Citing a POLITICAL magazine as a credible souce??

He’d better get with the program. Libertarians are more likely to cite “Science Fiction Today” as a credible source.

;-)

PEACE
Steve

It is the paint used on all military equipment to ward off chemical agents. It is also massively carcinogenic, if misused at all, and it is on a daily basis, both in its upkeep and application.

It can cause all of the maladies that are commonly linked to DU. Every Soldier, Marine, Sailor and Airman touches, handles, breaths near CARC every day. Most of them misuses it, including eating off surfaces coated in it, spraying common spray paint over it to ‘touch it up’, washing it with inappropriate chemicals, or breathing in CARC related dust caused by tools, accidents or combat. Failing that, it is not infrequently stored in connexs, wall lockers or store rooms with inadequate air circulation, which prevents the vapors and dust that escape it from leaving the area, or it is used to paint unprepared surfaces in approved methods which leads to further exposure. Also, many unit or post paint shops fail to seal it properly, so it comes off, even after drying, on soldier’s hands and equipment, to be ingested later. Most of our armed forces are completely unaware of the dangers of CARC because the MSDS sheets are not kept on hand, and are sufficiently archane so as to be unreadable by most humans.

Compare that to the tiny fraction of soldiers that come in contact with expended DU rounds, or their immediate vapors or targets, or even consume quantities of water which have passed over expended DU munition.

The problem is that neither technology is easily replaceable at a comparable performance rate.

If any person is on the other side of the above issues, they are from the fringe. The fringe is much bigger than democrats and republicans wish, but they do control the ballot box. Me, I’ll stick to the “fringe”.

Personally, I am glad that the Senator has taken a stand against DU and it’s known dangers. But as Justin Grover stated above, there are a LOT of dangerous things happening to our soldiers. War is dangerous.

War is so dangerous that it needs to be used sparingly, not on a whim to prop up polls before an election (Bush the Elder) or to draw attention away from personal ethics issues (Clinton) or to appease some constituency (Bush the Younger).

Me, I am proud to see an leading Libertarian Presidential candidate draw attention to this issue. Our candidates won’t in likelihood win the general election in November, but they CAN perhaps draw attention to atrocities and the inherent dangers of stupid wars.

PEACE
Steve

All of the so-called fringe candidates, and fringe parties, and fringe citizens need to unite. We have common goals that, at this point in history, are more important than our individual goals. These include ballot access, campaign finance reform, and open debates, among others.

This is why Gravel endorsed a Green Party candidate. To show that he is a man of all third parties, and that he is tied to no party in particular. To show that he wants to build a “Fringe Alliance.”

Harping on about DU munitions is hiding the other very very real threats to soldiers, veterans and others that exist outside of combat, such as CARC paint, certain immunizations, tritium leakage, repeat exposure to CS gas, lack of training, insufficient rollover protection in most military vehicles, and other things. [Not to mention the combat related dangers, like being shot at, lack of proper equipment, ridiculous rules of engagement, etc. ]

Stop beating a dead horse and obscuring the real issues.