There is a lot of difference in the middle one. Almost denial. First from the BBC, as they have published extensive research on the subject for years.
From 2001
Europe votes for DU banThe European Parliament has called for a ban on the use of depleted uranium (DU) while investigations into a possible link between DU and cancer are carried out. MEPs voted for the resolution by 339 to 202 after an emergency debate in Strasbourg.
The motion is not binding but it will add pressure on states to support a moratorium on the use of DU munitions. During the debate Europe's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said he had seen no evidence of a link between the use of DU and cancer.
But he said nothing would be hidden in EU investigations into DU and any link that was discovered would be communicated immediately.
"We are all democracies. We have nothing to conceal," he said
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And this CNN transcript from 2002. Quite a difference in the tone of the BBC article which links to many others from 2001 and earlier. Europe was aware of a problem. The person interviewed on CNN in 2002 seemed unaware.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0211/08/se.13.htmlBLITZER: Yesterday on this program, exactly this time, Dr. Helen Caldicott, an anti-war activist, pediatrician, was on this program saying that the U.S. Army's use of these depleted uranium shells, these tank shells during the Gulf War a dozen years ago have caused enormous problems, cancer problems for young kids in that -- in southern Iraq. What can you tell us about the dangers from these depleted uranium shells which, of course, are stock equipment in the U.S. Army?
CLARK: Well we've looked at this extensively over a number of years. We use it not only for the tank shells but also for the armor of the tanks because it's a very effective material. And the honest truth is depleted uranium has less radioactive material in it than naturally occurring uranium. There's been study after study after study done and none of it substantiates the claim that this depleted uranium causes cancer.
In fact, during the Gulf War we had a number of U.S. soldiers exposed to the dust of the depleted uranium shells after they had struck targets. I think some 60 soldiers in a study. They've been in this study since the Gulf War. There's no evidence of any sign of cancer there or any of the radiation types of cancer in those troops and we're continuing the study. But I think, although certainly any environmental hazard is a concern, there's no reason in this case to believe that depleted uranium is a significant environmental problem.
BLITZER: All right, General Clark, as always, thanks for joining us.
CLARK: Thank you, Wolf.
And here is the CNN interview from yesterday on American Morning. The video is up also, will see if I can find it.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/06/ltm.02.htmlUNTER: In the 1990s Dr. Asaf Durakovic studied D.U. health effects for the U.S. military. Now a private researcher, Durakovic says his own test of these veterans showed abnormally high levels of D.U. in their urine and that those levels pose a serious health threat.
DURAKOVIC: There is genetic change in chromosoma of the regions (ph) in the people who have been found positive with depleted uranium.
HUNTER: The military's overall health expert says tests on thousands of veterans from both Iraq wars have produced very few positive D.U. tests.
DR. MICHAEL KIRKPATRICK, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT HEALTH AFFAIRS: We are not seeing it in 74 individuals who are most heavily exposed, and that, I think, is really the golden standard if you take a look at people who had heavy exposure, internalization, some still having the depleted uranium in their bodies, still excreting very high levels in their urine, and their health appears at this point to be normal.
HUNTER: Some scientists and politicians claim the Army's testing is not sophisticated enough. Connecticut state representative Pat Dillon helped pass legislation allowing her state to do its own testing of National Guardsmen.
PAT DILLON, CONNECTICUT STATE REPRESENTATIVE: It's a heavy metal. It gets absorbed into your bones. So I don't think that the test that they're using is sensitive enough to find whether or not you've been contaminated.
HUNTER: The Army tells CNN its policy is to get every soldier training in depleted uranium and hazard protection. It also has an updated instructional video, produced in 2000. We asked why these soldiers say not only did they not see the video, but they knew nothing about D.U. before going to Iraq.
Here is the CNN video clip which includes the video the military made and never showed to the troops.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/CNN_Agent_Orange_tame_compared_to_0206.html
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