Stichting Visie
military
and civil use of Depleted Uranium: an eternal medical disaster
"Iraq DU Invading Hiroshima Depleted Uranium kills numerous US American and UK British Soldiers in 2003 Gulfwar"
INVADING
HIROSHIMA
by William Thomas
http://www.lifeboatnews.com
http://pages.ivillage.com/innerconnections/gathering-of-love-for-global-peace/invading_hiroshima.html
American and British troops entering Iraq should bandage all cuts,
keep
their overheated rubber suits zipped tight, and stop breathing.
It is dust,
not bullets, that will likely pose the most lethal consequences
to their
invasion of Iraq.
American military strategist Harlan Ullman will not be accompanying
them.
But Ullman is excited about seeing his plan for mass murder enacted.
Only
weeks away from a "live-fire" demonstration over the streets of
Iraq's
biggest cities. Ullman compares hundreds of cruise missiles hitting
Baghdad
to moments of total devastation directed at another war-ravaged
population
half a century before.
"You have this simultaneous effect, rather like the nuclear weapons
at
Hiroshima, not taking days or weeks but minutes," Ullman boasts.
[The
Sun-Herald Jan. 26 2003]
Intended as a lesson for a worldwide audience, the Pentagon says
its plan is
intended to shatter Iraq "physically, emotionally and psychologically"
by
raining down on its people in two days more than twice the number
of
missiles launched during the entire 40 days of Desert Storm. The
World
Health Organisation estimates that "as many as 500,000 people could
require
treatment as a result of direct and indirect injuries" from this
unprecedented onslaught or radioactive high-explosives. [The Mirror
Jan 29,
2003]
Extensive experimentation against urban centers in Bosnia, Libya,
Afghanistan and Iraq have shown cruise missiles to be wildly inaccurate.
Military insider Al Martin recalls a U.S. general laughing during
Desert
Storm at the inaccuracy of American cruise missiles. "The defense
contractors will get paid as long as the things go off and hit the
right
country," the general said. [All Fall Down: The Politics of Terror
and Mass
Persuasion]
It will take up to 800 missiles to ensure complete demolition of
Iraq's
remaining defences and infrastructure, including sporadically-functioning
power stations, sewage and water purification plants. Repeatedly
blasted in
1991 - then denied spare parts under U.S. and British embargoes
- these key
city facilities are located in crowded neighborhoods.
"The sheer size of this has never been seen before, never been contemplated
before," a Pentagon official boasted to CBS News. "There will not
be a safe
place in Baghdad."
It's not safe now! Much of Iraq remains radiologically "hot" following
undeclared nuclear attacks that have randomly distributed lethal
air and
food-borne radiation from Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions - without
any
mushroom clouds.
With a postwar toll of perhaps 650,000 deaths from lingering wounds,
illness
and DU exposure, Iraq has already suffered more radiation deaths
than the
130,000 corpses produced at Hiroshima through American know-how
and acute
radiation exposure. [UN and Japanese figures]
The same type of uranium-tipped cruise missiles that carried cancer
into
Bosnia and Afghanistan will only add fresh "rems" to the radioactive
dust of
this distant desert land.
Even if resistance collapses following an urban bombardment unprecedented
in
scale, timing and ferocity, allied forces face the specter of severe
casualties from the lethal legacy of their last munitions testing
on the
people of Iraq.
"If your son or daughter is in the military today, opposition from
the
hapless Iraqi army is not the greatest threat," warns Depleted Uranium
(DU)
investigator John Kaminski. "In southern Iraq, American soldiers
will be
sent into battle with inadequate protections against a proven health
hazard
that will almost certainly doom them to lives diminished by a variety
of
cancers caused by uranium 238, which means they may transmit these
illnesses
to their family and friends - and birth defects to their children
- when and
if they return home."
JUST A DAB WILL DU YOU
DU shells retain 60% of the radioactivity of unspent "hot" uranium.
Radiobiologist Dr. Rosalie Bertell warns that "it can be breathed
in by
anyone: a baby, a pregnant woman, the elderly, the sick."
A speck of Uranium-238 can cause cancer. The Pentagon admits to firing
320
tons of DU into Iraq's farms and neighborhoods during Desert Storm.
Greenpeace puts the figure at more than 800 tons.
Foremost expert on radiation sickness, Dr.
Helen Caldicott explains that DU
dust is a potent radioactive carcinogen, emitting a heavy alpha
particle
that can lodge in open wounds, the lungs or the stomach depending
on its
pathways of ingestion. The result: cancers in the lungs, bones,
blood or
kidneys.
These devastating diseases are already surfacing in Afghanistan and
Bosnia,
while continuing to decimate the survivors of what the City Council
of
Detroit condemns as "genocide" in Iraq. With a half-life of 4.5
million
years, Caldicott says that contaminated areas "will remain effectively
radioactive for the rest of time." [San Francisco Chronicle
Oct. 10, 2002]
Former Basra Dean of Medicine Dr. Alim Abdul-Hamid says he has "plenty
of
first-hand experience with Iraq's unprecedented plague of cancers
and birth
defects." The Iraqi physician is seeing breast cancer among women
in their
20s. "In their 20s!" he repeats. "There are increased incidences
of colon
cancer, thyroid cancer - in addition to, of course, leukemias and
lymphomas." [Counterpunch Dec. 28, 2001]
TARGETING CHILDREN
Children are 10 to 20 times more sensitive to the effects of radiation
than
adults. Today more than half of all cancers in Iraq are occurring
among
children under the age of five.
Helpless pediatricians in Basra have watched childhood leukemia
and cancer
increase up to 12-times peacetime rates. Hospitals throughout Iraq
have
reported as much as a 10-fold increase in birth defects since cities
and
countryside were strafed with radioactive munitions. [Counterpunch
Dec. 28,
2001]
Pointing to a map of Basra, Dr.
Abdul-Hamid demonstrated the dose-response
relationship between DU and cancers, saying, "Areas which have got
the
higher level of background radiation have higher levels of cancers."
American and British military doctors insist that eating and breathing
radioactive uranium is perfectly safe. So, they say, is being injected
with
mycoplasma-spiked anthrax vaccine. Believing these assurances, an
estimated
250,000 disposable Desert Storm veterans in Canada, the United States
and
Great Britain currently suffer from debilitating "Gulf War Illness".
[Bringing The War Home]
But because Depleted Uranium is unmatched as a shield and a weapon,
international efforts to ban DU continue to be ignored by the U.S.,
Canada
and Britain. Radioactive warfare is also a convenient way to redistribute
mountains of mutagenic debris from atomic warfare factories
to distant
"colored" neighborhoods.
ROKKE'S RADIATION
Dr. Doug
Rokke knows these dangers internally. The American physician in
charge of dealing with post-war contamination in Iraqi communities
saw his
medical records confiscated by the U.S. Army after long-delayed
examination
results showed radiation in his body at 5,000 times maximum "safe"
levels.
Rokke, who headed the army's Depleted Uranium program after the Gulf
Massacre, told reporters after returning from Iraq, "'Oh my God'
is the only
way to describe it. Contamination was all over."
Rokke's recruits measured dangerous levels of radiation up to 150
feet away
from DU-fried tanks - including up to 300 millirems an hour in beta
and
gamma radiation. Alpha radiation registered in the thousands to
the millions
counts-per-minute on their Geiger counters.
"That whole area is still trashed," Rokke remarked. "It's hotter
than heck
over there still. This stuff doesn't go away."
NO TANKS
Rokke's team spent three months cleaning up 24 tanks for return
as outdoor
exhibits to the United States. The army took another three years
to clean up
the tanks. But just three days after commencing their inspections,
Rokke and
his crew started getting sick." Over the past decade, 30 men out
of 100
servicemen dealing with DU, "dropped dead."
Rokke says the biggest danger is the dust given off when a Depleted
Uranium
shell detonates. In heat fierce enough to melt armor plating, up
to 70% of a
DU round oxidizes. "This aerosolized power - uranium oxide - is
the really
dangerous stuff," Rokke says. "Particularly when it is inhaled."
Rokke suspects that, like many Iraqi adults and children, radioactive
uranium oxide dust is permanently trapped in his lungs. Rokke also
has
lesions on his brain. Pustules protrude from his skin. He suffers
from
chronic fatigue, and cannot stop wheezing for breath and coughing.
His
fibromyalgia inflicts chronic pain in his muscles, ligaments and
tendons.
Rokke's radioactive regrets reveal the hazards facing unprotected
U.S. and
British soldiers, as well as peacekeepers brought in from other
countries -
including Canada - to secure the second biggest oil fields on Earth.
Caldicott warns, "these tiny particles travel long distances when
airborne."
In Yugoslavia, Depleted Uranium fired into agricultural areas has
irradiated
food. Scottish scientists recently verified that residents of the
Balkans
exposed to fallout from DU-tipped cruise missiles are excreting
uranium in
their urine.
GULF WAR ILLNESS - THE
SEQUEL?
Even before American and British troops enter Baghdad's radioactive
environs
to "liberate" families suffering the sickening strangulation of
their
sanctions - allied casualties continue to mount.
In preliminary announcements of what may later be called "Gulf War
Illness
II", Reuters reports that "Veterans groups on both sides of the
Atlantic say
up to one in three soldiers has fallen ill after taking the vaccine,
and six
of them died in the United States."
"We have hard facts," says British-based National Gulf Veterans and
Families
Association coordinator James Moore. "Two and Three Parachute Regiments
have
had anthrax injections. At least a third come down with flu-like
symptoms
and have been very poorly. In the United States, over 30 percent
have come down with
symptoms and six have died after taking the vaccine." [Reuters
Jan. 8,
2003]
This is a war even the victors will lose.
# # #
Canadian journalist William Thomas has written Op Ed pieces for the
Vancouver Sun, Times-Colonist and Globe and Mail while serving as a
member
of a three-man Gulf Environmental Emergency Response Team in Kuwait
immediately after Desert Storm. Producer of the award-winning documentary,
"Eco War", he is the author of Bringing The War Home and All
Fall Down: The
Politics of Terror and Mass Persuasion.
Stichting Visie
military
and civil misuse of Depleted Uranium
Howard’s End – World
Protests Irrelevant Says Bush
Wednesday, 19 February 2003, 11:41 pm Column: Maree Howard Howard’s End – World Protests Irrelevant Says Bush
Despite the UN and the Security Council resolutions, war with Iraq is definitely
on
Expressions of faith are familiar ground to US Presidents but President
"I welcome faith to help solve the nation's deepest problems," Bush told
a
Bush told the Nashville audience that he praised Americans' "deep and
In the State of the Union address he referred to liberty as God's gift
to
Hours after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated Bush again turned to
His is a welcome message for some, particularly the evangelical Christian
"This President is using general references and, beyond that, terminology
Evangelical Christians seem to follow both the old and new Testament
"When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land wither thou goest
Each Arab state still has its share of refugees from the 9 April 1948
The meaning of Deir Yasin to the Arab residents in Palestine was so clear
It took just eleven minutes from the announcement of the formation of
Mr Truman (in 1956) recorded the outcome of the "solution" (the UN
But the deed had already been done - by force.
It is significant that more than 2000 Israeli's also protested last weekend
This coming weekend Bush will meet at his ranch in Texas with a
Praising both men as courageous Bush said, " These are men of vision.
But whose version of peace will it be, and with whom?
Rest assured, if Bush is the evangelical religious man I think he is, he
will
We can only hope that his vision, his peace, his fundamental evangelical
But, as of today, I very much doubt it - the war is on!
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military
and civil criminals use Depleted Uranium
US military continues to tell the media big obvious lies:
Onderwerp: [du-list] US says it will DU in Iraq
Datum: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:00:56 -0000 Van: info@cadu.org.uk Aan: du-list@yahoogroups.com, du-watch@yahoogroups.com REUTERS':
Defense officials told reporters the extremely hard M-1A Abrams
"It is weapon that we will continue to use if the need is there to
The briefing appeared designed to both again deny charges that
Iraq and other critics, including environmental groups, have
"Why do they (the Iraqis) want it to go away? They want it to go
"There is no doubt that DU gave us a huge advantage over their
Iraqi armored divisions do not have such ammunition. Naughton said U.S. tanks could stand beyond the range of Iraqi
Despite questions raised over DU use, Kilpatrick said that a study
"It is not a nuclear weapon. It just happens to be uranium," he said,
Depleted uranium, made using centrifuges, is so heavy that the 320
Onderwerp: [du-list] BBC: US to use depleted uranium Datum: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 21:54:13 -0800 Van: Steve Kisby <skisby@web.net> Aan: (Recipient list suppressed) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/2860759.stm Graphics/Photos:
A United States defence official has said moves to ban depleted uranium
ammunition are just
Colonel James Naughton of US Army Materiel Command said Iraqi complaints about depleted uranium (DU) shells had no medical basis. "They want it to go away because we kicked the crap out of them,"
he told a Pentagon
If war starts, tonnes of depleted uranium (DU) weapons are likely
to be used by British and
Some believe people are still suffering ill health from ammunition
used in the Gulf War 12
In the House of Commons in London on Monday, Labour MP Joan Ruddock
said a test of the
Apparently anticipating complaints, the US defence department briefed
journalists about DU -
Depleted uranium, a by-product of uranium enrichment for nuclear
weapons or nuclear reactors, has
It is very dense, about 1.7 times heavier than lead, and not only
very hard but unlike other
These properties contributed to the relative success of American tanks against Iraq's in 1991. For the M1 Abrams tank there is no other option: it uses only DU-tipped shells and has DU armour. 'Who says?' "In the last war, Iraqi tanks at fairly close ranges - not nose to
nose - fired at our tanks and
"So the result was Iraqi tanks destroyed - US tanks with scrape marks." He questioned the motives of those who challenged US use of depleted
uranium.
"Who's asking the question? The Iraqis tell us 'terrible things happened
to our people because you used it last time'.
"I mean, there's no doubt that DU gave us a huge advantage over their
tanks. They lost a lot
"Their soldiers can't be really amused at the idea of going out in
basically the same tanks with
'Marked increase in cancers' Cancer surgeons in the southern Iraqi port of Basra report a marked
increase in cancers
But the director of the Pentagon's deployment health support directorate,
Dr Michael
Depleted uranium is mildly radioactive but the main health concern
is that it is a heavy metal,
The likelihood of absorbing it is increased significantly if a weapon
has struck a target and
Dr Kilpatrick said a study that had followed 90 US Gulf War veterans
exposed to the dust and to shrapnel from DU rounds in "friendly fire" incidents
had found no DU-related medical
Some Gulf War veterans believe DU might have contributed to health
problems they have
BBC News Online environment correspondent Alex Kirby says scientists
disagree about the
The World Health Organisation recommends cleaning areas with high
concentrations of
"There is real controversy, and real uncertainty," he said. There have also been various health warnings. A 1995 report from
the US Army
Alex Kirby says the Pentagon claim that criticisms of DU come only
from Iraq and "other
"To sum up, I guess the Iraqis have got much worse things than DU
to worry about in the
"But that does not mean the risk is proven not to exist." Published: 2003/03/18 16:28:23 © BBC MMIII |
America
Killing Its Own Soldiers
Scoop Wednesday, 8 January 2003, 11:03 am Column: John Kaminski America Killing Its Own Soldiers - Depleted uranium making all wars nuclear
By John Kaminski
John Kaminski is a writer who lives on the coast of Florida.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the United States would be
No one with any brains should ever consider enlisting in the U.S. armed
For the past decade, America's leaders have fought to prevent depleted
Now a new invasion is set to unfold in the one place in the world where
In recent days, an evocative fourplex of stories has been posted on the
When you read them, it will become clear that American officials far more
Dr. Doug Rokke is the man the U.S. government put in charge of trying to
Rokke ran the U.S. Army's depleted uranium project in the mid-90s, and
he
Rokke and his crew were measuring significant levels of radiation up to
50
This is the situation new U.S. troops now face as George W. Bush masses
Rokke's team took three months to clean up 24 tanks for transport back
to
Rokke's lungs and kidneys are damaged. He believes that uranium oxide
The VA tested Rokke for uranium levels in his body in 1994. He got the
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the Army and the
The problem with DU, Rokke points out, is the dust that's given off when
a
Dr. Helen Caldicott, probably the world's foremost critic of nuclear power,
when airborne."
About one quarter of the 700,000 troops sent to the Persian Gulf War have
Rokke: "Today, at least one decade after thousands and maybe millions of
Just imagine the top brass in Washington actually caring about what their
But the problem is not just in faraway Iraq. Similar health effects also
have
Recently, the U.S. Navy willfully used DU munitions during peacetime
Depleted uranium was only one of the verified exposures in the Persian
If your son or daughter is in the military today, opposition from the hapless
Apart from DU, Rokke listed other hazards facing America's military
"Today, we know that the anthrax manufacturing process was never
"Troops were also immunized against a whole host of diseases and
This is the way America's military leaders protect the welfare of their
Rokke: "The confirmed nerve agent threat resulted in the use of PB, which
"Again, we knew there would be health effects and yet commanders
"Today, many of us; including scientists, physicians, pastors, and others;
"The health and environmental problems are not limited to Iraq or
"Another dangerous location is Calhoun County (Fort McClellan) Alabama.
Why is DU such a good weapon? Because it hardens the tank shells and
A majority of international experts agrees that DU is already a banned
In 1996 this issue was brought before the Human Rights Tribunal in Geneva
The top brass in Washington continue to say our soldiers — your children,
Information for this story was culled from:
|
Stichting Visie
Eternal Medical disaster
Date: Thu, 27
Dec 2001 19:54:41 +0200 Weapons of mass destruction — going nuclear in Iraq By Ramzi Kysia BAGHDAD — Dr Alim Abdul-Hamid's office at Al Mustanseriya Medical College in Baghdad is decorated in bright, cheerful colours, but what he has to say is anything but cheerful. Formerly Dean of Basra Medical College, Abdul-Hamid has had plenty of first-hand experience with Iraq's unprecedented plague of cancers and birth defects. “We have seen cases of breast cancer among women in their 20s. In their 20s!,” says Abdul-Hamid. “This is really tragic, because, you know, in America, probably when you come across a case of breast cancer in a woman in her late 30s, you would consider that this is a young age for cancer, while we see cases of breast cancer in the 20s. There are increased incidences of colon cancer, thyroid cancer, in addition to, of course, leukaemias and lymphomas.” What's the source of this epidemic? According to Abdul-Hamid the problem is depleted uranium. Depleted uranium, or “DU”, is an extremely dense, heavy metal, and a waste product of atomic bomb production. It has a half-life of over 4 billion years. It contains trace amounts of plutonium and is 60 per cent as radioactive as naturally occurring uranium. The US military uses it as ballast in their missiles, and they use it to coat shells and pellets. Because of its density, it is armour piercing — so it is used as an anti-tank weapon. DU is also aerosolising. When a shell coated with DU hits, it burns, releasing uranium oxide dust. This dust then rises in the air, is carried by the winds, and contaminates the entire surrounding environment. The Pentagon admits to dropping 320 tonnes of DU in Iraq. The environmental organisation Greenpeace puts the estimate at over 800 tonnes. Hospitals throughout Iraq have reported as much as a 10-fold increase in overall cancer rates and birth defects over the last 11 years. Abdul-Hamid points to an epidemiological study he headed in Basra, demonstrating the connection between DU and cancer in Iraq. The study looked at five factors: biological plausibility, strength of association, incidence rate, increased incidences of cancer among younger children, and the dose-response relationship. According to Abdul-Hamid, all these factors point to a strong, casual link between DU exposure and cancer in Iraq. To test the biological plausibility of their hypothesis, the team of scientists studied the types of cancer being reported, most notably leukaemias, and explored their relationship to DU. The results strongly indicate a radioactive, rather than chemical, contaminant. Explains Abdul-Hamid: “Leukaemia is known to be related to radiation. We don't have evidence that leukaemia is related to chemicals.” Additionally, if the source of the epidemic were chemical, there would have been a sharp spike in cancer rates following the Gulf war, followed by rapid decreases as the source of the contamination disappeared. In contrast, with radiation the strength of association increases as time passes. The fact that cancer rates are still increasing at an exponential rate in Iraq strongly implies a radioactive source. This increase is enormous. According to the study, malignancies and leukaemias among children under the age of 15 have more than tripled since 1990. Whereas in 1990 young children accounted for only 13 per cent of cancer cases, today over 56 per cent of all cancer in Iraq occurs among children under the age of 5. Abdul-Hamid explains that it isn't just direct exposure of the children to the radiation still present in the environment; it's also the cumulative exposure of their parents over time. This cumulative exposure does permanent damage to parental genes, damage which is then passed on to their children. Finally, pointing to a map of Basra, Abdul-Hamid highlights the dose-response relationship between DU and cancers. “If we look at the map of Basra, southern Iraq, and monitor the incidences in different districts over time, we can come out with a very important conclusion. And that is that areas which have got the higher level of background radiation have higher levels of cancers.” These factors overwhelmingly point to DU as the source of Iraq's current cancer plague. Iraqi doctors aren't the only ones complaining about DU. US veterans are upset as well. DU may be a leading cause of the unprecedented levels of illnesses effecting Gulf war veterans. “The Pentagon claims that there are no significant health effects from exposure to depleted uranium, but their own research and documents show that this is not true,” says Charles Sheehan-Miles, a Gulf war veteran and former president of the National Gulf War Resource Centre. Almost 25 per cent of US soldiers who fought in the Gulf war are currently receiving disability benefits from the US Veteran's Administration. This is twice the rate of disabilities as among Vietnam veterans. Unfortunately, DU remains an integral part of the American military arsenal. According to Sheehan-Miles, “Depleted uranium, like landmines and cluster bombs, is a weapon with effects far beyond the battlefield, with innocents and children as the frequent victims. I resent this. As a former American soldier, I was trained to protect the innocent, not to kill them.” As the United States gears up for a new “Desert Storm” against Iraq, using weapons like DU, that is a lesson that more American soldiers, and the politicians who command them, should be reminded of. The writer is a Muslim-American peace activist, and serves on the board of directors for the Education for Peace in Iraq Centre (www.saveageneration.org). He is currently in Iraq as part of a Voices in the Wilderness (www.vitw.org) peace delegation trying to end the war . He contributed this article to The Jordan Times. http://www.jordantimes.com/Thu/region/region1.htm |