DID WESTERN GOVERNMENTS KNOW OF THE DANGERS OF DU_

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (UK)
January 6th 2001

MoD KNEW OF AMMO RISKS FOR 10 YEARS
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent and Christian Jennings in Pristina

The Ministry of Defence admitted last night that it had known for 10 years that there were health risks from the depleted uranium ammunition used during the Gulf war and the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Politicians and representatives of soldiers around Europe called yesterday for investigations into what they claim to be links between use of the radioactive
metal and illness, including leukaemia. Despite a number of British soldiers who served in the Balkans appearing to have symptoms similar to those of the
so-called Gulf war syndrome, the MoD insisted that there was no cause for concern. The admission that defence chiefs were aware that there were risks involved in the use of depleted uranium came after the Telegraph obtained a copy of regulations issued to German troops in Kosovo warning
of a potential long-term hazard.

The document told soldiers not to approach any locations or equipment which had been hit with depleted uranium (DU) ammunition "except for life-saving purposes and/or measures indispensable to the mission accomplishment". Ammunition or other contaminated material should not be touched. "It must be assumed that not only the interior but also the surrounding area of an armoured vehicle destroyed by DU ammunition is contaminated. There is a potential health hazard in the form of DU exposure stemming from ammunition parts and destroyed DU-contaminated vehicles. Long-term hazards may also result from drinking water and soil contamination."

Both Nato and the EU have launched investigations into the effects of depleted uranium amid concern over a number of suspicious deaths and illnesses among soldiers from France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Portugal after their return from the Balkans. Gen Carlo Cabagiosu, the Italian commander of KFOR, the Nato-backed force which polices Kosovo, admitted yesterday that it was still not known whether there was a link to depleted uranium. Gen Cabagiosu said: "There has been a lot of scientific research to establish a direct link between this and soldiers with cancer. But the statistics have to be examined to see if this has to be taken seriously."

The MoD said it was waiting for the results of a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) investigation in Kosovo and an independent study by the Royal Society which is due to report in the summer. An MoD spokesman said: "At present we see no cause for concern. From everything we know about
depleted uranium, we have no reason to believe there is any significant risk to UK personnel." There were no plans to screen British troops who had served in the Balkans, he added. "Obviously if anyone comes up with any new evidence that suggests there is cause for concern then we will look at it again." Asked about the German regulations, the spokesman said that the MoD had issued similar instructions to its troops in Bosnia and Kosovo. He said: "That is just a sensible precaution. Our understanding of the levels of radioactivity is that they are so low that they pose only minimal risk to health."

However, the Berlin-based Tageszeitung says today that an interim report by the UNEP team showed much higher levels of radioactivity than expected in areas where depleted uranium was used. Tageszeitung says that the UNEP team had made an urgent call for all 112 sites to be closed off after finding considerable concentrations of uranium dust in eight of a sample study of 12 bomb craters. The National Gulf War Veterans and Families Association said that a number of former soldiers who had served in the Balkans had come forward exhibiting similar symptoms to those reported among sufferers from Gulf War Syndrome. Shaun Rusling, the association’s chairman, attacked the MoD for describing the debate over the use of depleted uranium as "a red herring". He has written to John Spellar, the Armed Forces minister, demanding an explanation. Mr Rusling asked Mr Spellar if an MoD alert over the dangers of depleted uranium was also a red herring. The warning, signalled to the HQ British Forces in Riyadh on Feb 25, 1991, pointed out likely health risks. It said: "Two potential health risks from DU oxide dusts exist. First. Irradiation from alpha particles. Levels are extremely low but ingestion and inhalation should be avoided. Second. Heavy metal oxide, treat as for exposure to lead oxides."

The MoD signal warned that troops operating in areas where depleted uranium was present should wear gas masks and nuclear, biological and chemical protection suits. Mr Spellar admitted last November, in a written answer to a question from Tam Dalyell MP, that a number of British troops who might be exposed to depleted uranium, including the tank crews firing the ammunition, were not warned. The MoD says British tanks fired fewer than 100
depleted uranium rounds during the Gulf War compared to the 860,000 fired by US troops and aircraft. British troops are not thought to have used depleted
uranium rounds in the Balkans but US aircraft fired 10,800 rounds in Bosnia and about 31,000 during the Kosovo conflict.

THE INDEPENDENT (UK)
May 28th 1998

extract from THE WEST'S POISONOUS LEGACY
by Robert Fisk

Across the sands of Southern Iraq, the residue of Allied Depleted Uranium (DU) shells lies untreated in the soil. But in Britain, the government goes to enormous lengths to protect its' people from the results of test firing the very weapons suspected of causing an increase in cancers amongst Iraqi children.

A review of the Ministry of Defence's radioactive waste management practices, published by the Department of ther Environment in December, 1997 shows government specialists here take the risk of contamination more seriously than imagined. According to the report by the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee, DU shells tested at the range at Eskmeals, on the Cumbrian coast, are fired into a special open-sided concrete building called 'The Tunnel', fitted with a filtered extract system and pressure-washed to avoid contamination.

"The washings are transferred to collecting tanks for eventual disposal in cemented drums to Drigg, Cumbria," the report says. If the DU shell is fixed into armour plate, then the plate itself is sent to Drigg for disposal. So concerned are the British authorities about helath hazards from DU shells that an on-site physics laboratory exists to monitor the workforce on the Eskmeals firing range. The Department of the Environment report says firings involving uranium have been going on at the range since 1981, and "...just over 90% of the total weight of the shells has been recovered." On 1991 Gulf war battlefields, not a single attempt was made to recover contaminated residues.

The Eskmeals range posesses seven high-volume air samplers, and 1000 samples are taken annually. A special sampler operates to check what the document calls "...the critical group within the public [...] identified as those living in [nearby village] Monk Doors." DU shells are also test fired at Kirkcudbright in Sctoland where 1.5 tons of the projectiles are targetted every year into the Solway Firth. The shells, the report says alarmingly, "...remain on the sea bed where they will corrode with time to form an insoluable sludge composed of hydrated uranium oxide. [....] Unsuccessful attempts were made in 1993 to recover some of these shells in order to assess their corrosion state." A small amount of deplted uranium waste also occurs at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency's site at Fort Halstead in kent, and disposed of, like the contamination at Eskmeals, to Drigg in Cumbria.

A 1993 US General Accounting Office report stated that American soldiers of the 144th Supply Company of the National Guard were never told of the radiation hazards when ordered to recover US military vehicles in the Gulf that were the victim of 'friendly-fire' attacks using depleted uranium projectiles.

Western evidence is, thus, beginning to bear out the claim by Iraqi doctors that the residues of Allied DU shells may be a grave health hazard on the Gulf war battlefields. Almost all farm produce consumed by residents of Basra is grown in lands in which thousands of DU shells were fired. When 'The Independent' visited the area in February 1998, local farmers complained of high levels of cancer in their families.

The effectiveness of armour-piercing ammunition principally depends on the density of the material from which it is manufactured, and the British government report says depleted uranium shows "...significant performance advantages over other metals." Which is not much comfort to Iraqi cancer sufferers, or Gulf war veterans.

January 10th 2001
For Immediate release
Press Contacts: Maria Santelli (505) 247-9694 IDUST - USA. // Dennis Flaherty (01443) 204-522 IDUST - UK.

DAMACIO LOPEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF IDUST DEMANDS BAN ON WEAPONS CONTAINING DEPLETED URANIUM

International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST) is a non-governmental organization of researchers, activists and scientists throughout the world dedicated to stopping the use of depleted uranium U-238 (DU) inmilitary weapons.

DoD REAPS THE WHIRLWINDS

The US Department of Defence did what it thought was its best ten years ago to protect our servicemen and women by giving them what they thought were the best tools for the job. They also did what they thought was best in giving our armed forces vaccinations against chemical and biological weapons that they knew Iraq had. However no-one spent enough time researching the effects of the new toys they were about to use.

Their friends and colleagues in the armaments and nuclear industrial complex who supplied them with lucrative employment on their retirement assured them that this was a safe bet. Yet they did not give the DoD all of the facts that they needed to make a rational decision about using Depleted Uranium as a weapon. They said it was OK as it did not exceed the safe low limit of radiaton, a limit they themselves had set, a limit they cannot scientifically verify themselves. A limit that was contradicted by reality in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Members of the Britsh Medical services serving in Japan knew from their own experiences and observations that the after effects of the bombings produced leukaemia and other carcinoma’s on a vast scale. Yet the DoD banned anyone from doing the research on it so they could keep their options open to use this as a new weapon of war.

Documents released show us that they contempleted using radioactive dust as a weapon of war in the 1940’s, why if it is not dangerous_ After the Doha fire the team sent in by the DoD wore full NBC suits . Why, if it is not dangerous_ We could say that they erred on the side of caution, however what we need to ask is why no-one else was told to be cautious when dealing with Depleted Uranium after a fire. (Note: The 'Doha fire' refers to a US ammunition dump containing primarily DU weapons that caught fire in Kuwait during the Gulf war.)

Europe is in turmoil after ten years of being lied to, and misinformed by the DoD & the MoD and the nuclear Industry. The truth about Depleted Uranium is out of the bag. The mistakes of ten years ago are coming home to roost. The DoD knew about Depleted Uranium usage and its effects on the environment and on human beings from the research carried out in 1947 after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Yet it chose to put a military advantage before the needs of humanity, it allowed its connections with the industrial armaments and nuclear complex to over-ride its moral obligations towards its own men and women and the people of the world. It chose to put at unneccesary risk those who voluntarily placed themselves in harms way for the sake of
their country and their allies.

Oscar Wilde once said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" I do not think he was right in this case, however the senior figures in both these establishments have it would seem a very poor understanding of how to view their responsibilities holistically. The demon in this case appears to be the mentality which accepts the dictum that "The End Justifies the Means".

The men and women who serve in our armed forces deserve better than this; we as citizens need to control and limit the actions of those who cannot accept responsibility for their actions, without taking into consideration the needs of others.

It is time for the military indutrial complex to be disolved, it is time for control to be removed from those who are unable, unwilling or incapable of thinking long-term about who and what they are and what they are expected to do. Col. Doug Rokke and many others have put their lives on the line and tried at every opportunity to inform those who are willing to listen about the dangers of Depleted Uranium and the misinformation being peddled by the DoD. & MoD and the Nuclear industrial complex. (Note: Doug Rokke was a DU expert assigned by the Pentagon to assess DU contamination in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia at the end of the Gulf war. In an interview with British journalist John Pilger, he stated that: "....what we found there could be summed up in three words - 'OH MY GOD...' " Rokke was been verified in 1994 as having 5000 times the permissable safe dose of radiation in his body. The only member of his 50 strong team not suffering from respitory and liver problems was the one who insisted on wearing full radiological protection clothing at all times. Some of Rokke's team members have since died.)

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia forced the DoD to remove burntout US Tanks with Depleted Uranium armour that had been destroyed in friendly fire
incidents involving depleted Uranium and buried in the dessert. Why_ The Nederlands contingent in Kosovo removed all of the effects of their soldiers and burnt them. Why_ The Nederlands contingent sent all of their vehicles to a nuclear facility for decontamination.Why_ Now the Spanish, Portugese and Italian contingents are asking why were we not told about this_ So far, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Finland have said they will screen their Kosovo veterans, and Bulgaria is also to monitor the health of its small detachment in the province.

In Britain, the Ministry of Defence said it would monitor developments closely. The Pentagon said it was aware of the worries being raised by some of America’s allies.Several European nations including the current holders of the European Union Presidency, Sweden, echoed these concerns, intensifying pressure on NATO to investigate the so-called "Balkan Syndrome."Belgium has reported that five peacekeepers who were in Bosnia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia have died from cancer.The syndrome came under the spotlight following reports that six Italian soldiers who served in the former Yugoslavia had developed leukemia and died after exposure to spent ammunition. The Netherlands reported that two soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia had died from leukemia and Portugal has raised concerns over the death of one of its Balkans veterans. On Thursday, a spokesman for the European Union said the 15-nation group would conduct an inquiry, and Bacon said the United States expects the issue to be raised at a NATO meeting next week. Last week, Italy began investigatin possible links between depleted uranium munitions and about 30 cases of serious illness among soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia.

"We have not found any link between illnesses and exposure to depleted uranium," Kenneth Bacon, spokesman for Defense Secretary William Cohen, said Thursday. "We’re pretty confident of what we’ve said, which is we have found no direct link." Of course they have not found any link they are not going to find that which will make them answerable before the International Criminal Court. They are taking the 5^th ammendment. Why are they not certain_ Why is it they cannot scientifically prove that low level radiation causes Leukaemia_ What kind of a mind-set is it that makes them think that it is the victim of their irrational behaviour sould prove that they are responsible_

The Nuclear industrial complex says it cannot recycle this waste yet they are willing to inflict it on all and of humanity as commercial products. Why_

They say there is no Scientific evidence to support public concern over depleted Uranium yet they wanted to use it as a weapon of war back in the 1940’s because they knew it would cause harm to people. Now they want us to believe that it is harmless. Why_ Senior military commanders asked UNEP not to release the full data on the contamination of Kosovo as it might affect the US Presidential election outcome. Why_ Are we allowing the military industrial complex too much independence_ The US Constitution needs to guarantee the rights of those who serve their country as well as the civil population.

In the UK no authority or Member of Parliament or member of the European Parliament nor Assembly member has been able to supply IDUST with any Health & Safety guidelines or regulations converning the use, storage or manufacturing of Depleted Uranium products. Why_

Read this:

NATO WARNED ABOUT URANIUM AMMO IN 1999

Nato warned in 1999 of the possible dangers from depleted uranium ammunition in the Balkans, the German Defence Ministry has confirmed.

The Berliner Morgenpost newspaper, in an article to be published on Monday, said it had obtained a document from the ministry, dated July 16, 1999, stating that NATO had warned soldiers and aid workers of "...possible toxic threat..." and advised them to take "...preventative measures" .

The document said NATO planned no further moves itself, according to the newspaper. Fears have recently arisen in Europe due to increased cases of
serious illness in soldiers who served in the Balkans.

The European Union has launched an investigation into the effects of depleted uranium ammunition, used by the United States for its armour-piercing
qualities. Meanwhile, the head of the U.N. Environment Programme criticised NATO for not being more forthcoming with information about where it used the ammunition. Klaus Toepfer told the Berliner Zeitung, in an article to be published Monday, that the alliance had taken the stance "...that investigation at these locations wasn’t necessary anymore. That is very clearly not correct."

UNEP has visited 11 of 112 sites identified by NATO in Kosovo as having been targeted with ordnance containing depleted uranium, and found higher radiation levels in eight locations. The final results of the checks are expected in March.

ASSOCIATED PRESS - LONDON
January 11th, 2001

A British Army report warned almost four years ago that soldiers exposed to dust from depleted uranium shells might be at risk of developing cancers, according to a document carried by the British media on Thursday.

The report, was prepared by the Headquarters of the Army's Quartermaster-General as an internal document for military officials, said that soldiers doing salvage work inside vehicles which had been damaged by depleted uranium shells faced up to eight times the acceptable level of uranium exposure,
according to the British Broadcasting Corporation and newspaper reports.

The Ministry of Defense immediately countered that the document was a "discredited" draft paper, prepared by a trainee and never endorsed by senior staff. "Certain elements are scientifically incorrect or misleading," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The British government reiterated its position that medical evidence has so far failed to prove any link between the heavy metal, favored because of its' ability to penetrate armor, and soldiers being diagnosed with cancer after coming into contact with the munitions. The statement reflected comments made
earlier in the day by NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson, who told reporters in Brussels that there was no scientific evidence that exposure to armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium posed a significant health risk.

Nevertheless, he said NATO has set up an action plan because of European countries' fears about health risks to soldiers assigned to the Balkans, where depleted uranium munitions were used in combat. But the document, which all the news organization said had been leaked to them, still threatened to
inflame fears already sweeping across Europe that soldiers' lives had been put at risk in Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as in the Gulf War.

Depleted uranium munitions were used in all of those wars. Last month, Italy began studying the illnesses of 30 Balkans veterans, seven of whom died of cancer, including five cases of leukemia. In France, four soldiers are being treated for leukemia. Several European countries have begun screening soldiers who served as peacekeepers in the Balkans. Many civilian aid agencies are doing the same.

Britain on Tuesday bowed to pressure and said it would offer screening to veterans of the Kosovo and Bosnian wars for signs of illness. According to published excerpts of the leaked Ministry of Defense report, the army warned in 1997 that the risk of exposure to the "...hazardous..." uranium dust "...must be reduced. [...] Inhalation of insoluble uranium dioxide dust will lead to accumulation in the lungs with very slow clearance - if any..." the  British media quoted the document as saying. "Although the chemical toxicity is low, there may be localized radiation damage of the lung leading to cancer." The opposition Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats called on government officials to explain the report"s findings.

REUTERS - LONDON
January 11th 2001

BRITAIN DISMISSES OWN REPORT BACKING URANIUM RISK

An internal British Defence Ministry report warned four years ago that exposure to ammunition coated with depleted uranium increased the risk of cancer,
British media said on Thursday.

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman confirmed a report was prepared on the subject but said it was flawed, written by a trainee and never endorsed in any way. However the mere existence of the report added fuel to a debate in Britain and elsewhere about the safety of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used by British, U.S. and other western armies in the Gulf and Balkan wars.

NATO promised on Wednesday to investigate the effects of DU used in tank-busting ammunition, but insisted it posed a minimal health risk. As more countries stepped up screening of war veterans who may have been exposed to the munitions' mildly radioactive residue, NATO said it would do all it could to reassure troops and civilians worried by recent cancer scares. NATO ambassadors agreed a "robust" action plan to look into the effects of using DU in weapons which have been linked to dozens of cases of leukaemia among Western peacekeepers who served in the Balkan conflicts.

Details of the 1997 British report were splashed on the front pages of the Guardian and Independent newspapers under headlines like "MoD knew shells were cancer risk." "The warnings, in an internal MoD document are in marked contrast to persistent public assurances—repeated by the Armed Forces
Minister John Spellar to parliament on Tuesday—playing down the risk of DU," the Guardian said. The army medical report said inhalation of dust from DU led to accumulation in the lungs "with very slow clearance—if any."

"Although the chemical toxicity is low, there may be localised radiation damage of the lung, leading to cancer," the two newspapers quoted the report as saying. "All personnel should be aware that uranium dust inhalation carries a long term risk ... the (dust) has been shown to increase the risks of developing lung, lymph and brain cancers."

The MoD spokesman told Reuters the report was scientifically incorrect and misleading. "It is flawed. It was done by a trainee. It was never endorsed by senior staff. It was not taken forward. It is not an official position of ours," the spokesman said. The spokesman was unable to say whether the trainee author was a military or other doctor.

Britain has agreed to test soldiers for possible health problems while insisting there was no evidence of a link. On Wednesday Spellar told parliament a voluntary screening programme would be set up for people who served in the Balkans but said the move was a response to public concern not evidence of illness caused by depleted uranium. NATO has appeared split between the likes of Britain and the United States, who argue there is no health risk from DU weaponry and Germany, Italy, Portugal and Belgium who want a full NATO inquiry. The Government is coming under increasing pressure to reveal what advice they have received about health risks associated with uranium shells.

DAILY MAIL (UK)
January 10th 2001

LABOUR BACKS DOWN ON URANIUM SHELLS
by Michael Clarke, Home Affairs Correspondent

Defence Ministers staged a dramatic U-turn yesterday over health fears about depleted uranium weapons.

Armed Forces minister John Spellar announced a screening programme for troops who have served in the Balkans, where U.S. jets fired tens of thousands of DU shells. The move follows increasing alarm across Europe over deaths and illnesses among veterans of peacekeeping in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Mr Spellar’s Commons announcement bore all the signs of panic in Downing Street, with an election expected within four months. Policy was thrown into reverse so swiftly that Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who had planned to make an announcement tomorrow, was still on a visit to Sweden. It was the latest in a series of major statements he has missed, on topics including the European Army, the controversial 1994 crash of an RAF Chinook and payments to Japanese prisoners of war.

The climbdown did little to appease former soldiers, who have been reporting an increasing number of health problems. They warned that the tests could be rigged. Professor Malcolm Hooper of Sunderland University, a member of the Gulf War illnesses inter-Parliamentary Group, warned: ‘The MoD are past masters at doing poor science and not setting up the experiments that need to be done.’ Veterans believe the MoD and the Pentagon are determined to
keep DU weapons in their arsenals, as the most effective way to destroy tanks.

The heavy metal, twice as dense as lead, can easily punch through thick armour. But on impact, the uranium is vapourised into a cloud of dust which can be deadly if swallowed or inhaled.

The Ministry insists the dust is a threat only if peacekeeping troops climb inside wrecked Serb tanks. But, until yesterday, they had repeatedly refused to monitor Balkans veterans for uranium poisoning, despite evidence that the DU can spread through the air and into ground water. Checks on contamination levels in Bosnia and Kosovo will now also be stepped up. The screening programme, expected to be finalised after the publication of a report on DU by the Royal Society in March, will be offered to 50,000 troops and 5,000 civilian staff.

But Shaun Rusling, 41, chairman of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association, warned that it would have to be more effective than the tests on troops from the war against Iraq, where hundreds of thousands of DUshells were fired. He said: ‘We’ve had veterans go through that programme with
cancers that haven’t been detected. It’s a sham.’ Veterans also claimed that there is nowhere in the UKthat can test for DU, as opposed to ordinary uranium. Mr Rusling’s association arranges tests in Canada. He said 14 samples out of 30 have so far been positive.

Opposition politicians warned that the screening programme could amount to little more than a stunt. Shadow defence secretary Iain Duncan Smith welcomed the statement but claimed it had been ‘driven’ by Downing Street. Liberal Democrat Menzies Campbell said the Government had done the bare minimum under intense pressure. Eight European countries are already testing their Balkans veterans, most of them more extensively than the UK seems
likely to do.

The alarm has been fuelled by the deaths from cancer or leukaemia of six Italian soldiers, five Belgians, two Dutch, two Spaniards, a Portuguese and a Czech after tours in the Balkans. Five French soldiers have also contracted leukaemia. The European Commission said yesterday it was setting up a
scientific group to investigate possible health risks from DU and the French National Assembly called on the U.S. to open its files on the weapons.  But at a meeting of Nato officials in Brussels, Britain and the U.S. blocked an Italian call for a moratorium on the use of DU shells.

Even as Mr Spellar made his statement, fresh evidence emerged of serious shortcomings in warnings given to our troops in Kosovo. One soldier posted there last year said he received no information about DU for the first three months and was then told only to keep out of wrecked tanks. But U.S. troops working alongside had maps warning them about buildings and other areas which had been strafed with DU shells.

THE GUARDIAN (UK)
January 12th 2001

MoD BACKTRACKS ON CANCER REPORT - ADVICE ON SHELLS CAME FROM SENIOR OFFICERS, MINISTRY ADMITS

Attempts by the Ministry of Defence to dismiss a leaked report highlighting increased risks from exposure to depleted uranium in shells backfired spectacularly yesterday when it emerged that not only was it written by an experienced military officer but it was endorsed by senior officers.

With defence ministers coming under renewed pressure to say what they knew of the health risks of depleted uranium (DU), officials first tried to discredit the report as the work of a ‘trainee’. But the MoD admitted last night that the report had been written by an ‘experienced officer’. It added: ‘He was new to the post, with no experience of that particular area’.

The report was then given more credence by a second internal MoD document. It emerged yesterday that the report - stressing long-term health risks from DU contamination - was attached to a covering letter from the office of the army’s quartermaster general recommending its distribution to military and civilian personnel likely to come into contact with the armour-piercing shells. The letter was signed by a senior retired officer on behalf of the  quartermaster general’s chief of staff. Dated April 1997, it warns that on impact ‘toxic and radioactive dust can be spread inside and outside of the [target] vehicle’.

A further army document, dated August 1999, warns soldiers not to ‘enter or climb a damaged hard target or loiter within 50 metres’, adding: ‘do not eat, drink, or smoke near the damaged vehicle. ‘When an AFV [armoured vehicle] is penetrated by a DU round, the core becomes molten and may spread radioactive particles in the air.’

In a letter to Geoffrey Hoon, the defence secretary, his shadow minister, Iain Duncan Smith, demanded to know if ministers were advised of the concerns about DU-tipped shells or told that the warnings were wrong. Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said: ‘The government’s efforts to explain away documents relating to depleted uranium lacks credibility.’

Faced with a growing prob lem of credibility, the MoD yesterday promised to publish the leaked documents with what it called a ‘suitable commentary’ as soon as possible. ‘Whilst accurate in the main, they contain some significant errors of scientific fact,’ it said. It referred to the warning in the 1997 document that uranium dust had been shown to increase the risks of developing lung, lymph and brain cancers. ‘It has not,’ the MoD said. Its chief scientific adviser, Sir Keith O’Nions, said the report contained ‘many, many scientific errors’ and did not form any part of the advice given to ministers.

Mr Hoon told Channel 4 News last night that he had not seen the document before it was leaked. ‘That document is not a document that was passed down the chain of command.’ He added: ‘What we are saying is that the risks are very small and have not led in any case that we have been able to establish by
the best scientific evidence to any illness for any soldier.’ John Spellar, the junior defence minister, infuriated Gulf war veterans earlier this week by announcing voluntary screening for Balkans veterans, without referring to them. Yet some 900,000 DU-tipped shells were fired in the Gulf, most by US aircraft, compared with 40,000 in the Balkans.

The Guardian has found that defence ministers claimed in 1993 that the shells did not produce ‘soluble depleted uranium’. The MoD now says the risk is more from soluble DU than insoluble radiated dust.

The UN yesterday stepped up pressure for a survey of the areas hit by DU-tipped shells in Bosnia - and raised the prospect of a similar mission to Iraq - after traces of radioactivity and pieces of DU were found during a preliminary assessment of sites in Kosovo.

FROM THE WILDERNESS PUBLICATIONS
11th January 2001

1984 FEDERAL AVIATION AUTHORITY MEMO: DEPLETED URANIUM USED COMMONLY IN AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURE POSES SERIOUS HAZARD TO CRASH INVESTIGATORS

As the scandal regarding the 1999 U.S. use of depleted uranium (DU) rounds in Kosovo spreads and re-ignites controversy about the Gulf War Syndrome that has damaged the health of thousands ofveterans, "From The Wilderness" has today obtained a copy of a 1984 FAA Advisory Circular - still in effect - that shows that DU has been in use as a component in aircraft manufacture for years and that the U.S. government has always treated DU as a hazardous material in full awareness of health risks it presents.

The existence of this advisory bulletin belies the official U.S. Government position that it was largely unaware of health risks connected with DU and raises questions about U.S. prioritization of the relative value of human lives as it becomes increasingly apparent that the United States Government chose to not advise NATO allies in Kosovo or Iraq, or even certain members of its own armed forces of known dangers connected with DU exposure. Moreover, the bulletin specifically indicates that U.S. aircraft manufacturers like McDonnell-Douglas, now owned by Boeing, routinely posted health advisory and safety precautions in aircraft manuals as far back as 16 years ago. This was, according to the FAA, a result of cadmium-plated DU being used as weights to balance "...ailerons, rudders and elevators on certain jet aircraft and certain helicopters."

FAA Advisory Circular 20-123, dated 12/20/84 is entitled "Avoiding or Minimizing Encounters With Aircraft Equipped With Depleted Uranium Balance Weights During Accident Investigations." The two-page memo was written to warn FAA crash site investigators that, as a result of an air crash, DU weights in various parts of the aircraft might have had their cadmium plating removed. The memorandum states "While the depleted uranium normally poses no danger, it is to be handled with caution. The main hazard associated with depleted uranium is the harmful effect the material could have if it enters the body. If particles are inhaled or digested, they can be chemically toxic and cause a significant and long-lasting irradiation of internal tissue."

FAA spokesman Les Dorr today confirmed for FTW that the 1984 Advisory was valid and still in effect.

The memo also contains the somewhat ironic statement, "... only ‘depleted’ uranium is used, which means it has been processed to remove most of its' uranium 235, the most highly radioactive form used in nuclear power plants."

The 1984 memorandum, written by FAA Director of Airworthiness, M.C. Beard, and circulated to all FAA crash site investigators, ends with a list of safety precautions for investigators at crash sites including protective gloves, eye protection, respirators and other protective clothing. The memorandum ends by stating that all such protective clothing should be discarded in containers labeled "radioactive waste" and disposed of accordingly.

While the advisory itself does not specifically list which military or commercial aircraft are currently equipped with DU components FTW has contacted corporate spokespersons for the Boeing Aircraft Corporation in Seattle. As of this writing no response has been received.

THE OBSERVER (UK)
January 14th 2001

Last week brought claims by three prison officers from HMP Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, that they had tested for raised levels of uranium following two fires in the last four years at the adjoining Royal Ordnance factory that produces the shells.

THE INDEPENDENT (UK)
January 25th 2001

LETTER : DANGER OF DU SHELLS
from: G. A. Morrison

Sir,
I have been watching with much interest the debate surrounding depleted uranium shells and their use in Iraq and in Bosnia.

Between 1989 and 1996 I served as a weapons engineering mechanic in the Royal Navy. I served on two "active ships" in the Gulf and in Bosnia, during which time I was involved in the loading teams of weapons systems which used DU ammunition. Correct loading procedure involved the wearing of protective clothing to ensure no part of the body was in contact with the ammunition at any time.

If these precautions were deemed necessary at the initial loading stages of the ammunition’s use, the concerns which have been voiced I believe hold some ground.

My previous views on modern warfare were that war is a terrible thing yet occasionally necessary and therefore any reasonable actions to end it in the shortest time possible were favourable. However, with the similar fears over landmines and my increasing concerns over DU, I have come to the conclusion that if past governments have seen fit to exclude monstrous devices such as nerve gases then contemporary governments should take similar action over DU.

In light of the irresponsible attitude taken towards "Gulf war syndrome" our present Government should be glad of the opportunity to act now and save further harm to our troops, especially those who serve on the ground. I also hope that through proper research into these areas the Government will give themselves the opportunity to prove me utterly wrong.

Yours,
G. A. MORRISON.

THE SUNDAY HERALD (UK)
27th May 2001

BRITAIN USED DU IN THE 1950s - THE NUCLEAR 'GUINEA PIG' TESTS
by Rob Edwards, Environment Editor

Tonnes of depleted uranium (DU), the toxic radioactive metal blamed for causing cancers in the Gulf and Balkan wars, were blasted into the environment by Britain's nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific and Australia in the 1950s, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The disclosure has shocked veterans of the nuclear tests, who now suspect that DU may be implicated in the illnesses that many of them have suffered in the years since. And scientists are calling for the government to re-open its inquiry into the health of the 21,000 British servicemen who took part in the tests on Christmas Island and at Maralinga in the Australian desert. "It beggars belief," said Sheila Gray, the secretary of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans Association. "They gave us the impression that DU had never been used before the Gulf war and now it turns out it was used in the 1950s. It's yet another hazard our men had to face."

DER SPIELGEL (GERMANY)
January 23rd 2001

DU USED IN SOMALIA AND GERMANY
‘Don’t Worry, It’s Safe’ Department - Being Washington’s instructions for handling urine samples from soldiers exposed to Depleted Uranium in Somalia.
Translated by Max Sinclair and Jared Israel with help from Professor Peter Maher

Knowledge about deadly poisonous weapons lies hidden in the Internet. On the twentieth of January 2000, the US Energy Minster revealed in a written response to Tara Thornton, of the environmental group "Military Toxins Project" that "One would have to assume depleted uranium includes traces of plutonium." The usual argument that the depleted uranium munitions used by the US army are harmless has been set aside by the Energy Department: "The biggest health concerns are about the uranium itself, not about the traces of plutonium." The U.S. military’s Radiobiological Scientific Institute is even clearer: "A thorough study shows overwhelming evidence that the risks of cancer are increased through DU." These documents are on the Internet. They would have driven Defense Minister Rudolph Scharping’s experts into a rage, had they but known of their existence, but until recently hardly anyone in the Defense Ministry had an Internet connection.

The information coming in from the Internet is alarming. When a DU projectile hits a target not only is poisonous, weakly radiating uranium oxide released. Now, for the first time, we are aware that it is mixed with plutonium particles mean almost certain death when they are introduced into the human body through the lungs or open wounds. The extremely poisonous pollution results from the fact that the Americans get the depleted uranium for their weapons from the reprocessing of reactor fuel contaminated with plutonium, which radiates 57,000 times more strongly than DU, destroying the body.

Just how dangerous the US military considers its DU weapons is revealed by the warnings it has issued for handling victims of contamination. Examining the huge collection of files and electronic data stored at his Berlin Information Center for Transatlantic Security (BITS), the arms critic Otfried Nassauer discovered the fact that uranium munitions were used in Somalia, East Africa, a fact that was unknown until now. In a telex sent to US troops in Mogadishu in October 1993, Washington warned U.S. medics that they might encounter soldiers "who had had unusually high levels of contact with depleted uranium." The stuff had to be poisonous; otherwise why the warning_

In their instructions, the military stated that with "normal handling" of DU munitions "no medical problems are to be expected." Nor were problems to be expected from "unusual contact." But the instructions expose this as a cover-up, for they go on to say that special treatment should be given to all soldiers who "inhaled DU dust, whose wounds were contaminated with DU dust or particles," "who had been near the smoke" coming from burning vehicles and depots in which DU ammunition was stored, or who worked "in an environment contaminated by DU dust or by the aftermath of a DU fire." Also everyone who entered a "building or vehicle that was hit with a DU shell." Extensive tests and urine samples were to be arranged for such soldiers. The packing
instructions for these urine samples are almost funny, given that DU supposedly poses no threat:

Every urine sample was to be "sealed in an absolutely solid, 1 liter, sealed container". This was to be placed in a second, "similarly watertight container," in which there was to be "sufficient absorbent material to suck up the entire urine sample were it nevertheless to leak." This package was to be placed in a "heavy duty cardboard box" swathed in warning labels proclaiming: "Biohazard!"

While Washington warned its own soldiers about these health risks they didn’t bother to inform UN personnel about the dangers, not to mention other peacekeepers let alone the native population. General A. D. Helmut Harff, at that time assigned to Somalia and later Commander of the German forces in Kosovo, insists that "no word came to us [about DU], neither from the Americans nor from the Homeland." Also before and during the invasion of Kosovo, uranium was "never a topic among Commanders."

His assertion casts doubt on a note dated 14^th of June 1999, which [Defense Minister] Scharping now proudly displays as evidence that the [German] troops were always kept "fully informed." On page 3 of a 17 page Order of the Day, this note devotes all of six lines to the "possible dangers" of Du ammunition. This is squeezed between paragraphs concerning the prioritization of daily reports and defective coffee machines.

Meanwhile, Scharping complained bitterly about U.S. information policy and called the U.S. envoy in, for talks. The envoy appeared supportive, but an assistant Minister summarized: "The Americans don’t give a damn." They believed the hysteria in Germany would soon die down. While the Defense Minister can blame the bigger power for Somalia, there’s another problem that is probably going to give him a lot of difficulty.

Last week, ‘Der Spiegel’ published a report concerning 149 incidents involving DU during the period from 1989 to the beginning of 2000. The German Defense Ministry is aware of all these incidents; our report was based on a confidential Ministry record, which had two handwritten notes on the cover.

One of the notes, to Assistant Minister Dr. Wichert, definitely deserves praise: "This project was a challenge and we carried it out in what one
would hope was the shortest possible time." The reason for this haste could have been a PDS-organized [the PDS is the successor to the East German Communist Party] parliamentary inquiry. Perhaps there was a special reason for rushing, as well. On March 20, 2000, the Army high command announced that three soldiers were suffering from high blood counts that "could very possibly be due to radioactivity." The reply on the cover [written by Dr. Wichert, apparently] is even more explosive: "This was most necessary! Many thanks. The Luftwaffe also shoots this stuff!" Didn’t this highest ranking Defense Ministry bureaucrat know what the troops do_ Or perhaps he knew more about it than his own Minister_

The previous week, Scharping had publicly assured Parliament and the Public that the German Army never possessed DU munitions. The poisonous stuff has undoubtedly been exploded on German soil. At the end of the week the Munitions Company Rheinmetall admitted they tested DU ammunition in lower Saxony in the beginning of the 1970s. A Göttinger Professor reported to "Der Spiegel’ that Rheinmetall "had offered in 1972-1973 to let him observe test firing of different projectiles that had been manufactured by the company from depleted uranium." In the Upper Bavarian town of Schrobenhausen the munitions company MBB tested DU ammunition for 17 years, until 1996. On Friday, Scharping received from the headquarters of the US Army in Germany a promise to follow up on 9 incidents between 1981 and 1990 in which the insidious DU ammunition could have been used: Tanks with DU shells were burned up in bases or training areas, DU ammunition was fired. But the list of these incidents was not so new. It has been languishing since August 1996 in the Ministry of Defense in Bonn.

Further reading on DU (as posted by EMPERORS NEW CLOTHES web site, who re-published the DER SPIEGEL article)

‘LOW INTENSITY NUCLEAR WAR’
by Michel Chossudovsky [1-16-2001]
With rigorous documentation, Prof. Chossudovsky demonstrates that once-trusted UN agencies now employ NATO-connected staffs in an effort to cover-up the outrage of Depleted Uranium and that DU was employed in the Balkans with full knowledge of the consequences.


'CHEMICAL / NUCLEAR WARFARE IN BOSNIA - EYEWITNESS TO HELL'
by Tika Jankovich, Jared Israel and Petar Makara.
Mr. Jankovich made several investigative trips to Bosnia. His findings suggest that chemical and nuclear weapons are used quite deliberately to punish rebellious subjects of the new American Empire.


'IT TURNS OUT DEPLTED URANIUM IS BAD FOR NATO TROOPS IN KOSOVO (WHAT ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE_)'
by Felicity Arbuthnott
The distinguished journalist Felicity Arbuthnot has written tirelessly about the effects of Depleted Uranium on human beings in Iraq and Yugoslavia.

'ALLIES "...TOLD IN 1991 OF URANIUM CANCER RISKS" '


‘NATO WILLFULLY TRIGGERED ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE IN PANCEVO
by Professor Michel Chossudovsky
Chossudovsky proves that NATO deliberately caused a catastrophic environmental disaster when it bombed chemical and petroleum facilities in Pancevo, Yugoslavia, during the 1999 air war.

THE GUARDIAN (UK)
February 8th 2001

TROOPS NOT TOLD OF SHEELS' TOXIC RISK
by Nicholas Watt and Richard Norton-Taylor

The government last night admitted that thousands of British troops serving in Kosovo were placed at risk from the deadly effects of depleted uranium, the substance linked to Gulf war syndrome, after a health warning failed to reach soldiers during the 1999 Nato conflict. The Ministry of Defence admitted that it failed to brief troops on the special health notice which warned that depleted uranium (DU) created a "heavy toxic powder".

If troops had to do so they should wear special gloves and a face mask.

LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE (FRANCE)
February 2001

UN-BACKED COVER UP - THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF DU
by Jacques Brillot

Most commentators are obsessed with the radioactive effects of depleted uranium, ignoring its purely chemical properties. But missiles made from it break
up, vaporise and/or ignite on impact, and are dispersed into the atmosphere, sometimes as an aerosol made up of the fine dust of the metal and its oxides.
The particles then fall back to earth. If they become airborne again, they can be inhaled or ingested days, weeks, even months or years later. So you do not have to be inside or near a tank when it is hit to be at risk of absorbing these dangerous substances.

The 9th edition (1976) of the Merck Index (1) one of the world’s bibles of chemistry, describes uranium and its' salts as "extremely toxic", causing dermatitis, renal lesions, acute arterial necrosis, possibly resulting in death (2). Another such bible, the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (3), describes it as "highly toxic, both from chemical and radiological standpoint". It gives the maximum concentration of its insoluble derivatives (oxides, for example)
recommended as acceptable in air (based on its chemical toxicity) as 0.25 mg per cubic metre (4). The chapter on human exposure to airborne contaminants gives a figure of 0.20 mg (expressed as pure U) per cubic metre for natural uranium and its soluble and insoluble compounds.

The comparable figures for lead arsenate are 0.15 mg or 0.20 mg, phosgene 0.40 mg and arsenic 0.50 mg. These figures were published in 1983 in the Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety (5), which puts the lethal dose for one half of experimental subjects (rats and rabbits) at between
0.55 mg and 1.12 mg per kg body weight. This is similar to the concentration (1 mg/kbw) of hydrogen cyanide (the Zyklon B used in Nazi extermination
camps) needed to kill a human.

The same book describes at length the lesions characteristic of chronic poisoning by the metal and its' oxides: pulmonary fibrosis and changes to the blood with a reduction in the number of red and white corpuscles (lymphocytes). The nervous system can also be affected. And there is the possibility of nephritis, chronic hepatitis, gastritis and other symptoms.

(1) Published by Merck Research Laboratories, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

(2) The most recent edition (1996) merely states that uranium presents both a " toxic " and a radiological hazard and that direct contact with metallic U or its' insoluble compounds may cause dermatitis. The word "extremely " and the references to renal lesions, arterial necrosis and death have been removed.

(3) Published by CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

(4) Or, per kg, the theoretical contamination of around 2 sq km to a height slightly more than that of a man (2m).

(5) Published by the International Labour Office, Geneva.

AL- AHRAM WEEKLY - ON LINE (EGYPT)
15th - 21st March 2001

LIE OF THE MILLENIUM_
By Felicity Arbuthnot

On 9 January this year, the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces Minister John Spellar addressed parliament regarding concerns over the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons. For those who have followed the issue since these weapons were used in the 1991 Gulf War, his assertions that the harmful impact on the civilian population attributed to DU were grossly exaggerated were astonishing. Whether he was dramatically misled by his advisers or influenced by the "special relationship" that the UK has with Washington, he was being extremely economical with the truth.

The UN Sub-Committee on Minorities and Human Rights has charged three times that these are weapons of mass destruction, which bolsters the case for eventual compensation claims—expected to run into the billions of dollars—by countries where they have been used or tested and by civilians and soldiers for illnesses linked to DU exposure.

Just 10 months after the Gulf War, Iraqi doctors were already bewildered by the rise in rare cancers and birth deformities. At the time, it was not known that DU weapons had been used in the war, but the doctors were already comparing their new cases to those they had seen in textbooks related to nuclear testing in the Pacific in the 1950s.

In Basra, the main city of southern Iraq which was in the eye of "desert storm," paediatrician Dr Jenan Hussein has completed a thesis comparing the cancers and birth deformities seen in Iraq with those following the bombing of Hiroshima. Cancers, leukaemias and malignancies—all of which have been
linked to DU—have risen by 70 per cent since 1991. Experts say that DU has entered the food chain via the water table and soil.

Death stalks children of Basra from the moment of birth. The unimaginable can be found: babies with twisted limbs, or without any limbs, eyes, or brain,
or even without a head. "If you are not prone to fainting, I will show you a baby born just an hour ago," Dr Jenan said during one of my visits. The tiny
infant had no eyes, nose, tongue, oesophagus, or genitalia. The impossibly twisted legs were joined by a thick web of flesh. "We see many similar cases," she said.

Having seen the result of their use, it is not difficult to understand why former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark considers the use of DU weapons a
"criminal act."

Gulf War veterans began showing signs of illness just months after the war. Their search for treatment and answers has been met with bureaucratic stonewalling and lies. As the veterans, sick and dying, have attempted to find answers for themselves in the UK, their homes have been raided by police from the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

A 1996 survey of US Gulf War veterans in the small Mississippi town of McGann showed that out of 267 families questioned, 67 per cent - 67 PER CENT! -
of children conceived after their fathers returned from the Gulf had birth deformities which doctors described as "rare" in the population as a whole.

That both the British and American authorities knew of the dangers of DU and ignored them is beyond doubt.

DU weapons were born of greed. Depleted uranium is essentially a waste product of the nuclear industry. Since no one wants it in their backyard and its
disposal is hugely costly, it was given free to the weapons industry to be used as core and coating for bullets, missiles and tanks.

"Depleted uranium is a radioactive waste and, as such, should be deposited in a licensed repository," according to a June 1995 statement by the US Army
Environmental Policy Institute. At no point does it advise its use on mosques, schools, hospitals, radio stations or a Chinese embassy.

"Basically, DU missiles are just cylinders of nuclear waste with fins," comments Angus Parker, a sick veteran and former expert technician at Britain’s
Porton Down weapons establishment, who was deployed in the Gulf with the First Field Laboratory Unit.

A spokesperson for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) told Al-Ahram Weekly of its' astonishment upon discovering that these weapons had been used in the Gulf. Uninformed by the government at the time of the war, the UKAEA only learned of the use of DU weapons from reports in the media. So alarmed was the UKAEA that it sent a report to the Ministry of Defence in April 1991, warning of a health and environmental catastrophe. They estimated that if 50 tonnes of DU dust were left over from the impact of DU weapons, there could be in excess of half a million deaths from cancer in the region within 10 years.

The Pentagon has confirmed that 320 tonnes of DU dust remain in Iraq. Some scientists estimate that there could be as much as 900 tonnes. The UKAEA paper, entitled "Kuwait—Depleted Uranium Contamination," states: "DU can become a long-term problem if not dealt with and is a risk to both the military and civilian population." The UKAEA’s calculations indicate a significant problem. Further localised contamination of vehicles and soil may exceed  permissible limits and this would be hazardous to both clean-up teams and the local population. Inhalation of DU dust particles can lead to unacceptable body burdens, putting the public at risk. DU is dangerous whether taken into the body by ingestion or by contamination of a cut. Furthermore, DU entering the food chain or water magnifies potential health problems. DU remains radioactive for 4.5 billion years.

That the UK government has long been aware of the unique contamination that DU represents was displayed in a rare moment of glasnost by UK Armed Forces Minister Lord Gilbert on 2 March 1998, when he referred to a letter written on 30 April 1991, two months after the Gulf WaR, by P. G. E. Bartholomew, business development manager at UKAEA. "I promised to produce a threat paper on the contamination of Kuwait from depleted uranium used by the US and UK forces in the recent war. [The paper] covers the threat and outlines the action we believe is necessary for health safety," Bartholomew’s letter reads. "The whole subject of the contamination of Kuwait is emotive and thus must be dealt with in a sensitive manner. It is
necessary to inform the Kuwait government of the problem in a useful way."

This poisoned chalice," suggests the letter, "should be handed to the luckless British ambassador in Kuwait. (The good news is that we’ve saved you from
Saddam—the bad news is...)."

Kuwait, it seems, had been saved from Saddam, but, along with Iraq and the veterans of the war, would live with the consequences—sickness and genetic
defects—for generations.

Leonard Dietz, an eminent nuclear expert based in New York, has passed another enlightening letter to Al-Ahram Weekly. Dated 15 August 1991, the letter is a response to Dietz from the Office of the Director of Defence Research and Engineering at the Department of Defence in Washington. "You posed the question of the probability that lung cancer could develop after the inhalation of depleted uranium. As you are no doubt well aware, since the material is a source of ionising radiation, the potential for carcinogicity is real," the letter states. "The same holds true for nephro-toxicity protection, which requires a much lower ambient concentration in drinking water or foodstuffs." The letter, signed by the Military Assistant for Medical and Life Sciences, concludes:
"Let me assure you that we feel that your concern, which parallels our own, is real and we thank you for sharing that with us."

After the Gulf War, it is the turn of the Balkans,its' population and the soldiers who served there, to live the DU tragedy. Seven Italian peace-keepers have
already died of leukaemia. Other countries with military personnel deployed in the Balkans during the conflict with Yugoslavia all report unusual illnesses
and have begun to screen soldiers.

Dr Chris Busby, head of Britain’s Low Level Radiation Campaign, has estimated that the relative radiation risk to the Italian peace-keepers in Kosovo (closest to the most contaminated area) is 17 times the "safe" limit.

On the day ground troops were sent into the Balkans, this correspondent asked the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) if we would soon see an epidemic of "Balkans War syndrome," since DU weapons were again being used despite the overwhelming evidence of the danger they represented. "Absolutely not," responded the MOD spokesperson. "The armed forces minister has given the strictest instructions that no service personnel must approach anything which might have been hit by DU -- and if it were unavoidable they must wear full radiological protective clothing."

What about the returning refugees_ What about Iraq_ Was a different sort of DU being used in the Balkans, since the MOD had consistently denied any link between the health disaster in Iraq and the pattern of illness among Gulf War veterans_ For the MOD, refugees were not its problem and it insisted that DU, Gulf War syndrome and Iraq were not linked.

Yet peace-keeping troops in Kosovo now have their food and water flown in.

Refugees have, it seems, returned to a poisoned land and, as in Iraq and Kuwait, generations yet unborn will pay the price. Macedonia, the poorest of the
Balkan states, took in a million refugees during the 1998 Balkans War only to find out that 10 tonnes of DU debris had contaminated their land. The Macedonians have collected it and are considering returning it to NATO. Belgrade’s Centre for Radiobiology and Radiation Protection has reported that radiation in Macedonia is eight times that of pre-1998 levels.

Albania, where two American A-10 helicopters equipped with DU weapons crashed, can be added to the list of countries made radioactive and chemically toxic by DU. It is now another place where parents and their children have nowhere to hide. Following the Balkans War, the Albanian president awarded NATO spokesman Jamie Shea and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright the country’s highest honours. The ceremony referred to Shea, who defended NATO actions to a worldwide audience, as a "face of truth and hope." Albania may soon want to ask for the trophies back.

The full extent of the contamination of the Balkans is still unknown—radiation does not stop at borders.

Meanwhile, in Kuwait City, just a few kilometres from Basra, on the day Kuwait hosted a reception for senior US military and government personnel active in the Gulf War, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah said the Western allied forces had left no nuclear radiation after the war. "I am sure the Kuwaiti territories are free of these radiations," Al-Sabah told the Kuwait News Agency. Professor Doug Rokke, the Pentagon expert who devised the clean-up for Kuwait, has told Al-Ahram Weekly that this is simply "impossible" and that the clean-up was, in fact, never completed. Half of his team has died of DU-related illnesses and the other half, including himself, is desperately sick—with the exception of the only team member who insisted on wearing full radiological protective clothing, despite the heat.

The reasoning behind the ongoing campaign of deception is made clearer by a Los Alamos National Laboratory (the same lab that developed the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs) memo entitled "The Effectiveness of Depleted Uranium Penetrators." Dated 1st March 1991, the day after the Gulf cease-fire and the day before the slaughter on the Basra road using DU weapons, the memo is from a Lt. Colonel Larson to a Major Ziehman. "There is a relatively small amount of lethality data for uranium penetrators... The recent war has likely multiplied the number of DU rounds fired at targets by
orders of magnitude. There has been and continues to be a concern regarding the impact of DU on the environment," Larson’s memo reads. "Therefore if no one makes the case for the effectiveness of DU on the battlefield, DU rounds may become politically unacceptable and [will] therefore be deleted from the arsenal," it continues. The memo ends: "I believe we should keep this sensitive issue in mind, when, after action, reports are written."

Dr Jenan in Basra is more concerned about her patients than about kill-rates: "I want the world to know what has happened here."

The time for lying is over. Those responsible should face up to the enormity of their actions. A clean-up of this truly genocidal material, wherever it
contaminates, must be undertaken at once. And we must ensure that it is never used again - a goal which can only be achieved by making the perpetrators pay!

Felicity Arbuthnott has written extensively on the impact of DU and was nominated in 2000 by Amnesty International as 'HUMANITARIAN JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR' .

CLICK ON THUMBNAIL ABOVE TO SEE THE ACTUAL LARSON / ZIEHMAN MEMO

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