DU

Who ever thought that two letters could destroy the world.

"Depleted uranium is a crime against God and humanity."

--Doug Rokke, U.S. Army contractor who headed clean-up of DU after the first Gulf War states

After performing clean-up operations in the desert (mistakenly without protective gear), 30 members of his staff died, and most others "including Rokke himself"developed serious health problems. Rokke now has reactive airway disease, neurological damage, cataracts, and kidney problems.

"We warned the Department of Defense in 1991 after the Gulf War. Their arrogance is beyond comprehension."

Yet the D.O.D still insists such ingestion is "not sufficient to make troops seriously ill in most cases."

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The laws of war prohibit the use of weapons that have deadly and inhumane effects beyond the field of battle. Nor can weapons be legally deployed in war when they are known to remain active, or cause harm after the war concludes. It is no surprise that the Japanese Court found President Bush guilty of war crimes.

[G]uided by the principles of International Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law, found President George W. Bush guilty of war crimes. On March 14, 2004, Nao Shimoyachi, reported in The Japan Times that President Bush was found guilty "for attacking civilians with indiscriminate weapons and other arms,"and the "tribunal also issued recommendations for banning Depleted Uranium shells and other weapons that indiscriminately harm people."

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Two years ago, President Bush withdrew the United States as a signatory to the International Criminal Court's statute, which has been ratified by all other Western democracies. It has also demanded express immunity from ICC prosecution for American nationals.

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"I would say that it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people."

--Marion Falk, a retired chemical physicist who built nuclear bombs for more than 20 years at Lawrence Livermore Lab

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When a DU round or bomb strikes a hard target, most of its kinetic energy is converted to heat "sufficient heat to ignite the DU." From 40% to 70% of the DU is converted to extremely fine dust particles of ceramic uranium oxide (primarily dioxide, though other formulations also occur). Over 60% of these particles are smaller than 5 microns in diameter, about the same size as the cigarette ash particles in cigarette smoke and therefore respirable.

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"Everyone seems to be dying of cancer. Every day one hears about another acquaintance or friend of a friend dying. How many more die in hospitals that one does not know?

Apparently, over thirty percent of Iraqis have cancer, and there are lots of kids with leukemia."

--Nuha Al Radi, author of the "Baghdad Diaries" before she died of leukemia in Sept. 2004

But, by far its most devastating effect is on UNBORN children.

Nothing can prepare anyone for the sight of hundreds of preserved fetuses "scarcely human in appearance." Iraq is now seeing babies with terribly foreshortened limbs, with their intestines outside their bodies, with huge bulging tumors where their eyes should be, or with a single eye-like Cyclops, or without eyes, or without limbs, and even without heads.

"Unborn children of the region are being asked to pay the highest price, the integrity of their DNA."

--Ross B. Mirkarimi, a spokesman at The Arms Control Research Centre

But No one is WATCHING.

"I arranged for a delegation from Japan's Hiroshima Hospital to come and share their expertise in the radiological diseases we are likely to face over time."

"The delegation told me the Americans had objected and they decided not to come. Similarly, a world famous German cancer specialist agreed to come, only to be told later that he would not be given permission to enter Iraq."

--Dr. Ahmad Hardan, special advisor to the WHO, the UN, and the Iraqi Ministry of Health

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Dr. Durakovic, UMRC research associates Patricia Horan and Leonard Dietz, published a unique study in the August 2002 issue of Military Medicine Medical Journal. . . .

The study, which examined British, Canadian and U.S. veterans, all suffering typical Gulf War Syndrome ailments, found that, nine years after the war, 14 of 27 veterans studied had DU in their urine. DU also was found in the lung and bone of a deceased Gulf War veteran. That no governmental study has been done on inhaled DU "amounts to a massive malpractice," Dietz said in an interview.

How does DU claim its victims?

"Exposure pathways for depleted uranium can be through the skin, by inhalation, and ingestion," writes Lauren Moret, another DU researcher. "Nano-particles have high mobility and can easily enter the body."

"Inhalation of nano-particles of depleted uranium is the most hazardous exposure, because the particles pass through the lung-blood barrier directly into the blood."

"When inhaled through the nose, nano-particles can cross the olfactory bulb directly into the brain through the blood brain barrier, where they migrate all through the brain."

"Many Gulf era soldiers exposed to depleted uranium have been diagnosed with brain tumors, brain damage and impaired thought processes. Uranium can interfere with the mitochondria, which provide energy for the nerve processes, and transmittal of the nerve signal across synapses in the brain."

What can inhaling DU dust do to YOU?

Captain Terry Riordon was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces serving in Gulf War I. He passed away in April 1999 at age 45. Terry left Canada a very fit man who did cross-country skiing and ran in marathons. On his return only two months later he could barely walk.

He returned to Canada in February 1991 with documented loss of motor control, chronic fatigue, respiratory difficulties, chest pain, difficulty breathing, sleep problems, short-term memory loss, testicle pain, body pains, aching bones, diarrhea, and depression. After his death, [DU] contamination was discovered in his lungs and bones.

How many Iraqis are expected to DIE from inhaling DU?

In the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the UK Atomic Energy Authority came up with estimates for the potential effects of the DU contamination left by the conflict. It calculated that "this could cause "500,000 potential deaths."

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"As a result of the Iraq war, the situation will be desperate in some five to 10 years."

--Dr. Yuko Fujita, an assistant professor at Keio University, Japan

The world cannot afford to WAIT that long. Pass this on.

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Thanks, Erosoplier