And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: Tara Thornton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Precedence: bulk
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
At 04:23 PM 12/18/98 -0500, you wrote:
>December 18, 1998
>MILITARY TOXICS PROJECT - Position on U.S./British Attack on Iraq
>
>The national board of the Military Toxics Project (MTP) met by
>teleconference at 9:00 PM Eastern Time on December 17 to discuss concern
>for the health of U.S. and British troops, as well as innocent Iraqi
>children and adults who will again be unknowingly exposed to debris from
>depleted uranium (DU) weapons being used by the U.S. military. While the
>more than 1400 individuals and organizations that comprise MTP have strong
>and diverse opinions on the invasion itself, all agree that the Department
>of Defense has not yet addressed the issue of Persian Gulf Illness
>adequately. While thousands of veterans remain ill and too many have died
>since the Persian Gulf War began in 1991, the U.S. military has not yet
>alerted troops to the dangers of exposure to depleted uranium, a toxic
>metal, which also is radioactive. Furthermore, the VA has not been
>treating veterans who suffer from the "mysterious illness", but rather
>continue to maintain that the illness is stress related.
>
>MTP has been researching and organizing around the DU issue for seven years
>after the U.S. used DU weapons for the first time in ground war during
>Desert Storm. Three hundred fifteen tons were fired in the Gulf in 1991
>contaminating the area for 4 � billion years. U.S. military forces are
>using them again in this most recent attack against Iraq, for example the
>tomahawk cruise missiles contain DU. Upon impact, DU burns like molten
>lava and disperses tiny radioactive particles via smoke, which re-disperses
>and travels through the air contaminating equipment, food, soil and water.
>
>Although DU weaponry is classified as a "conventional weapon", MTP
>considers depleted uranium weapons to be a weapon of mass destruction.
> Since the Gulf War battlefields remain contaminated with depleted uranium,
>the health of today's citizens, as well as that of future generations is at
>risk. The United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva has taken up
>the issue of depleted uranium through its Sub-Commission on Prevention of
>Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. The Sub-Commission adopted
>resolutions that include depleted uranium weapons among "weapons of mass or
>indiscriminate destruction", incompatible with international humanitarian
>or human rights law. MTP has supplied information and testimony to the
>Delegations to the 1998 Non Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee
>regarding depleted uranium. Some of the MTP board members pointed out the
>irony in that the U.S. is using weapons of mass destruction to attack a
>country because they refuse to let weapons inspectors look for their
>weapons of mass destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) has
>recommended a study of the link between the high incidence of cancer in
>Iraqi civilians and the use of depleted uranium weapons during Desert
>Storm.
>
>The Department of Defense admitted in the Office of the Special Assistant
>to the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses - ANNUAL REPORT -
>November 1996-1997 that, "Our investigations into potential health hazards
>of depleted uranium (DU) point to serious deficiencies in what our troops
>understood about the health effects DU poses on the battlefield. These
>hazards were well documented as a result of the Army's exhaustive
>developmental process for fielding DU munitions. Unfortunately, this
>information was generally known only by technical specialists in
>nuclear-biological-chemical health and safety fields. Combat troops or
>those carrying out support functions generally did not know that DU
>contaminated equipment, such as enemy vehicles struck by DU rounds,
>required special handling. Similarly, few troops were told of the more
>serious threat of radium contamination from broken gauges on Iraq's
>Soviet-built tanks. The failure to properly disseminate such information
>to troops at all levels may have resulted in thousands of unnecessary
>exposures."
>
>A couple of months ago, MTP released the results of a pilot study which
>revealed high levels of DU in the urine of several Persian Gulf veterans
>who were sampled. MTP is working with Dr. Rosalie Bertell and Dr. Hari
>Sharma in the effort to study whether DU is present in veterans who were
>exposed to it during the Persian Gulf War. The experts hope to develop a
>protocol for a larger medical study involving some 500 veterans who will be
>randomly chosen.
>
>More information regarding the Military Toxics Project and the issue of
>DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS can be found at MTP's web site at
>www.miltoxproj.org. The site contains the most recent DU Case Narrative
>authored by former MTP board member Dan Fahey and released by the Military
>Toxics Project, Gulf War Veterans Resource Center, and Swords to
>Plowshares.
>
>The Military Toxics Project is a national grassroots network of community
>groups, environmental justice groups, workers, veterans and active military
>personnel working together to find preventative solutions to the Department
>of Defense's environmental problems.
>
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed
without profit or payment ...http://www.law.cornel.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
