April 16, 2005

SILENT OMNICIDE B THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HUMAN GENE POOL

ATMOSPHERIC TESTING

The global radioactive contamination from atmospheric testing was the equivalent of 40,000 Hiroshima bombs (Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 3).

THE YOM KIPPUR WAR, 1973

During the 1973 Yom Kippur war, depleted uranium (DU) weapons were given by the U.S. to Israel and, under the supervision of the U.S., were used by Israel against the Arabs (Moret, Speaking on DU, p. 10; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 5; Moret, Dirty Bombs, p. 4).

IRAQ AND KUWAIT, 1991 (OPERATION DESERT STORM)

DU deposited on the Battlefield:

In 1991, an estimated total of 325 to 900 metric tons of DU was deposited in the battlefields of Iraq and Kuwait. The low end of the estimate is the Pentagon=s admitted use. The high end is the estimate of scientific bodies (Kettner, cited in Phillips, p. 147; Moret, Speaking on DU, p. 9; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 10; Phillips, p. 50).

The Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC), an international, independent, non-profit research organization based both in Canada and the United States, has estimated that the range of DU weapon usage in 1991, was between 325 and 800 tons. It notes that if 40 percent of this DU was burned, approximately 300,000 kilograms of DU would have been aerosolized (Uranium Medical Research Centre, p. 4).

In 1990, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) estimated that for every ton of residual DU dust remaining Ain a region,@ 10,000 excess cancers within 10 years could be expected. Taking 800 tons for DU use in 1991, this means that 8,000,000 excess cancers would be expected within a span of 10 years (Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 16).

Depleted Uranium in the Air:

In 2001, the radioactivity in the air around the battlefield in Southern Iraq was 20 times that of the air in Baghdad. In the populated region of Basra, adjacent to the battlefield, air radioactivity was 10 times that in Baghdad (Bein, pp. 5 and 23).

Exposure of U.S. Soldiers:

A 1998 study of 10,000 Gulf War veterans indicated that 80 percent of all veterans B more than 500,000 B had been in situations where they could have been exposed to DU (Bein, p.15; Hooper, p. 3; Tashiro, p. 1).

By 2004, out of a total of 697,000 American Gulf War veterans, 518,739 (74 percent) were receiving disability compensation; 325,000 (47 percent) had reported serious illnesses; 240,000 (34 percent) were on permanent medical disability; and 11,000 (1.6 percent) had died (Bein, p.15; Bollyn, p. 3; International Criminal Tribunal p. 35; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 12; Moret, Dirty Bombs, pp. 1 and 3; Nichols, cited in Phillips, p. 51).

Congenital Abnormalities:

1. In Iraq: In Iraq as a whole, congenital abnormalities have increased sharply (All abnormalities: Kettner, cited in Phillips, p. 147. Anophthalmos: Moret, cited in Phillips, p. 51):

Congenital Abnormalities, Iraq, 2001 and 2002

Previous 2001 Percent Rate 2002 Increase (1989)

All Abnormalities

(per 100,000 births), 2001 11 116 955

Anophthalmos (Born without Eyes)

(per 100,000 births), 2002 0.01 500 5,000,000

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2. At the Saddam Teaching Hospital, Basra, Iraq: At the Basra Teaching Hospital, cancer deaths and congenital abnormalities have increased dramatically (Al-Ali, cited in both Phillips, p. 50, and Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 12):

Cancer Deaths,

Saddam Teaching Hospital, Basra, Iraq

1989 2001 Percent Increase

Cancer deaths 34 603 1,674

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3. In the Offsprings of U.S. Soldiers: A U.S. Government study on post-Gulf War babies born to 251 veterans, revealed that 67 percent of the babies had either serious illnesses or serious birth defects. Many of these families had previously had healthy babies (International Criminal Tribunal, p. 35; Moret, Speaking on DU, p. 9; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 12; Moret, Dirty Bombs, p. 3).

IRAQ, 1992-2003 (AIR RAIDS IN THE ANO-FLY ZONES@)

Use of Radiological Weapons:

Radiological weapons were most likely used (Bein, p. 4).

BOSNIA, 1994-1995

Use of Radiological Weapons:

Radiological weapons were most likely used (Bein, p. 4).

Cancers and Congenital Abnormalities:

In the local population exposed to DU ammunition, and among international soldiers and policemen who have served in Bosnia, leukemia, cancers and birth deformities are on the increase. In Yugoslavia as a whole, severe birth defects have been reported in babies born to contaminated civilians (Bein, p. 8; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 12).

Cancer rates in Sarajevo have increased dramatically (Sarajevo Registry Report, cited in Bein, p. 8)

Cancer Rates in Sarajevo (per 100,000 population)

1995 2000 Percent Increase

All Cancers 46 264 474

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IRAQ, 1998 (OPERATION DESERT FOX)

Radiological weapons were most likely used (Bein, p. 4).

KOSOVO, 1999

Use of Radiological Weapons:

Leuren Moret, geoscientist, previously at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory where she became a whistle blower, estimates that somewhat less than 100 tons of DU were used in Bosnia and Kosovo (Bein, p. 4; Moret, Speaking on DU, p. 9).

Bomb craters were found to be radioactive, and an unexploded missile was found to contain a DU warhead (Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 8).

Congenital Malformations:

In Yugoslavia as a whole, severe birth defects have been reported in babies born to contaminated civilians (Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 12).

AFGHANISTAN, 2001

Use of Radiological Weapons:

Residents near sites which were hit by hard-target weapons are found to be highly contaminated by radioactivity. Bomb craters and their surrounding water courses are contaminated with uranium not naturally found in the region (Bein, p. 4; Phillips, p. 52).

A 2003 study by the Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC) has shown that four months after the attacks, of the urine samples taken from Afghan civilians at six sites (two in Kabul and four in the Jalalabad area), all were contaminated with radioactivity. Non-depleted uranium was found B the levels of non-depleted uranium were between 400 and 2,000 percent higher than normal (Carlson, cited in Phillips, p. 149; International Criminal Tribunal, p. 38; UMRC 2003, cited in Phillips, p. 49).

On March 10, 2004, referring to both Afghanistan and Iraq, Judge Ms. Niloufer Bhagwat, of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan at Tokyo, wrote in her final opinion (International Criminal Tribunal, p. 16):

ADU weapons, genocidal in properties, were extensively used as weapons of extermination of present and future generations.@

Amount of DU deposited:

Starting with the bombings on October 7, 2001, at a very minimum, 500 to 600 tons of DU ordnance were used throughout Afghanistan B including at Tora Bora, Shaikoot, Paktia, Mazare-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Khost, Kundoz, and Kabul around Bagram (International Criminal Tribunal, p. 31).

Some estimates, which include non-depleted uranium, report that 1000 tons of depleted (DU) and non-depleted uranium were used (International Criminal Tribunal, p. 31; Moret, Speaking on DU, p. 10).

Professor Katsuma Yagasaki, of Ryukyus University, Okinawa, Japan, estimated that 800 tons of DU were used in Afghanistan, and that this is the radioactive equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The Nagasaki bomb equaled 22 kilotons of TNT while the Hiroshima bomb equaled 12.5 kilotons of TNT, producing a ratio between the two bombs of (22/12.5) = 1.76. Therefore, 83,000 Nagasaki bombs are the equivalent of (83,000 x 1.76) = 146,080 Hiroshima bombs. Every ton of DU deposited is the radioactivity equivalent of 182.6 Hiroshima bombs (Hanson, p. 1; International Criminal Tribunal, p. 36; Levine, p. 1; Phillips, p. 50).

IRAQ, 2003

Use of Radiological Weapons:

Following Operation Iraqi Freedom, depleted uranium was found in biological samples donated by Iraqi civilians, as well as in the water, soil and atmosphere of Iraq (Uranium Medical Research Center, cited in Phillips, p. 52).

Amount or DU deposited:

Professor Katsuma Yagasaki, of Ryukyus University, Okinawa, estimates that 2,410 tons of DU were used in Iraq, a radioactivity equivalent of 250,000 Nagasaki bombs B or 440,000 Hiroshima bombs (International Criminal Tribunal, p. 36; Phillips, p. 50).

Predicted Excess Cancers:

Using the 1990 ratio of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) whereby for every ton of residual DU dust remaining Ain a region,@ 10,000 excess cancers within 10 years can be expected, the 2,410 tons of DU used in the 2003 Gulf War, is likely to cause 24,100,000 excess cancers within a 10-year span. In 1998, the CIA estimated the population of Iraq as approximately 24,683,313 (Moret, Speaking on DU, p. 10; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 16; Nichols, p. 2; Phillips, p. 49).

ADU weapons, genocidal in properties, were extensively used as weapons of extermination of present and future generations.@

OTHER COUNTRIES

Within a 1000 mile Radius:

All countries within a radius of approximately 1000 miles of the use of DU weapons are affected:

The Afghanistan War B Countries affected: Countries affected by the use of DU weaponry in Afghanistan include Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China and India (International Criminal Tribunal, p. 34; Moret, cited in Phillips, p. 50).

Given the heavy U.S. bombing of the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, it seems probable that large amounts of DU have found their way into the rivers of the Hindu basin whose sources are precisely in the mountains of the Hindu-Kush. For example, heading east from Kabul, the Kabul River crosses into Pakistan and flows into the Indus River (International Criminal Tribunal p. 39).

The Iraq Wars B Countries affected: Countries affected by the use of DU weaponry in Iraq include Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Turkey and Iran (International Criminal Tribunal, p. 34; Leuren Moret, cited in Phillips, p. 50).

Downwind from the radioactive devastation in Iraq, Israel is suffering from large increases in breast cancer, leukemia and childhood diabetes (Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 11).

The United States:

As of 1999, of the 50 states in the United States, 42 states were contaminated with DU as a result of the manufacture, testing and deployment of DU since 1974 (Moret, Dirty Bombs, p. 5).8

AVAILABILITY OF DU

Widely Distributed:

Depleted uranium is widely distributed throughout the world:

1. United States Sale to Other Countries: The U.S. has manufactured and tested DU weapons systems since 1973. It has sold such systems to a total of 29 countries (Moret, Speaking on DU, p. 9; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 5; Moret, Dirty Bombs, p. 4).

2. World Stockpile: More than 750,000 tons of DU are now stockpiled. The half-life of depleted uranium is 4,500,000,000 years B the time span since the origin of the Earth (Hooper, p. 1; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 3).

COVER-UP

United States Atomic Energy Commission:

A 1947 secret memo from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission states (Bein, p. 16):

AIt is desired that no document be released which refers to experiments with humans that might have adverse effects on public opinion or result in legal suits. Documents covering such field work should be classified >secret.=@

Los Alamos National Laboratory:

A March 1, 1991, memo from Lt. Col. M. V. Ziehmn of Los Alamos National Laboratory, to Major Larsson of the Studies and Analysis Branch, entitled, AThe Effectiveness of Depleted Uranium Penetrators,@ states (Bein, p. 16; International Criminal Tribunal, p. 33).

AIt is believed that DU penetrators were very effective against Iraqi armor. However, assessments of such will have to be made. There has been, and continues to be, a concern regarding the impact of DU on the environment. Therefore, if no one makes a case for the effectiveness of DU on the battlefield, DU rounds may become politically unacceptable and thus be deleted from the arsenal. If DU penetrators prove their worth during our recent combat activities, then we should assure their future existence (until something better is developed) through Service/Department of Defense proponency [sic]. If proponency [sic] is not garnered, it is possible that we stand to lose a valuable combat capability. I believe we should keep this sensitive issue in mind whenever action reports are written.@

The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia:

Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, has refused to prosecute the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for contaminating Bosnia and Kosovo with uranium through the use of DU weapons. In January 2001, she announced that her tribunal would act only Aif coherent results emerge directly linking the use of DU ammunition with health problems.@ This statement of a theoretical willingness to open the Tribunal to prosecution and potential damage claims, is a key factor in the continued unwarranted controversy about the actual effects of DU and other radiation weapons (Bein, p. 14).

United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP):

A 2002 UNEP Report on the sequella of DU ammunition use in Bosnia during the period 1994-1995, recommended evacuation and cleanups of contaminated buildings and grounds in Sarajevo and Republika Srpska. It did not include an analysis of Kosovo, Montenegro and Southern Serbia where antedating the investigation, DU-sites had been marked, fenced off, and the contaminated soil removed to storage at the Yugoslav Nuclear Institute in Vinca (Bein, p. 5).

World Health Organization (WHO):

1. A November 2001 WHO Report on the effects of DU on health, co-authored by Dr. Keith Baverstock, Senior Radiation Specialist to WHO, was classified by the Organization as Asecret@ B in order to prevent its release to the public. In February 2004, Dr. Baverstock released the damning report to the media (International Criminal Tribunal p. 38; Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 15).

2. An April 3, 2004 World Cancer Report claiming to be Athe most comprehensive global examination of the disease to date,@ does not mention cancers due to radiation exposure. The Report notes that by 2020, cancer rates could increase by 50 percent (to a total of 15,000,000 cases), and that the Report Aprovides clear evidence that action on smoking, diet and infections can prevent a third of the cancers, another third being curable@ (WHO, cited at www.mindfully.org, p. 1).

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):

The 2004 Human Development Report has no entry under depleted uranium, nuclear, radiation, uranium or weapons (Hall).

The Report states (UNDP, p. 90):

AThe principal source of global ethics is the idea of human vulnerability and the desire to alleviate the suffering of every individual to the extent possible. Another source is the belief in the basic moral equality of all human beings.@

CONCLUSIONS

Estimated Contamination of the Earth:

Depleted Uranium Hiroshima Bomb Equivalent

(tons)

Atmospheric Testing B 40,000

Wars:

Iraq, 1991-2003 800 146,080

Yugoslavia 1994, 1999 100 18,260

Afghanistan, 2001 800 146,080

Iraq, 2003 2,410 440,066

Total during Wars 4,110 750,486

Total Contamination B 790,486

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Since the Second World war, therefore, the total radioactivity contamination of the Earth has been of the order of 800,000 Hiroshima bombs. Of this contamination, 95 percent has occurred since 1991, through the use of depleted uranium, a waste by-product of the military and civilian nuclear programs (Hooper, p. 1).

The conclusion that the equivalent of 750,486 Hiroshima bombs have been used since 1991, approximates that of Nichols (p. 2). Nichols notes that the radiation released Ain the last five American nuclear wars@ is the equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki bombs. The TNT ratio between the two bombs was 1.76, with the Nagasaki bomb being the more powerful. Therefore, 400,000 Nagasaki bombs are the equivalent of (400,000 x 1.76) = 704,000 Hiroshima bombs. This number is close to the number 750,500 obtained here.

Number of Predictable Excess Cancers:

According to the 1990 estimate of the United Kingdom Energy Authority (UKAEA), for every ton of residual DU dust remaining Ain a region,@ 10,000 excess cancers can be expected within 10 years. Using this ratio, 41,100,000 excess cancers can be expected in Central Asia, within a span of 10 years.

Map: The contaminated region from the use of depleted uranium weaponry in Afghanistan and Iraq (Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 18).

AGeopolitical competition is the contention between great powers and aspiring great powers for control over territory, resources, and important geographical positions, such as ports and harbors, canals, river systems, oases, and other sources of wealth and influence.@

AThe new center of geopolitical competition, as [United States elites] see it, is south-central Eurasia, encompassing the Persian Gulf area (which possesses two-thirds of the world=s oil), the Caspian Sea basin (which has a large chunk of what=s left), and the surrounding countries of Central Asia. This is the new center of world struggle and conflict, and the Bush administration is determined that the United States shall dominate and control this critical area.... As U.S. strategists see it, whoever controls Persian Gulf oil, controls the world=s economy and, therefore, has the ultimate lever over all competing powers.@

REFERENCES

Al-Ali, Jawad, Saddam Teaching Hospital, Basra, Iraq, reported at the Uranium Weapons Conference, Hamburg, Germany, October 2003, cited in Censored p. 50 and in Moret, Trojan Horse, p. 12).

Bein, Piotr and Karen Parker, ABackground of the Issue,@ World Uranium Weapons Conference, October 16-19, 2003. Reprinted at

http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de/background.htm.

Bollyn, Christopher, ACancer Epidemic caused by U.S. WMD,@ AmericanFreePress.net, updated August 13, 2004. Available at

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/cancerepidemic.html.

Carlson, Patrick, AUpdate: In Afghanistan B Poverty, Women=s Rights and Civil Disruption worse than Ever,@ in Phillips, Peter, and Project Censored, Censored 2005 B The Top 25 Censored Stories (Seven Stories, New York, N.Y.), 2004.

Hanson, David, AWeapons of Mass Destruction B The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,@ Virginia Western Community College, November 1998. Reprinted at

http://www.vw.cc.va.us/vwhansd/HIS122/Hiroshima.html.

Hall, Francoise, observation, April 16, 2005.

Hooper, Malcolm, AWhat is Depleted Uranium (DU) and what are its Uses in Weapons?@ Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC), Mary 2001. (Malcolm Hooper is Contributor and Medical Advisor to UMRC). Reprinted at

http://www.umrc.net/os/whatIsDU.asp.

International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan at Tokyo, The People vs. George Walker Bush, President of the United States of America, Final Written Opinion of Judge Niloufer Bhagwat, March 10, 2004. Reprinted at

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/Afghanistan-Criminal-Tribunal10mar04.htm.

Kettner, Lauren, AUpdate: U.S./British Forces continue Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons despite Massive Evidence of Negative Health Effects,@ (Censored #8, 2004) in Peter Phillips and Project Censored, Censored 2005 B The Top 25 Censored Stories (Seven Stories, New York, N.Y.), 2004.

Klare, Michael, AThe New Geopolitics,@ in John Foster and Robert McChesney, Pox Americana B Exposing the American Empire (Monthly Review Press, New York, N.Y.), 2004.

Levine, Philip, AA Photo-Essay on the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.@ Reprinted at

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/levine/bombing.htm.

Moret, Leuren

ALeuren Moret speaking on Depleted Uranium,@ Nuclear Holocaust and the Politics of Radiation Conference, Los Altos, CA, April 21, 2003, recorded and transcribed by Paul Goettlich. Reprinted at

http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2003/DU-Leuren-Moret21apr03.htm.

ADepleted Uranium B The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War,@ World Affairs B The Journal of International Issues, July 1, 2004. Reprinted at

http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/DU-Trojan-Horse1jul04.htm.

ADepleted Uranium B Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets B A Death Sentence Here and Abroad,@ San Francisco Bay View, August 18, 2004. Reprinted at

http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/DU-Dirty-Bombs18aug04.htm.

Nichols, Bob, AThere are no Words... Radiation in Iraq equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs,@ Veterans for Peace, March 27, 2004. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar04/Nichols0327/htm.

Reprinted at http://www.veteransforpeace,org/There_are_no_words_032704.htm.

Phillips, Peter, and Project Censored, Censored 2005 B The Top 25 Censored Stories (Seven Stories, New York, N.Y.), 2004.

Sarajevo Registry Report, January 2001 (www.llrc.org).

Tashiro, Akira, Senior Staff Writer, ADU Munitions = Serious Radiation Exposure, The Chugoku Shimbun (no date). Reprinted at

http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/uran/index.html.

Uranium Medical Research Centre, ABasics about Uranium and Depleted Uranium (DU) and its Impact on Human Health.@ Reprinted at

http://www.umrc.net/os/duBasics.asp.

World Health Organization (WHO), AGlobal Cancer Rates could increase by 50 percent (to 15 million) by 2020 B World Cancer Report provides Clear Evidence that Action on Smoking, Diet and Infections can prevent a Third of Cancers, while another Third of Cancers can be cured,@ Press Release, Geneva, Switzerland, April 3, 2004. Reprinted at

http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2003/Cancer-Rates-15Mapr03.htm.

United Nations Development Programme, Report, 2004 B Cultural Liberty in Today=s Diverse World (United Nations, New York, N.Y.), 2004.

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