About 40 people gathered last night at the Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center to see the documentary "The Invisible War: Depleted Uranium and the Politics of Radiation."
They listened to Army National Guard Spc. Gerard Matthew and Sgt. Herbert Reed. The two Bronx men were among those from the National Guard's Orangeburg-based 442nd Military Police Company who were tested for depleted uranium exposure. They spoke about numerous health problems that they said were caused by exposure to the metal while serving in the Middle East.
The film profiled several military personnel who served during the Gulf War in 1991. Among the conditions they reported were loss of muscle function, headaches and impaired bowel and urinary function. The program also discussed birth defects in exposed Iraqi children and American children of exposed parents. Several times, when Pentagon and other military officials appeared and discounted claims linking depleted uranium with health problems, many in the audience audibly scoffed.
All appeared horrified — some moaned — when they were confronted with the video images of Iraqi children and infants, their young faces wizened, some with severely bloated bellies and others plagued by grotesque protruding tumors, ulcerated faces and misshapen or missing limbs.
No comments:
Post a Comment