[Peace-discuss] Eugene Oregon Weekly 1.30/03

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM: THE LASTING HERITAGE
by Kate Rogers Gessert

          Even if the U.S. refrained from using tactical nuclear 
weapons, Gulf War II might be far more toxic than the 1991 Gulf War, 
when U.S. tanks and aircraft fired over 320 tons of uranium munitions 
(DU) on Iraq. DU, depleted uranium, also used in the Balkans War, is 
a radioactive metal with a 4.5 billion-year half-life. DU ignites 
during flight, penetrating and destroying anything it hits. As it 
burns, it turns into radioactive dust, spread by wind and absorbed in 
human lungs and wounds, and in soil and water. Iraqi doctors report 
that since 1991, cancer deaths among southern Iraqis have increased 
17-fold, six to 12 times as many children get leukemia, and ten times 
as many babies are born with birth defects: no brains, no sex organs, 
internal organs outside.
    Since 1991, 30% of U.S. veterans of the highly toxic 
environment of Gulf War I have been classified as disabled due to 
Gulf War service-connected injuries and exposures, and 9,600 have 
died. Among 100 U.S. soldiers who cleaned up tanks destroyed by 
friendly-fire DU in Iraq, at least 20 are dead and most others ill. 
Pentagon officials deny DU causes health problems, yet Army training 
manuals contain specific warnings. A U.N. initiative and a year-old 
U.S. House bill banning DU weapons are mired in committees. The U.S. 
has tested DU weapons in five states, Puerto Rico, and Okinawa, and 
currently tests in Pacific fisheries near Seattle.
        In Afghanistan, many targets were destroyed by U.S. 
precision-guided weapons -  smart bombs, cruise missiles, bunker 
buster bombs - rather than battlefield weapons. Recent radiological 
tests near Afghan bomb sites indicate that precision bombs contained 
non-depleted or pure, milled uranium. The amount of uranium used in 
Afghanistan may have far exceeded that used in previous U.S. 
conflicts, and large numbers of Afghan people have likely been 
exposed to uranium dust and debris. All forms of uranium affect 
humans and environment in similar ways.
    Dr. (Colonel) Asaf Durakovic, who previously worked with Gulf 
War veterans at a V.A. hospital, founded the independent Uranium 
Medical Research Centre in 1997. The center tested troops and 
civilians for uranium poisoning, finding uranium in people's urine 
nine years after exposure. In 2002, the center sent study teams to 
Jalalabad and Kabul, Afghanistan. Researchers studied the vicinity of 
precision bomb sites, testing for uranium in Afghans' urine and in 
soil samples.
    In Jalalabad, people near bomb sites had urine uranium levels 
400% to 2000% above normal. In Kabul, people near three major bomb 
sites showed symptoms of extreme inhalation exposure characteristic 
of internal uranium contamination: joint pain, back/kidney pain, 
muscle weakness, respiratory diseases, disorientation, memory 
problems. Many of these symptoms also appear in Gulf War and Balkans 
civilians and veterans, and in Vieques, Puerto Rico civilians. 
Preliminary examinations of Afghan babies born near bomb sites 
revealed that up to 25% may have congenital and postnatal problems 
possibly associated with internal uranium contamination: undeveloped 
muscles, large heads compared to body size, infant lethargy. The 
study team searched the areas for other uranium sources - geological 
or industrial uranium or al-Qaeda stockpiles - but found nothing.
    What lies ahead in a new war with Iraq? According to Dr. Doug 
Rokke, a U.S. Army health physicist who recovered DU-contaminated 
tanks after Gulf War I, "We're going to shoot everything up with DU 
again, trash the place, make everyone sicker than they already
are, deny medical care, and then not clean up the mess." It is likely 
that smart bombs, cruise missiles, bunker busters, cluster bombs, and 
anti-tank shells would be used. Though much information is 
classified, analysis suggests that many smart bombs, cruise missiles, 
and bunker busters contain 50 to 75% uranium by weight; the heaviest 
weigh 4400 pounds each. Some cluster bombs may also contain uranium, 
and tank shells shot in Gulf War I were solid DU. Dr. Rokke 
concludes, "War is obsolete. We can no longer clean up the air, 
water, and soil contamination left by the weapons we use. Adverse 
health effects begin immediately and last for eternity. "

Sources:  "Hazards of Suspected Uranium Weapons in the Proposed War 
with Iraq," Dai Williams, 9/24/02, www.eoslifework.co.uk; "Iraqi 
cancers, birth defects blamed on U.S. depleted uranium," Larry 
Johnson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11/12/02; "Precision 
Destruction, Indiscriminate Effects," Uranium Medical Research 
Centre, www.umrc.net; "The Scourge of Depleted Uranium," address to 
U.N.E.S.C.O. by Dr. Doug Rokke; article in Pakistan Daily Times 
1/8/03 by Davey Garland.
Interviews with Tedd Weyman of U.M.R.C., Dr. Helen Caldicott, and Dr. Rokke.
Photographs of Iraqi children with leukemia and birth defects at www. 
savewarchildren.org and ngwvc.org/Dulink/du_link.htm. Latter is 
National Gulf War Veterans Center site: photos are profoundly 
disturbing.