A total of 109 Italian soldiers have died thus far due to exposure to depleted Uranium.
According to an October 2004 Dispatch from the Italian Military Health Observatory, a total of 109 Italian soldiers have died thus far due to exposure to depleted Uranium
According to an October 2004 Dispatch from the Italian Military Health Observatory, a total of 109 Italian soldiers have died thus far due to exposure to depleted Uranium. A spokesman at the Military Health Obervatory, Domenico Leggiero, states "The total number of persons dying as a consequence of road accidents. Anyone denying the significance of such data is purely acting out of ill faith, and the truth is that our soldiers are dying out there due to a lack of adequate protection against depleted uranium." Members of the Observatory have petitioned for an urgent hearing "in order to study effective prevention and safeguard measures aimed at reduction the death-toll amongst our serving soldiers."
There were only 3000 Italian soldiers sent to Iraq, and they were there for a short time. The number of 109 represents about 3.6% of the total. If the same percentage of Iraquis get a similar exposure, that would amount to 936 000. As Iraquis are permanently living in the same contaminated environment, their percentage will be higher.
Published on 3/22/2007