The Pentagon is falsely claiming its research shows that airborne dust in Iraq and Afghanistan poses no health risk to U.S. troops, say three scientists whose review of that research found it riddled with mistakes.
Military officials then falsely said the review of their research backed their conclusion that the dust in the two war zones is no different from that in California, scientists Philip Hopke, Mark Utell and Anthony Wexler say.
The scientists, who issued their report last year for the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences, were part of a team that reviewed a 2008 study at the request of the Pentagon.
The earlier report, which was conducted for the military by the Nevada-based Desert Research Institute, made a series of incorrect conclusions and used faulty research methods, the 2010 study showed.
Researcher links toxins in war-zone dust to ailments
It is simply not true that research supports the Pentagon's claim that Middle Eastern dust is similar to that in the United States or that it poses no health risks, says Hopke, a Clarkson University scientist who conducted the National Research Council study.
"It's a bit disappointing when they know that, realistically, the data does not support that conclusion," he says.
Friday will mark two weeks since a retired Air Force major general who previously oversaw a...
The U.S. torpedoing of an Iranian frigate off Sri Lanka this week may have violated the...
The US military said it killed six men on Sunday in a strike on an alleged...
For some U.S. military commanders, the emerging war in Iran is part of a biblical plan...
