Depleted Uranium, A War Crime.

          I wrote the following article some years ago, to highlight the scandal of depleted uranium, being acted out in Europe, Iraq and elsewhere, and at the Dundrennan firing range near the Solway Firth in south west Scotland, but due to the fact that the US has used depleted uranium in the present illegal Syrian invasion, I thought it would be worth repeating. Once again, the state shows itself, in its savagery of war, to have little to no regard for humanity.

 Remember him? UN ambassador for peace in the Middle East!!!

          Depleted Uranium, (DU) is a radioactive waste product which is also chemically toxic and is used by the military in armour piercing shells and bullets. When it hits a hard target it ignites and aerolizies into a fine mist of radioactive particles, if inhaled or ingested can cause cancer, leukaemia, birth defects, Gulf War Syndrome and other illnesses. It can also enter the food chain through water and/or soil. The wind can send particles in all directions over a wide area. The area near the Dundrennan base in Scotland, where depleted uranium weaponry is tested, has the highest incidence of Leukaemia in the UK.

        The UK MOD claim that they don’t hit hard targets at the range but only fire into the Solway Firth. Around 20-30 tons of DU waste is lying on the Solway seabed with the MOD making no attempt to retrieve this danger. As DU is a radioactive waste, it is in breach of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and other Matter, 1972. The MOD are therefore in breach of international law through the dumping of radioactive waste in the Solway Firth. There are also claims that they are creating environmental and health problems by hitting hard targets with DU weapons.

        After the NATO invasion in former Yugoslavia evidence was found that NATO forces used DU on 8 sites. Seven of these sites were in the Republic of Serbia and one in the Republic of Montenegro. Remains of weapons with DU were taken from the soil in these regions and contaminated soil was registered in each of these regions. It is difficult to establish the amount of DU that contaminated these sites. However, Yugoslav Army reports compiled during the war, plus investigation of projectile fragments and data about these types of weapons and how they are used, it can be estimated that NATO fired approximately 3,000-5,000 shells which is the equivalent 1-1.5 tons of uranium 238.
        After the US operation Anaconda in Afghanistan in the region of Tora Bora, it was found that urine samples taken from the local population contained uranium amounts 200 times higher than the population at large.
         These weapons were also used in both attacks on Iraq. The Gulf War 1 in 1991 resulted in 350 metric tons of DU being deposited in the environment and 3-6 million grms of DU being released into the atmosphere. Its legacy to the troops involved in the war, Gulf War Disease, a progressive, incapacitating, multiorgan system disorder, its symptoms include, incapacitating fatigue, musculoskeletel and joint pains, headaches, neuropsychiatric disorders, confusion, visual problems, changes in gait, lose of memory, respiratory impairment, impotence and urinary tract morphological and functional alterations. The understanding of the disease is far from adequate. Uranium isotopes have been detected in urine samples of Gulf War veterans 10 years after inhalation exposure.
          Rageh Omaar, a BBC journalist reporting from Basra stated that Iraqi doctors reported a 20-fold increase in cancers since the end of the 1st Gulf war. Internal contamination with DU isotopes were detected in British, American and Canadian veterans 9 years after inhalation exposure to radioactive dust in Gulf War 1. DU isotopes were also identified in a Canadian veteran’s autopsy samples of lung, liver, kidney and bone. DU danger is illustrated by the following example. In February 1980 a court order from the State of New York forced National Lead Industries, a manufacturer of DU tips, to stop production as they had exceeded the proscribed monthly limits of discharging radioactive material into the air of 150Ci. This value corresponds to 387g of DU. The tip of one shell in a 30mm gun contains 298g. Some time later in a letter to the Atomic Scientists’ Bulletin, Mr Dietz asks if the authorities were worried about discharges that were the monthly equivalent of the particles from 1 or 2 uranium projectiles, why wasn’t the US government worried about the effects of tens of thousands of projectiles fired in the several days of the Gulf War?
        The US Army’s radiology unit suggested press releases should be issued to prevent possible negative international reaction to the use of DU due to public concerns. The report offers the use of tungsten or titanium as an alternative, stating that the only reason to use DU was a cheap way of getting rid of waste. It also outlines ways in which “using arms with depleted uranium is in violation of the basic principles of international law.”

       It is obvious that DU is a highly dangerous substance and is indiscriminate in where it blows and who it affects. The fact that the states that use it are aware of this but continue to use it and put their own troops and the local populations at risk to further their own imperialist gains is just another example of the State’s disregard for the people. War is an arm of the state and it needs ordinary people as cannon fodder but has little interest in the resultant suffering. If we wish to put an end to war and its suffering we have to find a way round the state. We have to eliminate its power by organising at community level, bring power into the hands of the people, work in federation with other communities, creating a world of mutual aid, not profit, of co-operation, not competition, seeing to need, not greed.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Duplicity Of The State.

       When will the real truth be told on the criminal act called "The Iraq War"? When will those responsible for this long term illegal disaster be held responsible? Apart from the war veterans who today are suffering a raft of health problems, the ordinary Iraqi people to this day carry the legacy of that brutal, insane and criminal act. Their soil, water and air are contaminated, birth defects are common place, cancers are wide spread, all the direct result of the use of depleted uranium by the forces of the power hungry Western imperialists. 

Some of the birth defects attributed to the use of depleted uranium in Iraq.

         Our right holy, St. Anthony Blair, should be made to look at these pictures and view films like this on a daily basis until he enters the realms of reality and admits, he was wrong, and his act was irresponsible, criminal, brutal and inhumane, and based on duplicity.

       History can hide some dreadful events, but only if we let it, in this case we mustn't let that happen. The full, true and unadulterated story of Iraq and its aftermath, must be told and retold, as a warning of the insanity and duplicitous nature of governments and the state. The damage unleashed by the two Christian fundamentalists, Bush and Blair must be catalogued and used as a reminder of why we must never trust the state.

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Monsanto, Birth Defects And Soybeans.

        Monsanto has been involved in the US and UK chemical warfare research back during the second Word War and was involved in the production of Agent Orange used to devastating effect across Vietnam. Now it is poisoning the people of Argentina, a land once known for its grass lands and grass fed cattle. Now Argentina is a soybean growing chemical factory, where birth defects are soaring by the month. The land is being poisoned and so are its people.

      In this April 1, 2013 photo, Aixa Cano, 5, who has hairy moles all over her body that doctors can't explain, sits on a stoop outside her home in Avia Terai, in Chaco province, Argentina. Although it’s nearly impossible to prove, doctors say Aixa’s birth defect may be linked to agrochemicals. In Chaco, children are four times more likely to be born with devastating birth defects since biotechnology dramatically expanded farming in Argentina. Chemicals routinely contaminate homes, classrooms and drinking water. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

This from AVAAZ:

    Monsanto's extending its power over the globe, with a massive new frankenseed factory in Argentina. Sofía Gatica and local neighbours have spoken out, and she has received death threats and a brutal beating. The threat is urgent -- let's stand with them and stop the plant. Monsanto manufactures the genetically modified seeds that, when combined with toxic pesticides, create the devastating 'monocultures' -- where nothing grows but a single plant -- that increasingly cover our planet. Now they plan to build one of the world's largest GM seed factories in Malvinas.
     Sofía, worried about health risks from the plant, has joined the protests, backed by nearly 70% of the area's residents. If 1 million of us join the people of Malvinas in the next 3 days, we can raise the profile of the issue in local media, feature the petition in an ad campaig n , and push the unpopular Argentine President to shut down the plant and roll back the spread of Monsanto's toxic agriculture:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_in_argentina_global_/?bwqhjab&v=32981
      Sofia and the people of Malvinas have been lying in front of bulldozers to block the construction of the plant. If we can amplify their protest -- we can help them win. President Kirchner is facing a wave of unpopularity right now, and she can't afford to be seen to be choosing Monsanto's profits over her own people.
The mega-plant will use toxic chemicals to engineer seeds, which sounds weird because seeds are supposed to come from plants right? Not in Monsanto's scary new world, where plants are genetically designed to be sterile, and the only way farmers can keep planting food is by buying seeds every year from Monsanto! In the US, up to 90% of some types of crops are planted with Monsanto seeds, and with its new mega-plant in Argentina, the infamous company is extending its power over the globe. The threats and beating of Sofía and her fellow protesters are the last straw -- let's stop Monsanto's invasion of South America, and start rolling back the devastat ion wreaked on our ecosystems by their products:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_in_argentina_global_/?bwqhjab&v=32981
      Some argue that genetic modification holds great promise for increased agricultural efficiency. There may be many such benefits in the future, but often the gains are hyped by corporate PR (such as the line that GM seeds 'feed the world' by being far more productive than normal seeds -- in fact there's little evidence of that), and GM technologies often put profit over people and planet. Governments should adjudicate the public risks and benefits, but Monsanto is skilled in undermining democratic governance. They even passed a law in the US that says that a judge cannot order a recall of Monsanto products, even on grounds of public safety!
       Our planet is being rapidly transformed by genetically modified, industri al agriculture, and our governments are far too heavily influenced by the American mega-corporation at the center of it all -- a corporation that is gradually coming to control the world's food supply. Let's not force our children and grandchildren to deal with a world fed by Monsanto, when we can stop it now.
With hope,
Ricken, Meredith, Laura, Nick, Alice, Luis, Marie, Nadia and the whole Avaaz team

More Information:
Anti-Monsanto activists assaulted in Argentina (RT)
http://rt.com/news/argentina-monsanto-protest-clashes-483/
Pesticide illness triggers anti-Monsanto protest in Argentina (DW)
http://www.dw.de/pesticide-illness-triggers-anti-monsanto-protest-in-argentina/a-17013525
Birth defects, cancer in Argentina linked to agrochemicals: AP investigation (CTVNews)
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/birth-defects-cancer-in-argentina-linked-to-agrochemicals-ap-investigation-1.1505096
Sofia Gatica (The Goldman Environmental Prize)
http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/sofia-gatica
Photos from Argentina’s farms, documenting an agrochemical plague (Denver Post)
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/10/21/photos-argentina-agrochemicals/6446/
Argentina's Bad Seeds (Al Jazeera)
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/03/201331313434142322.html
Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear (Vanity Fair)
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805

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Nuclear Energy, Environmental Vandalism.

      Are we insane or just subservient to the insane? Our lords and masters, at the behest of the corporate world, are pushing ahead with more nuclear power stations, against the wishes of most of the public. We are still in the dark as to how long it will take to clean up, and how much it will cost to clean up, our existing nuclear centres. With our past nuclear program we have left the coming generations a heritage of a series of radioactive wastelands and an incalculable debt burden.

        It's not as if we didn't know the horrendous longterm problems with nuclear power, the disasters are well and clearly documented. The problems spread far beyond the confines of the nuclear plant when there is an accident. We see an increase in cancers, birth deformities and other avoidable human disasters. However the powers that be, still continue to contaminate tomorrow's world, our children's world. Could the reason be that there are millions to be made by the corporate greed machine getting behind this environmental nightmare.

Here are just some of the earlier disasters cataloged, you can get a full list from:

atomicarchive.com

December 12, 1952 A partial meltdown of a reactor's uranium core at the Chalk River plant near Ottawa, Canada, resulted after the accidental removal of four control rods. Although millions of gallons of radioactive water poured into the reactor, there were no injuries.

October 1957  Fire destroyed the core of a plutonium-producing reactor at Britain's Windscale nuclear complex - since renamed Sellafield - sending clouds of radioactivity into the atmosphere. An official report said the leaked radiation could have caused dozens of cancer deaths in the vicinity of Liverpool.

Winter 1957-'58 A serious accident occurred during the winter of 1957-58 near the town of Kyshtym in the Urals. A Russian scientist who first reported the disaster estimated that hundreds died from radiation sickness.

January 3, 1961 Three technicians died at a U.S. plant in Idaho Falls in an accident at an experimental reactor.

July 4, 1961 The captain and seven crew members died when radiation spread through the Soviet Union's first nuclear-powered submarine. A pipe in the control system of one of the two reactors had ruptured.

October 5, 1966 The core of an experimental reactor near Detroit, Mich., melted partially when a sodium cooling system failed.

       Then we come to Fukushima, this is not a problem for Japan, this is a world problem. Nobody knows the extent of the damage already done to the environment, nobody knows for how long it will continue and get worse, and nobody knows how to clear it up. We are talking about radioactive Pacific Ocean, contaminated Japan and a world legacy of unthinkable cancers and deformities. Despite the mounting evidence and the fact that other countries are shutting down their nuclear plants, we in the UK are going hell bent on creating more ticking time-bombs. Each nuclear power plant is a criminal act of environmental vandalism.

      This is a small extract from a very interesting and informative article on Fukushima from Readers Supported News:

Meanwhile, at nearby Units 1, 2, and 3 – all of which melted down – the status of the molten cores has remained uncertain since 2011. Talking about this on Art Bell’s Dark Matter program in October, Beyond Nuclear’s Paul Gunter said:

“We’ve got 3 reactors, the cores have left the vessel. They’ve burned through the bottom of the vessel. We don’t really know where they are, because the radioactive environment even fries robots that TEPCO’s been trying to send in there. They have been sending very innovative robotic machinery and sensors in there to get a picture, to get a reading, and these things don’t return. We have opened a door to hell that cannot be easily closed – if ever. We’ve got those 3 cores that are melting, they could be somewhere in the concrete base mat burning their way through, they could have already burned through and entered into the ground. They hopefully have formed a huge solid ‘elephant’s foot’ of highly radioactive material.”

Read the full article HERE;

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CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

            The Battle of Fallujah in Iraq in 2005 was on of the most brutal reprisals by the Americans during the Iraq war. There were claims of white phosphorus bombs being used as well as depleted uranium weaponry, (an anti- tank type of weapon, though Fallujah had no tanks). The town was obliterated and its population decimated. Since then the area has  had an extremely high proportion of birth defects and cancers. This crime against humanity has been ignored by the Western media, even although there has been a high incidence of similar problems amongst the US personnel involved in that brutal crime.
         The most barbaric terror inflicted on any people is the terror of the state, there is no more powerful terorist organisation on the planet than the state. War is just terorism with a much bigger budget.

 

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