From: Blunderov (squooker@mweb.co.za)
Date: Wed May 19 2004 - 14:48:45 MDT
[Blunderov] http://feedthefish.org/blog/materials/johnson.html the Rolling
Stone Article that I mentioned before is an absolute must-read. I was struck
in particular by the following snippets;
<Snip>
In Geneva, the Human Rights Tribunal declared DU projectiles weapons of mass
destruction. The United Nations has made its position on depleted uranium
abundantly clear: Use of such weapons is illegal, because they continue to
act after the war ends, they unduly damage the environment, and they are
inhumane. Next month, the first international conference on eliminating such
weapons will convene in Germany; a country that outlaws the use of DU
munitions.
"Depleted uranium weapons are radioactive weapons, even if they are not by
definition nuclear weapons," says Victor Sidel, co-president of
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and an expert in
weapons of mass destruction. "And because they are radioactive, their use is
contrary to international law."...
...There's a reason that DU shells are so profitable: The raw material is
all-but free. Eager to dispose of 1 billion pounds of depleted uranium
accumulating in federal installations since the Manhattan Project,
Washington sells the waste to munitions makers for pennies on the dollar.
But while defense contractors profit handsomely, their neighbors are exposed
to radioactive waste. Starmet Corp. -- among the Army's largest supplier's
of DU weapons -- dumped 400,000 pounds of uranium and heavy metals into an
unlined holding pond in Concord, Massachusetts, polluting soil and
groundwater. Faced with a massive cleanup, Starmet filed for bankruptcy last
year -- leaving taxpayers with cleanup costs estimated at $50 million.
Cleanup at the Twin Cities Army Ammunitions Plant in suburban Minneapolis,
littered with DU shells manufactured by Alliant, is expected to cost $235
million.
"We have a government heavily invested in using DU weapons," says Judy
Scotnicki, a community leader in Concord. "As a result. our community is
stuck with hundreds of thousands of pounds of radioactive waste."
</Snip>
Best Regards
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