'Depleted Uranium' - Radioactive US Tanks come limping home

[Guest guest]

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=149495;article=96862;title=APFN

Bob Nichols

'Depleted Uranium' - Radioactive US Tanks come limping home

Thu Dec 22, 2005 03:31

62.194.202.138

 

 

 

'Depleted Uranium' - Radioactive US Tanks come limping home

 

HR: Leuren Moret & DU - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/ctud9

 

" In a group of 251 soldiers from a study group in Mississippi who had all

had normal babies before the Gulf War, 67 percent of their post-war babies

were born with severe birth defects. [url.: http://tinyurl.com/84dbp] - They

were born with missing legs, arms, organs or eyes or had immune system and

blood diseases. In some veterans' families now, the only normal or healthy

members of the family are the children born before the war. " - Url.:

http://tinyurl.com/6o4na

 

Radioactive Tank No. 9 comes limping home

 

Url.: http://www.sfbayview.com/110905/radioactivetank110905.shtml

 

by Bob Nichols

 

" RADIOACTIVE " is stenciled on Abrams tanks in these pictures taken Oct. 13,

2005, in Topeka, Kansas.

- Photo: Chris Bayruh (via Url.)

 

ACROSS THE PLAINS OF KANSAS, destroyed, radioactive Abrams tanks, perched on

railroad flatcars, rolled towards an uncertain future. Only one thing was

certain. They would be radioactive forever. This would be their everlasting

death mask. The Pentagon deceptively calls it " depleted uranium. "

 

The Abrams tanks are constructed with a layer of radioactive uranium metal

plates. The big tanks fire a giant uranium dart at 2,100 mph, much faster

than an F-16 fighter aircraft, mach III to airplane pilots and very, very

fast to the rest of us.

 

American taxpayers paid to ship the tanks to Iraq and to return them for

disposal or re-building in the United States. The tanks are 12 feet wide and

weigh a stout 70 tons, or 140,000 pounds.

 

The enduring vigorous stupidity of the U.S. military pretends that radiation

is one of those things that if you can't see it, it can't hurt you. They are

thoroughly delusional, of course. A National Academy of Sciences report

released June 30, 2005, finds that there is no safe level of radiation. Any

radiation is bad.

 

This radioactive tank sitting exposed on a flatbed railroad car in Topeka,

Kansas, should have been " encapsulated, " according to U.S. Army Regulation

700-48, which has the force of law.

Photo: Chris Bayruh

 

From America to Iraq and back, these giant radioactive hulks can only sicken

and kill Americans. On top of the sheer, unrelenting stupidity of playing

with radiation with unsuspecting soldiers, now the neo-con government is

involving everyday Americans in their radiation madness.

 

The Pentagon can't even follow simple radiation hazard mitigation

instructions. Their own rules and regulations have the force of law

throughout the world. Yet they are ignored in the United States.

 

Dr. Doug Rokke

 

Dr. Doug Rokke is the Pentagon's former director of the U.S. Army Depleted

Uranium Project. When contacted on Oct. 22, he viewed Chris Bayruh's

photographs and made this statement about the radioactive tanks in Kansas:

" The radioactive damaged Abrams tanks that were left unsecured on a Kansas

railroad track are a perfect example of exactly how not to ship damaged

radioactive equipment and how not to protect our Army's Abrams tanks from

possible sabotage and compromise of classified battle systems. "

 

On Oct. 10, prior to the discovery of the radioactive tanks, Dr. Rokke made

the following statement. It is eerily predictive of what would happen in

Kansas three days later. " U.S. Department of Defense officials continue to

deny that there are any adverse health and environmental effects as a

consequence of the manufacture, testing and/or use of uranium munitions to

avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic

material - depleted uranium. "

 

This is another of the destroyed radioactive tanks in Topeka, Kansas.

Children were playing around the tanks. - Photo: Chris Bayruh

 

Dr. Rokke continued, " They [the U.S. military] arrogantly refuse to comply

with their own regulations, orders and directives that require United States

Department of Defense officials to provide prompt and effective medical care

to all exposed individuals. " (See Note 1 below.)

 

" They also refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive contamination of

equipment as required by Army regulations. " (See Note 2.)

 

" Specifically, they are required (see Note 3) to accomplish four things:

 

1) Military personnel must 'identify, segregate, isolate, secure and label

all RCE' (radiologically contaminated equipment).

 

2) 'Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented

as soon as possible.'

 

3) 'Radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through

burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment' and

 

4) 'All equipment, to include captured or combat RCE, will be surveyed,

packaged, retrograded, decontaminated and released.'

 

" The past and current use of uranium weapons, the release of radioactive

components in destroyed U.S. and foreign military equipment, and releases of

industrial, medical and research facility radioactive materials have

resulted in unacceptable exposures. "

 

Dr. Rokke added, " Therefore, decontamination must be completed as required

by U.S. Army Regulation 700-48 and should include releases of all

radioactive materials resulting from military operations.

 

" The extent of adverse health and environmental effects of uranium weapons

contamination is not limited to combat zones but includes facilities and

sites where uranium weapons were manufactured or tested, including Vieques,

Puerto Rico, Colonie, New York, and Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana.

 

" Therefore, medical care must be provided by the United States Department of

Defense officials to all individuals affected by the manufacturing, testing

and/or use of uranium munitions. Thorough environmental remediation also

must be completed without further delay.

 

" I am amazed, " exclaimed Dr. Rokke, " that 14 years after I was asked to

clean up the initial DU mess from Gulf War I and almost 10 years since I

finished the depleted uranium project, United States Department of Defense

officials and many others still attempt to justify uranium munitions use

while ignoring mandatory requirements.

 

" But beyond the ignored mandatory actions, the willful dispersal of tons of

solid radioactive and chemically toxic waste in the form of uranium

munitions just does not even pass the common sense test.

 

" Finally, continued compliance with the infamous March 1991 Los Alamos

Memorandum (see Note 5) that was issued to ensure continued use of uranium

munitions cannot be justified.

 

" In conclusion, " Dr. Rokke urged, " the president of the United States,

George W. Bush, and the prime minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, must

acknowledge and accept responsibility for willful use of illegal uranium

munitions - their own " dirty bombs " - resulting in adverse health and

environmental effects. "

 

" President Bush and Prime Minister Blair also should order:

 

1) medical care for all casualties,

 

2) thorough environmental remediation,

 

3) immediate cessation of retaliation against all of us who demand

compliance with medical care and environmental remediation requirements,

 

4) and ban the future use of depleted uranium munitions, " Dr. Rokke

concluded.

 

A little old lady in tennis shoes

 

Leuren Moret is a world famous scientist and radiation specialist who

formerly worked at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, where she

became a whistleblower in 1991. She has spoken out about the danger of

uranium munitions to humanity in more than 42 countries.

 

Moret has appeared in four documentaries about uranium munitions (depleted

uranium). " Beyond Treason " debuted in August 2005 and won the Grand Festival

Award at the Berkeley Film Festival. The newest film, " Blowin' in the Wind, "

was nominated during its debut the first week of November in Australia for

an Academy Award.

 

Moret was an expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal for

Afghanistan and serves as an adviser and expert witness in court cases

regarding radiation exposure. Her statement, made Oct. 24, about the dead

tanks in Kansas follows:

 

" Sally Devlin, a little old lady in tennis shoes, went to a public meeting

several years ago, held by the Air Force in Pahrump, Nevada. Two officers

told the citizens of the town that the Air Force would be moving 80 old

target practice tanks and tons of old depleted uranium munitions through

their town.

 

" The radioactive bullets had been picked up off the Nellis gunnery ranges by

order of the state of Nevada and were being transported to the Nevada Test

Site [a nuclear weapons test site] to be buried as radioactive waste.

 

" When Mrs. Devlin politely asked them how they would prevent the residents

of the town from being contaminated by the radioactive dust on the tanks and

bullets, the officers said, 'We're wrapping them in Saran Wrap.' She told

them that would be unacceptable and stopped the Air Force dead in their

tracks, " Moret concluded.

 

Whether it is Saran Wrap in Nevada or nothing at all in Kansas, the Pentagon

just doesn't get it when it comes to uranium radiation dispersing weapons.

It is way past time to take all their nuclear weapons and uranium munitions

away from them and send them home to get real jobs. They are clearly

incapable of protecting this country from all dangers, including those

created by our own U.S. military.

 

The U.S. military shows so little regard for Americans in Kansas, one

wonders what on earth they have done to Iraq. The U.S. military has

distributed an estimated 8 million pounds of weaponized ceramic uranium

oxide gas, aerosols and dust on a practically defenseless little country of

26 million people (see Note 6), according to an estimate by former U.S.

Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

 

What is this lethal radioactive weapon supposed to do? Why was it used?

Ceramic uranium oxide gas is a genocidal weapon, for God's sake. It persists

in the environment forever. In Leuren Moret's pithy words, " The Iraqis are

uranium meat. "

 

The politicians, Pentagon staff, generals, commanding officers and others

responsible for this war crime must be arrested, tried, convicted and

appropriately punished for their crimes against humanity.

 

There is another explanation

 

Another explanation is that the U.S. Army and other branches of the military

are far from stupid. They are, in fact, the most lethal and carefully

planned military in the history of the world. The extensive use of

weaponized uranium oxide gas, aerosols and dust is not an accident or an

oversight. They did it on purpose.

 

If this is true, they purposely used a genocidal weapon over at least a

15-year period. No, this is not a callous mistake of empire; it is a

calculated act of genocide to weaken the oil- and gas-rich countries of

Central Asia, including Iraq. Take your choice: they are either stupid or

genocidal monsters.

 

A British group has estimated the weaponized ceramic uranium oxide will

account for an additional 25 million cancers in Iraq in the next several

years. There are only 26 million Iraqis to start with, minus the nearly 1.7

million killed by war or sanctions since 1991, plus some live births.

 

A National Academy of Sciences report released June 30, 2005, finds that

there is no safe level of radiation. The committee dismissed the idea that

any radiation could be harmless or beneficial.

 

The radioactive tanks in Kansas and Iraq are the same. They are placed there

at great expense by the senior American political and military leadership,

with premeditated malice. The bottom line purpose of a 140,000-pound

radioactive tank is to kill people.

 

Uranium munitions a war crime

 

Dennis Kyne, noted speaker and writer, is a former drill instructor (DI) and

a 15-year veteran of the Army as well as a Gulf War vet (see

www.denniskyne.com). Kyne makes a point of how " hot " or radioactive the

tanks in Kansas would be if they were hit by " friendly fire " to get beat up

so much. They could be contaminated with as much as 30,000 times background

radiation. That is what uranium munitions do to a tank, bunker or building.

 

Karen Parker, a prominent U.S. international human rights lawyer, says there

are four rules derived from humanitarian laws and conventions regarding

weapons:

 

1. Weapons may only be used against legal enemy military targets and must

not have an adverse effect elsewhere (the territorial rule).

 

2. Weapons can only be used for the duration of an armed conflict and must

not be used or continue to act afterwards (the temporal rule).

 

3. Weapons may not be unduly inhumane (the " humaneness " rule). The Hague

Conventions of 1899 and 1907 speak of " unnecessary suffering " and

" superfluous injury " in this regard

 

4. Weapons may not have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment

(the " environmental " rule).

 

" DU weaponry fails all four tests, " Parker states. " First, DU cannot be

limited to legal military targets. Second, it cannot be 'turned off' when

the war is over but keeps killing.

 

" Third, DU can kill through painful conditions such as cancers and organ

damage and can also cause birth defects, such as facial deformities and

missing limbs. Lastly, DU cannot be used without unduly damaging the natural

environment.

 

" In my view, use of DU weaponry violates the grave breach provisions of the

Geneva Conventions, " Parker concluded, " and so its use constitutes a war

crime, or crime against humanity. "

 

Notes

 

1. " Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties, " DOD,

Pentagon, 10/14/93, " Medical Management of Army Personnel Exposed to

Depleted Uranium (DU), " Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command, 4/29/04,

and section 2-5 of AR 700-48 .

 

2. AR 700- 48: " Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium

or Radioactive Commodities, " Headquarters, Department of the Army,

Washington, D.C., September 2002, and U.S. Army Technical Bulletin TB

9-1300-278: " Guidelines For Safe Response To Handling, Storage, and

Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions or Armor Which

Contain Depleted Uranium, " Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington,

D.C., July 1996, http://traprockpeace.org/du_pam_700-48.pdf.

 

3. Section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation 700-48 dated Sept. 16, 2002,

specifies these requirements.

 

4. IAW Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, DA PAM 700-48. Maximum exposure limits

are specified in Appendix F.

 

5. http://www.tv.cbc.ca/national/pgminfo/du/doc1.html

 

6. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark's estimate,

http://www.covertactionquarterly.org/demonize.html

 

© Copyright Bob Nichols. Copying permitted if you credit the source and

leave everything intact, including notes. Bob Nichols is a Project Censored

Award winner and lives in California. He formerly lived in Oklahoma. He is a

contributor to OnLineJournal.com, AxisofLogic.com, DissidentVoice.com and

other online publications and is a correspondent for the San Francisco Bay

View newspaper. Nichols is a former employee of the McAlester Army

Ammunition Plant. He can be reached by email at bob.bobnichols.

 

Fwd. by:

 

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION

http://forpressfound.blogspot.com/

Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars

http://tinyurl.com/amn3q

The Netherlands

fpf