Dirty 'Depleted' Uranium - Far Worse Than Bird Flu
'Depleted' uranium consists largely of uranium 238, the prevalent isotope in mined uranium ore. Reactors and bombs can only use uranium 235, which makes up less than 1 per cent of the natural mix. U-238 is a throwaway, a toxic by-product of the purification necessary to obtain bomb-grade and reactor-grade material. U-238 is highly radioactive (there is really nothing 'depleted' about it) and is more than a hundred times as abundant as its "precious" cousin, uranium 235. A real problem.
To solve the impasse of having to store thousands of tons of useless radioactive material, some bright military mind found that since uranium spontaneously burns in the presence of heat and oxygen, it could be used as an armor penetrating weapon. Indeed it melts holes into heavy tank armor and breaks through concrete, leaving in its wake a cloud of toxic and highly radioactive airborne particles. The particulate spreads with the winds and it contaminates the soil and environment in the countries euphemistically called "theaters of war".
Depleted Uranium bullet - Image credit: anawa.org.au
The effects of the use of these munitions and bombs are visible everywhere but hardly a soul talks about the disfigured offspring being born both to former US soldiers as well as to Afghanis and Irakis. Four US-led wars since 1991, using bombs and munitions made of radioactive U-238 have spread thousands of tons of the poison into the atmosphere and the soil of the countries that were unlucky enough to incur the wrath of a succession of American presidents. The radioactive half life of the particles: billions of years, practically an eternity in human terms.
The press is largely mum about radioactive particulate in the air. What we do hear plenty of however is that smoking, even to those who don't smoke, is so dangerous that the vice has to be outlawed in public places. Can you say 'smokescreen'?
Stephen Lendman, in an article first published on GlobalResearch.ca pulls all the strings together and warns that, unless we find a way of putting an end to the practice of concentrating and using radioactive material in reactors and bombs, we may be in for a hard time.
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To give us an idea of the quantities of radiation released by the use of these uranium 238 weapons in the space of a mere decade and a half, Lendman states:
"Since the U.S. military first used DU weapons in the 1991 Gulf War, it has released the radioactive atomicity equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki nuclear bombs into the global atmosphere (that's no misprint) causing permanent contamination with a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Furthermore, that DU radiation is 10 times the amount released by all atmospheric testing which in total equaled 40,000 Hiroshima bombs (again, no misprint)."The consequences of this poisoning of our atmosphere are not easily visible on the populations of affected countries, because statistics are hard to come by. The fate of the veterans of the first gulf war, where for the first time dirty depleted uranium bombs and bullets have been used in large quantities, should make us pay attention:
"Those individuals (military and civilian) at or near target areas are most immediately affected by DU contamination, especially if they remain there for an extended time. During the 6 week 1991 Gulf war only 467 U.S. personnel were wounded and about 150 killed. Out of the 580,000 military personnel who served in that war, 325,000 were reported to be on permanent medical disability by the year 2000. It was also reported then the number was increasing by 43,000 each year. In fact, the annual increases were even greater, and by 2004 the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) reported over 518,000 Gulf-era veterans to be on medical disability. It also reported over 500,000 veterans were homeless. Studies were also done on veterans whose wives had normal babies before the war. It reported two-thirds of post-war births of those studied had severe birth defects, such as missing brains, eyes, legs and arms and blood diseases."No one can say they did not know. According to Lendman,
"the U.S. government prior to 1991 had full knowledge of the devastating effects DU would cause and still used it, still does and still intends to keep using it. The use of DU weapons is an act of insanity as well as possibly the greatest ever crime against humanity (and all other living species) and a war crime. Those responsible include 3 presidents, scores of high government officials and the Pentagon high command to include a lot of generals and admirals. These people are criminals. They're guilty of mass murder without end. They all should be made to answer for their crimes through indictment and trials both in our federal courts and at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague which was established in 2002 to try individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide."The first act in office of the current inhabitant of the White House was to denounce the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, effectively moving his country into a position of international outlaw. The step appears logical however, if we assume that the effects of depleted uranium were known for well over a decade but its use has been and still is knowingly and deliberately continued.
Is it not time for these 'leaders' to face up to their responsibilities?
Here is where you can find the full article by Lendman:
Depleted Uranium - A Hidden Looming Worldwide Calamity
by Stephen Lendman
January 19, 2006
(Original at GlobalResearch.ca)
Forget about Avian (bird) flu. The threat of it becoming a pandemic is more a political scare tactic and potential bonanza for drug company profits and its major shareholders' net worth (including Gilead Sciences, the developer of the Tamiflu drug and its former Chairman and major shareholder Donald Rumsfeld) than a likely public health crisis - unless you live around infected chickens or take an unproven safe immunization shot. There are much more other likely killer bacterial and viral threats than Avian that get little attention...
See related:USFK Lost Depleted Uranium: Activist
UK radiation jump blamed on Iraq shells
RADIATION detectors in Britain recorded a fourfold increase in uranium levels in the atmosphere after the "shock and awe" bombing campaign against Iraq, according to a report.
Environmental scientists who uncovered the figures through freedom of information laws say it is evidence that depleted uranium from the shells was carried by wind currents to Britain.Depleted Uranium - US Lung Cancer Rates Soar
The Bird Flu Breakdown Part 1: Two Children in Vietnam
The much anticipated bird-flu plague has yet to emerge, despite much hue and cry. This comes as no surprise to those of us who are familiar with the machinations of the WHO (World Health Organization), CDC and NIH, and their pharmaceutical partners. But, for those more trusting of public health authorities who wish to know more about the making of public health policy, I thought I'd review some of the bright and shiny inconsistencies that have come into view on the bird flu.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Wednesday January 25 2006
updated on Sunday November 21 2010URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/01/25/dirty_depleted_uranium_far_worse_than_bird_flu.htm
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