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Joe Biden has been criticized again for saying that his late son Beau “lost his life in Iraq”—a reference to the president’s long-standing belief that toxic burn pits caused younger Biden’s death. Died of brain cancer at the age of 46.
The president made his latest remarks to US troops stationed in Japan during his visit to the country after making similar remarks at least twice last year.
“My son was a major in the US Army. We lost him in Iraq,” Mr. Biden said in a video last Thursday during an informal visit with troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni The recipient New York Post.
US President Joe Biden (left) greets US troops as he arrives to attend the G7 summit at the US Marine Corps Base in Iwakuni on May 18, 2023.
(AFP via Getty Images)
Right-wing media outlets have attempted to use Mr Biden’s comments on Beau’s death as a sign that the 80-year-old Democrat has memory issues ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Mr. Biden’s son died of brain cancer in 2015 at Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
Last October Mr Biden made similar remarks while speaking near Vail, Colorado, as he designated Camp Hale as a national monument.
During World War II the 436-square-mile area was a training ground for the 10th Mountain Division.
Mr Biden spoke of the division’s bravery, saying he had fought in Italy before losing his son in Iraq.
US President Joe Biden (L) welcomes US troops attending the G7 summit at the US Marine Corps Base in Iwakuni on May 18, 2023.
(AFP via Getty Images)
“Just think, I mean honestly, I say this as the father of a man who won a Bronze Star, Distinguished Service Medal, and lost his life in Iraq. Imagine the courage, the courage, and the actual sacrifice, Which they have done, said the President.
A clip of the moment shared by the conservative washington examiner on Twitter Has been viewed more than a million times.
Beau Biden served in Iraq between 2008 and 2009 as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard. He was the Delaware Attorney General between 2007 and 2015.
He died on May 30, 2015, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, just a few months after leaving office.
After his death, he was awarded the Delaware Distinguished Service Cross for “gallantry, meritorious service and outstanding achievement”.
“Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, more than five years after returning from a year’s service in Iraq. Joe Biden has attributed the cancer to Beau Biden’s closeness to Burn Pitts in Iraq, though sometimes admits he isn’t sure,” CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale Tweeted,
In 2016, then-Vice President Biden said his son’s cancer may have been caused by toxic burn pits he was exposed to during his service in the Middle East.
the new York Times reported that Mr Biden said he was “shocked” when he read a chapter in the book relating to his son’s death The Burnt Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers by Joseph Hickman.
“Guys, I’m going to be the biggest pain in your neck as long as I live,” he said in a conference room on the Congressional campus.
Burn pits were used in both Afghanistan and Iraq to get rid of waste such as plastics, rubber and batteries. The smoke from the pits can be toxic, newsweek noted.
The Defense Department has said that about 3.5 million service members could have been exposed to toxins at harmful levels because of the exercise.
During his State of the Union speech earlier this year, Biden said, “I have always believed that it is our sacred obligation to equip those sent to war and to care for them and their families when they come home.” Is.” “And they come home, many of the fittest and most trained warriors in the world, never quite the same. Headache. Numbness. Dizziness. A cancer that will put them in a flag-draped coffin.
While Mr Biden said he could not be completely sure his son’s cancer was caused by burn pits, he said his administration would “find out everything we can”.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) explains its Website that it “understands that many veterans are particularly concerned about exposure to smoke and fumes generated from open burn pits”.
“In theaters of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other regions of Southwest Asia, open-air burning of trash and other waste in burn pits was a common practice. The Department of Defense has now closed most of the burn pits and plans to close the remainder,” the agency said.
“Researchers, including experts from the VA, are actively studying airborne hazards such as burn pits and other military environmental exposures. Ongoing research will help us better understand the potential long-term health effects and provide better care and services to you, the site states.
