US Marine in front of burn pit. (photo: Samuel D. Corum/USMC)
Thousands
of US Veterans Are Sick and Dying Because of the US Military's Burn Pits in
Iraq and Afghanistan
By Joseph Hickman, VICE
17 February 16
At
the start of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, military commanders were
faced with a seemingly mundane problem: how to dispose of the wreckage created
by bombs and battle, and the waste created by more than 100,000 military
personnel. This soon became a serious issue — every soldier was said to be
producing an average of 10 pounds of trash per day — and the DOD decided
to construct open-air burn pits on military bases to incinerate the trash.
The Pentagon
contracted the firm Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR) to get the job done, and by
May of 2003, there were more than 270 burn pits operating on military bases
across Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the pits were massive — some as large as
10 acres, burning more than 50 tons of trash a day. Most pits operated 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, in close proximity to where service members slept and
worked. The acrid smoke and ash from the pits was a constant annoyance to
soldiers.
From
2002 until 2009, there was no regulation for what could or could not be burned.
And so KBR burned Styrofoam, plastics, tires, pesticide containers, batteries,
medical waste, and even human body parts. According to a 2010 Government
Accountability Report, more than 1,000
known toxins and carcinogens were burned in the pits.
As
early as 2004, US veterans returning home from the wars began to get sick.
Their symptoms often started out as annoyances — constant congestion,
endlessly runny noses. But the symptoms didn't always go away;
instead, they would get worse, leading to shortness of breath, constant pain,
and an inability to work.
For
the sickest vets, there were diagnoses of cancer. And, eventually, death.
Thousands
of men and women were getting sick because of their exposure to
the burn pits; over the past few years, I've spoken with about 150 of
them. The Department of Defense (DOD), however, denied the burn pits were
a health hazard, blocked veterans from getting the medical assistance and
compensation they needed, and shielded KBR.
Lawyers believe this is a coordinated legal strategy,
creating a legal limbo in which no one can be held accountable.
Military
service members started to become ill with rare and mysterious bronchial
diseases and cancers. These veterans — the vast majority of whom were
completely healthy before deploying — came to believe their illnesses were
caused from their exposure to the burn pits, but when they sought treatment at
Veteran's Administration (VA) hospitals and filed for disability benefits, the
DOD denied that the pits were a hazard, and the VA sided with the DOD. Almost
every veteran who sought benefits based on exposure to burn pits had his or her
claim denied. It is hard to prove a war injury not created by a bullet or
grenade.
Veterans
decided to take legal action. Because of a federal law known as the Farris
Doctrine, military members and veterans cannot sue the Pentagon for
compensation for injury or death. So many veterans decided to join a
class-action lawsuit and sue KBR, alleging that the contractor knew it had
constructed the burn pits too close to where soldiers were housed and knew that
what was being burned was hazardous. KBR, however, claims that the military
chose both the locations of the burn pits and the makeup of what was burned.
The DOD is staying silent on the issue, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with
KBR. Many lawyers I interviewed who are familiar with the case believe this is
a coordinated legal strategy; it creates a legal limbo in which no one can
seemingly be held accountable.
Fourteen
years after the wars began, there are tens of thousands of veterans who are
still sick. Many of them are dying from what they believe was their
exposure to the burn pits. Very few have received benefits from the VA for
their illnesses. Many are so sick they can't work and are going broke. DOD
officials have done nothing to help them.
A
clear pattern has emerged regarding these illnesses, and the VA should
acknowledge that pattern and take action. The DOD must take responsibility and
stop denying its involvement in creating the burn pits, admitting there were
health hazards associated with exposure. And KBR must provide compensation to
sick veterans. It is what's owed to the service members who selflessly
went to war on behalf of the United States.
C 2015 Reader Supported News
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.
Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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