Depelted Uranium [again & some mroe] & cancerous web of deception(fwd)

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                 ANDRE  GUNDER  FRANK

        1601 SW  83rd Avenue, Miami, FL. 33155-1133 USA
      Tel: 1-305-266  0311   Fax:  1-305  267 9606
                E-Mail :  franka@fiu.edu
   Web/Home Page:  http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/agfrank
    



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 07:40:28 -0800
From: Bob Petrovich <bojanp@home.com>
Reply-To: indict-nato@yahoogroups.com
To: "indict-nato@egroups.com" <indict-nato@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [indict-nato] A cancerous web of deception



http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/message/11912

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

Al-Ahram, Cairo 

http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/519/re4.htm

A CANCEROUS WEB OF DECEPTION

By Ashraf El-Bayoumi* 

[The writer is a professor of physical chemistry &
biophysics in Michigan State University and Alexandria
University, and Vice- President of Alexandria Human
Rights Association.]


Efforts over recent years by human rights activists to
expose the disastrous health consequences of using
depleted uranium (DU) weapons were for the most part
unsuccessful. Weapons containing DU made their debut
in combat during the 1991 Gulf war, when more than 300
tons were used -- substantially more than the 12 tons
subsequently dropped on Kosovo and Bosnia. Large areas
of southern Iraq, and parts of Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia, have as a consequence been contaminated. 

Thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers were exposed
to DU. An unprecedented number of deadly cancers and
unusual deformities has since been documented amongst
them. Babies born to these victims are more likely to
be severely deformed than is statistically normal.
Thousands of Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian civilians were
also likely to have been exposed to DU dust, as were
thousands of US, UK and Arab soldiers who participated
in the war. Egyptians were undoubtedly exposed as
well. 

DU weapons were used in Bosnia in 1994 and then
Yugoslavia in 1999. Reports of widespread outbreaks of
cancer related to radioactive DU among Iraqi civilians
and soldiers were met with repeated denials. Ailments
among thousands of US and UK soldiers who participated
in the Gulf war, known as Gulf War Syndrome, received
a persistent "lack of evidence" argument, as did
initial reports of "the Balkan Syndrome" among NATO
soldiers and civilians. 

However, when 15 European peace keepers who served in
the Balkans suddenly died from leukaemia, the
catastrophic effects of DU weapons became front-page
news. Several European leaders expressed their alarm
and called for the identification and clean-up of
areas targeted by DU weapons and for medical screening
of those who were exposed to it. 

So the wall of silence and denials has slowly begun to
crumble. Previously concealed official reports that
clearly warned in advance of potential health hazards
are now being openly written about in the media. One
example is a confidential paper issued by the UK
Atomic Energy Commission that warned of radioactive
contamination as a result of the use of DU. Another is
a letter issued by the US Army Surgeon General's
Office requiring more details about DU, "because the
effects on soldiers from exposure to DU dust include a
possible increased risk of cancer (lung and bone) and
kidney damage." 

Shells tipped with DU are highly effective in piercing
armour due to uranium's high density (1.7 times that
of lead) and inflammable properties that make it
ignite instantly and, therefore, roast alive anyone
inside the armoured vehicle it penetrates. DU is the
byproduct of the enrichment process to produce
weapons-grade nuclear material and nuclear fuel. 

As a result of 50 years of nuclear weapon and nuclear
fuel production in the US, there are now in excess of
one million tons of DU in existence. Storing large
amounts of radioactive and poisonous material presents
a problem for the US government, which, therefore,
provides it free to arms manufacturers -- who reap
huge profits as a result. 

Despite its name, the percentage of fissionable (and
more radioactive) uranium isotopes in DU is roughly
fifty per cent of that present in natural uranium. The
name "depleted" is deceiving, since DU remains
radioactive. Moreover, as a heavy metal, DU is highly
toxic. Upon impact, it burns and produces tiny
aerosolised particles of oxidised uranium that become
airborne and can spread for 40 kilometres or more.
This radioactive toxic dust enters humans by
inhalation and by the ingestion of contaminated
animals, water and plants. 

There is, for obvious reasons, tremendous resistance
at the Pentagon to the release of any information that
may eventually lead to a ban on those effective
"wonder" weapons. The Pentagon wants to protect DU
weapons for future wars. A main concern is the
possibility that compensation amounting to billions of
dollars would be paid to hundreds of thousands of
victims, along with billions more to finance clean-up
operations. Admission that there is a link between DU
weapons and cancer would also have damaging political
fallout, since several scholars have already
determined that DU weapons are illegal according to
international law. 

All these considerations help explain the official
denial campaign aided by a general blackout by the
Western media on the subject. One can compare this to
the years of effort undertaken by many activists to
expose the use of the highly toxic Agent Orange in
Vietnam. 

Last week it was reported that traces of Uranium-236
have been found in spent DU shells retrieved from the
battlefields of Kosovo. This has resulted in alarm and
anxiety in Europe, since U-236 is 10 times more
radioactive than DU and "acts very quickly." These new
revelations may explain the quick deaths of exposed
soldiers. U-236 does not occur in natural uranium, but
rather is created by nuclear reactors. Its presence
must, therefore, mean that DU has been contaminated
with recycled nuclear fuel. 

Moreover, it could mean that other highly dangerous
isotopes such as plutonium are also present. On 20
January, the German defence minister strongly
criticised the US for failing to inform its NATO
partners of these facts which were previously known to
Pentagon officials. A newly published book in France,
Depleted Uranium, Invisible War, refers to a US
military report in 1995 stating that DU provided by
the US government "may contain trace amounts of
U-236." 

Scientific studies in Iraq have shown a four-fold
increase in the incidence of cancer in battleground
and neighboring areas. The relationship of this sudden
increase to the Gulf war has been confirmed. Other
studies examined the relative frequencies of various
types of cancer and found them to be similar to those
in Chernobyl after the infamous nuclear accident
there. 

A recent international conference organised by the
Spanish Solidarity Committee also dealt with DU's
health effects. One of the papers revealed that there
is a clear correlation between the incidence of cancer
and the locations where DU was used in Iraq. Isotopes
found in plants near battlefields confirm conclusively
that uranium is its source. As a scientist who had the
opportunity to attend two international meetings on DU
and reviewed the available data, I personally find
that the methodology is sound, and the evidence
convincing. 

Recently, Ramsey Clark (former US attorney general)
and Damacio Lopez (a health activist researcher)
reported in the Italian parliament that the samples
they had collected a day earlier from the Iraqi desert
have "extremely high radioactivity." Undoubtedly, more
comprehensive studies, surveys and medical screenings
are urgently needed. Only then will the extent of the
damage be adequately assessed and individuals
requiring medical attention be identified. An
independent international scientific study would be
particularly welcome. This will counter claims that
there is a lack of evidence and "no epidemiological
data". Moreover, it would provide all the necessary
legal evidence. 

Particularly important to consider is that the amount
of DU weapons used in the Balkans was only a fraction
of what was used in the killing fields of Iraq.
Moreover, DU shells are suspected of having been fired
at Palestinians during the Intifada. 

Why is it that the Western media has not given
proportional coverage to the disastrous effects of use
of DU in Iraq? Why have the Arab governments,
including the Egyptian government, not initiated
independent studies to investigate the matter? Why did
the authorities not carry out medical surveys amongst
the thousands of soldiers -- Egyptian, Kuwaiti, Iraqi,
and Saudi -- to determine the extent of exposure to DU
during the Gulf war? 

Why have questions not been raised in the People's
Assembly in Egypt? Why has the Egyptian and other Arab
media not thoroughly examined the issues related to
DU? Why do we not hear protests and condemnation from
the Arab world against the Pentagon and the British
military for their use of DU in Iraq and for
concealing information regarding the hazards of DU
dust during the Gulf war? 


source: Al-Ahram Weekly On-line  1 - 7 February 2001



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