that are being linked to the military’s practice of burning waste materials in open pits. A freshly leaked military document strongly suggests that the Pentagon knowingly exposed US troops at Balad Airbase, in Iraq, to cancer causing toxic chemicals, while publicly declaring the risks to be minimal.
The leaked document is signed by the chief of the Air Force’s aeromedical services. The report outlines the risks posed to troops from the burn pits of Balad, and lists the numerous carcinogens, including benzene, arsenic, and dioxins, which are released by the pits. Aeromedical chief Lt. Colonel James Elliott wrote:
“In my professional opinion, the known carcinogens and respiratory sensitizers released into the atmosphere by the burn pit present both an acute and a chronic health hazard to our troops and the local population,”
The document also quotes a US Army Center For Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine investigator who states that Balad’s burn pit was “the worst environmental site I have ever personally visited, [including] 10 years working clean-up for the army.”
In stark contrast to the above declarations of toxic health dangers, is a “Just the Facts” sheet regarding burn pits in general, issued to troops, by the Pentagon. Though the sheet acknowledges that 2004-2006 lab tests found “occasional carcinogens,” it also stresses that, “the potential short and long term risks [were] estimated to be low due to the infrequent detections of these chemicals.”
The pentagon report continues:
“Based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidance, long term health effects are not expected to occur from breathing the smoke.”
Soldiers Face Chronic Illness
In a 2008 Army Times investigation, reporter Kelly Kennedy wrote:
“Though military officials say there are no known long-term effects from exposure to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 100 service members have come forward to Military Times and Disabled American Veterans with strikingly similar symptoms: chronic bronchitis, asthma, sleep apnea, chronic coughs and allergy-like symptoms. Several also have cited heart problems, lymphoma and leukemia.”
This evidence of systemic top-level disregard for the health of America’s brave enlisted men and women is alarming. The medical conditions associated with benzene alone are debilitating and even deadly. Although the Balad pits have recently been replaced with cleaner burning incinerators, there are hundreds of similar pits across Iraq and Afghanistan.
