Immediate Action Required on Depleted Uranium

[chlamor]

What you can do is entailed in the article. Learn about this scourge. Educate others. Act!


Immediate Action Required on Depleted Uranium (a primer for the beginner)
By Doug Rokke, Ph.D.
Apr 20, 2005, 11:11

ABSTRACT: Depleted uranium munitions are used during combat because they are extremely effective. However, in winning these battles through use of uranium munitions we have contaminated air, water, and soil. Consequently, children, women, and men have inhaled, ingested, or got wounds contaminated with uranium. Uranium is a heavy metal and radioactive poison. The toxicity is not debatable as the Director of the U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute stated in a congressionally mandated report that "No available technology can significantly change the inherent chemical and radiological toxicity of DU. These are intrinsic properties of uranium " (Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in the U.S. Army: Technical Report, AEPI, June 1995)

<snip>

Dr. Rokke believes depleted uranium poses a particular danger for children because their young bodies are more vulnerable. DU is both radioactive and a toxic, heavy metal. Children who breathe or eat even a small amount can be affected. He said using depleted uranium in Iraq may well cause serious health problems in years to come.

"In no circumstances should the citizens of the world allow the use of uranium munitions in this current war," he said. "The use of uranium munitions is going to cause cancers, respiratory , eye problems, neurological problems in the children of Iraq."

Political violence is an act of force, intimidation or abuse by a group or individual aimed at influencing, maintaining or seizing political power. The time has come to end such illegitimate violence perpetrated by our own United States government.

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_16946.shtml

[Massacure]

1. Wow, an article that doesn't scream NUKEEELAR!!! I'm impressed.

[XOKCowboy]

2. It is also a Weapon Of Mass Destruction

How's that for hypocrisy. Is it any wonder the rest of the world hates us?

According to a August 2002 report by the UN subcommission, laws which are breached by the use of DU shells include: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Charter of the United Nations; the Genocide Convention; the Convention Against Torture; the four Geneva Conventions of 1949; the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980; and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which expressly forbid employing 'poison or poisoned weapons' and 'arms, projectiles or materials calculated to cause unnecessary suffering'. All of these laws are designed to spare civilians from unwarranted suffering in armed conflicts.

http://www.sundayherald.com/32522

[Zynx]

3. My God, an article on depleted uranium that is factually accurate.

I was starting to think these did not exist.

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Another US Army whistle blower on dangers of Depleted Uranium

The Uranium Medical Research Centre (www.umrc.net )is headed up by Dr. Asaf Durakovic former head of Nuclear Medicine at a US veterans affairs medical center in Wilmington, Delaware and also a US Army Colonel and professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University. Like Dr. Rokke, Dr. Durakovic became personna non gratta with the US military and with veterans affairs when his work with veterans of Gulf War 1 and his research as to the dangers presented by Depleted Uranium did not mesh with what his employers wanted to hear.

Dr. Durakovic served as Chief of Professional Clinical Services of the 531 Medical Detachment during the Desert Shield phase of the Gulf War. When he returned to the Veteran's Administration (VA) Nuclear Medicine facility in Wilmington, Delaware, which he headed, he was asked to assess 24 soldiers of the 144th Transportation and Supply Company of New Jersey for evidence of DU in their bodies. He recalls: "They had been based in Saudi Arabia from January to August 1991, working with damaged tanks hit by DU armour-piercing shells from 'friendly fire.'" Durakovic's team performed a whole-body count of uranium 238 on the troops and found that 14 of the 24 had been contaminated. According to Durakovic's June 26, 1997, testimony before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, the government 'lost' all records of these examinations. And shortly thereafter, Durakovic 'lost' his job.

Durakovic may have been forced to step down from his VA position at Wilmington, but the army could not strip him of his ethics as a medical doctor. In the interests of his patients he founded the Uranium Medical Research Center, an independent non-profit institute which studies the effects of uranium contamination and challenges Pentagon claims that "exposures to depleted uranium have not to date produced any observable adverse health effects attributable to DU's chemical toxicity or low-level radiation." Dr. Durakovic explains that when depleted uranium is blown up at high temperatures, it changes to tiny particles. If inhaled, the uranium particles can get into the bloodstream and can be lodged in the bone, lymph nodes, lungs or kidneys causing damage by emitting low-level radiation in the body over a long period of time. The price can be cancer, necrosis and genetic deformity. Inexplicable, then, the Pentagon's refusal to comply with a 1993 congressional mandate to study the health effects of inhaled and ingested depleted uranium dust.

Or does the answer lie close at hand? According to Dr. Durakovic there are two main reasons for the Pentagon's DU-paranoia - and they both involve money: compensation for those suffering from DU-contamination, and the exorbitant costs of battle theatre clean up. But money seems a petty concern when we are talking about changes to the human gene pool. "Deformities among children born to Gulf War vets are well-documented as is the rising incidence of birth malformations in Iraq," Dr Durakovic points out. "What will happen in future generations? I have seen the effects of radiation worldwide. The consequences of DU are immeasurable."

http://www.nuclear-free.com/english/durakovic.htm


From the UMRC web site:
Depleted Uranium, Facts and Fictions

Fiction: Uranium is ubiquitous in nature and we are exposed daily. There is no cause for concern.

Fact: Uranium is present in nature in trace amounts, about 3 parts per million (ppm) by weight. It takes about 5 tonnes of dry soil or rock to produce 1 teaspoon of what is called ”natural uranium”. It is “natural” in that is has the isotopic proportions that exist in nature. However, what is “unnatural” is when uranium is presented in concentrated quantities. In these concentrations of radioactivity its effect on human health and the environment become dangerous.

When uranium is exposed to the natural chemical action of the environment it can become solublized and can then migrate into the water supply. Uncontained uranium waste is a problem when left in the open as it oxidizes. This is the case all over the world in nuclear waste repositories.

Uranium is most dangerous when it burns and is aerosolized as happens when it is used in weapons.

<snip>

Fiction: Alpha particles can't penetrate clothes and skin.

Fact: This statement ignores the most prevalent and dangerous pathway for uranium to get into the human body. Inhaled uranium can remain in the lungs and bones for years where it continues to emit alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Each alpha particle can traverse up to several hundred cells causing somatic and genetic alterations. Multiply this by billions of such particles and a huge amount of cellular damage becomes possible. The majority (50-70%) of the airborne DU particles sampled during the testing of 105 mm DU projectiles were in the respirable range and capable of reaching the non-ciliated bronchial tree. Studies also indicate that the half-time in the lungs is up to 5 years.

Soluble DU compounds have rapid access to the bloodstream with consequent toxic effects on the target organs and the bone where it is incorporated. Mass spectrometry results of deceased Canadian veteran, Captain Terry Riordon, confirmed that depleted uranium was present in his bone. From there it can compromise the immune system and affect the stem cells that travel throughout the body thereby affecting many other organs. Soldiers inside a tank or armoured vehicle can inhale tens of milligrams of DU after the shell goes through the tank. Compare this to the maximum allowable yearly dose in the U.S. for inhaled uranium is 1.2 milligrams per year.

Dr. Durakovic and the UMRC are well known to Canadian veterans due to Dr. Durakovic's work with Canadian Gulf War 1 veteran, Captain Terry Riordon, who came back to Canada suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. All he got from the Canadian military and veterans affairs was the usual bureaucratic run around. After he died Dr. Durakovic was able to obtain conclusive proof that his body had been contaminated by Depleted Uranium.

Terry went to the Persian Gulf in December 26, 1990 with honor, dignity and pride - serving his country as Captain J. Terry Riordon of the Canadian Armed Forces. Terry left Canada a very fit man who did cross-country skiing and ran in marathons. On his return only two months later he could barely walk.

He returned to Canada in February 1991 with documented loss of motor control, chronic fatigue, respiratory difficulties, chest pain, difficulty breathing, sleep problems, short-term memory loss, testicle pain, body pains, aching bones, diarrhea, and depression. After his death depleted uranium (DU) contamination was discovered in his lungs and bones.

For eight years he suffered his innumerable ailments and struggled with the military bureaucracy and the system to get proper diagnosis and treatment. His wife, Susan Riordon, speaks most eloquently of the nightmare of physical, mental and emotional hardship endured not just by Terry but his entire family.

He was ultimately unsuccessful it getting the answers or help he needed in his lifetime. His final wish was to donate his body to independent research on DU. That was Terry's gift to all who served in the Persian Gulf. He wanted his body to supply the answers to years of suffering and frustration. Through his gift UMRC was able to have obtain conclusive evidence of internal DU contamination in his lungs and bones. Even after death Terry continues to contribute to his country and his fellow veterans.

http://www.umrc.net/riordon.aspx

[SidDithers]

8. Fiction: Alpha particles can't penetrate clothes and skin....

This is false. Alpha particles cannot penetrate clothes or skin.

Sid

[JohnyCanuck]

9. I think it would be pretty clear to an impartial reader

posessing an average command of English (and who bothered to read past the first line) that the point they were trying to enphasize was that while it might be true alpha particles cannot penetrate the body from the outside through the skin, the real danger from depleted uranium ordinance was that the microscopic particles of depleted uranium created after the explosive discharge could be inhaled into the lungs and from there could also pass into the bloodstream. Once trapped inside the soft tissues of the body, the radiation would be much more liable to cause damage to organs and tissue.


Fiction: Alpha particles can't penetrate clothes and skin.

Fact: This statement ignores the most prevalent and dangerous pathway for uranium to get into the human body. Inhaled uranium can remain in the lungs and bones for years where it continues to emit alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Each alpha particle can traverse up to several hundred cells causing somatic and genetic alterations. Multiply this by billions of such particles and a huge amount of cellular damage becomes possible. The majority (50-70%) of the airborne DU particles sampled during the testing of 105 mm DU projectiles were in the respirable range and capable of reaching the non-ciliated bronchial tree. Studies also indicate that the half-time in the lungs is up to 5 years.

Soluble DU compounds have rapid access to the bloodstream with consequent toxic effects on the target organs and the bone where it is incorporated. Mass spectrometry results of deceased Canadian veteran, Captain Terry Riordon, confirmed that depleted uranium was present in his bone. From there it can compromise the immune system and affect the stem cells that travel throughout the body thereby affecting many other organs. Soldiers inside a tank or armoured vehicle can inhale tens of milligrams of DU after the shell goes through the tank. Compare this to the maximum allowable yearly dose in the U.S. for inhaled uranium is 1.2 milligrams per year.

http://www.umrc.net/facts_and_fictions.aspx

[SidDithers]

11. I don't know whether it was bad writing, or intentional misdirection....

But it doesn't change the fact that the author is calling a much-researched, well-established scientific observation a Fiction. No reputable scientist would include such an obvious falsehood in a paper.

"Pretty clear" isn't good enough in scientific literature. He may very well be right about alpha particles in the lungs, but such a glaring error calls into question both his qualifications and his credibility.

Sid

[JohnyCanuck]

14. Not scientific at all.

Not at all like the fine scientific thinking of those reputable scientist from the nuclear industry (glad to find an easy way to get rid of their waste products) and the "defense" industries happy to find another effective way to make a "killing" (pun intended) for Uncle Sam who assure us that this poisonous shit is safe to be blown up and scattered over the surface of the earth and to be breathed into the lungs of children and soldiers alike.

[Karenina]

5. Permanent poison...

:SIGH: :kick:

[JohnyCanuck]

6. You'd think after the debacle over Agent Orange,

people would learn their lesson, but apparently not.


US in no hurry to resolve Agent Orange legacy
By Tran Dinh Thanh Lam
March 19,2002

HO CHI MINH CITY - News that there was a conference in Hanoi this month on the health and environmental effects of Agent Orange did not impress Buddhist nun Ngoc Nga, who runs a boarding school for children affected by the defoliant in Dong Nai province, near this city in southern Vietnam.

For the 36-year-old nun, her students are sufficient proof of the birth defects and other diseases caused by Agent Orange and other dioxins, which were sprayed as defoliants over Vietnam to reduce enemy cover during the Vietnam War more than three decades ago. "What I am interested in is: Will the conference end up in some humanitarian aid for these young victims?" the nun said.

Pham Ngoc Tien, deputy director of social affairs in the northern province of Thai Binh, was more blunt. "We hope that through this sort of conference all those international scientists will help put pressure on the US to pay up. This thing is going on into the third generation - they've really got to start compensating our people for the damage they caused," he added.

http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/DC19Ae01.html

Of course what many self-righteous Canadians don't realize is that while we took in Vietnam war resistors and draft dodgers with one hand, Canada was also shipping Agent Orange and other war materiel to the US, and making oodles of money while doing so, with the other hand. http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/vietnam/

Maybe the connection isn't as direct this time around but considering that Canada is one of the largest uranium exporters in the world and considering that a significant portion of our uranium exports go to the US, it's a safe bet that at least some of the Depleted Uranium polluting the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq came from uranium which originated in Canada.

[chlamor]

7. Depleted Uranium and nano-particles

Leuren Moret, a Berkeley-based geo-scientist with expertise in atmospheric dust, corresponds with AFP on DU issues. Recently Moret provided a copy of her letters to a British radiation biologist, Dr. Chris Busby, about how nanometer size particles—less than one-tenth of a micron and smaller—of DU once inhaled or absorbed into the body, can cause long-term damage to one’s health.

<snip>

“DU is much more dangerous than they say,” Busby added. “I’ve always said that it contributes significantly to Gulf War Syndrome.”

When Moret’s correspondence to Dr. Busby was posted on the Internet over the New Year’s holiday under the title “How Depleted Uranium Weapons Are Killing Our Troops,” some 6,000 people read the letter in the first two days. The following Monday, a producer from BBC’s Panorama program contacted Moret to arrange an interview.

<snip>

“When inhaled through the nose, nano-particles can cross the olfactory bulb directly into the brain through the blood brain barrier, where they migrate all through the brain,” she wrote. “Many Gulf era soldiers exposed to depleted uranium have been diagnosed with brain tumors, brain damage and impaired thought processes. Uranium can interfere with the mitochondria, which provide energy for the nerve processes, and transmittal of the nerve signal across synapses in the brain.

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/explaining_how.html

[dxstone]

10. Of all the stories out there, this is the MOST horrifying and tragic...

In many ways, the damage has already been done, and it will not be contained to only those areas our insane leaders have chosen to poison in a way that would make the ancient Romans shake their heads in sad disgust... we don't just sow our enemies' fields over with salt; we poison their lands for THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of years... we deform their children and murder any possibility of a bright future for entire populations...
And then our soldiers bring the contagion home with them, infecting their wives and girlfriends, and it spreads further...
And it spreads on the wind as well...
Our current "leaders" are murdering the future of all mankind...

THIS is why I have the website I do... people find it a bit disturbing, even people here... but that's ok, that's my intention...
Personally, in many ways I don't see any hope at all now; I'm mostly interested in finding a way to die with some dignity; it is no longer possible to live with any...
I think the time to fight and win passed many, many years ago...
I wish someone could convince me otherwise...
But that's why I constantly and continuously put out these images of the Reeps as inhuman monsters from deep space who are trying to terraform the planet for the use of a bunch of brand-new tenants...
They ARE inhuman monsters. They ARE trying to kill us ALL.
And they are proving themselves incredibly efficient at this task.
D


Everybody’s Waiting

What happened to the light?
What happened to the show?
There’s nobody in sight
Where’d everybody go?
What happened to the players?
Why aren’t they saying lines?
Sounds like they’re saying prayers
And somebody is cryin’
The stage is black as ink
The darkness is unchecked
But everybody thinks
It’s just some great effect

And everybody’s waiting
For the show to start
They’re all anticipating
Uninterrupted art
And everybody’s waiting
For the show to start
And everyone’s together
But everyone’s apart

The darkness is unyielding
The darkness is complete
And everyone starts feeling
Each others’ hands and feet
They’re talking while they’re waiting
And laughing nervously
And someone’s masturbating
Two seats away from me
The wiring must need mending
Something must be broke
But everyone’s pretending
The whole thing’s just a joke

And everybody’s waiting
For the show to start
They’re all anticipating
Uninterrupted art
And everybody’s waiting
For the show to start
And everyone’s together
But everyone’s apart

And everybody’s waiting
And everyone is here
The darkness is grating
The world is full of fear
And everybody’s waiting
Like everything is fine
We’re all masquerading
We all know we’re dyin’
And everybody’s waiting
And everybody’s waiting
And everybody’s waiting...

D X Stone Copyright 1994

[chlamor]

12. Excellent site

and words.

Peace to you.

[dxstone]

13. thanx... n/t

[Eloriel]

15. I've got sig lines and graphics turned off -- why not

post the link to your website in case there are others like me? Thanks.

[dxstone]

18. here ya go...

I didn't realize you could turn sig lines off... I will have to adjust my MO...
Thanx for the info...

D X Stone
"I LOVE horror movies, man... I just don't want to LIVE in one."
http://presidentevilonline.com

[Eloriel]

16. A few more links

DEPLETED URANIUM: OBSERVATORY LAMENTS DENIAL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x982887
Link:
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200410191947-1213-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia

Heads roll at VA (11,000 usa gulf war dead from Depleted Uranium)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x109556#109562

The Silent Genocide from America
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x109375

325,000 Gulf War 1 Vets On Permanent Disability-11,000 Dead
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3190803&mesg_id=3190803&page=

US Military, President - Out of Control
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x108222

[rumpel]

17. More on DU. I believe the military has been exercising with this

munition.

http://www.clw.org/archive/cat/newswire/nw010701.html#US

http://www.iacenter.org/depleted/mettoc.htm