The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.

Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.

[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[casi] DU cover up linked to fires, looting in Baghdad? Press Release



PRESS RELEASE

April 25, 2003

IS THE DESTRUCTION OF HOSPITALS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
RECORDS A COVER UP OF "DEPLETED" URANIUM HEALTH
IMPACTS IN IRAQ?

A CALL FOR INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS TO DOCUMENT
POSSIBLE LOW LEVEL RADIATION SICKNESSES IN IRAQ
RELATED TO THE USE OF ILLEGAL DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS

Press Release issued by the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers, Inc, a
Nongovernmental Organization accredited to the United Nations.
(see below for contact details)


The unchecked looting of hospitals and the destruction of  nearly all the
Ministries and other centers storing public health records, has dismantled
the public health system in Iraq beyond recognition, and has puzzled the world
public. Was this an operational failure? Or a deliberately staged event?

To activists working on a campaign to permanently ban the use of
"depleted" uranium weapons, the destruction of hospitals and baseline health
data serves an obvious legal purpose. The looting has made it impossible for
hospitals to function at the present time, and obstructs the ability to
document or report symptoms linked to the use of "depleted" uranium or other
more
experimental weapons used by the US/UK military.

Furthering suspicions, the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
has hired the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify the population's
immediate health needs, at a cost of $10 million. This
raises concerns about a conflict of interest. Any data-gathering of
immediate health impacts of "depleted" uranium is being paid for by the US,
which is the major entity potentially liable for costs relating to those
impacts. This conflict of interest could compromise the goals of H.R.
1483, a bill introduced by U.S Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) requiring
studies on the health effects of DU munitions.

The sights targeted for looting and fires (Ministry of Planning,
Information, Health  etc) support speculation that  a concerted attempt has
been made to destroy crucial data. Heavy guarding of the Oil and Interior
Ministries by US tanks and soldiers to prevent looting and the glaring absence
of military
guards at other public sites which were looted and destroyed by  fires
suggests further deliberate destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure.

The data from pre-Gulf War II health records is critical to establish a
baseline showing increases in post-Gulf War II levels of cancers and birth
defects in Iraq. Predictably, the Gulf War II direct bombing in cities
with "depleted" uranium weapons will cause greater increases than in Gulf War
I
where "depleted"  uranium weapons were used on battlefields south of
Basra. The increases in amounts used and targeting of cities will escalate the
onset of illnesses and deaths related to DU exposures.


"Depleted" uranium weaponry, cluster bombs, and fuel air bombs are already
banned by operation of law, according to United Nations experts sitting on
the UN Sub-Commission on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights. Reports
and studies from  the UN Secretary General and the Sub-Commission followed
reports of high levels of cancers and birth defects after the introduction in
1991 of "depleted" uranium weapons by the US and UK during the first Gulf War.


Attorney Karen Parker, who since 1996 has argued  the illegality of DU at
the United Nations, states: "Since the United Nations Sub-Commission first
found that DU weaponry violated existing law, the evidence against DU is even
stronger. I have always thought that the U.S fought so hard to maintain
the sanctions regime against Iraq in part due to the need to cover-up as much
as possible the effects of DU in Iraq. Now the destruction of hospitals and
the records compiled by Iraqi scientists on DU further supports a conclusion
that the goal of the US is to cover up  the truth about DU. And as the
International Committee of the Red Cross  has stated,it is the duty of the
United States forces to protect hospitals. The absolute failure to do so
is a major violation of the Geneva Conventions."

Leuren Moret, independent depleted uranium expert and former Livermore
Nuclear Weapons Lab scientist, comments that the use of "depleted" uranium
weaponry in the first Gulf War broke a 46 year taboo against the military use
of
radiological weapons on the battlefield: "This established a military
precedent which could be used to introduce 4th generation nuclear
weapons."

She notes the possibility that the US has used miniaturized thermonuclear
weapons against bunkers and other targets "In late September 2001,
President G W Bush and Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed that the US
could use tactical nuclear weapons in Afghanistan while the Russians could
employ
nuclear weapons against the Chechnyans."

Sources indicate that five times the amount of "depleted" uranium was used
by the US/UK than in the previous Gulf War. The "depleted" uranium in cruise
missiles and other weapons aerosolizes on impact, aerosolizing particles
and sending tiny shards of uranium through the body like a knife slicing
through butter. Initial symptoms will be mostly neurological, showing up as
headaches, weakness, dizzyness, muscle fatigue etc. Long term effects are
cancers, birth defects, and other radiation related illnesses such as Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome, joint and muscle pain, rashes,neurological and/or nerve
damage, mood disturbances, infections, lung and kidney damage, vision
problems,
auto-immune deficiencies, loss of feeling, etc.

In this current Gulf War, any troops with symptoms of low level radiation
sickness will report to their units. Their symptoms will be denied by the
military to be linked to depleted uranium exposure, because the US policy
is and has been to deny that the DU weapons can cause sickness. Military and
civilian doctors were trained in Gulf War I to define neurological  type
sicknesses as post traumatic stress disorder, and to leave radioactive
schrapnel in the bodies of the veterans. It can be expected that the
military will repeat this policy.

Douk Rokke, former head of the US Army DU Project, who has been
campaigning against the use of DU, reports that US troops are falling sick
already with a series of Gulf War symptoms.

Philippa Winkler, a political analyst and longtime anti-DU activist,
calls for immediate independent studies: "It is imperative that independent
health scientists observe, test and interview Gulf War II soldiers and Iraqi
citizens for symptoms linked to so-called depleted  uranium and the possible
use of thermonuclear weapons."


CONTACTS
FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF HUMANITARIAN LAWYERS INC:
Karen Parker: International Legal Expert on DU, ied@igc.org
Philippa Winkler: Political Analyst, Editor,  Hidden Casualties,the
Environmental, Health and Political Consequences of the Persian Gulf War
(1994, see amazon.com, and co-producer of the video documentary "From
Radioactive Mines to Radioactive Weapons": pjw82001@yahoo.com

FOR THE SCIENTISTS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Leuren Moret: Independent scientist and depleted
uranium expert, President, Scientists for
Indigenous People:  leurenmoret@yahoo.com

URLs
E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/38, 27 June 2002, Human Rights and Weapons of Mass
Destruction with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause
superfluous injury or unecessary suffering. Working paper submitted to the
UN
Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights,
by Yeung Sik Yuen, in accordance with SCRes 2001/36
<a
target=_blank
href="http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nst/TestFrame/2248114157de">www.
unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nst/TestFrame/2248114157de</a>
6274c1256c00004c2966?Opendocument

>Letter to Congressman McDermott w Declassified memo
>to Gen. L.R. Groves 1943 �blueprint for DU
>http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2003/Leuren-Moret-Gen-Groves21feb03.htm
>
>PEOPLE ARE SICK OVER THERE ALREADY (interview with
>Doug Rokke)
>www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/7570.
>
>GULF WAR SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
>http://www.ushostnet.com/gulfwar/articles.htm
>
"Death By Slow Burn - How America Nukes Its Own
Troops - What 'Support Our Troops' Really Means�by
Amy Worthington The Idaho Observer April
16
2003
>www.strike-the-root.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=news;action=display;num=
1050631363;start=0
>
>LOOTING ENCOURAGED BY US FORCES
"US Forces Encourage Looting" by Ole Rothenburg in
>DAGENS NYHETER Swedish Newspaper
>http://www.rense.com/general37/eyewitnesscharges.htm
>
"US Threatens Iraqi Scientists" by ISLAMONLINE.NET
>http://www.islamonline.net/english/news/2003-04/12/article02.shtml
>
>US government implicated in planned theft of Iraqi
>artistic treasures�by Ann Talbot of wsws.org
>http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/apr2003/loot-a19.shtml
>
>œAmericans defend two untouchable ministries from the
>hordes of looters, by Robert Fisk, the Independent,
>April
14,
2003
>http://www.ccmep.org/2003_articles/Iraq/041403_americans_defend_two_untouchab
le.htm
>
>WHO Gets $10 Million U.S. Grant for Health Program
>in Iraq -Will identify population's immediate health
>needs, USA Aid says
>http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/global/refugees/archive/03032804.htm
>
US rejects Iraq DU clean-up, March 14, 2003, by Alex
>Kirby, BBC News Online environment correspondence,
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2946715.stm
>

>



_______________________________________________
Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss
To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk
All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk


[Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]