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Radioactive Weaponry
by
Heather Wokusch
June
14, 2003
Disturbing
new evidence puts the US military's use of radioactive weaponry in the
spotlight, casting doubt on the Bush administration's upbeat estimates on
civilian war casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A
study by the Washington, D.C. based Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC)
suggests coalition
forces used Afghanistan as a testing ground for radioactive weaponry,
thereby placing generations of civilians - not to mention US service members -
at unspeakable future risk.
The
UMRC study found "astonishing" levels of uranium in the urine of
Afghan civilians living in Nangarhar province, one of many places coalition
forces bombarded with a new generation of "cave-busting" and seismic
shock warheads. Interestingly, none of the civilians tested at Nangarhar showed
traces of depleted uranium (DU), yet hundreds exhibited symptoms resembling
those of DU-exposed Gulf War veterans.
The
implications are ominous. Independent studies show coalition forces used toxic
uranium alloys and hard-target uranium warheads in Afghanistan, but if the
"mystery" uranium in Nangahar isn't DU, what is it? What kinds of
radioactive ammunition were used elsewhere in Afghanistan? What are the
long-term health implications for civilians and service members? And what are
the moral, let alone criminal, implications of radiating civilian populations?
Unfortunately,
Afghanistan isn't the only country reeling under the Bush administration's idea
of "liberation" - Iraq has arguably fared worse. New evidence
suggests the US
invasion may have killed up to 10,000 Iraqi civilians, many from cluster
bombs dropped into densely populated civilian areas. Meanwhile, US and British
occupying forces are accused of illegally detaining and torturing Iraqi civilians,
and the US military has kicked around the idea of having Iraqi "hooligans
... either captured or killed."
Of
course, if Iraq was used as a testing ground for radioactive weaponry, as
appears to have been the case in Afghanistan, then the true civilian costs in
cancers, birth defects and human suffering could be immeasurable.
As
might be expected, the US Department of Defense (DOD) has shown little interest
in pinpointing the medical effects of radioactive weaponry. In the 1991 Gulf
War, an estimated 320
tons of DU ammunition was dumped on Iraq, and the Pentagon later
acknowledged over 900 American soldiers had sustained "moderate to
heavy" DU exposure. Few epidemiological studies have been conducted to
assess the damage though, and even worse, US government officials have lied to
cover up bad results.
For
example, a Pentagon spokesperson recently told the NATO press corps, "We
have seen no cancers or leukemia" in a group of 60 Gulf War vets involved
in a DU-study program, despite that fact that two
participants had in fact contracted cancer. And in a press briefing last
March, a DOD spokesperson downplayed health risks associated with DU, claiming
Iraqis complained about it only "because we kicked the crap out of
them."
Fortunately,
British researchers have taken the DU issue more seriously. Scientific studies
in the UK have shown Gulf
veterans can have up to 14 times the normal level of genetic chromosome
abnormalities, which means their children are also at increased risk for
deformities and genetic diseases. It's also been proven that DU-exposed vets
have a greater likelihood of contracting lymphatic or bone marrow cancer.
Findings
like these have prompted the European Parliament to call for a moratorium on DU
ammunition (and other types of uranium warheads) pending independent
investigations into their possible harmful effects. Similarly, the UN
Environment Program (UNEP) has announced plans to test the Iraqi environment
for DU, and the World Health Organization (WHO) may begin similar testing on
the human population.
The
ultimate irony, of course, is that America may have used radioactive weaponry
to justify invading other countries to search for radioactive weaponry. Bitter
irony too that our service members were put at increased risk because of the
weapons our government gave them.
Heather Wokusch is a free-lance writer with
a background in clinical psychology. Her work as been featured in publications
and websites internationally. Heather can be contacted via her website: http://www.heatherwokusch.com