NATO says no "Balkans Syndrome", fails to calm storm

NATO says no "Balkans Syndrome", fails to calm storm
REUTERS

JAN 17: New Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica accused NATO of having a "depleted conscience" for using the shells and bullets during the 1999 Kosovo conflict.

After two weeks of mounting controversy, the alliance said its chief medical officers had compared evidence and seen nothing that pointed to a serious health risk from depleted uranium munitions used in the Gulf War and the Balkans.

Their report was NATO's most coordinated response yet to a row which erupted early in January and provoked disarray in alliance ranks as some countries suggested a connection between leukaemia and other diseases among young NATO soldiers who had served as peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia.

"We cannot identify any increase in disease or mortality in soldiers who have deployed to the Balkans as compared to those soldiers who have not deployed," NATO medical committee chairman General Roger Van Hoof said after a day-long meeting with his 18 counterparts on Monday.

"On the evidence available, a causal link cannot be identified between depleted uranium and the complaints or pathologies," he told a news conference at NATO headquarters.

Studies from both governmental and independent sources showed "any danger related to depleted uranium exposure is known to be quantity-dependent, and so far there is no evidence of possible exposure beyond the safe levels," he added.

"However, there are a number of military personnel reporting symptoms. While these symptoms are not linked to depleted uranium exposure, these should warrant further peer-reviewed scientific studies."

US army medical expert Colonel David Lam said DU's possible adverse health effects were "an extremely complex physiological issue which is unfortunately impacted more by political and emotional aspects than by scientific ones."

Smoking two cigarettes a day or having a series of bowel X-rays can cause more radiation exposure than an hour of deliberate handling of a depleted uranium penetrator round, Lam said.

"If there is in fact a health risk resulting from service in the Balkans, I think we need to look at all possible causes, such as other pollutants and hazards, and not focus only on DU."