RE: virus: Depleted uranium

From: Blunderov (squooker@mweb.co.za)
Date: Wed May 19 2004 - 14:48:45 MDT

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    [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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