Uranium Killed 37 Italian Soldiers

Defence minister Parisi tells Senate commission of inquiry. Data from ten years of missions abroad reveal 225 have contracted tumours. Observatory says number of victims is much higher.

ROME – A total of 255 Italian troops have contracted tumours in missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and the Balkans over the ten years from 1996 to 2006. Thirty-seven, or 14.5%, have died. The information came in a statement made by the defence minister, Arturo Parisi, to the Senate commission of inquiry into depleted uranium. In the same period, 1,427 troops not involved in missions abroad also contracted tumours.

THE FIGURES - One hundred and sixty-one of the 255 troops who contracted tumours were serving with the army, forty-seven with the navy, twenty-six with the air force and twenty-one were carabinieri. Twenty-nine of the dead were in the army, one was in the air force and seven were carabinieri. “The general directorate of military health cannot at this time establish how many of the troops not involved in missions abroad served on firing ranges in Italy”, added Mr Parisi. The defence minister also said that “the issue is not covered by state secrecy” but “several factors have so far made it impossible to acquire a solid basis of information. These figures come from data collected by the national health service and may be adjusted by a one or two units after further verification of clinical data and personnel records”. To acquire a complete picture, data being collected from the now abolished recruiting offices will also be considered. “Nevertheless, cases of soldiers discharged years ago who did not apply for military service to be recognised as the cause will be excluded. This means that their illness may only be known to the national, but not the military, health service”.

PROTESTS – According to the Military Observatory, the numbers quoted to the Senate by the defence minister, Arturo Parisi, are very much “lower than those held by the General Staff”. Evidently, explains the Observatory’s Domenico Leggiero, “there are interests that go far beyond what we were able to surmise”. Mr Leggiero maintains that the figures are “lower than those released during the previous legislature and also lower than a document from the General Staff’s military health service, which is in the Observatory’s hands”. The document refers to “2,536 troops suffering from tumour-related conditions, of whom 164 have died”.

COMPENSATION – Mr Parisi noted that a decree law passed on 28 September allocates 170 million euros as compensation for servicemen and women who have contracted diseases during military service. He also wants to set up a centre comprising leading experts in the field to study the depleted uranium issue because “the identification of a relationship of cause and effect is still under investigation”.

http://www.corriere.it/english/articoli/2007/10_Ottobre/10/uranio.shtml