The Growing Menace of Depleted Uranium Weapons
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The Growing Menace of Depleted Uranium Weapons
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
The Veteran - Fall, 2006 issue
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=662
Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens
By Doug Rokke
The delivery of at least one hundred GBU-28 "bunker buster" bombs
containing depleted-uranium warheads by the United States to Israel for use
against targets in Lebanon will result in additional radioactive and
chemical toxic contamination, with consequent adverse health and
environmental effects throughout the Middle East. Israeli tank gunners are
also using depleted-uranium tank rounds, as photographs verify.
Today, US, British, and now Israeli military personnel are using illegal
uranium munitions--America and the United Kingdom's own "dirty
bombs"--while US Army, US Department of Energy, US Department of Defense
(DOD), and UK Ministry of Defence officials deny that there are any adverse
health or environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture,
testing, or use of uranium munitions, so that they may avoid liability for
the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material--depleted
uranium (DU).
The use of uranium weapons is absolutely unacceptable and a crime against
humanity. Consequently, the citizens of the world and all governments must
force the cessation of uranium weapons use. I must demand that Israel now
provide medical care to all DU casualties in Lebanon and clean up all DU
contamination.
American and British officials have arrogantly refused to comply with their
own regulations, orders, and directives that require DOD officials to
provide prompt and effective medical care to all exposed individuals
("Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties," DOD,
Pentagon, 10/14/93; "Medical Management of Army Personnel Exposed to
Depleted Uranium (DU)," US Army Medical Command, 4/29/04; Section 2-5 of US
Army Regulation 700-48).
They also refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive contamination, as
required by Army Regulation 700-48, "Management of Equipment Contaminated
With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" (Department of the Army,
September 2002) and US Army Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, "Guidelines for
Safe Response to Handling, Storage, and Transportation Accidents Involving
Army Tank Munitions or Armor which Contain Depleted Uranium" (Department of
the Army, July 1996). Specifically, Section 2-4 of United States Army
Regulation 700-48 (dated September 16, 2002) requires that:
(1) Military personnel identify, segregate, isolate, secure, and label all
RCE (radiologically contaminated equipment),
(2) Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented
as soon as possible,
(3) Radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through
burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment, and
(4) All equipment, to include captured or combat RCE, will be surveyed,
packaged, retrograded, decontaminated and released.
The previous and current use of uranium weapons, the release of radioactive
components in destroyed US and foreign military equipment, and releases of
industrial, medical, and research-facility radioactive materials have
resulted in unacceptable exposures. Therefore, decontamination must be
completed as required by US Army Regulation 700-48 and should include
releases of all radioactive materials resulting from military operations.
The extent of the adverse health and environmental effects of uranium
weapons contamination is not limited to combat zones but includes
facilities and sites where uranium weapons were manufactured or tested,
including Vieques; Puerto Rico; Colonie, New York; Concord, Mass.;
Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Therefore, medical care must be provided by the United States Department of
Defense to all individuals affected by the manufacturing, testing, or use
of uranium munitions. Thorough environmental remediation also must be
completed without further delay.
I am amazed that fifteen years after was I asked to clean up the initial DU
mess from Gulf War I, and over ten years since I finished the
depleted-uranium project, US Department of Defense officials and others
still attempt to justify the use of uranium munitions while ignoring
mandatory requirements. I am dismayed that DOD and Department of Energy
officials and representatives continue making personal attacks aimed to
silence or discredit those of us who are demanding that medical care be
provided to all DU casualties and that environmental remediation is
completed in compliance with US Army Regulation 700-48. But beyond the
ignored mandatory actions, the willful dispersal of tons of solid
radioactive and chemically toxic waste in the form of uranium munitions is
illegal and does not even pass the test of common sense.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DU is a "dirty
bomb." The department issued "dirty bomb" response guidelines on January 3,
2006 for incidents within the United States, ignoring DOD use of uranium
weapons and existing DOD regulations. These guidelines specifically state
that "a radiological incident is defined as an event or series of events,
deliberate or accidental, leading to the release, or potential release,
into the environment of radioactive material in sufficient quantity to
warrant consideration of protective actions. Use of an RDD or IND is an act
of terror that produces a radiological incident." Thus, the use of uranium
munitions is an "act or terror," as defined by DHS. Finally, continued
compliance with the infamous March 1991 Los Alamos memorandum that was
issued to ensure continued use of uranium munitions cannot be justified.
In conclusion, the president of the United States, the prime minister of
the United Kingdom, and the prime minister of Israel must acknowledge and
accept responsibility for the willful use of illegal uranium
munitions--their own "dirty bombs"--resulting in adverse health and
environmental effects.
President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister Olmert should
order medical care for all casualties and thorough environmental
remediation, and stop the illegal use of depleted-uranium munitions.
[Doug Rokke is a Vietnam veteran and the former director of the US Army
Depleted Uranium Project. He has a PhD in health physics and was originally
trained as a forensic scientist. When the Gulf War started in 1991, he was
assigned to prepare soldiers to respond to nuclear, biological, and
chemical warfare, and was sent to the Gulf. What he experienced has made
him a passionate voice for peace, traveling the country to speak out.]
*
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beav
>
>The Veteran - Fall, 2006 issue
>Vietnam Veterans Against the War
>http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=662
>
>
>Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens
U has the same chemical toxicity as Pb. it's radiaoctive nature is
minimal. it's radioactive in name only. DU has a half life of 4.5
BILLION years. it is incredibly feeble.
>
<snip baloney>
>
>President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister Olmert should
>order medical care for all casualties and thorough environmental
>remediation, and stop the illegal use of depleted-uranium munitions.
>
>[Doug Rokke is a Vietnam veteran and the former director of the US Army
>Depleted Uranium Project. He has a PhD in health physics and was originally
>trained as a forensic scientist. When the Gulf War started in 1991, he was
>assigned to prepare soldiers to respond to nuclear, biological, and
>chemical warfare, and was sent to the Gulf. What he experienced has made
>him a passionate voice for peace, traveling the country to speak out.]
>
> *
can a PhD be revoked?
so. let's see...
are we going to have post war cleanup of all Pb used in warfare? who
knows? that stuff could be poisoning folks all over the place. how
about the toxicity of W, now being used as a substitute for DU, just
to shut up the whiners...
what about naturally occurring radioactive K that's used in all
gunpowder formulations? that's a radioactive hazard too...
nutty. just nutty...
say! what about cosmic rays? meteor strikes?
Roy. Just Roy.
><snip baloney>
So, instead of contributing to a discussion with plausible fact, all
you have to say is "nuh uh"?
Try this instead:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,71585-2.html?tw=wn_story_page_next2
/Roy
beav
wrote:
yep. essentially. i appreciate the post, but its not a lot different
than what patent medicines used to claim - they could cure
consumption, diabetes, weak heart, rashes...
my only point is : how did they determine DU as a cause of anything?
you would think that the thousands of people working with regular,
depleted and enriched U during WWII and during the cold war would have
these diffuse symptoms too.
could some be PTSD? could some be exposure to insects? allergies?
fungi? low level exposure to nerve gases? injected antinerve agents?
innoculations?
no other option is discussed, because, apparently, DU is an answer to
all questions.
U, in the body passes thru quickly. 24 hour half life, if i
understand correctly. if you ate powder, most would pass thru your
intestinal tract. the balance that did get absorbed thru the
intestines would be quickly excreted via the kidney.
radiation? from DU. cmon.