Vets And A New Cancer Risk

Bill Greenwood · **Posted:** Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:55 pm

This is something I just saw on CBS news tonight, the 22. I think it is of VITAL importance. Warning, if you only want to read rah rah, how great everything is and hooray for our side,go read somewhere else. If on the other hand you are a vet or actually believe that supporting our troops, ( and vets ) should be more than a slogan read on.

Now, I just saw this, I want to bring it to people's attention , but this is a brief summary, not all the facts.

There is a story of an Army vet, who never smoked dying, of lung cancer. In Iraq he was assigned to guard a plant, where it turned out there was hexavalent chromium, a known carcenigen. This was the same chemical that was in the Erin Brockavich movie where they won the big suit against P G & E. The plant was run by KBR a part of Halliburton .

There is an Army report, don't have the details. But it seems that a lot more soldiers that were there have likely been poisoned, with life and death consequences.

262crew · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:24 pm **Posts:** 877

Perhaps if this report was from a credible source like FOX it might be true.

Bill Greenwood · **Posted:** Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:23 pm

262,I did a little more research. The story is also in the Boston Globe and on CNN, and specifically of a suit filed Dec. 3 in S. Dist of Indiana by 16 former soldiers. I think there may be a similar suit of 9 others.

One thing that makes it tough to win is that KBR has a type of blanket immunity, they can poison soldiers, civilians, or anybody there and the soldiers cannot recover damages unless they can prove it was done knowingly. You can imagine the high priced mouthpieces that will be employed on this one. But immunity or not, if you go to a jury trial where do you think the public sympathy will lie?

262crew · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:24 pm **Posts:** 877

Both "news" organizations you quoted contain the letter "C" and in the world of J.E. Hoover you know what that means!

Ztex · **Posted:** Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:40 pm

Easy boys....

Broken-Wrench · **Joined:** Sun Oct 24, 2004 12:37 pm **Posts:** 1197

If few troopers got killed it is a shame but the same stuff is probaly got alot more desert savages and is probably still killing them.. Maybe they should make all of our toxic chemicals in Iraq :lol:

262crew · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:24 pm **Posts:** 877

Broken-Wrench wrote:

If I got one trooper it probaly got alot more desert savages. :lol:

been watching Cheech and Chong lately :?:

Broken-Wrench · **Joined:** Sun Oct 24, 2004 12:37 pm **Posts:** 1197

I keeping looking for you in the credits

262crew · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:24 pm **Posts:** 877

Broken-Wrench wrote:

I keeping looking for you in the credits

Right on.........man? I'm hip?

Bluedharma · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:55 pm

Bill Greenwood wrote:

One thing that makes it tough to win is that KBR has a type of blanket immunity

I really don't understand the blanket immunity policy.
I know we need to protect U.S. troops/employees from spurious lawsuits, but shouldn't there be some type of oversight/action taken from State based supervisors?

b29flteng · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 3:12 pm

Hex-chrome was used in a lot of paints. We, in the airline industry are getting some testing done to see if we've been poisoned by it. It isn't confined to just GIs. This sounds like another "bash Bush, illegal war, bash KBR, bash Cheney" story by the Clinton News Network.

Bill Greenwood · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:09 pm

B29 the story is also carried by Associated Press, Minn. Star Tribune and a similar one on KBR by BBC. There is also a comment by man who says he worked for KBR there in 2003 when this was happening and he believes the story as he found profit, not safety, was the priority there.
While I personally don't know and can't vouch for the details of the story or its legal outcome yet, I do feel sympathy for soldiers who were sent there to serve their country and now are dying of cancer.
The story as I read it does not mention anything about Bush, Cheney or an illegal war. I doubt if these soldiers thought it was an illegal war, and I doubt if cancer cares or knows the difference.
When the case comes to trial, it will likely be reported on FOX news. Will that make it true then?
To me, the phrase "support our troops" should mean more than just while they are there fighting and while they are healthy.

b29flteng · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:29 pm

Bill, you missed the point of the sarcasm. We've known about hex-chrome for several years in the airline industry because of it's use in paint. Why didn't CNN do a story about us mechanics/painters? Because they could do another story about KBR and an unpopular war thats screwing the common soldier, a story that liberals would like. Us, mechanics and painters aren't glamorous enough.

Yes it sounds like some bad stuff. Why does all the good smelling stuff have to be bad for you, like MEK, Acetone, 100 octane gasoline, etc. :wink:

Bill Greenwood · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:44 pm

B29, I did not miss your sarcasm at all. However you missed a few facts. First the story I saw on TV and that I referred to in my first post was CBS, not CNN.
More important, the essence of the story was soldiers dying of cancer and filing suit against KBR. If you went to the news site and read the story, a key point is that the soldiers had no way of knowing the hex clo was there, KBR kept it a secret. That's the core of the case, same as it was when PGE poisoned all those people in the case in the US.
I doubt if your paint case is the same, I think paint comes with distinct and clear warnings for it's use, does it not?
And if you airline guys file suit against the airline or the paint company, I suspect that will make the news also.
And I would still like to know, if FOX news reports the story during the trial,does it then become true?
And it seems to me these soldiers are dying of cancer and need medical and financial help, whether or not kBR is found legally liable.

Bluedharma · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:14 pm

If FOX or CNN reports it does not really matter.
It can be argued all day long that these "news" agencies are in the pockets of certain political elements.

The real important factor here is: "support our troops".
If something is happening to our troops during or after their service, it
is of VITAL importance that we make sure they are taken care of. If the news agency is wrong... then so be it.
(start watching BBC... or something else)
But if "it" is right... we must step up and make sure these people are taken care of. That is what they did for us.

Bill is right in his concern for our troops. They have great value...
Let us treat them with that value in mind.

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Vets And A New Cancer Risk

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