And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Thanks Wanita for passing this along. These weapons ARE being used in
Yugoslavia as well..
Ish
>Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 14:25:54 EDT
>From: Rosalie Bertell
>Military Toxics Project;
>Subject: Kosovo: Use of depleted uranium Date: 31
>
>March 31 1999 20:56PM
>
>Dear Catherine and others,
>
>I am an Epidemiologist, not a physicist (although I have taught
>college level physics). My specialty is in higher mathematics, with
>applications in the radiobiology and the biomedical sciences.
>
>You can quote me on the following comment on the crisis in Kosovo:
>
>Depleted (DU) uranium is one of the largest categories of radioactive
>waste produced for the nuclear weapons and nuclear reactor industry.
>It is highly toxic to humans, both chemically as a heavy metal and
>radiologically as an alpha particle emitter which is very dangerous
>when taken internally.
> Recently it has been substitute for lead in bullets and missiles by
> the US
>and UK, and was first used extensively by the West in the Gulf War.
>It is most likely a major contributor to the Gulf War Syndrome
>experienced both by the veterans and the people of Iraq.
>
>When used in war, the DU bursts into flame from the impact when it
>hits a target. It can pierce tanks and armoured cars, releasing
>inside of them a deadly radioactive aerosol of uranium, unlike
>anything seen before. It can kill everyone in a tank. This ceramic
>aerosol is much lighter than uranium dust. It can travel in air tens
>of kilometres from the point of release, or be stirred up in dust and
>resuspended in air with wind or human movement. It is very small and
>can be breathed in by anyone: a baby, pregnant woman, the elderly, the
>sick. This radioactive ceramic can stay deep in the lungs for years,
>irradiating the tissue with powerful alpha particles within about a 30
>micron sphere, causing emphysema and/or fibrosis. The ceramic can
>also be swallowed and do damage to the gastro-intestinal tract. In
>time, it penetrates the lung tissue and enters into the blood stream.
>It can be stored in liver, kidney, bone or other tissues, again for
>years, irradiating all of the delicate tissues located near its
>storage place. It can effect the blood, which is the basis of our
>immune system, and do damage to the renal system as it is eventually
>excreted in the urine. It can also initiate cancer or promote cancers
>which have been initiated by other cancinogens.
>
>In October 1998 the WHO undertook a two year study of the increasing
>cancer rates, especially leukemia in young children, which have been
>note in southern Iraq where most of the war took place. The WHO report
>is not yet out, but newer data from Iraq tells the story of even more
>dramatic increases in cancer rates, especially among the Iraqi
>veterans who participated in the war. In the West, thousands of
>veterans are recognized as seriously ill with an unknown syndrome, and
>we have been able to document DU in their urine as late as 7 or 8
>years after the war. There is no natural source of DU to explain this
>phenomena!
>
>It is imperitive that we all denouce this radiation and toxic
>chemical warfare! It has now been used by the US and Britain against
>Iraq and in Bosnia. It is now being used in Kosovo (NATO announcement
>in Europe, 30 March 1999). It has been condemned by the United
>Nations Human Rights Tribunal (August 1996 Session of the UN
>Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on the Prevention of
>Discrimination and Protection of Minorities). The Human Rights
>Commission has requested that the Secretary General prepare a written
>report on DU and certain other weapons of mass destruction (Resolution
>1997/36, which also established a UN Rapporteur to take over the study
>of DU and other weapons of mass destruction on behalf of the UN).
>The damage being done will not only cause incredible and unending
>suffering to today's victims, but the genetic damage it may cause can
>be passed on to their offspring. Such weapons and war itself need to
>be condemned as utter barbarianism!
>
>This is certainly not to be interpreted as condoning so called ethnic
>cleasing or any of the nationalistic actions of the Yugoslave
>government. However, as one of the Professors at the University of
>Toronto said, "I can offer a different and more effective policy, but
>I would not start from here". This Kosovo action is resulting from
>deep seated conflicting ideas of "World Order" - that proposed by
>NATO's vision of itself as a world police force, and that of the OSCE
>(Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) which sees
>security rising out of honest cooperation and legal resolution of
>conflicting opinions.
>
>Rosalie Bertell, Ph. D., GNSH
>
>
>
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