<nettime> depleted uranium used by NATO (fwd)

[kellner@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu]

Douglas Kellner, Dept of Philosophy, Univ of Texas, Austin, TX 78712
kellner@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu  fax: 512 471-4806
Web sites: Postmodern theory= http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~kellner/pm/pm.html
Critical theory= http://www.uta.edu/english/dab/illuminations/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 10:47:02 -0600
From: "Stephen M. Wechsler" <wechsler@mail.utexas.edu>
Reply-To: pfg-ut@mail.la.utexas.edu
To: pfg-ut@mail.la.utexas.edu
Subject: depleted uranium used by NATO

>2. Toxins from NATO Bombs Endangering Six Countries Besides Serbia; Use of
>Depleted Uranium Shells Condemned by Experts
>
>ATHENS, Apr. 10 - Greek experts registered an increase in levels of toxic
>substances in the atmosphere of Greece, and said that Albania, Macedonia,
>Italy, Austria and Hungary all face a potential threat to human health as a
>result of NATO's bombing of Serbia, which includes the use of radioactive
>depleted uranium shells.
>
>Prof. Christos Zerefos, a member of the World Meteorological Organization
>(WMO) and director of the world center for ozone cartography, said that one
>day after the start NATO's attack on Yugoslavia, Greek experts discovered
>in the atmosphere dioxin and particles of the group of toxic agents knows
>as furanes, which pose a high risk for human health of the entire region.
>
>Meanwhile, back in New York, the International Action Center, a group that
>opposes the use of depleted-uranium weapons, called the Pentagon's decision
>to use the A-10 "Warthog" jets against targets in Serbia "a danger to the
>people and environment of the entire Balkans".
>
>The A-10s were the anti-tank weapon of choice in the 1991 war against Iraq.
>It carries a GAU-8/A Avenger 30 millimeter seven-barrel cannon capable of
>firing 4,200 rounds per minute. During that war it fired 30 mm rounds
>reinforced with depleted uranium, a radioactive weapon.
>
>John Catalinotto, a spokesperson from the Depleted Uranium Education
>Project of the International Action Center, and an editor of the 1997 book
>"Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium", said the use of DU weapons in
>Yugoslavia "adds a new dimension to the crime NATO is perpetrating against
>the Yugoslav people -including those in Kosovo".
>
>Sara Flounders, a contributing author of "Metal of Dishonor: Depleted
>Uranium" and the Co-Director of the International Action Center, said the
>"Warthogs fired roughly 940,000 rounds of DU shells during the Gulf War.
>More than 600,000 pounds of radioactive waste was left in the Gulf Region
>after the war. And DU weapons in smaller number were already used by NATO
>troops during the bombing of Serbian areas of Bosnia in 1995."
>
>In an Apr. 1 front page article headlined, "Uranium bullets on NATO
>holsters," the San Francisco Examiner's reporter, Kathleen Sullivan, wrote
>that "the use of depleted uranium in combat is a troubling prospect to some
>veterans groups, which worry that the Pentagon will fail - once again - to
>issue warnings about the danger posed by its hazardous dust and debris.
>
>Piers Wood, a senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information and a
>retired Army lieutenant colonel, dismissed concerns about the health and
>environmental effects of depleted uranium, saying everything in life is a
>trade-off.
>
>"I would risk the consequences of inhaling depleted uranium dust before I
>would consider facing tanks, Wood told the Examiner.  Depleted uranium is
>wonderful stuff. It turns tanks into Swiss cheese."
>
>However, radiation expert Rosalie Bertell said depleted uranium is highly
>toxic to humans. Bertell, president of the International Institute of
>Concern for Public Health, called its use in Yugoslavia radiation and toxic
>chemical warfare that must be denounced.
>
>Some experts also warned of the environmental hazards posed by depleted
>uranium, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. "In Yugoslavia, it's
>expected that depleted uranium will be fired in agricultural areas, places
>where livestock graze and where crops are grown, thereby introducing the
>specter of possible contamination of the food chain," said Paul Sullivan,
>executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center.
>
>Last year, Iraqi doctors said they feared a disturbing rise in leukemia and
>stomach cancer among civilians who live near the war zone may be linked to
>depleted uranium contamination of Iraqi farmland.

Stephen Wechsler, Assoc.Prof. |   http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~wechsler/
Linguistics Dept.             |   Calhoun Hall 403
University of Texas           |   ph. (512)471-1701
Austin, TX 78712-1196         |   fax (512)471-4340



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