“I stand by Di Mare, many of our soldiers sick and then died like this” – Il Tempo

Interview with the general: “In 2019 I presented a complaint on contamination”

“These are images that hurt me, because you cannot get sick, and seriously ill, for having done your job but without knowing the risks you were facing.” It was a few minutes after nine in the morning when we managed to speak with General Roberto Vannacci. “I’m on the train, I’m going to Rome, let’s try to do it (the interview, ed.) now, let’s hope the line doesn’t go down.”

In the past you have worked extensively on depleted uranium. What did you feel when looking at the images of Franco Di Mare, war correspondent for RAI, suffering from one of the most aggressive tumors, mesothelioma?
«I felt so much pain and so much empathy. Pain because it is not right, we cannot accept that a man dies because he is doing his job and is not aware of the risks he runs. Empathy because, unfortunately, heavy metals in war zones is a topic I know very well. I want to take this opportunity to send a big hug to Franco Di Mare and his family. For what it’s worth, I’m very close to them.”

You have directed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, have you had the opportunity to find out if some of your soldiers subsequently fell ill?
“Unfortunately. Some got sick, others died. An atrocious pain, for those who, like me, believe in the value of the homeland and the uniform.”

In fact, there is a study, sponsored by the Ministry of Defense (called Signum) which examines a rather long period of time, from 2002 to 2011, in the operational areas in Iraq precisely because it is a geographical area where the presence in significant quantities of the radioactive metal was certain . The various lawsuits won against the Ministry of Defense after exhausting trials by the victims demonstrate that the correlation between the presence of heavy metals and the onset of serious, often fatal, diseases exists.

So the Italian army and the Ministry of Defense knew and sent our soldiers to the massacre. He replies: «No, I didn’t say that. This is a very delicate topic for me and I don’t want to go any further. I’ll just tell you that, in 2019, I filed a complaint, both out of moral obligation towards my soldiers but also because, having been appointed employer, I had the obligation to inform all my employees of the risks they faced and the potential exposure to depleted uranium particles was one of these.”

We thus found the aforementioned complaint on the web, within which we can read that «the content of this complaint is essentially considered to deal with conduct presumably involving serious and repeated omissions in the protection of the health and safety of the Italian military contingent, constituted by thousands of soldiers deployed in Iraq in 2017-2018 and subjected, among other things, to exposure to depleted uranium without any information being provided in this regard and without any risk mitigation being implemented. Questionable and repeated behavior regarding the application of accident prevention regulations and laws and relating to the protection of health and safety in the Iraqi Theater of Operations. Abusive and harassing attitudes towards the Commander of the Italian contingent in Iraq”. A complaint that was archived four years later, in 2023, to the amazement, among others, of Domenico Leggiero, president of the Military Observatory.

Did he regret his statements about disabled people?
«Absolutely not, and I answer you like this for a simple reason. I have never, not even by mistake, talked about separate classes for disabled people. I simply stated, and I repeat, that people with disabilities must be followed by specialists and need both specific dedicated support staff and ad hoc structures where we can specifically take care of them and promote the best possible fulfillment of these people. It’s not enough to get everyone together to think the problem is solved. That is, much more attention is needed than that dedicated to able-bodied people.
It is completely clear that this is an instrumental controversy.”

Why is everyone against you, apart from the League?
«Because I represent a target, since I published my book I have been instrumentally attacked by a certain press and by many other prominent figures and this same specious and bitter criticism has decreed the success of the manuscript whose sales are now close to 300,000 copies. Decontextualized phrases, unfounded accusations, sterile controversies which, combined with my determination not to take any step back because I am convinced of my theses, have transformed me into a well-known and controversial figure. An essay in which I wrote down a series of observations dictated by common sense. Many ordinary people, citizens are on my side precisely because they are aware that those ideas are the same as those of a good part of Italians.”

However, the political class of our country does not like her. Why?
«Perhaps because I am an upstart in their world, a person who goes straight to the point and who is not afraid to say what he thinks and this, together with my popularity, is perceived as a danger».