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Gulf War II Information Network
February 9, 1998 ......PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Daniel Robicheau and Philippa Winkler, co-editors of 'Hidden
Casualties, the Environmental, Health and Political Consequences of the
Persian Gulf War' (Earthscan, ARC Arms Control Research Center, London
1994) 0117-973-7746
BOMBING WILL HAVE DIRE CONSEQUENCES FOR IRAQ'S WATER
URBAN AREAS TO BE ATTACKED
US HAS NOT RULED OUT USING NUCLEAR "BUNKER BUSTING" BOMB
Virtually all the nuclear, chemical and biological (NBC) Iraqi sites are
built in the combined draining region of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Bomb attacks would affect primary water supplies and agricultural areas.
And according to the map published in the Daily Telegraph, Feb. 8), NBC
targets likely to be hit are in cities such as Mosul, and Kirkuk. CNN
reported today that attacks will be "in and out of Baghdad". Also, the
U.S. Department of Defense has publicly stated that it has not ruled out
the possibility of using tactical nuclear B61-11 "buker-busting" bombs.
Yet officials are saying that the UK and US governments have agreed that
military action can be carried out "without damage to civilian life, which
they would try to avoid, and without environmental damage," (The Daily
Telegraph, 8-2-98).
The 1991 Gulf War gave a different picture: Thousands of Iraqi civilians
were incinerated in the first Gulf War at the Ameriya shelter, hundreds of
bridges destroyed, entire neighboroods in Baghdad turned to rubble.
Between 300 to 700 tons of depleted uranium were left behind in the region
in the form of radioactive ammunition and residues. Chemical factories
and nuclear sites were targeted in the early days without concern for the
fallout to all people in the region. The knock-on-effects- such as damage
to the electrical grid, sewage system-caused epidemics of cholera and
typhoid and the deaths of thousands more. Cluster bombs were used, as
well as napalm. The health of the Iraqi population was also affected by
the toxic chemicals contained in missiles. Solid propellants such as
hydrozine and ammonium perchlorate are contained in missile exhaust fumes
and in the unburned waste of missle shards. Accuracy of missiles cannot
be guaranteed: in 1991, a Defense Department analysis of the US air
campaign concluded that damage to Iraqi civilian facilities was greater
than intended (UP Press, Feb. 23, 1992)
The public has a right to know whether tactical nuclear weapons like the
bunker-busting B61-11 will be deployed in the region, especially when
recent accidents have already happened involving military aircraft in
Italy, and the collision of two F-18s over the Persian Gulf.
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