Something for ignorant rightist warhawks to understand

[normalnoises]

http://www.sundayherald.com/print32522

US forces' use of depleted uranium weapons is 'illegal'

By Neil Mackay, Investigations Editor

BRITISH and American coalition forces are using depleted uranium (DU) shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction.

DU contaminates land, causes ill-health and cancers among the soldiers using the weapons, the armies they target and civilians, leading to birth defects in children.

Professor Doug Rokke, ex-director of the Pentagon's depleted uranium project -- a former professor of environmental science at Jacksonville University and onetime US army colonel who was tasked by the US department of defence with the post-first Gulf war depleted uranium desert clean-up -- said use of DU was a 'war crime'.

Rokke said: 'There is a moral point to be made here. This war was about Iraq possessing illegal weapons of mass destruction -- yet we are using weapons of mass destruction ourselves.' He added: 'Such double-standards are repellent.'

The latest use of DU in the current conflict came on Friday when an American A10 tankbuster plane fired a DU shell, killing one British soldier and injuring three others in a 'friendly fire' incident.

According to a August 2002 report by the UN subcommission, laws which are breached by the use of DU shells include: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Charter of the United Nations; the Genocide Convention; the Convention Against Torture; the four Geneva Conventions of 1949; the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980; and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which expressly forbid employing 'poison or poisoned weapons' and 'arms, projectiles or materials calculated to cause unnecessary suffering'. All of these laws are designed to spare civilians from unwarranted suffering in armed conflicts.

DU has been blamed for the effects of Gulf war syndrome -- typified by chronic muscle and joint pain, fatigue and memory loss -- among 200,000 US soldiers after the 1991 conflict.

It is also cited as the most likely cause of the 'increased number of birth deformities and cancer in Iraq' following the first Gulf war.

'Cancer appears to have increased between seven and 10 times and deformities between four and six times,' according to the UN subcommission.

The Pentagon has admitted that 320 metric tons of DU were left on the battlefield after the first Gulf war, although Russian military experts say 1000 metric tons is a more accurate figure.

In 1991, the Allies fired 944,000 DU rounds or some 2700 tons of DU tipped bombs. A UK Atomic Energy Authority report said that some 500,000 people would die before the end of this century, due to radioactive debris left in the desert.

The use of DU has also led to birth defects in the children of Allied veterans and is believed to be the cause of the 'worrying number of anophthalmos cases -- babies born without eyes' in Iraq. Only one in 50 million births should be anophthalmic, yet one Baghdad hospital had eight cases in just two years. Seven of the fathers had been exposed to American DU anti-tank rounds in 1991. There have also been cases of Iraqi babies born without the crowns of their skulls, a deformity also linked to DU shelling.

A study of Gulf war veterans showed that 67% had children with severe illnesses, missing eyes, blood infections, respiratory problems and fused fingers.

Rokke told the Sunday Herald: 'A nation's military personnel cannot wilfully contaminate any other nation, cause harm to persons and the environment and then ignore the consequences of their actions.

'To do so is a crime against humanity.

'We must do what is right for the citizens of the world -- ban DU.'

He called on the US and UK to 'recognise the immoral consequences of their actions and assume responsibility for medical care and thorough environmental remediation'.

He added: 'We can't just use munitions which leave a toxic wasteland behind them and kill indiscriminately.

'It is equivalent to a war crime.'

Rokke said that coalition troops were currently fighting in the Gulf without adequate respiratory protection against DU contamination.

The Sunday Herald has previously revealed how the Ministry of Defence had test-fired some 6350 DU rounds into the Solway Firth over more than a decade, from 1989 to 1999.

And don't forget to read this one too:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/2860759.stm

^^Don't even think of denying the US is using this!!

[normalnoises]

Perpetual Death From America

By Mohammed Daud Miraki, MA, MA, PhD

Afghan-American Freelance Academic

Mdmiraki@ameritech.net

2-24-3

http://www.rense.com/general35/perp.htm

"If they had killed us once, it would not be so bad. But what the Americans have brought upon us is not only depriving us but our future generations of our basic god given human right, the right to live. They will be killing us for generations to come" (An Afghan Victim of US-UK bombing)

In Afghanistan, elders used to cite an ancient saying "we are made for death and death is made for us" to point to the inescapable reality of facing death sooner or later. However, when this natural phenomenon changes form from its natural course to one tailored by humans, it becomes a tool of life deprivation. This tailored and forced deprivation of life on millions of people took a form of its own when used for cleansing generations of people of their basic human right, their right to live. Specifically, for millions in Afghanistan, their natural course of life and death took a sharp turn when US-UK military used uranium based weapons. This violation of immense proportion transformed the natural process of birth, growth and death into the inescapable horrors of perpetual death.

Perpetual death is characterized by continuous murder of people of a community, state or nation. It takes several forms. It could be exercised by conventional means of imposing war and destruction on people. The Russians have institutionalized this horror in Afghanistan by its invasion of the country in 1979 and sustained perpetual death there by planting millions of mines scattered all over country. The United States government also shares this responsibility after it abandoned the Afghans, leaving them to death and despair and refused to help them by clearing the millions of mines left behind after the Sovietsí retreat. These mines have been maiming and killing Afghans daily since the early 1980s.

However, the form that is exercised currently is the indiscriminate use of the Weapons of Mass Destruction, namely the usage of uranium based weapons. This mode of the perpetual death lives up to its name because it continues to foster deaths of thousands silently and indiscriminately. In fact, the usage of the Weapons of Mass Destruction alters the texture of the ecosystem wherein the victims reside. This ultimately condemns the people living there and future generations to death, and deprives them of their fundamental human right, the right to live.

The perpetrators of this horrible crime are the governments of the United States and that of the United Kingdom. The US and the UK are the only two countries used these horrible weapons indiscriminately in Iraq during the Gulf War and Balkans in the 1990s and in Afghanistan from October 7th, 2001 onward. Meanwhile, based on past experiences with victims of the US-UK bombing in Iraq and the Balkans, every informed source suspected to have similar situation in Afghanistan. Tragically, the US-UK armed forces have used three times more uranium based weapons in Afghanistan than they did in Iraq or in the Balkans. In fact, the types of Weapons of Mass Destruction used in Afghanistan are more potent than those used in Iraq.

This became evident with the recent report by the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC), establishing the presence of a mysterious metal in Afghan soil samples and urine samples of victims. The investigation carried out by the two teams of experts, one concentrated on the city of Jalal Abad while the other on the capital Kabul. The two teams gathered data and established the use of uranium-based weapons there. They discovered symptoms in population of illnesses associated with exposure to depleted uranium contamination similar to that in Iraq and Balkans. This added to the curiosity of the investigators and collected soil samples from impact sites to investigate them here in the US. The investigators were also surprised to find high concentration of uranium in the urine of subjects from Jala Abad. In fact, the level of uranium was 400% to 2000%, the highest level of uranium ever recorded in civilian population. Incidentally, the uranium discovered in the urine samples from subjects in Jala-Abad exhibited characteristics more potent than depleted uranium. The report said the following in regards to the impact of the uranium-based weapons:

"Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a professor of nuclear medicine and radiology and a former science adviser to the US military, who set-up the independent UMRC, has been testing US, British, and Canadian troops and civilians for DU and uranium poisoning over the past few years. His findings confirm significant amounts in the subjects' urine as much as nine years after exposure."

The above quote points to the perpetual death imposed on population of any country where the USA and the UK had used uranium-based weapons.

"Durakovic and his team have searched for possible alternative causes, such as geological or industrial sources, or the likelihood of Al Qaeda having uranium reserves. But the uranium found is not consistent with the "dirty bomb" scenario proposed by the US (in which stores of radioactive materials might explain the findings), nor is it connected to DU, or an enriched uranium-type dust that has been found in Iraq and Kosova."

In Iraq, it took up to five years to have any significant effects of exposure to depleted uranium, however, in Afghanistan only after one year, the UMRC research group suspects that 25% of newly born show symptoms of exposure to uranium weapons. The latter factors further strengthen the hypothesis of the UMRC that the US-UK militaries are using uranium ore in their weapons in order to increase its destructive capability. The usage of uranium ore also makes it difficult to trace these weapons to the US-UK militaries and creates a distortion as if the uranium had come from the local uranium deposits. The conclusion of the report was:

"However, marked differences between natural uranium and the uranium used in the metal fragments found in Afghanistan was uncovered with the use of an electron microscope, which revealed the presence of small ceramic particles produced by the high temperatures created on impact. This method of disguising uranium would benefit governments that are under pressure from the growing anti-DU lobby."

"The only conclusion is that the allied forces are now possibly using milled uranium ore in their warheads to maximise [sic] the effectiveness and strength of their weapons, as well as to mask the uranium, hoping that it may be discounted as part of any local natural deposits."

The destructive effects of the uranium-based weapons became evident in the beginning of the bombardments in Afghanistan, when Reuters reported that people died from minor injuries. Public Health Minister Mullah Abbas said:

"Our findings prove that this is true. These bombardments have radioactive rays and chemical materials that also cause cancer." (Reuters, October 29, 2001)

The news report continued with quotes that further added credibility to the claims of many that the US and the UK had used uranium-based weapons in Afghanistan. Dr. Wazir a surgeon at Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital had said the following amidst the bombardments: "We have some patients with superficial injuries with symptoms of chemical weapons." (Reuters, October 29, 2001)

According to Dr. Wazir a 10 years old boy, who had superficial injuries died from respiratory problems after the bombing, while another individual, a 50 years old woman also died from minor injuries. The doctor continues by citing three of his other patients-two girls aged 12 and 15 and a boy aged 15-who had only sustained superficial injuries from the US bombings, died hours later from breathing difficulties and internal bleeding. Dr. Wazir continued:

"These are only three examples. There have been other cases where we suspect chemical weapons have been used. Most of the victims have had respiratory problems and internal bleeding for which there is no apparent cause." (Khalifa.com, October 30, 2001)

At the fighting front north of Kabul, where Taliban forces were pounded night and day, many dead Taliban soldiers had no visible injuries except blood flowing out of their mouths, internal bleeding consistent with uranium based and chemical weapons. Furthermore, many dead Taliban soldiers had severe discoloration of the skin, orange, without being burned, while others had their rifles melted in their hands. This aroused suspicion among Taliban and others that weapons used by the US-UK military were not conventional weapons. Many Taliban soldiers that survived the bombing in the north have died after returning to their native villages in the south and southeast of the country. They had no physical injury upon their death, however, died from internal bleeding and other bizarre symptoms including uncontrolled vomiting, diarrhea, and blood loss in urine and stool. Their families were shocked with disbelieves.

Another bizarre, yet tragic scene was reported near Rish-Khor military base in Kabul. Multiple witnesses reported seeing dead birds on tree branches with blood coming out of their mouths. As one witness put it:

"We were amazed to see all these birds sitting quietly on [tree] branches; but when we shook the tree the birds fell down and we saw blood coming out of their mouths. Then we climbed the trees to see those that were still stuck on tree branches, all of them had bled from their mouths. Two of the birds appeared to be partly melted into the trees branches."

These various claims by witnesses of the US-UK bombing amply establishes that Weapon of Mass Destruction have been used. Amidst the nonstop bombing, Taliban Public Health Minister Mullah Mohammad Abbas had expressed concerns about the utility of depleted uranium by the US in Afghanistan. The Minister was anxious about the long-term contamination of large areas in Afghanistan. He was aware of the US indifference to the well being of people in other regions and said: "They used uranium in Kosovo and our concern is that they will do the same thing in Afghanistan."

According to Dai Williams, independent DU researcher, there has been 50 to 100 times greater health hazard in Afghanistan than had been in Balkans from the usage of uranium based weaponsódepleted uranium, dirty uranium and uranium ore. As pointed out above, the efforts of UMRC to expose the so-called mystery metal used in the bombing in Afghanistan strengthened by the efforts of other researchers aimed to explore the ongoing ëAfghan War Syndromeí similar to the ëGulf War Syndromeí, which has caused horrific congenital deformities in Iraq. According to the Washington based Center for Defense Information, several hundred tones of weaponsósmart bombs and cruise missilesóenriched with the so-called mystery metal aimed for hard targets such as caves, bunkers and command and control installations were used in Afghanistan. The problem becomes more severe when one compares, the hard target weapons used in Afghanistan to the ones used in Balkans. Dai Williams compares the weapons, namely hard target weapon in Afghanistan to that in Balkans as follows:

"The mystery metal is 50-75% of the weight of the bombs - up to 1.5 tons in the GBU-37 Bunker Buster bombs. If this is DU then target zones will be 50-100x more contaminated than by the pencil-sized 30 mm (0.27 kg) anti-tank shells used in the Balkans War, and more like the DU ammunition fire in the Gulf War. DU oxide is known to travel up to 25 miles by wind so large areas may be affected by each bomb."

What this translates into is more deaths, morphological changes in people, congenital deformities and various types of cancers. In this tragedy, an intertwined horrifically fatal relationship emerges between the individual and his/her environment. Since Afghans, as other people worldwide, live in their respective localities, where they have lived from childhood on, are forced to make painful choices. On the one hand, they do not want to leave their villages and cities because those are their homes. On the other, hand, they can not remain there out of concerns for the safety of their families from uranium poisons as well as further bombings. Tragically, they have no choice and no place to go. Even if they could, for the overwhelming majority it is too late because uranium dust has already determined their fate, diseases and inevitable death.

In their attempts to "smoke-out" the Taliban and Al Qaida, the US has bombed these ancient tunnels and caves that villagers throughout Afghanistan have been using for water supply. This not only worsened the existing situation characterized by drought and lack of water, but it also permanently destroyed the ecological centers in east, southeast and southwestern Afghanistan, and created a perpetual source of disease and death for populations living in those areas. According to Fred Pearceís article ëdying of Thirstí in the New Scientist, November 17, 2001, the US military bombed the kajaki dam, which waters land in southwestern Afghanistan that supports over 1 million people. In the same article, Fred Pearce articulates the following:

"Afghanistan, which is in the third year of an unprecedented drought, relies on a mixture of ancient and modern water-supply systems. As well as relying on the Kajaki dam, the south of the country is peppered with hundreds of water-supply tunnels, often running for tens of kilometres [sic] into hillsides to tap water reserves deep underground. The tunnels, known in Pashto as karez, are now a [sic] target for American warplanes. Military strategists claim that bin Laden and Taliban troops may now be hiding out in the karez, many of which are wide enough to accommodate companies of men. They say the karez made impenetrable hideouts for the mujahedin during their guerrilla war with Soviet occupiers in the 1980s."

Therefore, the traditional systems of water, Karez system of tunnels, whereupon thousands in Afghan countryside rely, have been permanently tailored to serve as sources of perpetual death for locals living there.

The following photos are reminders of the US-UK murderous legacy of perpetual death experienced in Iraq but now in Afghanistan

Iraqi Baby Deformed thanks to the US-UK depleted uranium.

Thanks to the Liberators - victim of the US-UK depleted uranium.

Another US-UK liberated child.

What would you do, if your entire family except a young sister

had perished in the US liberation attempted in Afghanistan?

These beleaguered souls are probably dead due to depleted uranium dust. If they are alive, they will most likely die from dreadful diseases. This is one example among thousands in the tragedy of perpetual deaths imposed on the poor and gallant people of Afghanistan I wish to conclude with the following quote from one of the victims of US-UK bombing in Afghanistan:

"Tell the Americans, they kill us to sustain your way of life, when they enjoy living, they better think about the 15 members of my family. Tell them that they are guilty. Only if they had conscience, they would know that they are as guilty as their government."

Mohammed Daud Miraki, MA, MA, PhD

Freelance Academic

Afghan-American Interviews, December 2002

---------------------------------------------------------

So this is "liberation"?!

[shroomy]

OMG this is the most distorted ignorant thing I have ever seen.

1) Iraq is known to have carelessly discarded thousands of tons of chemical and biological weapons. Im sure this had nothing to do with the increased health problems in the area.

2) Of the 100 or so friendly casualties of depleated uranium rounds where the people still had fragments of the depleated uranim rounds in their bodies. Only one had any form of cancer, a less than typical statistical rate. And they obviously inhaled the aprox 20% of the round that gets vapourized when it hits armor.

3) The link between depleated uranium, which by the way is also used in the armor of our main tank, while under investigation, has not shown a serious enough risk to the health of anyone to show a statistical link. In other words, you are better off with a chunk of depleated uranium in your body than you are if you smoke a half pack of cigarettes a day.

4) While.... the link of being shot, raped (like the aprox 1/4 of Kuwatti women were) or tourtured by the iraqi regime definetly does have a dirrect effect on your health.

5) To declare the rounds a WMD, or banned by the Geneva Convention is such a stretch it is bordering on the riduculous. While a double edged (sharp on both sides) is expressly forbiden.

6) Should we really risk more lives by using muntitions that are not nearly effective on the chance that they may cause a health problem in the future? Any heavy mettal causes health problems! Lead, Tungsten etc... maybe we should just ask them nicely to stop the opression and tourture and play nice?

bottom line, you are just an ignorant idiot who obviously has not seen first hand the death, oppression and effects on the population caused by iraq. They do not think like you do! They would kill you at the push of a button if they could. They would subvert the whole world for their personal gain if they could. They would rape your mother and discuss it over dinner with glee.

And your bitching about depleated uranium? There are plenty of things to bitch about in this war, get a fucking clue to priorities. If some is about to kill you and you run across the street to get away, make sure you don't J-walk, because that would be wrong and breaking the law.

[mr mahs]

Originally posted by shroomy

OMG this is the most distorted ignorant thing I have ever seen.

1) Iraq is known to have carelessly discarded thousands of tons of chemical and biological weapons. Im sure this had nothing to do with the increased health problems in the area.

2) Of the 100 or so friendly casualties of depleated uranium rounds where the people still had fragments of the depleated uranim rounds in their bodies. Only one had any form of cancer, a less than typical statistical rate. And they obviously inhaled the aprox 20% of the round that gets vapourized when it hits armor.

3) The link between depleated uranium, which by the way is also used in the armor of our main tank, while under investigation, has not shown a serious enough risk to the health of anyone to show a statistical link. In other words, you are better off with a chunk of depleated uranium in your body than you are if you smoke a half pack of cigarettes a day.

4) While.... the link of being shot, raped (like the aprox 1/4 of Kuwatti women were) or tourtured by the iraqi regime definetly does have a dirrect effect on your health.

5) To declare the rounds a WMD, or banned by the Geneva Convention is such a stretch it is bordering on the riduculous. While a double edged (sharp on both sides) is expressly forbiden.

6) Should we really risk more lives by using muntitions that are not nearly effective on the chance that they may cause a health problem in the future? Any heavy mettal causes health problems! Lead, Tungsten etc... maybe we should just ask them nicely to stop the opression and tourture and play nice?

bottom line, you are just an ignorant idiot who obviously has not seen first hand the death, oppression and effects on the population caused by iraq. They do not think like you do! They would kill you at the push of a button if they could. They would subvert the whole world for their personal gain if they could. They would rape your mother and discuss it over dinner with glee.

And your bitching about depleated uranium? There are plenty of things to bitch about in this war, get a fucking clue to priorities. If some is about to kill you and you run across the street to get away, make sure you don't J-walk, because that would be wrong and breaking the law.

Good post..

[normalnoises]

http://www.mondediplo.com/2002/03/03uranium

DEPLETED URANIUM IN BUNKER BOMBS

America's big dirty secret

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The United States loudly and proudly boasted this month of its new bomb currently being used against al-Qaida hold-outs in Afghanistan; it sucks the air from underground installations, suffocating those within. The US has also admitted that it has used depleted uranium weaponry over the last decade against bunkers in Iraq, Kosovo, and now Afghanistan.

by ROBERT JAMES PARSONS *

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The immediate concern for medical professionals and employees of aid organisations remains the threat of extensive depleted uranium (DU) contamination in Afghanistan." This is one of the conclusions of a 130-page report, Mystery Metal Nightmare in Afghanistan? (1), by Dai Williams, an independent researcher and occupational psychologist. It is the result of more than a year of research into DU and its effects on those exposed to it.

Using internet sites of both NGOs (2) and arms manufacturers, Williams has come up with information that he has cross-checked and compared with weapons that the Pentagon has reported - indeed boasted about - using during the war. What emerges is a startling and frightening vision of war, both in Afghanistan and in the future.

Since 1997 the United States has been modifying and upgrading its missiles and guided (smart) bombs. Prototypes of these bombs were tested in the Kosovo mountains in 1999, but a far greater range has been tested in Afghanistan. The upgrade involves replacing a conventional warhead by a heavy, dense metal one (3). Calculating the volume and the weight of this mystery metal leads to two possible conclusions: it is either tungsten or depleted uranium.

Tungsten poses problems. Its melting point (3,422°C) makes it very hard to work; it is expensive; it is produced mostly by China; and it does not burn. DU is pyrophoric, burning on impact or if it is ignited, with a melting point of 1,132°C; it is much easier to process; and as nuclear waste, it is available free to arms manufacturers. Further, using it in a range of weapons significantly reduces the US nuclear waste storage problem.

This type of weapon can penetrate many metres of reinforced concrete or rock in seconds. It is equipped with a detonator controlled by a computer that measures the density of the material passed through and, when the warhead reaches the targeted void or a set depth, detonates the warhead, which then has an explosive and incendiary effect. The DU burns fiercely and rapidly, carbonising everything in the void, while the DU itself is transformed into a fine uranium oxide powder. Although only 30% of the DU of a 30mm penetrator round is oxidised, the DU charge of a missile oxidises 100%. Most of the dust particles produced measure less than 1.5 microns, small enough to be breathed in.

For a few researchers in this area, the controversy over the use of DU weapons during the Kosovo war got side-tracked. Instead of asking what weapons might have been used against most of the targets (underground mountain bunkers) acknowledged by Nato, discussion focused on 30mm anti-tank penetrator rounds, which Nato had admitted using but which would have been ineffective against superhardened underground installations.

However, as long as the questions focused on such anti-tank penetrators, they dealt with rounds whose maximum weight was five kilos for a 120mm round. The DU explosive charges in the guided bomb systems used in Afghanistan can weigh as much as one and a half metric tons (as in Raytheon's Bunker Buster - GBU-28) (4).

Who cares?

In Geneva, where most of the aid agencies active in Afghanistan are based, Williams's report has caused varied reactions. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs have circulated it. But it does not seem to have worried agency and programme directors much. Only Médecins sans Frontiéres and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) say they fear an environmental and health catastrophe.

In March and April 2001, UNEP and the World Health Organisation (WHO) published reports on DU, reports that are frequently cited by those claiming DU is innocuous. The Pentagon emphasises that the organisations are independent and neutral. But the UNEP study is, at best, compromised. The WHO study is unreliable.

The Kosovo assessment mission that provided the basis for the UNEP analysis was organised using maps supplied by Nato; Nato troops accompanied the researchers to protect them from unexploded munitions, including cluster bomb sub-munitions. These sub-munitions, as Williams discovered, were probably equipped with DU shaped-charges. Nato troops prevented researchers from any contact with DU sub-munitions, even from discovering their existence.

During the 16 months before the UNEP mission, the Pentagon sent at least 10 study teams into the field and did major clean-up operations (5). Out of 8,112 anti-tank penetrator rounds fired on the sites studied, the UNEP team recovered only 11, although many more would not have been burned. And, 18 to 20 months after the firing, the amount of dust found directly on sites hit by these rounds was particularly small.

The WHO undertook no proper epidemiological study, only an academic desk study. Under pressure from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the WHO confined itself to studying DU as a heavy-metal, chemical contaminant. In January 2001, alerted to the imminent publication by Le Monde diplomatique of an article attacking its inaction (6), the WHO held a press conference and announced a $2m fund - eventually $20m - for research into DU. According Dr Michael Repacholi of the WHO, the report on DU, under way since 1999 and supervised by the British geologist Barry Smith, would be expanded to include radiation contamination. The work would include analyses of urine of people exposed to DU, conducted to determine the exposure level.

But the monograph, published 10 weeks later, was merely a survey of existing literature on the subject. Out of hundreds of thousands of monographs published since 1945, which ought to have been explored in depth, the report covered only monographs on chemical contamination, with a few noteworthy exceptions. The few articles about dealing with radiation contamination that had been consulted came from the Pentagon and the Rand Corporation, the Pentagon think- tank. It is unsurprising that the report was bland.

The recommendations of the two reports were common sense, and repeated advice already given by the WHO and echoed regularly by the aid organisations working in Kosovo. This included marking off known target sites, collecting penetrator rounds wherever possible, keeping children away from contaminated sites, and the suggested monitoring of some wells later on.

Uranium plus

The problem can be summed up as two key findings:

o Radiation emitted by DU threatens the human body because, once DU dust has been inhaled, it becomes an internal radiation source; international radiation protection standards, the basis of expert claims that DU is harmless, deal only with external radiation sources;

o Dirty DU - the UNEP report, for all its failings, deserves credit for mentioning this. Uranium from reactors, recycled for use in munitions, contains additional highly toxic elements, such as plutonium, 1.6 kilogrammes of which could kill 8bn people. Rather than depleted uranium, it should be called uranium plus.

In a French TV documentary on Canal+ in January 2001 (7), a team of researchers presented the results of an investigation into a gaseous diffusion - recycling - plant in Paducah, Kentucky, US. According to the lawyer for 100,000 plaintiffs, who are past and present plant employees, they were contaminated because of flagrant non-compliance with basic safety standards; the entire plant is irrevocably contaminated, as is everything it produces. The documentary claimed that the DU in the missiles that were dropped on Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq is likely to be a product of this plant.

These weapons represent more than just a new approach to warfare. The US rearmament programme launched during Ronald Reagan's presidency was based on the premise that the victor in future conflicts would be the side that destroyed the enemy's command and communications centres. Such centres are increasingly located in superhardened bunkers deep underground.

Hitting such sites with nuclear weapons would do the job well, but also produce radiation that even the Pentagon would have to acknowledge as fearsome, not to mention the bad public relations arising from mushroom-shaped clouds in a world aware of the dangers of nuclear war. DU warheads seem clean: they produce a fire modest in comparison with a nuclear detonation, though the incendiary effect can be just as destructive.

The information that Williams has gathered (8) shows that after computer modelling in 1987, the US conducted the first real operational tests against Baghdad in 1991. The war in Kosovo provided further opportunity to test, on impressively hard targets, DU weapon prototypes as well as weapons already in production. Afghan-istan has seen an extension and amplification of such tests. But at the Pentagon there is little transparency about this.

Williams cites several press articles (9) in December 2001 mentioning NBC (nuclear-biological-chemical) teams in the field checking for possible contamination. Such contamination, according to the US government, would be attributed to the Taliban. But, last October, Afghan doctors, citing rapid deaths from internal ailments, were accusing the coalition of using chemical and radioactive weapons. The symptoms they reported (haemorrhaging, pulmonary constriction and vomiting) could have resulted from radiation contamination.

On 5 December, when a friendly-fire bomb hit coalition soldiers, media representatives were all immediately removed from the scene and locked up in a hangar. According to the Pentagon, the bomb was a GBU-31, carrying a BLU-109 warhead. The Canal+ documentary shows an arms manufacturer's sales representative at an international fair in Dubai in 1999, just after the Kosovo war. He is presenting a BLU-109 warhead and describing its penetration capabilities against superhardened underground targets, explaining that this model had been tested in a recent war.

Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defence, on 16 January this year admitted that the US had found radiation in Afghanistan (10). But this, he reassured, was merely from DU warheads (supposedly belonging to al-Qaida); he did not explain how al-Qaida could have launched them without planes. Williams points out that, even if the coalition has used no DU weapons, those attributed to al-Qaida might turn out to be an even greater source of contamination, especially if they came from Russia, in which case the DU could be even dirtier than that from Paducah.

Following its assessment mission in the Balkans, UNEP set up a post-conflict assessment unit. Its director, Henrik Slotte, has announced that it is ready to work in Afghanistan as soon as possible, given proper security, unimpeded access to hit sites, and financing. The WHO remains silent. When questions about the current state of the DU research fund were addressed to Jon Lidon, spokesman for the director general, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, the WHO did not answer. Yet Williams urges that studies begin immediately, as victims of severe UD exposure may soon all be dead, yet with their deaths attributed to the rigours of winter.

In Jefferson County, Indiana, the Pentagon has closed the 200-acre (80-hectare) proving ground where it used to test-fire DU rounds. The lowest estimate for cleaning up the site comes to $7.8bn, not including permanent storage of the earth to a depth of six metres and of all the vegetation. Considering the cost too high, the military finally decided to give the tract to the National Park Service for a nature preserve - an offer that was promptly refused. Now there is talk of turning it into a National Sacrifice Zone and closing it forever. This gives an idea of the fate awaiting those regions of the planet where the US has used and will use depleted uranium.

[cintron]

Originally posted by shroomy

OMG this is the most distorted ignorant thing I have ever seen.

1) Iraq is known to have carelessly discarded thousands of tons of chemical and biological weapons. Im sure this had nothing to do with the increased health problems in the area.

2) Of the 100 or so friendly casualties of depleated uranium rounds where the people still had fragments of the depleated uranim rounds in their bodies. Only one had any form of cancer, a less than typical statistical rate. And they obviously inhaled the aprox 20% of the round that gets vapourized when it hits armor.

3) The link between depleated uranium, which by the way is also used in the armor of our main tank, while under investigation, has not shown a serious enough risk to the health of anyone to show a statistical link. In other words, you are better off with a chunk of depleated uranium in your body than you are if you smoke a half pack of cigarettes a day.

4) While.... the link of being shot, raped (like the aprox 1/4 of Kuwatti women were) or tourtured by the iraqi regime definetly does have a dirrect effect on your health.

5) To declare the rounds a WMD, or banned by the Geneva Convention is such a stretch it is bordering on the riduculous. While a double edged (sharp on both sides) is expressly forbiden.

6) Should we really risk more lives by using muntitions that are not nearly effective on the chance that they may cause a health problem in the future? Any heavy mettal causes health problems! Lead, Tungsten etc... maybe we should just ask them nicely to stop the opression and tourture and play nice?

bottom line, you are just an ignorant idiot who obviously has not seen first hand the death, oppression and effects on the population caused by iraq. They do not think like you do! They would kill you at the push of a button if they could. They would subvert the whole world for their personal gain if they could. They would rape your mother and discuss it over dinner with glee.

And your bitching about depleated uranium? There are plenty of things to bitch about in this war, get a fucking clue to priorities. If some is about to kill you and you run across the street to get away, make sure you don't J-walk, because that would be wrong and breaking the law.

right on. excellent points.

[normalnoises]

Can you prove the US is NOT doing this?

[sassa]

Originally posted by shroomy

OMG this is the most distorted ignorant thing I have ever seen.

1) Iraq is known to have carelessly discarded thousands of tons of chemical and biological weapons. Im sure this had nothing to do with the increased health problems in the area.

2) Of the 100 or so friendly casualties of depleated uranium rounds where the people still had fragments of the depleated uranim rounds in their bodies. Only one had any form of cancer, a less than typical statistical rate. And they obviously inhaled the aprox 20% of the round that gets vapourized when it hits armor.

3) The link between depleated uranium, which by the way is also used in the armor of our main tank, while under investigation, has not shown a serious enough risk to the health of anyone to show a statistical link. In other words, you are better off with a chunk of depleated uranium in your body than you are if you smoke a half pack of cigarettes a day.

4) While.... the link of being shot, raped (like the aprox 1/4 of Kuwatti women were) or tourtured by the iraqi regime definetly does have a dirrect effect on your health.

5) To declare the rounds a WMD, or banned by the Geneva Convention is such a stretch it is bordering on the riduculous. While a double edged (sharp on both sides) is expressly forbiden.

6) Should we really risk more lives by using muntitions that are not nearly effective on the chance that they may cause a health problem in the future? Any heavy mettal causes health problems! Lead, Tungsten etc... maybe we should just ask them nicely to stop the opression and tourture and play nice?

bottom line, you are just an ignorant idiot who obviously has not seen first hand the death, oppression and effects on the population caused by iraq. They do not think like you do! They would kill you at the push of a button if they could. They would subvert the whole world for their personal gain if they could. They would rape your mother and discuss it over dinner with glee.

And your bitching about depleated uranium? There are plenty of things to bitch about in this war, get a fucking clue to priorities. If some is about to kill you and you run across the street to get away, make sure you don't J-walk, because that would be wrong and breaking the law.

nice points, but you still cannot deny the fact that they are using DU and it's not morally/ethically/politically correct...

[ghhhhhost]

i have no doubt in my mind theyre using depleted uranium...i consider that a chemical weapon..even a WMD...i say France and Germany send in weapons inspectors into America...its only right

[igloo]

Originally posted by shroomy

OMG this is the most distorted ignorant thing I have ever seen.

1) Iraq is known to have carelessly discarded thousands of tons of chemical and biological weapons. Im sure this had nothing to do with the increased health problems in the area.

2) Of the 100 or so friendly casualties of depleated uranium rounds where the people still had fragments of the depleated uranim rounds in their bodies. Only one had any form of cancer, a less than typical statistical rate. And they obviously inhaled the aprox 20% of the round that gets vapourized when it hits armor.

3) The link between depleated uranium, which by the way is also used in the armor of our main tank, while under investigation, has not shown a serious enough risk to the health of anyone to show a statistical link. In other words, you are better off with a chunk of depleated uranium in your body than you are if you smoke a half pack of cigarettes a day.

4) While.... the link of being shot, raped (like the aprox 1/4 of Kuwatti women were) or tourtured by the iraqi regime definetly does have a dirrect effect on your health.

5) To declare the rounds a WMD, or banned by the Geneva Convention is such a stretch it is bordering on the riduculous. While a double edged (sharp on both sides) is expressly forbiden.

6) Should we really risk more lives by using muntitions that are not nearly effective on the chance that they may cause a health problem in the future? Any heavy mettal causes health problems! Lead, Tungsten etc... maybe we should just ask them nicely to stop the opression and tourture and play nice?

bottom line, you are just an ignorant idiot who obviously has not seen first hand the death, oppression and effects on the population caused by iraq. They do not think like you do! They would kill you at the push of a button if they could. They would subvert the whole world for their personal gain if they could. They would rape your mother and discuss it over dinner with glee.

And your bitching about depleated uranium? There are plenty of things to bitch about in this war, get a fucking clue to priorities. If some is about to kill you and you run across the street to get away, make sure you don't J-walk, because that would be wrong and breaking the law.

Excellent post

I normally do not respond or recognize anything abnormalnoises posts because he is a reprehensible misfit with severe disorders...but I had to make an exception here because of your excellent post...

FYI--most here ignore the misfit as well because it is simply not worth it to respond to his nonsense

[cintron]

depleted uranium rocks.

there, i said it. who's going to whine and bitch about moral/political correctness now

it's one of the best substances in the world to harden bullets. tungsten comes in a close second but it's far more rare and DU is readily available.

Chances are the old revolutionary muskets would cause more damage to the surroundings with their lead balls than DU will.

I can't believe the stupidity of this entire convo.

What's next, someone suggests that people manufacture an environmentally friendly bullet?

[sassa]

Originally posted by cintron

depleted uranium rocks.

there, i said it. who's going to whine and bitch about moral/political correctness now

it's one of the best substances in the world to harden bullets. tungsten comes in a close second but it's far more rare and DU is readily available.

Chances are the old revolutionary muskets would cause more damage to the surroundings with their lead balls than DU will.

I can't believe the stupidity of this entire convo.

What's next, someone suggests that people manufacture an environmentally friendly bullet?

i have to wonder how you can be such an insensitive, cold hearted person....

you are truly selfish. i bet if your family was in a region that was subject to invasion by white supremacists, you'd be way more pissed off about it than you are about what's going on in the middle east right now...

i try to remain neutral when i read what you write..but seriously, half the time you have no fucking clue what you're talking about...

pick up a history book or two, or better yet..talk to some people who actually know what's going on...sounds like you need a reality check really badly.

p.s. don't bother replying to my post- i know already you're probably going to come back with some snide, sarcastic remark....

[eccentricmofo]

Originally posted by normalnoises

So this is "liberation"?!

I can go and type for hours rebuttling your views and "so-called" points...but I shant.

I simple remark to make would surfice..

Such a perversly fucked up way to "attempt" to prove you point.

While your at it, posting dead mutilated babies and such, do me a favor. At least be fair and thorough.

Go fucking research all those DEAD babies from Saddam's regime and then repost the comparison amount.

Ever hear of casualities of war, or collateral damage, or how about outright mistakes.

Sure those pics of yours could be legit... but I bet there is only a miniscule amount of deaths of children by the U.S.'s hands in comparison to the massive amounts of near genocide that the Iraqi regime has brutally AND (important) FUCKING INTENTIONALLY have imposed upon his own fucking people...

Anywho...

Crazy weather today ...ey?

[cintron]

Originally posted by sassa

i have to wonder how you can be such an insensitive, cold hearted person....

you are truly selfish. i bet if your family was in a region that was subject to invasion by white supremacists, you'd be way more pissed off about it than you are about what's going on in the middle east right now...

i try to remain neutral when i read what you write..but seriously, half the time you have no fucking clue what you're talking about...

pick up a history book or two, or better yet..talk to some people who actually know what's going on...sounds like you need a reality check really badly.

p.s. don't bother replying to my post- i know already you're probably going to come back with some snide, sarcastic remark....

Okay here come the remarks.

Sure, if you want to call me selfish, go ahead and do so.

I am an engineer, not a tree-hugging flower-giving peace protester. Sorry to shit all over your touchie feelie parade.

Maybe i might feel differently if my family was in a different place but guess what... they're not. They're PuertoRican and you don't see Puertoricans getting on buses with bombs, or teaching children at age 7 how to shoot infidels. In fact, we're a rather happy and laid back culture, and very open to each other. In person, i'm very amiable and laid-back. You don't know a thing... soooooooooooooooooooooo Fuck Off.

I don't know any of the people who are actually part of this DU munitions/clusterbomb charade and since i don't know em, I don't care.

Before you respond with another "you're heartless" comment, do YOU PERSONALLY know some people? Are you involved? Do you "Care"? You don't know most of the people on this board personally, so who are you to talk about who i should and shouldn't be sensitive to when you don't even have the manners or the tact to talk politely to people on a messageboard?

Try not to preach. It's rather pathetic.

and yes i damn well do know what i'm talking about when it comes to modern weaponry.

How's that for a "sarcastic, snide" remark.

Thanks Mom

[sassa]

Originally posted by cintron

Okay here come the remarks.

Sure, if you want to call me selfish, go ahead and do so.

I am an engineer, not a tree-hugging flower-giving peace protester. Sorry to shit all over your touchie feelie parade.

Maybe i might feel differently if my family was in a different place but guess what... they're not. They're PuertoRican and you don't see Puertoricans getting on buses with bombs, or teaching children at age 7 how to shoot infidels. In fact, we're a rather happy and laid back culture, and very open to each other. In person, i'm very amiable and laid-back. You don't know a thing... soooooooooooooooooooooo Fuck Off.

I don't know any of the people who are actually part of this DU munitions/clusterbomb charade and since i don't know em, I don't care.

Before you respond with another "you're heartless" comment, do YOU PERSONALLY know some people? Are you involved? Do you "Care"? You don't know most of the people on this board personally, so who are you to talk about who i should and shouldn't be sensitive to when you don't even have the manners or the tact to talk politely to people on a messageboard?

Try not to preach. It's rather pathetic.

and yes i damn well do know what i'm talking about when it comes to modern weaponry.

How's that for a "sarcastic, snide" remark.

Thanks Mom

i agree, i don't know you or most of the people who post..but if you act or abide by anything you write here...i would rather never meet you.

and yes, i personally know some people over there...more than you'd figure...

and i thought i told you not to respond....

you just proved my point. don't want to make this longer than it is already.... interesting how you talk about puerto ricans being from a laid-back culture, if i'm not mistaken there are some pr "terrorist" groups that are very radical....want to separate pr from US's grip...

and i wish you would not try to lump all middle easterners into a certain category....who the fuck do you think you are? not everyone teaches their children to hate "infidels" nor are they a terrorist loving culture......if you actually had an idea of the history, culture, and mindset of the people from that area, i bet you would change your mind..but since you really sound like you talk out of your ass half the time...i wouldn't bet on it.

all i'm saying is think about what you say...you are very insensitive sometimes...and that is something people will not take seriously when you try to make your half assed lame comments about current events.

:rolleyes:

[siceone]

How comes I never see you say anything Good about the US or bad about The regimes that we have helped to over throw your veiws are unbalanced. and how comes you weren't saying any of this while clinton was in office?

you're not being balanced

[sassa]

Originally posted by siceone

How comes I never see you say anything Good about the US or bad about The regimes that we have helped to over throw your veiws are unbalanced. and how comes you weren't saying any of this while clinton was in office?

you're not being balanced

who

[cintron]

Originally posted by sassa

all i'm saying is think about what you say...you are very insensitive sometimes...and that is something people will not take seriously when you try to make your half assed lame comments about current events.

no thanks.

I don't come here to reflect on the world condition or create long-winded substantiated posts, citing web articles from shade-tree experts. Nor do i come here to obey you when you tell me whether i should or should not reply.

I have my opinions. Your have your opinons. That is called Politics. If you are mad that i'm expressing mine and you only want to hear your side, then that is not talking Politics. That is called a Lecture.

I could honestly give a fuck about middle eastern culture. I could give a fuck about what people do and don't teach their children there or anyone else. They do not concern me directly and while their "plight" makes a good tear-jerking story on CNN and forms a basis for morally upright individuals to slander "lesser" characters, honestly I could care less.

At every opportunity, people on this board post about the strife and tragedy of injustice around the world. If i advocate the usage of DU weaponry or cluster bombs, I need not wait more than five minutes before i'm either slandered or a tear-jerking article about a boy with no arms and no legs is posted to show me how heartless and cruel I am, as if I was the one who crippled said boy.

It's sad and pathetic how certain individuals here seek the moral high ground like rats in a flood. At every instance, people with differing opinons are damned from the righeous on their alabaster pedestals.

If you're looking for a reason to why I think the way I do, a key to unlock my mentality and substantiate my words, then you are wasting your time.

I need not explain my reasoning, only express it. If that disgusts you then that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I could easily say something similar about you and your words, but i have a feeling that you are a different individual in person.

In fact, I believe you've stated exactly that before in other posts.

Yet you judge me as if my opinions and statements on a message board are a comprehensive, detailed volume of my life...

*sigh*

[siceone]

Originally posted by sassa

who

Not you my little fallafel

[sassa]

Originally posted by cintron

no thanks.

I don't come here to reflect on the world condition or create long-winded substantiated posts, citing web articles from shade-tree experts. Nor do i come here to obey you when you tell me whether i should or should not reply.

I have my opinions. Your have your opinons. That is called Politics. If you are mad that i'm expressing mine and you only want to hear your side, then that is not talking Politics. That is called a Lecture.

I could honestly give a fuck about middle eastern culture. I could give a fuck about what people do and don't teach their children there or anyone else. They do not concern me directly and while their "plight" makes a good tear-jerking story on CNN and forms a basis for morally upright individuals to slander "lesser" characters, honestly I could care less.

At every opportunity, people on this board post about the strife and tragedy of injustice around the world. If i advocate the usage of DU weaponry or cluster bombs, I need not wait more than five minutes before i'm either slandered or a tear-jerking article about a boy with no arms and no legs is posted to show me how heartless and cruel I am, as if I was the one who crippled said boy.

It's sad and pathetic how certain individuals here seek the moral high ground like rats in a flood. At every instance, people with differing opinons are damned from the righeous on their alabaster pedestals.

If you're looking for a reason to why I think the way I do, a key to unlock my mentality and substantiate my words, then you are wasting your time.

I need not explain my reasoning, only express it. If that disgusts you then that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I could easily say something similar about you and your words, but i have a feeling that you are a different individual in person.

In fact, I believe you've stated exactly that before in other posts.

Yet you judge me as if my opinions and statements on a message board are a comprehensive, detailed volume of my life...

*sigh*

...........whatever......you missed the point........

good luck living in la-la land.........

[frenchbread]

Originally posted by sassa

...........whatever......you missed the point........

good luck living in la-la land.........

forget it sassa...

there's no point...

cintron knows all...and even if he doesn't...he still does...

he calls people names, refers to them as ignorants, children, but God forbids if you say something to him, he'll tell you you're self-righteous...

he doesn't give a shit about middle-eastern culture, yet he says that we went to iraq to liberate the iraqi people...

this guy is a walking contradiction...yet he knows all...but he's not self-righteous...

and cintron, if you're reading, don't bother replying...

instead change your sig back to the previous one and go eat a battery...or five...

[igloo]

Originally posted by frenchbread

forget it sassa...

there's no point...

cintron knows all...and even if he doesn't...he still does...

he calls people names, refers to them as ignorants, children, but God forbids if you say something to him, he'll tell you you're self-righteous...

he doesn't give a shit about middle-eastern culture, yet he says that we went to iraq to liberate the iraqi people...

this guy is a walking contradiction...yet he knows all...but he's not self-righteous...

and cintron, if you're reading, don't bother replying...

instead change your sig back to the previous one and go eat a battery...or five...

:zzz:

[cintron]

Originally posted by frenchbread

forget it sassa...

there's no point...

cintron knows all...and even if he doesn't...he still does...

he calls people names, refers to them as ignorants, children, but God forbids if you say something to him, he'll tell you you're self-righteous...

he doesn't give a shit about middle-eastern culture, yet he says that we went to iraq to liberate the iraqi people...

this guy is a walking contradiction...yet he knows all...but he's not self-righteous...

and cintron, if you're reading, don't bother replying...

instead change your sig back to the previous one and go eat a battery...or five...

*yawn*

First off, don't put words in my mouth.

Second, can you come up with anything more original?

You're putting me to sleep here.

[igloo]

Originally posted by cintron

*yawn*

First off, don't put words in my mouth.

Second, can you come up with anything more original?

You're putting me to sleep here.

Cintron,

Don't even waste your time...you are too above this nonsense. Sassa and the other misfit have zero credibility......she has been wrong about everything the past two years--everything

The tactics of the Blame America Brigade, with their doomsday predictions, conspiracy theories, delusionary elitism, moral ignorance, and lack of any practical solutions to every negativity they overblow, has been exposed and is downright laughable...

[frenchbread]

Originally posted by igloo

Cintron,

Don't even waste your time...you are too above this nonsense. Sassa and the other misfit have zero credibility......she has been wrong about everything the past two years--everything

The tactics of the Blame America Brigade, with their doomsday predictions, conspiracy theories, delusionary elitism, moral ignorance, and lack of any practical solutions to every negativity they overblow, has been exposed and is downright laughable...

how about igloo's post for original......

lol...

you guys are a trip...

seriously...i can't stop laughing at how funny you are...

shit...lollollollollol...

you guys almost bring me to tears...

what are you going to say next?..."i'm rubber you're glue"...

p.s.: cintron i didn't put any words in your mouth...all these are things you said...check your posts...