Over the years, many veterans have complained their governments have not given their ailments serious consideration, and have criticized federal investigations which found no link to possible chemical or biological agent use in the Persian Gulf. The fact that depleted uranium exposure hasn't been linked to Leukemia doesn't mean that it isn't linked to a ton of other nasty shit showing up in soldiers who've been exposed to DU dust. Yet, expect to see today's WHO findings touted by the military and the U.S. Feds in the press as proof that DU munitions are safe and Gulf War Syndrome is a wash. They fear this has poisoned much of the water table in Kosovo. So much for good intentions.
Soldiers accept risk.
However, officers accept responsibility for putting soldiers at risk. They knew the stuff was lethal, and our troops should have been told about it ahead of time so that they didn't go charging through fields of radioactive tanks. And now the higher-ups who decided not to warn the troops should be coming forward in a show of integrity and laying their heads on the block. What's happened in the past twenty years is that the First World militaries have gone from being institutions of war to institutions of peace, and therefore the social expectations put upon them have undergone a radical transformation. Young men and women now sign up for military service as an option for vocational training, and we as a nation get pissed off when soldiers get killed.