>> >>>>Subject: Depleted uranium: A tale of poisonous denial! >>>> >>>>THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER, Monday, May 1, 2000 >>>> >>>>'Depleted uranium': A tale of poisonous denial >>>> >>>>By Robert James Parsons >>>> >>>>GENEVA - When a United Nations agency announced that NATO had officially >>>>confirmed using depleted-uranium munitions in Kosovo, the story hit the >>>>world's media, then quickly faded. >>>> >>>>The agency went on record as saying that there was too little >>>>information for firm conclusions but no cause for serious concern. The >>>>Pentagon officially echoed this, and attention shifted elsewhere. >>>> >>>>For those following the story, this was another episode in a game of >>>>hide-and-don't-tell that the U.S. government has been playing for years, >>>>both at home and abroad. But as the game continues, there is cause for >>>>serious concern. >>>> >>>>The U.S. government denies there is anything harmful about depleted >>>>uranium that would prevent its use in battle situations anywhere. (The >>>>high-density metal, a waste product from nuclear power reactors, is used >>>>in armor-piercing shells and in tank armor.) >>>> >>>>Numerous independent experts say depleted uranium is deadly and will >>>>pollute indefinitely those areas struck by the munitions. >>>> >>>>They blame it for most of the illnesses of Persian Gulf war syndrome. >>>> >>>>The Military Toxics Project, a non-governmental organization that has >>>>been tracking depleted uranium for years, has just published an update. >>>>Dan Fahey, its author and the project's research director for depleted >>>>uranium, draws primarily on declassified government documents and public >>>>statements, building a grim indictment of irresponsibility that is >>>>nothing short of criminal. >>>> >>>>Since the first use of depleted uranium in the Iraq war (a use that >>>>continues today with the bombing of the no-fly zones), the controversy >>>>has spread into the international arena, including the United Nations. >>>> >>>>During the Kosovo war, the Pentagon brought out a RAND Corporation think >>>>tank study to prove once and for all that depleted uranium is harmless. >>>>Independent experts, contesting the use of depleted uranium in Kosovo >>>>and Serbia, protested. >>>> >>>>Later, in a paper entitled "Fear of Falling," Fahey analyzed the study >>>>in detail, showing it to be a sham. Yet the U.S. government still cites >>>>it as a proof that the depleted uranium problem has been laid to rest. >>>> >>>>But NATO's admission, even unofficial, of depleted uranium use in the >>>>Kosovo war alarmed aid agencies operating there. >>>> >>>>The World Health Organization was asked to investigate. The WHO, >>>>however, has an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency >>>>giving the latter the last word over anything touching public health and >>>>radiation. >>>> >>>>A fact sheet on depleted uranium announced as in the works, was >>>>canceled. >>>> >>>>(The Atomic Energy Agency was set up in '50s by the nuclear powers of >>>>the time to push the nuclear industry on a public wary of living with >>>>nuclear waste and with radiation in general. The United States plays a >>>>dominant role within it. Holding the only mandate in the U.N. system to >>>>promote a part of the private sector, it has been repeatedly denounced >>>>by non-governmental organizations as incompatible with the ideals >>>>expressed in the U.N. charter.) >>>> >>>>An initial U.N. mission to Yugoslavia in May produced a report of >>>>serious contamination by depleted uranium. The report's sponsor, the >>>>United Nations Environment Program's director, Klaus Toepfer, suppressed >>>>it - under pressure from Washington, according to inside sources. It >>>>nonetheless eventually leaked out. >>>> >>>>The program's Balkans Task Force brought out a major study in October, >>>>but the section on depleted uranium had been whittled down from 72 pages >>>>to two on orders from Toepfer, again apparently under pressure from >>>>Washington. The task force had tried to involve the WHO, but the Atomic >>>>Energy Agency, in keeping with the agreement, excluded the WHO from the >>>>radiation appraisal. Measuring was done using Geiger counters incapable >>>>of detecting the particular alpha radiation that depleted uranium emits, >>>>and none was found. >>>> >>>>Meantime, in August, the WHO had announced it was undertaking a >>>>"generic" (general) study of depleted uranium, but no details were >>>>available. In March, it became known that the study was under the WHO's >>>>Dr. Michael Repacholi, an electro-magnetic field expert, who, it has >>>>since been discovered, has delegated it to Barry Smith, a consultant in >>>>England, who is a geologist. >>>> >>>>Faced with the Atomic Energy Agency's opposition to studying radiation >>>>and health, the WHO has opted to study depleted uranium as a heavy metal >>>>pollutant. >>>> >>>>This is hardly of help to those exposed to tons of virtually >>>>indestructible radioactive dust particles, including the international >>>>aid agencies awaiting an official pronouncement from the WHO. >>>> >>>>The recent NATO confirmation of depleted uranium use in Kosovo, complete >>>>with a map, should have finally sounded the alarm. >>>> >>>>After being put on hold for six months by NATO, the task force finally >>>>had something specific and official, but the pressure was on to play it >>>>down. The publication of the map in a Geneva daily on the day that the >>>>task force was meeting to decide on strategy forced its hand. >>>> >>>>When the task force chairman, former Finnish environmental minister >>>>Pekka Haavisto, called a press conference to disclose the map and its >>>>accompanying letter, it was Toepfer's spokesperson, the man who had cut >>>>out the 70 pages from the October report, not Haavisto's, who >>>>orchestrated the event. >>>> >>>>Not surprisingly, Haavisto was kept on a leash. Hence the announced >>>>conclusion: no cause for serious concern. >>>> >>>>But there are indications that not everybody agrees. >>>> >>>>The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees, the main coordinator of aid >>>>to Kosovo, has quietly decided to refrain from sending pregnant staff to >>>>Kosovo, to offer those assigned there the option of going elsewhere and >>>>to put a note into the personnel files of those sent there - to >>>>facilitate compensation claims for illnesses that might develop from >>>>depleted uranium contamination. >>>> >>>>The German and Dutch governments, whose occupation zones coincide with >>>>the areas hardest hit by depleted uranium, according to NATO's map, have >>>>ordered their soldiers not to eat anything outside their post mess >>>>halls, especially not from the surrounding countryside. This echoes >>>>independent experts' claims that the dust has entered the food chain of >>>>the region. >>>> >>>>Dutch soldiers stationed last fall in part of the same heavily hit area >>>>(around Prizren) had to hand in all clothing and equipment, which was >>>>then shipped back to the Netherlands sealed in heavy-duty plastic. >>>> >>>>The government claimed asbestos contamination, but a Dutch military >>>>source points to depleted uranium, noting that the vehicles, also sent >>>>back, ended up in a radiation decontamination plant. >>>> >>>>Fahey's "Don't Look, Don't Find" discusses a U.S. Army report issued >>>>well before the Gulf War: "Though no anti-DU movement existed at the >>>>time, the Army predicted that depleted uranium munitions might be >>>>removed from the arsenal by political force once the health and >>>>environmental impacts of DU were widely known." >>>> >>>>Although the U.S. government seems intent on keeping those impacts >>>>unknown, the public is finding out. >>>> >>>> >>>>Robert James Parsons is a Geneva-based journalist who has written >>>>previously on depleted uranium. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> > >_________________________________________________________ >Hellenic Electronic Center (HEC) http://www.greece.org >Unsubscribe --->> http://www.greece.org/network/unsub.htm >[LISTSERV & LSMTP e-mail systems are sponsored by L-Soft] > > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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