[Peace-discuss] World Uranium Conference

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

The World Uranium conference wil be held October 16- 19 at  the University of 
 Hamburg in Hamburg Germany. There will be a web broadcast of all sessions.  
Please see web site:

http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de/


DEPLETED URANIUM: Dr. Doug Rokke, Major (Retired), USAR, former Gulf War I DU 
team health physicist and DU Project Director 


The recent and continued use of depleted uranium munitions in combat , 
approximately 100 tons in Afghanistan and 2000 tons Iraq,  is unacceptable. The 
refusals by the members of the Bush, Blair, and Howard administrations to provide 
medical care for all exposed individuals, clean up the environment and cease 
use of uranium munitions is a crime against humanity. Gulf War I was the first 
significant use of DU in combat with at least 320 tons of DU munitions 
contamination left on the battlefield. During 1995 and 1996, the U.S. Marines fired 
DU munitions in Okinawa then did not tell the Japanese Government for over one 
year.   During 1995 the U.S. military fired at least 10000 rounds of DU 
munitions in Serbia followed by at least 31000 rounds of DU munitions into Kosovo 
and Serbia during 1999. Astonishingly, the U.S. Navy fired DU on Vieques, Puerto 
Rico to prepare for Kosovo attacks in willful violation of U.S. and 
international law and have ignored adverse health effects and environmental 
contamination to avoid liability.  

 Verified DU exposure adverse health effects include: (a) Reactive airway 
disease, (b) neurological abnormalities, (c) kidney stones and chronic kidney 
pain, (d) rashes, (e) vision degradation, night vision losses, and catarcts (f) 
gum tissue problems, (g) lymphoma,  (h) various forms of skin and organ cancer, 
(I) neuro-psychological disorders, (j) uranium in semen, (k) sexual 
dysfunction, and (l) birth defects in offspring.

 Since the Gulf War, the cover-up of adverse health and environmental 
consequences has been the objective of U.S. Department of Defense officials so that 
they can always use DU in combat. The cover-up started with the infamous Los 
Alamos memorandum sent to our team in Saudi Arabia during March 1991.  This memo 
told us to be sure that we should only report our findings so DU munitions 
could always be used.  IN OTHER WORDS LIE! A letter sent to General Leslie 
Groves during 1943 is even more disturbing.  In that memorandum dated October 30, 
1943, senior scientists assigned to the Manhattan Project suggested that 
uranium could be used as an air, water, and terrain contaminant.  According to the 
letter sent by the Subcommittee of the S-1 Executive Committee on the "Use of 
Radioactive Materials as a Military Weapon" to General Groves (October 30, 
1943) inhalation of uranium would result in "bronchial irritation coming on in a 
few hours to a few days".  This is exactly what happened to those of us who 
inhaled DU dust during Operation Desert Storm and in U.S. soldiers in the 
Balkans. The subcommittee went on further to state that "Beta emitting products could 
get into the gastrointestinal tract from polluted water, or food, or air.