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Dear CASI list Today is a grim anniversary for the people of Iraq - of the imposition of sanctions. It is also the anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb. Peace groups, scientists and lawyers in Japan have been deeply concerned for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan in their exposure to known and suspected uranium weapons. Today they have used their own anniversary to reach out to other communities violated by radiactive weapons used by US and possibly other colition forces in recent conflicts. This is a short translation of the Hiroshima Appeal made today, and a reflection on the need to eliminate radioactive weapons of all kinds. Today, as well as remembering the effects of 13 years of sanctions there is a vitally urgent need to recognise a new wave of radiation contamination in Iraq. That DU ammunitions have been used - probably 100-200 tons - is not in question. Whether uranium warheads have been used in far larger bombs and missiles is unknown until independent radiation monitoring can start - as recommended by the IAEA, UNEP and EU Parliament. That some of these secret warheads have been designed, patented and tested with uranium or depleted uranium options is certain from US Patent records and the MoD website. If a significant number of the 19,000 guided weapons used in Iraq this year had large uranium warheads there may be up to 2000+ tons of new uranium contamination in Iraqi cities and villages. 12,000 similar weapons were used in Afghanistan, suspected of causing 1000+ tons of uranium contamination. Severe levels of (undepleted) uranium contamination have been found among sick civilians living near recent guided bomb and missile targets in Afghanistan (http://www.umrc.net). The mystery illness reported last week among US troops in Iraq - like pneumonia but also with renal failure - has disturbing similarities to the mystery illnesses that Spanish troops died of soon after the Balkans war and reported in Afghan comunities soon after the US bombing there. The symptoms are those expected of acute exposure to uranium oxide dust but in far higher doses than from DU anti-tank ammunition. Until WHO teams can do serious health monitoring in Iraq they may be many similar illnesses and deaths among civilians written off as respiratory ailments. It is vital that the warnings in the Hiroshima Appeal are repeated around the world in support of communities in Iraq and Afghanistan. To date the UK media has been curiously silent on these questions. . Dai Williams, Surrey eosuk@btinternet.com Hiroshima Appeal for Banning DU Weapons ================= August 6, 2003 Hiroshima appeals: No more Hibakusha! [victims of radiation warfare] Don't create any more Hibakusha. DU weapons are highly toxic radioactive weapons. Hence, they are weapons of mass destruction. (1) Cries of warning have long been raised around the world. Resolutions banning DU weapons have already been adopted by the UN Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and by the European Assembly. Nonetheless, the United States and Great Britain used DU weapons again in the recent Iraq War. This act is clearly a "crime against humanity”as specified by the International Court of Justice. Because DU weapons are inhumane weapons, an immediate ban must be placed upon their production, use, or trade. (2) Not only soldiers but also many civilians are suffering from the damage done by depleted uranium. Children, who are most susceptible to its radiation effects, are the most common victims. The use of DU weapons is an irreparable, sacrilegious practice that permanently harms the Earth's life environment. We must lose no time in extending relief and aid to the people, especially the children, suffering from DU damage. (3) The United States and Great Britain should disclose all information detailing when, where and what DU weapons have been used. The international community must bring to light the facts of the damage done, and draw up and carry out the measures required to ameliorate or rectify the situation as soon as possible. NO DU Hiroshima Project * * * Bring back Peace! Bring back Human Beings! ============================== In the US, a group of bereaved family members that formed to oppose military retaliation for the September 11 terrorist attacks took the name September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. This name comes from a speech by Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” I agree completely. Our urgent task today is to find “the right chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” HARA Tamiki (1905-51) was an important literary witness to the atomic bomb. In 1947 he wrote the following in a poem entitled Summer Flowers. “BROKEN PIECES, GLITTERING, AND GRAY-WHITE CINDERS, A VAST PANORAMA---THE STRANGE RHYTHM OF HUMAN CORPSES BURNED RED. WAS ALL THIS REAL? COULD IT BE REAL? THE UNIVERSE HENCEFORTH, STRIPPED IN A FLASH OF EVERYTHING.” (Richard H. Minear, Hiroshima: Three Witnesses, 1990, p.58) In 1951, the poet witness TOGE Sankichi (1917-1953) wrote the following in the prelude to his Poems of the Atomic Bomb (1951). “Bring back the fathers! Bring back the mothers! Bring back the old people! Bring back the children! Bring me back! Bring back the human beings I had contact with! For as long as there are human beings, a world of human beings, bring back peace, unbroken peace.” (op. cit., p.305) During the Korean War, President Truman announced that he was considering the use of nuclear weapons. Toge, still recuperating from his A-bomb injuries, was stimulated by this announcement to pour what energy he had into writing his Poems of the Atomic Bomb as a warning. Hara’s suicide was a direct result of mounting apprehension that nuclear weapons would be used again. He wrote, "Will human kind merely live pitiful lives in the valleys between wars? Can one not sense its meaning unless one's own skin is seared by the murderous rays of an atomic bomb? "(op. cit., p.30) Today, more than fifty years later, heartrending voices around the world shout, “Return the human beings! Bring back peace!” The world is full of sorrow, but we continue to use our “poor chisels.” North Korea announces that it is developing nuclear weapons. The US government is developing so-called mini-nukes. Meanwhile, we all suffer from radioactive contamination, the epitome of man-made tragedy. Nuclear weapons are the worst possible chisels for carving out peace. These chisels must never be used again. Hannah Arendt, a Jewish philosopher who fled to the US from Nazi Germany said, “The first step toward loving the world is to pay continual attention to reality.” Photographer Takashi Morizumi has shown us the reality of DU weapons in Iraq. His photos are an extremely shocking, raw testimony to the damage that has been done. But we must look at this tragedy without flinching. Above all, we must help Americans learn the truth. If we are to bring back peace and humanity to the world, we must begin by carefully observing what is happening. Then, we must search together for the right “chisels with which to carve out peaceful tomorrows.” Nobuo KAZASHI Director, NO DU Hiroshima Project see also http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/uran/index_e.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2029293.stm http://www.eoslifework.co.uk/u23.htm _______________________________________________ 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