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Depleted Uranium Still Haunts Balkans By Alex Kirby, BBC New Online environment correspondent http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2884761.stm Depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used by Nato in the mid-1990s in Bosnia-Herzegovina is still polluting air and water there, the UN reports. The MoD website says: “We recognize that there could be a small risk to our service personnel from DU dust if they work unprotected close to a vehicle recently hit by DU ammunition.” Unep says local people and even mine clearance teams “are not sufficiently aware of the risks and issues”, and urges a public awareness campaign. “We’re a bit concerned to find that we can now measure DU in groundwater, and finding the dust on artillery in the barracks was uncomfortable. “If DU is used in Iraq I think the consequences will be similar. It’s something that should be followed very closely.” The allied forces fired at least 300 tonnes of DU in the 1991 Gulf War. Related Link: An International Appeal to Ban the Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons Drafted by Ramsey Clark, the former U.S.A. Attorney General http://www.iacenter.org/depleted/appeal.htm Depleted Uranium is a highly carcinogenic poison and has been killing babies and children by the tens of thousands since used by the U.S.A. and its allies in previous recent wars. There is solid scientific evidence that the Depleted Uranium residue, left in Iraq, is responsible for a large increase in stillbirths, children born with defects, and childhood leukemia and other cancers in the area of southern Iraq near Basra, where most of the Depleted Uranium weaponry was used. Many U.S.A. veterans’ groups also say that Depleted Uranium residue contributed to the condition called “Gulf War Syndrome” that has affected close to 100,000 service people in the U.S.A. and Britain with chronic sickness. Depleted Uranium is a waste product of the uranium enrichment process used for making atomic bombs and nuclear fuel; because it is extremely dense (1.7 times as dense as lead) it is used in alloy form in shells to make them penetrate targets better. As the shell hits its target, it burns and releases Uranium Oxide into the air. The handling of Depleted Uranium weapons may poison servicemen and women. It is not in the best interests of the U.S. A. to poison large segments of any population indiscriminately, and should not be tolerated. [Britain is also responsible for Depleted Uranium in their weapons, which means indiscriminate killing of the population is the consensus of a much larger agendaNewWorldPeace.com.] Depleted Uranium is a form of genocide, a severe environmental threat and will poison the Earth long after the wounds of war have healed. Yours sincerely, Ali Family Depleted Uranium and the Concept of Collateral Damage http://www.llrc.org/du/dupage.htm (Warning: Graphic Image) To All Concerned Humanitarians By the Ali Family 25 March 2003 aali@westnet.com.au
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