Is the Pentagon using DU in Bosnia
By Gary Wilson
Evidence is mounting that the U.S. military is
using chemical and depleted uranium-coated weapons in
Bosnia.
Over the last year, persistent reports of the use of
chemical and depleted-uranium weapons have appeared in the
media.
The bulletin of the Serbian Unity Congress reports that NATO
helicopters have been spraying chemicals over villages in the
county of Doboj in the Republic of Srpska. (News Bulletin, Dec.
15, 1997) "All inhabitants from the villages over which the
helicopters were flying started showing signs of massive
choking, difficulties in breathing, headaches, watering of the
eyes, malaise, vomiting, fatigue and drowsiness," the bulletin
reports.
"It is already evident that the effects of 'chemical'
activities of NATO helicopters are being combined with the
effects caused by NATO air strikes from Aug. 10 to Sept. 13,
1995, when both military and civilian targets in the Republic
of Srpska were bombarded, especially in the county of Doboj. At
that time the armament used had some sort of a milder nuclear
charge. From the air bombs and missiles the craters remained
from which there is a constant spreading of radioactive
radiation," the report continues.
This is consistent with a report in the Sept. 1, 1997, New
York Times. The Times said the news media in the Republic of
Srpska were reporting that "the NATO bombs unleashed low levels
of radiation intended to make Serbs sick and destroy
corps."
The Times wrote: "'Nothing grows around that hole, the field
is destroyed,' said Vlada Stevanic, 38, as he sat next to his
three small children. 'This is because of the radiation the
NATO bombs put in the ground. A lot of people have been sick
here since the attack. This is also from the radiation.'
"A yellow chunk of the missile with the words 'Department of
the Navy Naval Air Systems' lay stacked against the side of a
small shed with two other twisted metal hunks collected from
the pit," the Times reported.
The U.S. military has begun using a new generation of
bullets and shells made from the radioactive residue of
nuclear-weapons production. This dense material, called
depleted uranium, increases the shells' ability to penetrate
armor.
It also burns when it strikes the armor, releasing tiny
radioactive particles into the air-which people may inhale or
ingest.
The first large-scale use of these weapons was in the 1991
Gulf War against Iraq. DU is suspected of contributing to Gulf
War Syndrome. These illnesses afflict ten of thousands of U.S.
veterans of that war.
Some now believe these weapons are causing similar illnesses
in the Balkans.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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