Posted by Tony from 63-93-80-189.lsan.dial.netzero.com (63.93.80.189) on Friday, September 27, 2002 at 0:39AM :
7| Another Human Experiment (excerpt)
Despite the army's own admission of health and environmental concerns, depleted-uranium arms are being proliferated largely by U.S. arms sales. The Military Toxics Project and the Depleted Uranium Citizens' Network are exposing DU dangers.
Dolores Lymburner
The Military Toxics Project works to unite activists, organizations, and communities in the struggle to clean up military pollution, to safeguard the transportation of hazardous materials, and to advance the development and implementation of preventive solutions to the toxic and radioactive pollution caused by military activities.
MTP believes that the United States government should assume responsibility for the pollution it has created by funding remediation to the highest standards of protection for health and the environment. It is our position that the military should be the nation's leader in pollution prevention, containment, cleanup, energy conservation and materials recycling.
MTP's membership is composed of individuals, organizations, regional campaigns and networks working on military toxics issues. When a specific issue concerns a number of our members and has the support of our Board, a Network is established. MTP's Networks have included, for example: Rocket Toxics, Chemical Weapons, Base Closure, Conventional Munitions, Electromagnetics and Depleted Uranium.
The Depleted Uranium Citizens' Network began its work in 1992 and introduced itself to the public in March of 1993 with the release of a report entitled Uranium Battlefields Home and Abroad. This report was written by DU Network members, the Rural Alliance for Military Accountability, the Progressive Alliance for Community Empowerment, and Citizen Alert. The DU Network's membership consists of people living near uranium enrichment plants, near facilities where DU munitions are made; former workers at those facilities, people living near where DU weapons are tested; and both Persian Gulf Veterans and Atomic Veterans.
In the 1940s and 1950s thousands of American citizens and soldiers were exposed to nuclear fallout from bomb tests. High numbers of these exposed populations have suffered from cancers and genetic effects as a result of those tests. Our country has a poor record on how it has treated military service men and women and private citizens who are exposed to toxic and radioactive poisoning, most of the time without their knowledge or consent.
Atomic Veterans have expressed their concern for the new generation of radiation-exposed veterans. In the Persian Gulf War depleted uranium was used for the first time as tank armor and armor piercing bullets. It was effective on the battlefield, melting through and destroying Iraqi armored vehicles. Iraqi victims of DU were charred in their tanks. DU also accounted for most of our "friendly fire" deaths. Thirty-three of our United States veterans carry DU fragments and many many more were exposed to DU dust particles.
-- Tony
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