jaymarx's blog

Honor Vets by Learning About Depleted Uranium

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:42:08 -0500

By Barbara Bellows-TerraNova
November 11, 2008

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/print_friendly.php?p=
Honor-Vets-by-Learning-Abo-by-Barbara-Bellows-Te-081111-169.html

As Europe mourns in Verdun today for those lost in "The War to End
All Wars", World War I, we could look to another moment in European
history to shed light on the most aggressively silenced story of the
Bush administration.

In late 2000 and January 2001, reports were exploding across Europe
about the rise in cancer amongst NATO soldiers who had served in the
"peacekeeping missions" in Bosnia and Kosovo. The effects of the
depleted uranium in the U.S. and U.K. weapons could not be ignored.

But history shows that the United Nations and the World Health
Organization could be intimidated. The report from the WHO – that
detailed how the DU vaporized upon impact into tiny particles that
were breathed in, or consumed through the mouth or entered through
open wounds, where the irradiating bits attacked cells all the way
through the body, causing mutations along the way – was shelved under
pressure from the U.S.

Even now, the major U.S. news organizations do not touch the subject,
though the international press cannot ignore it. Even last month, a
Middle Eastern Reuters reporter discussed the health damages because
of the contaminated environment with Iraqi En Iraqi Environment
Minister Nermeen Othman,
"When we talk about it, people may think we are overreacting. But in
fact the environmental catastrophe that we inherited in Iraq is even
worse than it sounds."

And The Tehran Times further endangers their country by continuing to
report on the problem, calling it a war crime.

And across the internet, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Roger Helbig
seeks to intimidate anyone who dares to bring up the subject.

But we evolve, and the United Nations First Committee has
overwhelmingly passed a resolution, on October 31st, calling for
"relevant UN agencies, in this case the International Atomic Energy
Association (IAEA), World Health Organisation (WHO) and United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to update and complete their
research into the possible health and environmental impact of the use
of uranium weapons by 2010." The only countries that voted against
it were the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and France.

Meanwhile, to help the reader get to the point, I've put together the
following. Although the facts, for the most part, do not contain
links, there is a list of the references at the end.

Ten Essential Facts:

1. Depleted uranium, the nuclear waste of uranium enrichment, is not
actually "depleted" of radiation; 99.3% of it is Uranium238, which
still emits radioactive alpha particles at the rate 12,400/second,
with an estimated half life of 4.5 billion years.

2. Depleted uranium is plentiful - there are 7 pounds remaining for
every pound of enriched uranium - and requires expensive and often
politically-contentious hazardous waste storage.

3. Depleted uranium is less of a problem for the nuclear industry
when it is cheaply passed on to U.S. weapons manufacturers for
warheads, penetrators, bunker-busters, missiles, armor and other
ammunition used by the U.S. military in the Middle East and
elsewhere, and sold to other countries and political factions.

4. Depleted uranium is "pyrophoric", which makes it uniquely
effective at piercing hard targets, because upon impact, it
immediately burns, vaporizing the majority of its bulk and leaving a
hard, thin, sharpened tip - and large amounts of radioactive
particles suspended in the atmosphere.

5. Depleted uranium weaponry was first used in the U.S. bombing of
Iraq in 1991, under President George H. W. Bush and Defense Secretary
Dick Cheney.

6. Depleted uranium weaponry was later used by President Bill Clinton
in the NATO "peace-keeping" bombing missions in Bosnia, Kosovo and
Serbia. By January 2001, as the 2nd President Bush and Dick Cheney
were moving in to the White House, there was a furor in Europe over
the news of an alarming increase in leukemia and other cancers
amongst the NATO troops who'd served in the Balkans.

7. The World Health Organization suppressed a November 2001 report on
the health hazards of depleted uranium by Dr. Keith Baverstock, Head
of the WHO's Radiation Protection Division and his team, commissioned
by the United Nations. Baverstock's report, "Radiological Toxicity of
Depleted Uranium", detailed the significant danger of airborne
vaporized depleted uranium particles, already considerably more
prevalent in Iraq than the Balkans due to the difference in military
tactics, because they are taken into the body by inhaling and
ingesting, and then their size and solubility determines how quickly
they move through the respiratory, circulatory and gastrointestinal
systems, attacking and poisoning from within as they travel, and
where the damages occur. In addition, the report warns that the
particles tend to settle in the soft tissue of the testes, and may
cause mutations in sperm. In 2004 Dr. Baverstock, no longer at the
WHO, released the report through Rob Edwards at Scotland's Sunday
Herald.

8. The George W. Bush/Dick Cheney administration twisted the meaning
of the failure of the World Health Organization to produce evidence
of depleted uranium's health hazards, turning it into evidence that
there was no link between exposure to depleted uranium and the
increases in cancer in Europe and Iraq; instead, as presented in the
January 20, 2003 report by the new Office of Global Communications,
ironically titled Apparatus of Lies: Saddam's Disinformation and
Propaganda 1990 - 2003, the depleted uranium uproar was only an
exploitation of fear and suffering. Two months later, Bush-Cheney-
Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz-Rice began to "Shock and Awe" Baghdad by again
dropping tons of depleted uranium bombs on densely populated areas.

9. On March 27, 2003, significant increases in depleted uranium
particles in the atmosphere were detected by the air sampler filter
systems of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at 8 different sites near
Aldermaston Berkshire, Great Britain, and continued at 4-5 times the
previous norm until the end of April 2003, after the Coalition forces
declared the war over. This information only came to light in a
report on January 6, 2006 by Dr. Chris Busby, due to his diligent
fight for access to the data through Britain's Freedom of Information
law.

10. We have a new, intelligent President, who is willing to listen.
It is up to us to bring this to his attention. THIS IS HOW WE CAN
HONOR VETERANS.

******************************

Rep. Frank Breaks Taboo on Military Spending

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:02:39 -0400

By David Swanson
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/37179

When a Congress member steps forward and courageously articulates a
forbidden truth that is absolutely necessary for our survival and
well-being (and by "our" I mean our species, not just our nation), he
must be praised, rewarded, and defended at all costs, without question or hesitation. This is the situation we are in with Congressman Barney Frank having just blurted out the obvious but taboo fact that the U.S. military budget must be cut. "If we are going to get the deficit under control without slashing every domestic program, this is a necessity," Frank said, proposing to cut military spending by 25 percent.

Nobel Peace Prize to former Finland Leader: Martti Ahtisaari

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:50:52 -0400

(CNN) -- Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari has won the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday.

"Ahtisaari is an outstanding international mediator," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

"Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts."

The committee cited Ahtisaari's "significant" part in establishing Namibia's independence and his "central" role in solving the question of the Indonesian province of Aceh in 2005. Watch as Finland celebrates the announcement »

A Letter from Troy Davis

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:40:11 -0400

The following letter was written by Troy Davis on September 22, 2008.
This week, two hours before he was to be executed, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay of execution to consider his appeal. Their decision is expected soon.

To all,

I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith.

It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.

As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy.

I can't even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.

I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.

So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated.

There are so many more Troy Davis'. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.

I can't wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing, "I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!"

Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!

-- Troy Davis

Peace Prevails! Help Tell The Story. . .

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:23:16 -0400

It's election season, summer's here, the War and Occupation in Iraq continues at a cost of $720 million a day (!), and Congress just passed another $180+ Billion blank check for war. Meanwhile, the hard and creative work of pro-peace mobilization continues across the city and the region. The mainstream media ignores us furiously, but the Washington Peace Letter wants to tell the full story--and we need your help.

If you've been to an event--demonstration, cultural action, workshop, speech, government fiasco--anything that interested you and that you think others should know about, then TELL US ABOUT IT. The Peace Letter is written and edited by volunteers like you. You can send us any story (ideally between 200 and 2000 words--clarity and brevity are always appreciated) and we can put it in print. ALL SUBMISSIONS APPRECIATED AND CONSIDERED. (wpc@igc.org Subject line: NEWS- [your headline])

Call and Answer

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:30:22 -0400

Tell me why it is we don’t lift our voices these days
And cry over what is happening. Have you noticed
The plans are made for Iraq and the ice cap is melting?

I say to myself: “Go on, cry. What’s the sense
Of being an adult and having no voice? Cry out!
See who will answer! This is Call and Answer!”

We will have to call especially loud to reach
Our angels, who are hard of hearing; they are hiding
In the jugs of silence filled during our wars.

Have we agreed to so many wars that we can’t
Escape from silence? If we don’t lift our voices, we allow
Others (who are ourselves) to rob the house.

How come we’ve listened to the great criers—Neruda,
Akhmatova, Thoreau, Frederick Douglass—and now
We’re silent as sparrows in the little bushes?

Some masters say our life lasts only seven days.
Where are we in the week? Is it Thursday yet?
Hurry, cry now! Soon Sunday night will come.

August 2002 - Robert Bly

The Longest Walk II

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:16:17 -0400

They are coming. . . they are almost here. . . several
hundred Native Americans and their supporters who
for five months have been walking and running from Alcatraz Island in
San Francisco to convene in D.C. on July 11, 2008 . . . Why brave
the cold? Why endure the heat? Why picking up
garbage along the way?
http://www.longestwalk.org - Schedule Listed Below
The Longest Walk was organized in 1978 to protect the sovereignty of Indian Nations.
Hundreds have walked over 3,600 miles, and ultimately legislation was passed to protect Native American treaty rights.

Galloway: "I'm Off To Iran Before Israel Bombs It"

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:27:58 -0400

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20209.htm
I'm Off To Iran Before Israel Bombs It
By George Galloway

30/06/08 "Daily Record" -- - BY the time you read this, I will be in
Iran. I've never been there before, never met an Iranian leader - I
don't even like the present Iranian leadership - so remember all
that, because it might become important.

I'm determined to do my bit for the anti-war effort. We need another
war like Gordon Brown needs another by-election.

Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War Launched in Japan

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:12:24 -0400

by Alice Slater

Published on Monday, June 2, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/02/9355/

ARTICLE 9: JAPANESE CONSTITUTION: Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war

Fry 'Em! - Raytheon's Pain Ray

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:42:21 -0400

By MICHAEL DICKINSON

http://www.counterpunch.org/dickinson05282008.html

Coming soon, from the folks who brought you the microwave - Raytheon! After more than ten years in the making and at a cost of over 40 million dollars, ‘Silent Guardian’, or Active Denial System, (ADS, in it’s formal mood), is almost ready for public release!

Yes, Raytheon - manufacturer of the 100 bunker buster bombs kindly flown by America to Israel at the height of their bombardment of Lebanon, and supplier of electronic equipment for the apartheid wall built on Palestinian land; - Raytheon - with its73,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of 20 billion dollars has gone and done it again!

Anti-Torture Vigil this Saturday at the CIA Entrance

Thu, 29 May 2008 08:56:43 -0400
This week 34 of our colleagues and friends are on
trial as part of a great campaign to Shut Down
Guantanamo and end the government's use of torture. On
Saturday please join the Washington Peace Center, the
Washington Regional Religious Campaign to Against
Torture, Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice,
and Witness Against Torture as we bring our message to
one of the largest researchers, teachers and
practitioners of torture -- The CIA in Langley,
Virginia. Our message is clear:

Torture is Terrorism!

Please bring signs, banners and orange jumpsuits and

Pat Elder Responds to Ron Kovic: Military Recruiters Must Be Confronted

Thu, 29 May 2008 08:14:59 -0400

I like Ron Kovic but his brand of civil disobedience directed at military
recruitment is counter-productive. Kovic writes, "I strongly encourage all
of you to use every means of creative, nonviolent civil disobedience to stop
military recruitment all across our country."

Sorry, Ron, it doesn't work here. In fact, it may be counter-productive.
Thousands of us are diligently working in the schools. We're engaged with
superintendents, school boards, and state legislatures. Massive civil
disobedience directed at recruiting stations may conspire to close doors for
many of us.

An escalation of actions directed at U.S. military recruiting stations,
particularly events in New York and Berkeley, have attracted a great deal of
national attention to the issue of military recruiting in America. It is my
intention herein to challenge my colleagues to think more critically about
their tactics and to consider how they are resonating within the
counter-recruitment movement and in the public's mind.

It's deeply ironic to me when counter-recruitment protesters are excoriated
by the media, while only a few blocks away, in the local high school,
recruiters casually roam the halls and enjoy lunch with 16 and 17 year-olds.
If a fraction of the energy dedicated to street protests could be marshaled
toward long-term campaigns directed at opposing military recruitment in the
high schools, our combined strategic objectives would be more quickly met.

Folksinger, Storyteller, Veteran, Railroad Rider, Friend of Humanity: Utah Phillips Dead at 73

Mon, 26 May 2008 14:14:23 -0400

Nevada City, California
Utah Phillips, a seminal figure in American folk music who performed extensively and tirelessly for audiences on two continents for 38 years, died Friday of congestive heart failure in Nevada City, California, a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains where he lived for the last 21 years.
Born Bruce Duncan Phillips on May 15, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio, he was the son of labor organizers. Whether through this early influence or an early life that was not always tranquil or easy, by his twenties Phillips demonstrated a lifelong concern with the living conditions of working people. He was a proud member of the Industrial Workers of the World, popularly known as “the Wobblies,” an organizational artifact of early twentieth-century labor struggles that has seen renewed interest and growth in membership in the last decade, not in small part due to his efforts to popularize it.

Open Letter to John Conyers - Please Impeach to Protect Iran from Cheney!

Mon, 19 May 2008 09:30:22 -0400

Dear Chairman Conyers,

We've met on seven occasions. I'm usually with Leslie, the sweet lady with the pink bonnet. She calls this her "Conyers Bonnet" because she bought it especially for the meetings with you. She likes to wear her "Sunday Best" when she comes to visit because she respects you and appreciates what you've done with your life. As you know, she usually does the talking and I do the filming, but it's time for me to put down the camera and share some thoughts.

Quite honestly, If it weren't for Leslie I would have returned to California a long time ago, but she refuses to give up hope. She thinks you'll eventually see the light and do the right thing. I don't know what Nancy Pelosi has hanging over your head, but if you haven't listened to your conscience by now, I don't think you will.

Leslie wasn't with me during the Judiciary Hearing a few weeks ago. She hadn't gotten any sleep because she was worried Bush would use the additional $70 billion the Democrats wanted to give him to bomb Iran. I brought her "Conyers Bonnet" and propped it up in the chair next to me to acknowledge her presence. When there was a break I moved in your direction. Capitol police blocked my way, but I managed to get within earshot and I asked if we could talk. You invited me up and there we were eye to eye. I explained why Leslie wasn't there and then I said,"Now that Fallon is gone, you are the only person left who can stop a war with Iran. Please start the impeachment hearings for Cheney NOW!"

In your letter http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051308A.shtml to President Bush you say,"Late last year, Senator Joseph Biden stated unequivocally that 'the president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach' the president. We agree with Senator Biden, and it is our view that if you do not obtain the constitutionally required congressional authorization before launching preemptive military strikes against Iran or any other nation, impeachment proceedings should be pursued."

John Cusack's War: The Actor Battles to Un-embed Hollywood With "War, Inc."

Fri, 16 May 2008 22:02:36 -0400

By Jeremy Scahill
t r u t h o u t | Film Review
Friday 16 May 2008
    Back in 1989, in his smash hit, "Say Anything," John Cusack famously stood with a boom box above his head outside the home of the woman he loved blasting Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes." With his latest films on the Iraq war, Cusack is standing outside Hollywood with a TV above his head broadcasting his political movies calling on the public to wake up and "Do Something."
    John Cusack began working on his new film, "War, Inc.," which premieres in LA and New York May 23, about a year into the US occupation of Iraq. From the moment US tanks rolled into Baghdad, Cusack was a voracious consumer of news about the war. He took it deadly seriously, regularly calling independent journalists and asking them questions as he sought as much independent information as he could. Watching the insanity of the erection of the Green Zone and the advent of the era of McWar, complete with tens of thousands of "private contractors," Cusack set out to use the medium of film to unveil the madness. He wanted to do on the big screen what independent reporters like Naomi Klein, Nir Rosen and Dahr Jamail did in print. Over these years of war and occupation, Cusack has become one of the most insightful commentators on a far-too-seldom-discussed aspect of the occupation: the corporate dominance of the US war machine.