Campaign to ban weapons
Soldiers, doctors testify on effects of DU
By Paddy
Colligan
Brussels, Belgium
People from a dozen countries attending a March 1-2
conference here grappled with how to organize cooperatively to
stop the Pentagon and NATO from using depleted-uranium
weapons.
The Belgium-based Coalition for the Abolition of Depleted
Uranium brought together victims of depleted uranium, anti-war
activists and researchers for two days of working meetings and
a public presentation to 500 people at the Free University of
Brussels.
Participants agreed to continue working together to stop DU
use.
Western Europe's corporate media have publicized the
possibility of danger from DU over the last few months as
alarming numbers of young, previously healthy NATO soldiers
from European countries occupying Kosovo have come home from
Kosovo with leukemia and other fatal health problems.
So far, there has been no publicity indicating that a
similar epidemic might exist among U.S. Balkans veterans.
European participants at the conference noted, however, that
U.S. troops have been assigned to areas with little DU
contamination.
Recently, demonstrators in Greece, Portugal, Italy and other
European countries have demanded that soldiers be brought back
from Kosovo and not replaced. Greek anti-DU activists, backed
by a broad working-class movement that almost unanimously
opposed the nearby NATO war in 1999, have brought home about a
quarter of the Greek soldiers stationed in Kosovo.
The basic effects of depleted uranium--a radioactive and
toxic substance--are known. Much still needs to be learned
about how DU works when combined with other factors, including
the age of those exposed and the presence of other toxins.
Instead of investigating these potential threats, the
U.S./NATO military authorities refuse to acknowledge DU's role
in the illnesses of Gulf and Balkans veterans. They have done
everything possible to keep a lid on the outrage about the use
of DU weapons.
They have consistently stonewalled, administering the wrong
tests, losing records, and using all kinds of bureaucratic
methods to be sure no connection is made between these
illnesses and DU.
Soldiers, doctors testify
The conference focused mainly on hearing from military
victims of DU. They came from England, Yugoslavia, France,
Belgium, Spain and other countries. Despite physical and
psychological pain, they came to help others understand the
horrors of DU.
Patricia Rodriguez, a young woman from Seville, Spain,
recently lost her boyfriend, who had served in Kosovo, when he
died from a rapidly progressing form of leukemia. She said: "I
do this to let the other Spanish soldiers know what they are
getting into. They can make their own choice--it's their life,
but they should know."
She was astounded to learn that the U.S. military knew the
effects of DU before using it.
Gena Mertens, a young German doctor with International
Physicians against Nuclear War, is working on a standard
operating procedure for diagnosing depleted-uranium exposure.
Fifty ailing Balkans veterans have already contacted her,
volunteering to be part of a database of DU victims that she is
assembling.
Developing an accurate physical examination to detect the
presence and effects of DU exposure will be a way to call the
bluff of the U.S./NATO medical and military authorities.
Aws Albaiti, an Iraqi physician who worked in Baghdad from
1990 to 1999, has seen many medical problems caused by DU
exposure. He pointed out, "Your victims are adults; ours are
adults and children."
Iraqi children, he said, have experienced a 12-fold increase
in leukemia and lymphomas. The increase among adults has been
five- to six-fold.
The U.S./United Nations sanctions against Iraq have
prevented that country from importing medicine and food that
could have saved lives and alleviated pain.
Albaiti questioned the timing of the interest in DU. "Iraqis
have been suffering since 1991," he said. "We said it was used
in the war. Now you hear about DU. ... All Iraqi people are
asking if this is a form of discrimination."
A doctor and a victim of DU who were invited from Iraq were
denied visas by the Belgian government. Dr. Albaiti was already
in Europe receiving training.
Dr. Dragutin Ilic reported on cancer statistics in the
hospital in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where he works. In 1995-2000, the
the number of cancer cases, particularly leukemia and lymphoma,
treated in this hospital increased many times over.
U.S./NATO planes that attacked Bosnia in 1995 used DU
shells.
A Serbian researcher said there is a public health disaster
in Kosovo waiting to happen. DU was first used there two years
ago. The people in the NATO-occupied territory have been told
nothing about the contamination of the water and ground.
In contaminated areas of Serbia outside of Kosovo, the
Yugoslav government educated the population about DU's hazards
and is taking precautions.
A representative from the U.S.-based International Action
Center said there is no contradiction between defending the
rights of the civilian victims of DU and defending the rights
of the rank-and-file soldiers who are also victims. These
soldiers are the sons and daughters of the working class and
should not become cannon fodder in imperialist wars.
Other speakers pointed out that the United States used DU
weapons during wars in Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia, and in test
bombings of Vieques in Puerto Rico, south Korea and
Okinawa.
DU weapons are now produced in several countries and are
used by many armies. Their manufacture and export is very
profitable to U.S. corporations.
The organizations present agreed that there should be a
total ban on depleted uranium weapons. They also demanded that
NATO and the United States pay for the cleanup of DU and for
the medical needs of the military victims and the people still
living in the countries left with this environmental and
medical time bomb.
Participants agreed to use the Internet to share the latest
medical and scientific findings, research on the arms industry,
and leaflets and pamphlets to explain DU in lay terms for more
effective organizing around this issue. They also decided to
organize missions of investigation and solidarity with
soldiers, celebrities, doctors and professionals next
September, and to meet again in Brussels in December.
The writer represented the
International Action Center
at the Brussels DU conference.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page