‘Burn pits’ in Afghanistan caused illness, says Enterprise (Alabama) man

[sabra]

Source: Enterprise Ledger

Richard Guilmette was once a physically fit personal trainer at Gold’s Gym, active in taekwondo and kickboxing.

But just a month after a National Guard deployment in 2004 to Kandahar, Afghanistan, Guilmette says he began to experience breathing difficulties, stomach problems, headaches and dizziness, even extreme fatigue during normal exertion.

“It started happening pretty quickly after we got over there,” said Guilmette, who lives in Enterprise. “A lot of the people in the tent (where we lived) were coughing a lot.”

Guilmette said he believes the health problems were caused by a contractor who burned vast quantities of unsorted waste in enormous open-air burn pits. He said the pits were located close to the soldiers’ living quarters, and that prevailing winds often sent a large, black cloud of smoke over the tents.

“It was a nasty smell,” Guilmette said. “Real thick smoke with some dust mixed in.”

Guilmette has filed one of at least 17 lawsuits against KBR Inc., claiming KBR “knew or should have known” that operating the open-air pits put soldiers and contractors in danger. The suits represent 21 current and former military personnel, private contractors, and the families of men who allegedly died as a result of exposure to toxic emission from the burn pits.

Read more: http://www2.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/burn_pits_in_afghanistan_caused_illness_says_enterprise_man/98567/

[dotymed]

1. When you "privatize" the military

who in the hell is going to give a shit about the troops? The
"contractors" just want to get the shit done...they
are not responsible for the consequences. If G.I.'s did this,
some non-com or whoever, would go tell the G.I.'s to cut the
shit out and do it safely...or else

[TacticalPeek]

2. Arrest the contractors.

They are still doing exactly this at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province, with thick, black, toxic smoke spreading through areas for sleeping, eating and medical.

Profiteering bastards.

Doing it TODAY!

[pundaint]

3. See, this is why the armed forces should only be used for fighting

They are not trained to run stuff only to blow stuff up. The hierarchical approach works well for ending things. Administering a nation requires more collaborative authority, which is just what the military shouldn't have. It's time to learn that the military needs to go as soon as possible after the blowing up and destruction ends, sot that it ends.

If we want to do nation building we need a new Colonial Corps, with expertise in building a Democratic society, which the military expressly isn't.

[bertman]

4. They never learn a damn thing from these kinds of mistakes. In Vietnam we patrolled

through defoliated forests that had been sprayed with Agent Orange just days or weeks before. No one told us that they were using toxic chemicals to kill all of the flora (and fauna), so we took no precautions. Of course, it took years before the military would even admit that Agent Orange caused the illnesses that were inflicted on many of our troops.

Yesterday there was another story on NPR (I think) about a soldier whose unit had been pulling security around some installation where private contractors were and there were huge amounts of toxic chemical dust all over the place. No one told our troops to take precautions, so they were laying in the stuff, eating with it all around them, sleeping in it. Now this soldier has terrible infirmities.

THIS IS CRIMINAL. These people are making BILLIONS of dollars without even considering the negative consequences of their actions.

P.S. I'm not saying the military hierarchy would do any better. They sure as hell didn't in Vietnam or in Desert Storm with depleted uranium.

Recommend.

[Libertas1776]

5. Kind of

reminds of back in the 90s when those cancer ridden dying workers from Area 51 tried to sue the EPA because the Air Force was burning vast amounts of unknown chemicals in large pits and the smoke wafted over the whole base and thus your cancer ridden workers. And they were very close to getting justice...until Pres. Clinton issued "Presidential Determination 95-45" declaring the site and its goings on a matter of national security and thus exempt from federal environmental laws. The military industrial complex, whether coming from the military or private contractors will always trump human rights, even if it is your own men you are killing.

That is one of the big reasons I have little respect for Clinton, and something that little to nobody even is aware of.

[Arctic Dave]

6. A quick web search should tell these guys not to burn trash.

http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/hlthhaz/fs/WoodBrn.htm

As if being shot at wasn't enough.