"My Life Is Ruined" - A Nuclear Enrichment Story
"My Life is Ruined" - A Nuclear Enrichment Story from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
"My Life is Ruined" - A Nuclear Enrichment Story:
Janet Michel, former U.S. Department of Energy worker stationed in the Oak Ridge, TN, nuclear complex, is disabled and poisoned by heavy metal contamination from her work site.
She has become an organizer and highly vocal advocate for help for the thousands of others similarly afflicted who seek medical help and compensation through a federal Department of Labor program that advocates say is extremely difficult for sick ex-nuclear workers to negotiate. The program is called the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP).
This video is a 31-minute interview in which Janet , once a white-water kayak instructor, passionately details her struggle and the obstacles she and others face. It is a long video by internet standards but her story needs to be aired as she relates it.
Filmed by Wes Rehberg, Wild Clearing © 2009
Janine Anderson Dies After Championing Sick Nuclear Worker Cause: Last Interview
Janine Anderson Dies After Championing Sick Nuclear Worker Cause: Last Interview from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
Janine Anderson died four days after launching hers and other sick-nuclear fuel plant workers campaign on April 28, 2009 for a National Day of Remembrance of those still ill from contaminants and those who passed on. She worked at the nuclear fuel gaseous diffusion K-25 plant in Oak Ridge TN. She was among several sickened workers I've interviewed in the past year - to view their stories and events, visittheexposed.net - This is a draft video © 2009 Wes Rehberg, Wild Clearing
POISONED BY A NEW YORK NUCLEAR PROCESSING PLANT
Poisoned by a New York Nuclear Processing Plant from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
ITALIANS COMPENSATING DU-CONTAMINATED VETERANS
Italians Compensating
DU-contaminated veterans
From Kazashi Nobuo, No DU Hiroshima Project
Feb. 7 -- A Japanese syndicated media, Kyodo Press, reported that they asked the Italian Ministry of Defense about the DU compensation approved by Italian Cabinet on Dec. 18, 2008, about which ICBUW [International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons] has already reported as below based on a report by Stefania Divertito, journalist and a member of ICBUW Steering Committee.
According to the answer Kyodo Press received, the number of Italian veterans suffering from serious diseases like cancers and regarded as entitled to this compensation package is 1,703, among whom 77 have already passed away. The areas where these veterans were deployed include Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The Italian government is trying to make standards for compensation to the veterans and the bereaved by March and start payments then.
This follow-up news by Kyodo Press has already been taken up by several papers in Japan. For your reference.
Kazashi Nobuo, ICBUW, NO DU Hiroshima Project ... to read the rest, click here ...
TVA COAL ASH SPILL: Video Sketch of River Damage in Tennessee
TVA Coal Ash Spill: Video Sketch of River Damage from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
GULF WAR ILLNESS REPORT SHOWS DU COVERUP BY US GOVERNMENT
In mid November, a committee set up by the US Congress released a landmark report on Gulf War Illness (GWI), an event widely reported by the media. It was considered a landmark study, as it stated categorically that the ill effects suffered by veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War were real, and amounted to a distinct medical condition.
The report identified two probable causes of this illness - pyridostigmine bromide (PB) pills which were given to troops to protect them from nerve agents, and pesticides which were liberally used to protect troops from insects.
However, amidst all the fuss, some incredibly damning information on the US government's response to the use of uranium weapons was completely ignored by the media. The section on DU related a litany of irrelevant research, obstructive and incompetent behaviour by the US government, and confirmation that a touchstone study on veterans affected by DU covered up an incidence of cancer in the group.
McDiarmid study
Melissa McDiarmid’s Baltimore study, which looks at the health of friendly fire victims, many of whom have DU fragments in their bodies, drew particular criticism. This study is frequently referred to by the UK and US governments when they seek to defend DU, and has been repeatedly attacked by campaigners – all of whom are vindicated by the report.
While the DoD has indicated that at least 900 veterans were involved in incidents that could cause higher-level DU exposure, only 70 were studied in total – and only 30 in any single follow up. The crude categories used for medical problems and the lack of a control group in all but one of the studies, mean that they are of little use for drawing meaningful conclusions. It is also suggested that the studies failed to follow up significant findings, including detectable levels of uranium in the sperm of several veterans in 1997.
Cancer cover-up
Most damming of all is the attempt to cover up the incidence of tumours in McDiarmid’s study group. The fact that one veteran developed Hodgkin’s lymphoma is mentioned in passing in one write-up in 1999, but omitted from subsequent reports, and the occurrence of a non-malignant bone tumour in another is not mentioned at all. ... (from ICBUW) ... for the entire report click here ...
FACEBOOK: Video and photo posts
141 NATIONS SUPPORT 2ND URANIUM WEAPONS RESOLUTION IN UN VOTE
> Overwhelming majority of states support action on uranium weapons
> EU and NATO members split on the issue
> US, UK, Israel and France isolated
> UN Agencies forced to update their positions on uranium weapons by 2010
> 141 vote in favour, 34 abstain, four vote against.
The resolution, which had passed the First Committee stage on October 31st by 127 states to four, calls on three UN agencies - the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to update their positions on uranium weapons. The overwhelming support for the text reflects increasing international concern over the long-term impact of uranium contamination in post-conflict environments and military ranges ... ( for the entire report, click here ...)
PEACE GARDEN: Gift for a Salina, Kansas, neighborhood
PEACE GARDEN: Gift for a Salina, Kansas, neighborhood from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
Ted and Vera had offered me hospitality while in Salina for a Heartland Speaks peace rally there in opposition to a military "strafing and bombing" air show, where I and seven others were arrested. After I was released from jail, Ted took me over to the Peace Garden and offered a few stories as well.-- Wes Rehberg, Wild Clearing
HEARTLAND SPEAKS: Rally and arrests in opposition to military air show
Heartland Speaks: Rally & arrests in opposition to military air show from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
Eight from "The Heartland Speaks" arrested at Kansas A-10 Warthog air show
THE EXPOSED: ATTORNEY DETAILS PROBLEMS IN U.S. HELP FOR SICK NUCLEAR WORKERS
THE EXPOSED: Atty lists problems in US help for sick nuclear workers from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
Attorney Frank Gerlach details problems in the U.S. program to help sick nuclear workers under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program, in this preliminary video clip for the documentary "The Exposed." He spoke at a meeting of the Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security in Ohio -- co-founded by Vina Colley, a sick former worker at the USEC Portsmouth nuclear enrichment plant. Gerlach represents sick workers in their efforts to obtain compensation and medical aid from nuclear plant contamination through the program administered by the U.S. Dept. of Labor. Filmed by Wes Rehberg, Wild Clearing
THE EXPOSED: INTERVIEW WITH MIKE DRIVER, SICK NUCLEAR WORKER
THE EXPOSED: Interview with Mike Driver, sick nuclear worker from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
This continues our series of preliminary video clips from interviews with sick nuclear plant workers, here with Mike Driver, who worked at the Paducah, KY, gaseous diffusion nuclear fuel enrichment plant. The preliminary clips are from filming for our documentary in process, "The Exposed," produced by Wes & Eileen Rehberg of Wild Clearing. See www.wildclearing.com for our work.
THE EXPOSED: SICK OAK RIDGE NUCLEAR WORKERS DESCRIBE THEIR FRUSTRATIONS
THE EXPOSED: Sick Oak Ridge Workers Speak of Their Frustrations from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
THE EXPOSED: Interview with Vina Colley, sick uranium worker
The Exposed: Vina Colley, sick uranium worker from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
LT. COL. ROGER HELBIG TRIED TO BLOCK "CONTAMINATED FOREVER" FESTIVAL SCREENING
| DU-munitions supporter Lt. Col. Roger Helbig had tried to block Wild Clearing's First Take Film Festival April screening in Augusta, GA of "Contaminated Forever: The Deadly Aftermath of Depleted Uranium Munitions" Helbig, who obsessively hounds DU munitions opponents, made one attempt in the following post to the Netherlands RadSafe listserv: "[ RadSafe ] Stopping Film Festival Screening of "Contaminated Forever" "From Roger Helbig rhelbig at california.com "Sun Apr 6 15:32:02 CEST 2008 "This film will be shown at the First Take Film Festival in Augusta, Georgia. If there are any RADSAFE members near there who would like to contact the mayor and suggest that this propaganda film not be shown as a documentary - it's fictional and speculative not a documentary." "Mayor's Office 530 Greene Street Room 806 Augusta, Georgia 30901 Phone: (706) 821-1831 Fax: (706) 821-1835" |  Photo above is Helbig. For a bio-glimpse of his background, view this PDF file. We have filed a police complaint in Chattanooga, TN --for threats contained in his emails, view this file ... |
THE EXPOSED: VIDEO -- RALLY FOR POISONED NUCLEAR WORKERS IN OAK RIDGE, TN
THE EXPOSED: Nuclear Workers rally for illness compensation in Oak Ridge, TN from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
Posted on-line is a 14-minute video of a rally in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, organized by the Coalition for a Healthy Environment, whose organizers have been working since the mid-1990s for compensation, care and recognition of nuclear weapons worker contamination. Many among this group are sick from the poisons as well.
IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (IVAW) - WITNESS IN VIRGINIA
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) - testimony in Virginia (Between the Ice Ages) from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
Five U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, members of IVAW, bore witness in May 2008 to what they experienced in these armed conflicts as well as on their return to the United States. Excerpts from the witness of the veterans -- Adam Kokesh, James Gilligan, Jason Hurd, Ray Curry and James Morriss -- are provided in the video here, filmed by Wes Rehberg. Leonard McGann plays the Native American flute in this 34 minute documentary video, filmed at the Building a New World Conference at Radford University in Virginia, offered by the World Prout Assembly.
© 2008 Wes Rehberg, Wild Clearing
A higher-resolution flash broadband version is available at:
wildclearing.com/ice-ages/ivaw-prout.html
"CONTAMINATED FOREVER" -- INTRODUCTORY SCENES FROM A DOCUMENTARY ON THE HAZARDS OF DEPLETED URANIUM MUNITIONS
... exposing the ongoing impact of the use of depleted uranium munitions
Filmmaker Wes Rehberg and artist and social policy analyst Eileen Rehberg have produced and filmed "Contaminated Forever," a 1-hour and 45-minute documentary to help in the effort to expose the terrible consequences of the use of depleted uranium weapons (DU) for test purposes and in the battlefield.
These weapons were used in Iraq, the Balkans, on testing grounds throughout the United States and territories, and possibly in Afghanistan, Panama and Lebanon, with their poison dust afflicting soldiers and civilians. Their nanoparticle fallout, in the earth, has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, ready to be inhaled or ingested, where, inside the body, they pass through cell walls to begin their radioactive and toxic damage.
You may view the home page for "Contaminated Forever," as well as a high-bandwidth flash video draft of this segment, at this web page. A DVD of the documentary is also available for purchase there. A Vimeo version is below. -- Wes Rehberg
"Contaminated Forever" - introductory scenes: a documentary on DU weapons contamination from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.
PART 1: Introduction
PART 2: CPT actions at Aerojet Ordnance in Tennessee
PART 3: Vieques activists speak out about bombing range contamination
PART 4: Doug Rokke, maligned military whistleblower
PART 5: ICBUW conference at UN Plaza in NYC
PART 6: NL industries victims of contamination
PART 7: Anti-DU rally in Jonesborough, TN
POSTLUDE: Iraq veteran Herb Reed at home
LONG-TIME ACTIVIST ANNE HERMAN HAS PASSED ON FROM CANCER
We learned that Anne Herman has passed on from lung cancer in Birmingham, AL. Anne was in Jonesborough, Tennessee, during the 10-day May 2007 delegation and action by Christian Peacemaker Teams against Aerojet Ordnance's production of depleted uranium munitions cores. She was not well then but persisted in being part of every action that team shared with her unsurpassed candidness and humor.
Before then, we had crossed paths with Anne in Chiapas, Mexico, in December 1998 during the time of the commemoration of the 45 persons who were massacred by paramilitaries in Acteal the year earlier. We had known Anne and shared time with her as well during her activism while she lived in upstate NY.
The obituary below is a very fair representation of Anne. The photo is from a film clip during the Jonesborough, TN, action.
Wes Rehberg
-----------
Activist Anne Herman dead at 74
By George Basler
Press & Sun-Bulletin [Binghamton, NY]
Deeply committed, but never strident, Anne Herman was a fixture in anti-war and social justice activities in Broome County [upstate New York] for more than two decades.
"It seemed like every important action that dealt with social justice, Anne was there," said Jack Gilroy, a fellow activist and former teacher.
A memorial service for Ms. Herman, 74, will take place at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Binghamton. She died Nov. 22 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital.
Ms. Herman was motivated by " a deep down, basic caring about people" and an identification with those she considered oppressed throughout the world, said Ann Clune, of Binghamton, a long-time friend and fellow activist.
In the 1980s, Ms. Herman worked as the local coordinator of RAM (Redistribute America Movement), a statewide welfare advocacy group. She later did advocacy work with the Mayan people in Chiapas, Mexico.
Over the years, Ms. Herman protested against everything from spousal abuse to nuclear arms to American foreign policy and, most recently, the Iraq War. She was arrested a number of times, and in 1997 was sentenced to six months in federal prison for trespassing at the Army-run School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga.
"She was a pleasant person, but she also pushed. She had the strength of saying, 'I know where I'm going, and I'm going to take all the steps to get there,'" said David Duncan, former director of Opportunities for Broome.
But, Gilroy said, he can never remember Ms. Herman making a negative comment about another person, even someone she disagreed with. In 1998, the Broome County Council of Churches recognized her for her community work.
"She saw problems with power and force being right, and didn't accept that," Gilroy said. Ms. Herman also made beautiful quilts and was close to her six children and five grandchildren, Clune said.
In 2003, Ms. Herman described her lifelong activism this way: "I've come to the place in life where I realize I can't look to success, rather I need to do what I need to do. You never know who you might impact." Donations can be made in her name to the Christian Peacemaker Teams, Box 6508, Chicago, Ill. 60680-6508.
ICBUW LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST FINANCIAL INSTITUTION INVESTMENT IN DU MUNITIONS MANUFACTURERS
From the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW)
Does Your Bank Support DU Manufacturers?
ICBUW already campaigns globally through traditional means for a ban on uranium weapons. We have now taken the fight to the arms manufacturers and the bodies that fund them.
In collaboration with Network Flanders and Banktrack, on November 6th 2007, the UN Day for the Prevention of the Exploitation of the Environment Through Armed Conflict, we launched 'Too Risky for Business' - a dossier detailing how your high street banks are supporting companies that manufacture indiscriminate and illegal weapon systems.
We have created a full activist's tool kit to allow you to challenge your bank to disinvest and isolate these companies, be it through direct action, letter writing or media work.
Attachments
-
Activist Tool Kit (1932 Kb - Format zip)ICBUWToo Risky For Business bank report
Too Risky For Business bank report abstract
Model press release
Model leaflet
Model letter for banks
Press kit
Four jpeg versions of the logo - colour, black and white, grayscale (all for paper printing) and a web version. -
Too Risky For Business (1250 Kb - Format pdf)ICBUWReport on how banks are funding uranium weapons producers.
This document is in PDF format and can be read using Acrobat Reader. -
Abstract - Too Risky for Business (392 Kb - Format pdf)ICBUWAbstract of the Too Risky for Business ReportThis document is in PDF format and can be read using Acrobat Reader.
REFLECTIONS MIDWAY THROUGH A DOCUMENTARY IN PRODUCTION ON DEPLETED URANIUM CONTAMINATION
Midway through our documentary, yet in production, on the terrible consequences of depleted uranium contamination from the use and production of these munitions, I've videoed reflections on how it seems to be going. The reflections were recorded on a MacBookPro using its iSight software. The 10-minute reflection can be found at this Wild Clearing web page -- Wes Rehberg
MUSLIM PEACEMAKER TEAMS REPORTS DEPLETED URANIUM EPIDEMIC IN IRAQ - FROM CLIFF KINDY
The following is from Cliff Kindy's iraq blog -- Cliff has been a leader in the Christian Peacemaker Teams Campaign to Stop-DU, is on his fourth iraq tour for CPT, and has been an organizer in the Jonesborough, TN, effort also led by Linda Modica to halt DU munitions production at Aerojet Ordnance.
from Cliff --
Muslim Peacemaker Teams Reports Depleted Uranium Epidemic
Sami Rasouli, Dr. Najim Askouri and Dr. Assad Al-Janabi, members of Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) in Najaf, visited with Christian Peacemaker Teams CPT) in Suleimaniya, Kurdish Iraq, on December 10 and 11. The visit was an opportunity to report the recent activities of the respective peacemaker groups and learn to know new people. But the primary activity was a forum on depleted uranium (DU) presented by Drs. Assad and Najim.
Dr. Assad is the director of the Pathology Department at the 400-bed public hospital in Najaf. Dr. Najim is a nuclear physicist, trained in Britain, and one of the leading nuclear researchers in Iraq until his departure in 1998. They have worked as an MPT team documenting information about the health impact on Najaf of depleted uranium weapons used during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf wars.
This was not an exhaustive study because of the limits of personnel, resources and equipment. But it did rely on accumulated public data, thorough research, and a major contribution of time and energy. The focus was Najaf, a city of over one million people, and the rural areas in the governate. The area is about 180 miles from where DU was used in the First Gulf War.
Starting in 2004 when the political situation and devastation of the health care infrastructure were at their worst, there were 251 reported cases of cancer. By 2006, when the numbers more accurately reflected the real situation, that figure had risen to 688. Already in 2007, 801 cancer cases have been reported. Those figures portray an incidence rate of 28.21 by 2006, even after screening out cases that came into the Najaf Hospital from outside the governate, a number which contrasts with the normal rate of 8-12 cases of cancer per 100,000 people.
Two observations are striking. One, there has been a dramatic increase in the cancers that are related to radiation exposure, especially the very rare soft tissue sarcoma and leukemia. Two, the age at which cancer begins in an individual has been dropping rapidly, with incidents of breast cancer at 16, colon cancer at 8, and liposarcoma at 1.5 years. Dr. Assad noted that 6% of the cancers reported occurred in the 11-20 age range and another 18% in ages 21-30 ...
To read his entire post, click on this link (pdf file) ...
VIDEO: NL INDUSTRIES DEPLETED URANIUM CONTAMINATION IN COLONIE, NY - PRESS CONFERENCE, SITE VISIT
Featured here is a running 48-minute video account of a press conference at the Albany, NY, state legislative office building organized by the Community Concerned About NL Industries at which research findings were detailed that indicate the long-term persistence of depleted uranium contamination.
Also featured is a 6-minute video sketch of a visit to the NL site by CCNL organizer Tom Ellis and ex-resident Tony Ciarfello, who was found to be contaminated.
SUMMARY: A biological study by Randall Parrish of the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory in the UK and others has detected depleted uranium and in one case enriched uranium in former workers and those who lived and worked nearby the Colonie, NY, NL Industries plant, where depleted uranium munitions cores were produced decades ago.
Below first is the press conference video sketch and below that the site visit, filmed by Wes Rehberg. produced by Wild Clearing (c) 2007 --
NL INDUSTRIES SCIENTIFIC STUDY FORUM - DEPLETED URANIUM STILL CONTAMINATES THOSE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
Capital Region Action Against Breast Cancer!
Invite you to attend a Public Forum on
NL Industries Depleted Uranium Contamination:
New Scientific Study Released
Wednesday, December 5 6:30 PM Sand Creek Middle School 329 Sand Creek Rd., Albany, NY 12205
Speakers
* Randall Parrish, Professor, Dept. of Geology, University of Leicester and NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, England.
* David Carpenter, M.D., Institute for Health & the Environment, University at Albany.
* John Arnason, Assistant Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University at Albany.
* People who lived or worked near NL and tested positively for depleted uranium.
Speakers will describe new environmental and health test results relating to the NL Industries depleted uranium site at 1130 Central Avenue, Colonie.
* A report finds depleted uranium (DU) can be detected in people more than 20 years after exposure when using high sensitivity urine tests. Radioactive DU has also been found in the dust of two homes and a workplace after the NL site federal cleanup.
* The isotope measurement testing project, which has never before been conducted on any U.S. community, is a joint initiative of U.S. and British scientists, led by Professor Randall Parrish. The results are being published in an international journal, Science of the Total Environment, in the near future (electronically available on-line), and will be released at a December 5th morning press conference in Albany.
* The NL Industries factory emitted at least 5 tons of DU aerosols from 1958 to 1982. DU is a toxic chemical due to its heavy metal and radiological properties. NL used DU to manufacture armor-piercing munitions.
For more information, contact Anne Rabe, CCNL at annerabe[at]msn. com.
VIDEO: RALLY AT JONESBOROUGH, TN: ... voices in the struggle against DU munitions
"RALLY at Jonesborough, TN:"
"... voices in the struggle against DU munitions"
NEW MEXICO VETERANS AND THOSE ON ACTIVE DUTY TO BE TESTED FOR PRESENCE OF DEPLETED URANIUM
The following article was forwarded by Linda Modica, national chair of Sierra Club's radiation committee, and co-founder of First Tennessee Progressives.
| Thursday November 8, 2007 New Mexico veterans to be tested for presence of depleted uranium By Kathy Helms, Diné Bureau Gallup Independent WINDOW ROCK ‹ The New Mexico Department of Health will be testing New Mexico veterans and active duty military personnel beginning next week to determine whether they have high concentrations of natural uranium and/or depleted uranium in their urine. The department¹s Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau is offering the tests free of charge at its Scientific Laboratory in Albuquerque for military personnel and veterans who may have been exposed to depleted uranium in the Persian Gulf War, the Afghanistan conflict or the current war in Iraq. The Department of Health will make appointments to test individuals in every county of the state from Nov. 13 to the week of Dec. 10. Tests will be conducted the week of Dec. 10 for individuals from San Juan, McKinley, Cibola, Sandoval and Los Alamos counties. "The New Mexico Legislature gave us funding to test veterans and active duty military who may have been exposed to depleted uranium," said Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil. "We encourage military personnel to take advantage of these free tests." At the appointment, a Department of Health staff member will give a brief questionnaire and take a tap water sample, which will also be tested for total uranium. The water is tested for uranium because New Mexico, on average, has a higher concentration of uranium in drinking water than the rest of the country. If the urine sample tests high for uranium, the department will offer a follow-up test to determine if this uranium is depleted or natural uranium. Depleted uranium is used for bullets, tank armor and explosives. One of the possible side effects of having high levels of depleted uranium is kidney damage. Another possible consequence of exposure to depleted uranium is diabetes, according to Leuren Moret, a geoscientist and international radiation specialist who formerly worked as a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore laboratories. In an article published in 2006, Moret said data from Japan, the United States, India and Europe confirms her discovery of a global epidemic of diabetes which began with Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and has continued to increase during atmospheric testing, nuclear power plant operations, and very sharply since depleted uranium was introduced in 1991. "The major radioactive pollutant from atmospheric testing was uranium. There is an established link in the scientific literature between uranium and diabetes. Diabetes has also been linked to radiation exposure in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Chernobyl survivors," Moret said. Her theory has been corroborated by Dr. Ernest Sternglass, professor emeritus of Radiological Physics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, a pioneer in the study of the health effects of low-level radiation, and other health experts. In an article first published from last December through Valentine¹s Day 2007 in the San Francisco Bay View, "From Hiroshima to Iraq, 61 Years of Uranium Wars," Moret wrote that the conduct of secret nuclear wars since 1991, through the use of depleted uranium weaponry by the United States and Great Britain with their allies, has taken place in the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Lebanon. "It has been carried out for the express purpose of destroying the public health and mutilating the genetic future of vast populations in oil rich and/or pipeline regions," she said. "Carpet and grid bombing with depleted uranium weaponry in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan has guaranteed permanent radioactive terrain contamination. The recent discovery that U.S. depleted uranium bombs dropped by Israel on Lebanon in 2006 contained enriched uranium suggests covert testing of fourth generation nuclear weapons, in violation of the Geneva and Hague Conventions and the 1925 Geneva Poison Gas Protocol. "For populations that must continue to live in contaminated areas, the long-term effects are lingering illnesses and mutilation of their DNA. Š Mutations induced in the DNA of a single egg or sperm which form a fertilized egg are expressed and repeated in every cell of the developing organism, and defects are passed on to all future generations. "Global atmospheric pollution from depleted uranium particulates will result in massive depopulation on a global scale. By increasing death rates and decreasing birth rates globally, more than 2 billion people will be eliminated," Moret predicts. "Not only are U.S. and allied soldiers exposed and civilian populations genocidally targeted, but the depleted uranium pollution is now global. In reality, we are all Gulf War veterans." Information: To volunteer or find out more, contact the Department¹s Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau at: DOH-EHEB@state. toll-free, 888-878-8992. |
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION HEALTH CARE FIGURES MOUNT AMONG THOSE IN MILITARY INVOLVED IN THE GULF WARS
The commentary below is from Dr. Doug Rokke -- the figures from Veterans Administration data:
| The hope or dream that members of congress or the administration will
ever fund prompt and effective medical care and facilities will never
be fulfilled. Today with well over 750,000 casualties from the Persian
Gulf combat since we initiated combat action during May 1990. and then
we have over 400,000 Vietnam Vets affected by Agent Orange and then
thousands of WW2 and Korean War vets who need medical care too. Even
when congres(s) passes the budget the Office of Management and Budget-
OMB stops it cold. Portions of the internal Va report on OEF- OIF casualties follows: Analysis of VA Health Care Utilization Among US Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Veterans Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom VHA Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards October 2007 Among all 751,273 separated OEF/OIF Veterans 35% (263,909) of total separated OEF/OIF veterans have obtained VA health care since FY 2002 (cumulative total) 96% (253,730) of 263,909 evaluated OEF/OIF patients have been seen as outpatients only by VA and not hospitalized 4% (10,179) of 263,909 evaluated OEF/OIF patients have been hospitalized at least once in a VA health care facility % OEF/OIF Veterans (n = 263,909) Sex  Male 88 % Female 12% Age Group <20 5% 20-29 52% 30-39 23% >40 20% Branch Air Force 12% Army 65% Marine 12% Navy 11% Unit Type Active 50% Reserve/Guard 50% Rank Enlisted 92% Officer 8% Diagnosis (n = 263,909) (Broad ICD-9 Categories) Frequency * % Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (001-139) 28,665 - 10.9% Malignant Neoplasms (140-208) 2,193 - 0.8% Benign Neoplasms (210-239) 9,129 - 3.5% Diseases of Endocrine/Nutritional/ Metabolic Systems (240-279) 50,968 - 19.3% Diseases of Blood and Blood Forming Organs (280-289) 5,086 - 1.9% Mental Disorders (290-319) 100,580 - 38.1% Diseases of Nervous System/ Sense Organs (320-389) 83,273 - 31.6% Diseases of Circulatory System (390-459) 39,633 - 15.0% Disease of Respiratory System (460-519) 49,464 - 18.7% Disease of Digestive System (520-579) 81,427 - 30.9% Diseases of Genitourinary System (580-629) 25,561 - 9.7% Diseases of Skin (680-709) 38,791 - 14.7% Diseases of Musculoskeletal System/Connective System (710-739) 117,424 - 44.5% Symptoms, Signs and Ill Defined Conditions (780-799) 93,093 - 35.3% Injury/Poisonings (800-999) 48,736 - 18.5% *These are cumulative data since FY 2002, with data on hospitalizations and outpatient visits as of June 30, 2007; veterans can have multiple diagnoses with each healthcare encounter. A veteran is counted only once in any single diagnostic category but can be counted in multiple categories, so the above numbers add up to greater than 263,909. If you go to www.va .gov then pull up the May 2007 HGWVIS report you wil(l) find out on page 9 that out of out of 1,129,340 who have served in the Gulf since May 1990 that only 963,083 are still alive. So given these horrible casualties are due to our own actions- failures medical care and facility funding will never be provided. IT WOULD BREAK THE BANK! From Dr. Doug Rokke |
FOLLOWING JONESBOROUGH, TN, RALLY, AEROJET ORDNANCE'S COMPANY SPENDS 45 MINUTES ON WILD CLEARING WEBSITE
Depleted uranium weapons producer Aerojet Ordnance's company visited Wild Clearing's web site for 45 minutes, following the United for Peace and Justice rally in Jonesborough, TN, where the penetrator munitions cores are produced. A snapshot of the company's visit, the day after the Oct. 27 rally, is below ... intriguing that they should stop by again ...
PHOTOS AND VIDEO FROM JONESBOROUGH, TN, OCT.27 UFPJ RALLY AGAINST DU WEAPONS AND IRAQ WAR
We have posted photos and video from Jonesborough, TN, rally Oct. 27, 2007 against depleted uranium weapons and the Iraq war, sponsored by United for Democracy and Justice (UFPJ) and First Tennessee Progressives ...
 -- Herbert Reed, Iraq war vet under treatment for DU contamination, addresses rally |
The rally was part of a continuing effort to oppose the production, testing and battlefield use of depleted uranium munitions -- including those manufactured at Aeroject Ordnance in Jonesborough -- to view the photos and a Flash video clip, filmed by Wes Rehberg, visit this iink ...:
Below also is the video clip -- Robert Bruce Baldwin singing his song, "All Across America" --
82-YEAR-OLD WWII NAVY VETERAN CARRIES ON FIGHT AGAINST DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS USE BY USA
Bud Deraps, an 82-year-old Navy veteran of World War II, has been waging a personal campaign against depleted uranium weapons use by U.S. military forces, as well as against their production in the USA. He is a member of Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out, and lost a grandson in the Iraq war. He produced the video viewable below, carrying his message: "What Are We Doing to Our Own" --
|
|  |
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REPORTS 73 THOUSAND U.S. GULF WAR ERA DEATHS
| OpEdNews Original Content at www.opednews.com/articles/genera_clive_bo_070921_department_of_vetera.htm September 22, 2007 Department of Veterans Affairs Reports 73 Thousand U.S. Gulf War Era Deaths By Clive Boustred More Gulf War Veterans have died than Vietnam Veterans: The Department of Veterans Affairs, May 2007, Gulf War Veterans Information System reports the following: Total U.S. Military Gulf War Deaths: 73,846 – Deaths amongst Deployed: 17,847 – Deaths amongst Non-Deployed: 55,999 Total “Undiagnosed Illness” (UDX) claims: 14,874 Total number of disability claims filed: 1,620,906 - Disability Claims amongst Deployed: 407,911 - Disability Claims amongst Non-Deployed: 1,212,995 Percentage of combat troops that filed Disability Claims 36% -Source: www1.va.gov/rac-gwvi/docs/GWVIS_May2007.pdf NOTE: Soldiers, by nature, typically don’t complain. In other words, the real impact of those who are disabled from the US invasions in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Nations, is not fully reflected in the official Veterans Affairs numbers. When soldiers are sent to murder women and children they tend to never be able to live normal lives there after. How come the government numbers of 3,777 as of 9/7/7 are so low? The answer is simple, the government does not want the 73,000 dead to be compared to the 55,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam Iraq = Vietnam. What the government is doing is only counting the soldiers that die in action before they can get them into a helicopter or ambulance. Any soldier who is shot but they get into a helicopter before he dies is not counted. 73,000 dead amongst the U.S. soldiers for this scale operation using weapons of mass destruction is not high - we expect the great majority of U.S. soldiers who took part in the invasion of Iraq to die of uranium poisoning, which can take decades to kill. From a victors perspective, above any major war in history, The Gulf War has taken the severest toll on soldiers. More than 1,820 tons of radio active nuclear waste uranium were exploded into Iraq alone in the form of armor piercing rounds and bunker busters, representing the worlds worst man made ecological disaster ever. 64 kg of uranium were used in the Hiroshima bomb. The U.S. Iraq Nuclear Holocaust represents far more than fourteen thousand Hiroshima’s. The nuclear waste the U.S. has exploded into the Middle East will continue killing for billions of years and can wipe out more than a third of life on earth. Gulf War Veterans who have ingested the uranium will continue to die off over a number of years. So far more than one million people have been slaughtered in the illegal invasion of Iraqi by the U.S. Birth defects are up 600% in Iraq – the same will apply to U.S. Veterans. Statistics and evidence published by the government and mainstream media in no way reflect the extreme gravity of the situation. Those working for the government and media must wake up and take responsibility for immediately reversing this U.S. Holocaust. Understanding who is manipulating all of us is critical for all of us. Authors Website: www.libertyforlife.com Authors Bio: As one of the industries foremost technology & business strategists, Mr. Boustred has provided strategy and the architectural vision for some of the world's most successful companies. Mr. Boustred has designed massively scalar systems that have grown to support well over ten million users. The next generation Internet and banking systems Mr. Boustred designed to support billions of users was interrupted by a governmental assault during deployment, which resulted in him analyzing the legal industry and the development of Liberty For Life & CopperCards. For more on Clive visit: http://www.libertyforlife.com/team/clive_boustred.htm |
VIDEOS: VIEQUES ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT ABOUT DU CONTAMINATION ON THEIR ISLAND
VIEQUES ACTIVISTS ON DU IMPACT Nilda Medina in Vieques |
| While in Vieques in September 2007, I spoke with Nilda Medina, Ismael Guadalupe, filmmaker Andres Nieves and Robert Rabin, founders and members of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, on the impact from contamination from the U.S. Navy bombing practice on the Puerto Rican island. These interviews are part of a developing documentary on the impact of depleted uranium contamination on people and the environment. Nilda speaks of the need for health services, Ismael offers insights into the resistance against the U.S. Navy presence for over 60 years and the contamination, Andres tells how he was personally affected, and Robert scopes out the history of the occupation and the extent of the contamination. These are roughly compiled video clips, basically unaltered, about 10 minutes each. To view these, visit this web page ... -- Wes Rehberg . |
VIEQUES INTERVIEW NOTES WITH ACTIVISTS ON DEPLETED URANIUM AND OTHER MILITARY CONTAMINATION
Vieques interview notes with activists on depleted uranium contamination – for Stop-DU meeting and other forums: From Wes Rehberg The interviews and the visit to Vieques are part of a documentary I’m making on DU contamination dangers – U.S. Navy contamination from weapons testing on this Puerto Rican island was the key theme of the interviews. The interviews were conducted during my Sept. 18-24 2007 journey throughout the island. The key interviews were with six people: * Nilda Medina, former science teacher, long-time activist and organizer and now developer of cooperative enterprises, who has been imprisoned for her activism against the Navy presence on two-thirds of the island, the weapons testing there, and who now speaks to the health problems of contamination; * Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz, activist since he was 19 (now aged 63), activist and organizer, addressed UN committee on colonialism twice, was imprisoned four times, who sees contamination now and the necessity of its cleanup as the cause for new occupations of Navy land by activists; * Andres Nieves, cinema photographer in US, moved to Vieques on retirement, documented via video more than 1,000 hours on Vieques problems for Fort Conde Marisal Museum archives, also an activist, has been tested positive for contamination; * Zaida Torres, nurse at Vieques hospital, whose child died of cancer, and who addresses issue of contamination and the need for health services and remedies on the island; * Robert Rabin, a former Bostonian who has lived in Vieques for more than two decades, is director of the museum mentioned above, is a key activist, organizer and educator via the museum, and who has also spent time in federal prison for his activism. * Tania Cruz Morales, youth activist who speaks to problems related to contamination, including psychological; I also spoke off-camera with a man who works on the decontamination project for USA Environmental, one of the Navy contractors responsible for cleanup – briefly, he offered a contrast about the exposure and said he has also been involved in Iraq and Kuwait recent cleanup efforts. The contrast is this: He has to wear an array of protective gear, including a protective mask that he says is capable of filtering contaminants at a sub-micron level – uranium oxide and ceramic uranium oxide are such contaminants; but if he’s so protected, then the danger of exposure is clearly evident, including the danger to the people of Vieques, despite Navy and other disclaimers about such a danger. (This part I’ll have to narrate into the documentary) Summary: It would be more comprehensive to provide individual summaries of what each said, but in the interests of space and time, I’ll address the key points they made: 1. The Navy remedies for decontamination are inadequate. Not only are they inadequate, but the Navy is exploding unexploded ordnance in the open air as part of the “cleanup,” further spreading contaminants. In addition, the Navy disclaims responsibility for the contamination, saying it’s part of the natural Vieques environment. The activists’ response is that the Navy can be the only source – there is no industry on the island except for a small GE plant, and the types of contaminants and the extent are not naturally occurring. These include uranium oxide, lithium, mercury, lead, arsenic, antimony (gunpowder) – some of which has also entered the food chain. The contamination is on land as well as in the surrounding seabed, has been found in fish as well as measured in sea grass at some distance from the test proving grounds sites. Soil, water, food-chain and the air carry the contaminants. 2. There is a considerable need for medical resources to serve people affected – people have to travel by ferry to the main island of Puerto Rico (1¼ hour trip each way) and then by public transportation to receive chemotherapy and dialysis treatments, for example (diabetes is linked to the contamination as well). The contaminants affect the lungs, kidneys, bones, heart, stomach, pancreas, and other organs. Vieques has a rate of cancer at least 26 percent higher than the main island of Puerto Rico, and now possibly measurable at 50 percent higher. 3. In the face of opposition by the U.S. government, the Puerto Rican government and the U.S. military to comprehensive cleanup and health services related to contamination, it would be easy to give in to despair, but this is self-defeating. 4. Activists must remain optimistic that their cause will bear the results they want accomplished. 5. The solutions are not immediate and short-term. They are long-term because of the pervasiveness of the contamination and the health problems. 6. The problems must not be elided or submerged in people’s consciousness, thus education and continued activism is essential. There’s a tendency, for example, to view the cancer problems fatalistically rather than the result of practices that are specific to the island. 7. The Navy must yield the land ultimately back to the people (some has been "turned over" to the U.S. Department of the Interior as a wildlife preserve) – the Navy originally expropriated two thirds of this island, cramming its 10,000 inhabitants in the center – the island is 21 miles long and 4 miles wide. The land, cleaned up, and the seabed, cleaned up, would be a valuable resource for people and their lives. (Ironically, as in Puerto Rico, tourism is the number one economic producer in Vieques – in Puerto Rico’s mainland; the number two industry is pharmaceuticals). Basically unspoken except in Andres’ case, these activists have been exposed to the contaminants themselves and so have put themselves at high risk. -- Wes Rehberg |
HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA BACKS URANIUM WEAPONS BAN -- FROM ICBUW
From the International Coalition to Ban Nuclear Weapons (ICBUW) ...
| TheDalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists has given his support for ICBUW's campaign for a global ban on uranium weapons. 14 September 2007 - ICBUW The Dalai Lama, who is opposed to the use of weapons and all forms of violence as a means to resolve conflict, has offered his support via his office in exile in Dharamsala. The Nobel Peace Prize winner is renowned for his support for environmental and human rights campaigns and his strict adherence to the principles of non-violence has won him recognition around the world. He firmly believes that violence begets violence and therefore it is no solution to a lasting settlement of conflicts; believing instead in the settlement of conflicts through dialogue and compromise so that a lasting solution is found without one being the victor and other the loser. |
FROM VIEQUES, PART TWO -- VIDEO CLIPS FROM DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER ANDRES NIEVES
Below is a video clip posted on the web site of the Commitee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques and YouTube from Vieques documentary filmmaker Andrés Nieves. The video 4-minute video condemns the U.S. Naval bombing and resulting contamination and economic damage to Vieques. For more information visit the committee's web site ...
FROM VIEQUES - TWO DECLARATIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT AND RESPONSE TO U.S. NAVY BOMBINGS AND CONTINUED CONTAMINATION OF THE ISLAND
Below are testimonies from Myrna Pagán and Ismael Guadalupe, founders of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, one presented at the Japan Peace Conference in Okinawa and the other presented before the United Nation's Committee on Decolonization in 2006. The concern now is the continued contamination of this Puerto Rican island, including from DU, as a result of U.S. Navy munitions testing there. Ismael Guadalupe's testimony is in Spanish, with a translation to follow shortly.
| Myrna Pagan Comittee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques We are united in an effort to make PEACE in a world which is in an extraordinarily dangerous moment. The United States of America is at war, a war against world terrorism, the enemy is everywhere, and everything in its command will be used to defend the United States. What are the limits? The Bush administration appears to be deliberately ambiguous as to ruling in or out the use of nuclear weapons. The weapons of mass destruction are not ruled out. We must say no to the use of nuclear arms and military escalation. We must suggest alternatives to those policies which depend on superior weapons power and political domination. Ours are the voices which must be heard at this moment. Voices which call for change from policies of destruction and retribution to a more enlightened response of non-violence, perseverence and noble purpose ... To read the entire testimony, click here ... |  | ||
TESTIMONIO ANTE EL COMITÉ DE DESCOLONIZACIÓN ORGANIZACIÓN DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS 12 de Junio 2006 - Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz Mi más sincero agradecimiento a esta distinguida Comisión donde encontramos años tras años el espacio para nosotros, los puertorriqueños, plantear nuestra situación colonial. De seguro, los compañeros que me han precedido han señalado con mucha certeza, las condiciones que nos colocan en condición de sumisión política ante el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Dentro de esa absurda situación de subordinación política ante los Estado Unidos el caso de la isla puertorriqueña de Vieques es ejemplo de esa vulnerabilidad política. Luego de décadas de resistencia contra la militarización de Vieques logramos el 1 de mayo del 2003 que la Marina de Guerra de los Estados Unidos saliera de Vieques. Durante ese proceso de lucha, quedó claramente demostrado que nuestras instituciones, que forman parte del Estado Libre Asociado, son tan solo una caricatura de un falso poder que en última instancia radica en el Congreso de los Estados Unidos. Ningún tribunal de Puerto Rico pudo darle atención a los miles de abusos que contra nuestro pueblo cometía la Marina Invasora. Utilizando términos muy sofisticados los tribunales de Puerto Rico se declaraban fuera de jurisdicción, cada vez que se buscaba justicia ante los atropellos cometidos por los militares estadounidenses ... To read the entire testimony, click here ... |  |
ARMY CONFIRMS DU CONTAMINATION AT HAWAII'S POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA -- CLEANUP DEMANDED THROUGHOUT HAWAII
An update on the broad contamination by depleted uranium weapons in Hawaii ...
The U.S. Army has admitted that radioactive depleted uranium has been found at the U.S. Army's Pohakuloa Training Area. Military contractor Cabrera Services has also determined that a formerly classified weapon capable of firing DU rounds was used at the 55,000 acre Big Island military base, the Army said in a two-page news release ... this news transmitted via Viviane Lerner on the NucNews nuclear list service, as reported in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald ... Meantime, Sharon Rudolph offers this statement regarding Hawaii DU contamination : " I'd like to add..... Hawaii residents and especially everyone downwind of any DU discovery wants the military to follow its own laws! Everyone wants free, "REAL" DU testing for all residents! The thousand dollar test!!! Everyone wants the military to follow is own laws to give medical care to anyone harmed ...and in regard to clean- up; close and pave Pohakuloa and every live fire range across the country that used DU! Everyone wants to know why the cancer rates, birth defects, thyroid, immune and neurological problems are so high downwind! Why are feral cats sick on the western slopes of Mauna Kea? Why are hunters reporting a greatly increased amount of tumors in sheep and goats? Hawaii residents want an INDEPENDENT monitor, NOW! Everyone in Hawaii wants the army to clean up the other 871 contaminated sites, and however many hundred the navy, has, too! AND they must pay for what they've done to Hawaii and the rest of the country!!!!" To read recent NucNews recent posts from Lerner on this issue, click here ... (pdf file) |
OAK RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL PEACE ALLIANCE VIGIL ON HIROSHIMA DAY, AUGUST 6, 2007 - VIDEO
The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) conducted a vigil at the site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the atomic bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were conceived and manufactured. A ten-minute video of the vigil at Building Y-12 can be viewed blow, Google-ized version ... A downloadable mp4 file of the vigil is available at this Wild Clearing web page ...
VETERANS' RARE CANCERS RAISE FEARS OF TOXIC [AND RADIOACTIVE] BATTLEFIELD
The following article appeared in the NY SUN and was forwarded by those deeply concerned by the use of depleted uranium munitions:
| Veterans' Rare Cancers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefields BY R. B. STUART - Special to the Sun August 6, 2007 URL: www.nysun.com/article/59915 In the wake of an Iraqi official last month blaming America's use of depleted uranium munitions in its 2003 "Shock and Awe" campaign for a surge in cancer there, the Defense Department is facing an October deadline for providing a comprehensive report to Congress on the health effects of such weapons. The report is required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, which President Bush signed into law last year. The request for the study is an outgrowth of claims by Iraq war veterans that exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic substances there has negatively affected their health and that, therefore, their illnesses should be recognized as war-related and the treatment covered by the Veterans Administration. ... ... To read the entire story, click on this link (pdf file) ... |
THE DU WEAPONS PRODUCERS: FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COALITION TO BAN URANIUM WEAPONS (ICBUW)
The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW) lists on its web site companies worldwide that are engaged in the production of depleted uranium weapons. The ICBUW list is offered here as well.
 |
DU Producers - Arms Companies.Two
U.S. companies produce large calibre "depleted" uranium tank rounds:
Alliant Techsystems (120mm shells) and the former Primex Technologies,
now General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (105mm and 120mm
shells). Three other companies – located in France, the former Soviet
Union, and Pakistan – also produce large calibre tank rounds. Alliant
also produces small calibre rounds (25mm, 30mm) for guns on U.S.
aircraft and fighting vehicles.
27 October 2006 - ICBUW
Aerojet Aerojet is part of GenCorp, a major technology-based manufacturing company headquartered in Sacramento, California. GenCorp’s two businesses, Aerojet and Real Estate, concentrate on two principal market areas: aerospace and defense, and real estate. GenCorp’s businesses work toward the Company's vision to be "one of the most respected companies in the world." Aerojet says that it is a leader in the development and manufacture of aerospace propulsion systems; precision tactical weapon systems; and armament systems, including warhead and munitions applications. Aerojet is the second leading provider in both the solid and liquid propulsion market areas, as well as the number one provider in the tactical segment area of solid propulsion. Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee Inc (a subsidiary of Aerojet) manufactures DU penetrators and produces shielding and oxide from DU. To continue reading the ICBUW report, click here ... (pdf file) To connect to the ICBUW report at its web site, click here ... |
URANIUM MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTRE REPORTS INDICATE PRESENCE OF DU CONTAMINATION IN CITIZENS, U.S. SOLDIERS, RESEARCHERS AND BIOSPHERE IN IRAQ
| Uranium Medical Research Centre teams have detected the presence of depleted uranium isotopes in citizens, U.S. soldiers, the biosphere and in the researchers themselves, according to recent conference reports offered by the UMRC. Links to abstracts of some of those reports authored by Asaf Duracovic and others are below. To visit the UMRC web site, click here ... |
 |
|
October 22-27, 2006
The Analysis of Uranium Isotopes Abundance and Ratios in the Civilian Population of Different Regions of Iraq as a Consequence of the Use of Radioactive Weapons in Gulf War II (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF) World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, Seoul, South Korea [Abstract]
October 22-27, 2006
August 22-25, 2006
June 18-23, 2006
May 15-18, 2005
|
WILD CLEARING CONTINUES DOCUMENTARY ON DU MUNITIONS, HEADING FOR VIEQUES, U.S. EXPOSURE SITES
|
FAHEY URGES HOUSE PANEL TO SPUR GAO PROBE INTO DEPT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS DU EXPOSURE FINDINGS
From researcher Dan Fahey to the House Veterans Affairs Committee – July 26, 2007 –
| I respectfully submit to you this written testimony on the occasion of your hearings to call your attention to serious problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) study of Gulf War veterans exposed to depleted uranium (DU). Since 1993, I have interviewed hundreds of veterans about battlefield exposure to dust and debris from armor-piercing DU ammunition and presented my research findings to numerous federal investigations of Gulf War veterans’ illnesses. I am including with this testimony a copy of my most recent testimony at the 28 June 2007 meeting of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that is reviewing scientific and medical literature on the health effects of DU exposure. My IOM presentation provides more detailed information in support of this amendment. The Department of Veterans Affairs study of DU is neither structured nor functioning to provide basic information about the possible health effects of DU exposure among Gulf War veterans … to read Fahey’s entire testimony, click here …. To read his IOM presentation, click here … , and its addendum, click here … |
"A MATTER OF INTEGRITY" - DOUG ROKKE'S STORY OF INADEQUATE VETERANS CARE AND DU WEAPONRY COVERUPS
'YOU ARE GOING TO WAR"-- those words echoed through my mind, bringing back memories of my Vietnam experiences, as I sat down in my physics research laboratory at the University of Illinois after receiving a telephone call from the Lieutenant Colonel I worked for in the Army Reserve. I knew this would happen after Iraq invaded Kuwait during August 1990. I just did not know when my activation order would arrive. Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day 1990 I would be on my way to war again just as I did on Thanksgiving Day 1969. Twenty-one years to the day after going to Vietnam for the 2nd time, I was going back to war.
That was quite a contrast from my duties during Vietnam as a Bomb Navigation Hard-Hat on B-52's when my job was to ensure weapons systems were optimized to kill. Astonishingly I had deployed to South East Asia on Thanksgiving Day 1969 and then again for Gulf War 1 on Thanksgiving Day 1990. I was sent to Saudi Arabia as the theater health physicist assigned to the 12th Preventive Medicine (P.M.) Command professional staff. The 12th P.M. was in charge of all Preventive Medicine within the combat theater. Basically we were the public health department. I also was assigned to three special operations teams: Bauer's Raiders, the Depleted Uranium Assessment team, and the Captured Equipment team. Today, 15 years since the completion of 1, 1994 and 1999 combat actions in the Balkans, and with Gulf War 2 (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom) ongoing, I am frustrated that the required medical care for "all" (combatants and noncombatants) casualties and environmental remediation of all contamination still is delayed or denied. To read the entire article, click this link ... Videos -- Doug Rokke documents service and background: * * Two 15-minute video clips of Wes Rehberg's interview with Doug Rokke, with background and documentation of his service as a DU munitions expert in Iraq and elsewhere (roughly compiled mp4 video files for research use only) ... 1) comments on service - 2) background and documents |
THE SCIENCE: FROM THE 2003 WORLD URANIUM WEAPONS CONFERENCE IN GERMANY
From the Science Panel of the World Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany, in 2003, specifics that detail the impact of these munitions.
| The Science Panel of the 2003 World Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany, addressed the human internal responses to exposure to DU including measurable chromosomal damage from ingested and inhaled uranium oxide dust. It also addressed epidemiological findings, health consequences and environmental impacts of areas exposed to weapons in the theaters of war where hundreds of tons of so-called "depleted" uranium weapons were used. A 63-page report from that panel can be downloaded by clicking here ... If one wants to explore the scope of the world conference in more depth, there is a link to the conference site in another post below as well as other links throughout the blog that address scientific findings. |  |
ARMY'S 1996 TECH BULLETIN CALLS FOR EXTREME CAUTION IN DISPOSAL OF CONTAMINATED DU MUNITIONS
A 1996 Army technical bulletin approved for public release details procedures for the handling, transportation and storage of munitions that contain depleted uranium. Although some sentences tend to minimize risks, other sections detail comprehensive protection measures that must be taken to protect personnel from any contamination as well as measures to be taken should contamination occur. To read the entire document, click here ...
Illustrations below are from the document. Note the cautions in the second panel ...
 |
 |
IRVING WESLEY HALL'S 4-PART SERIES ON DU WEAPONS DANGERS
| Satirist and "clergy person" Irving Wesley Hall has posted a sly four-part series on the dangers of depleted uranium weapons on his website NotInKansas.us ... The first part is titled "Dick Cheney is No Wizard of Oz," the second "Dick & Hillary's Dirty Little Secret," the third "Depleted Uranium for Dummies" (quite detailed), along with a version in Spanish, and the fourth "GIs, Beware Radioactive Showers." To visit this site and series, click here. |  |
"DISCOUNTED CASUALTIES" - GREAT HIROSHIMA NEWSPAPER SERIES ON DU IMPACTS WORLDWIDE
"Discounted Casualties - the Human Cost of Depleted Uranium" is a comprehensive and exhaustive journalism work by Akira Tashiro in the Hiroshima Newspaper Chugoku Shimbun, published in 2000 yet timely -- a reproduction of the initial page of the online series is below -- You can visit the web site for the series by clicking here.
EUROPEAN UNION PARLIAMENT'S MORATORIUM ON DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS
Though there are those, especially in the U.S., who still contend that depleted uranium munitions' oxides are not radioactively threatening or toxic, the European Union's Parliament in 2003 resolved that there be a moratorium on DU weapons use by member and non-member states, including those in NATO. (The United States thus, by extension, ought to also comply as a member of NATO.) Three sections of the EU resolution read as following:
| [The Parliament ...] "11. Calls on the Council to support independent and thorough investigations into the possible harmful effects of the use of depleted uranium ammunition (and other types of uranium warheads) in military operations in areas such as the Balkans, Afghanistan and other regions; stresses that such investigations should include consideration of the effects on military personnel serving in affected areas and the effects on civilians and their land; calls for the results of these investigations to be presented to Parliament; "12. Requests the Member States - in order to play their leadership role in full - to immediately implement a moratorium on the further use of cluster ammunition and depleted uranium ammunition (and other uranium warheads), pending the conclusions of a comprehensive study of the requirements of international humanitarian law; "13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, all members of NATO which are not EU Member States, the UN Secretary-General and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe." To read the full resolution, click here ... |
VIDEO CLIPS FROM CPT DU DELEGATION CONFRONTING AEROJET ORDNANCE OF JONESBOROUGH, TENNESSEE
Below are links to three roughly-edited clips from the Christian Peacemaker Teams May 2007 Stop-DU action confronting Aerojet Ordnance's production of uranium weapons used by the U.S. military in Iraq and elsewhere. One is of an attempt to meet with Aerojet officials, another of a balloon release with a message inside that said the balloon indicated the airflow from the DU munitions manufacturing plant, and the third of a press conference at the Aerojet site to which Aerojet was invited but did not appear. The third clip, 33-minutes in length, also provides resourceful descriptions of uranium weapons dangers.
| For
CPT/FTP May 2007
Stop-DU delegation in Jonesborough, Tennessee (for viewing only) ** Video 1-minute rough-edited clip of balloon release indicating wind direction from Aerojet Ordnance, a depleted uranium munitions plant - mp4 file ** Video 4-minute rough-edited clip of second visit to Aerojet Ordnance entryway to speak with management -- mp4 file ** Video 33-minute lightly compiled clip of CPT/Sierra Club Radiation Committee press conference at Aerojet Ordnance location - mp4 file These are roughly compiled video clips from Wes Rehberg (c) 2007 Wild Clearing all rights reserved |
DOCUMENTATION: DR. ROSALIE BERTELL ON URANIUM WEAPONS DANGERS
Below is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Rosalie Bertell on uranium weapons hazards -- for the complete article, click the link following the excerpt. Bertell is the author of "Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War" and founder of the International Institute for Concern of Public Health.
| THE HAZARD: When a depleted uranium penetrator hits a hardened target, there is an extreme temperature increase, in the range of 5000 degrees Centigrade. The melting points of uranium metal, 1132 degrees Centigrade and uranium oxide, which is 2865 degrees Centigrade, are exceeded. At this extreme heat, a ceramic (glass) form of uranium oxide is created, which is highly insoluble in human body tissue. Therefore exposure to DUM (depleted uranium munition) is likely to include uranium oxide dust as well as ceramic uranium oxide aerosol in unknown proportions. Any aerosol of this ceramic DUM which is smaller than 10 micron can be inhaled, and it can damage the respiratory system. The very small particles, less than 2.5 micron, can penetrate to the lower lung area, while the larger particles will affect the nose and trachea-bronchial tissue.. The particles can be rough, and the mechanical body motion will tend to knock off the protrusions first. These particles may be small enough to pass the lung-blood barrier and be scavenged by blood cells and deposited (permanently) in the thoracic lymph nodes. While this will be a very small amount, uranium is an alpha particle emitter and can damage the lymph tissue which travels throughout the body. To read the entire article, click here ... |  |
INTRIGUING VISITORS TO OUR WEB PAGES -- A DOCUMENTATION
Wild Clearing's web site server records the IP addresses of visitors' accounts, so, if you're visiting our site from an account with Comcast, say, it will indicate that the Comcast server was used to access the site -- same with a search engine or an inquiry into ask.com, for example. It doesn't identify who accessed, just the server from which the access emanated. Below are three accesses, from accounts of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Social Security Administration, and a different view of Aerojet Ordnance's visits; the first two may just be curious, but the third is suspicious in light of the CPT/Stop-DU action at Aerojet's Jonesborough, TN, plant.
 |
 |
 |
DOUG ROKKE'S CONFERENCE TALK IN TENNESSEE
Dr. Doug Rokke offered a talk on the dangers of weaponized uranium munitions during the Abolish-DU conference in northeast Tennessee, sponsored by Christian Peacemaker Teams Stop-DU Campaign and First Tennessee Progressives. Go to the web page below to find links to his talk
 |
Visit this Wild Clearing web page to link to an mp4 or Google video of Rokke's talk. |
MD: USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM A FORM OF RADIOLOGIC WARFARE
|
Use of Depleted Uranium Is a Form of Radiologic Warfare
Helen Caldicott, MD
Medscape General Medicine. ©2007 Medscape
 A relatively new weapon [among many] has entered the armory of the US arsenal. Anti-tank shells made of 10 pounds of solid uranium-238 -- commonly called depleted uranium (DU) are very effective weapons to use against tank armaments because they slice through the steel armor like a hot knife through butter. Despite the apparent effectiveness of DU, there are grave dangers.
Uranium-238 is pyrophoric, bursting into flame on impact, and when it burns 70% of the shell aerosolizes into particles less than 5 microns in diameter, which are respirable in size. Uranium-238 is an alpha radioactive emitter which is both chemically toxic and mutagenic. Basically, there are 5 mechanisms by which uranium can induce mutations and cell damage:
Uranium induces lung, bone, and hematological cancers and it infiltrates the CNS.[6] It is excreted in the urine and semen, and uranyl ions infiltrate the testes, ovaries, placenta, embryo, and fetus.[5] This is a radiological and dangerous element which can cause generations of damage to human beings. Yet hundreds of tons of uranium-238 munitions were used in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq in 1991, in Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s, and in the current Iraq war.[7] Children, of course, are more susceptible to radiation-induced cancer than adults. Pediatricians report a marked increased in childhood cancer and severe congenital anomalies in Basra, which was polluted in 1991 with hundreds of tons of aerosolized uranium-238.[5] Uranium-238, with a half-life of 4.5 billion years, will contaminate water, food chains, and the ambient air in these countries forever. The use of radiological weapons, including depleted uranium, should be banned by international treaties, and all countries should refrain from using them for the health and safety of all. Dr. Helen Caldicott, MD, pediatrician and President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute.
References
 Helen Caldicott, MD, Founder, President, Nuclear Policy Research Institute, College Park, Maryland |
TACTICS TO THWART A NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST URANIUM MUNITIONS
Roger Helbig, Air Force Lt. Colonel, reportedly pressured sponsors, conferees, delegates
| by Cliff Kindy (CPT, Stop-DU) One week before the Depleted Uranium (DU) Conference at East Tennessee State University, Roger Helbig, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force,sent scathing emails to the organizers and speakers, saying, among other things, "You really have been had [with these speakers]." He went on to discredit them systematically. One of the speakers, Cathy Garger, reported receiving sixteen messages from Helbig. Helbig also made two phone calls and sent two emails to the director of the Church of the Brethren Newsline, which had sent out the announcement of the conference. Helbig was attempting to divide the speakers and planners and force them to spend time defending themselves rather than just telling their stories. Apparently, other pressures from behind the scenes also entered this drama. An encampment across from the Aerojet Ordnance plant, a primary DU manufacturer, was supposed to happen in conjunction with the conference. Two landowners, who in previous months had offered their land for the Stop-DU encampment, withdrew those invitations in the last days before the conference. Then, the final day before the event, the professor who had arranged the space for the DU Conference on campus received a call on her personal cell phone from the Dean of East Tennessee State University. He questioned why she had opened her classroom to an "outside" group. The implication was that she should rescind the offer. As planners assess the timing of the conference, they can draw the conclusion that some people are feeling uncomfortable with the growing visibility of DU issues and are pulling out the stops to make the Stop-DU campaign falter. Their tactics failed. The conference proceeded on schedule. Sixty activists and interested visitors from at least nine U.S. states and Canadian provinces attended the six-hour teaching/organizing conference. [Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams' 18-26 May delegation that participated in the 19 May DU conference are Russell Attoe and Judy Leurquin (Madison, Wisconsin), Bill and Genie Durland (Colorado Springs, Colorado), Ron Forthofer (Longmont, Colorado), Ron Friesen (Loveland, Colorado), Anne Herman (El Paso, Texas), Kirsten Romaine Jones (Toronto, Ontario), Cliff Kindy (North Manchester, Indiana) Murray Lumley (Toronto, Ontario), Jane MacKay Wright (Providence Bay, Ontario), Wes Rehberg (Chattanooga, Tennessee), Michael Smith (Gibson City, Illinois) and Dick and Gretchen Williams (Boulder, Colorado).] |
AEROJET ORDNANCE VISITS WILD CLEARING'S WEB SITE
Uranium weapons producer Aerojet Ordnance of Jonesborough, Tennessee, spent 38 minutes on Wild Clearing's web site during the Christian Peacemaker Teams action -- see the reproduction below of Traffic Fact's web traffic during that period in May. |
U.S. SOLDIERS ARE SICK OF IT AND SUFFERING
|
CPT DU DELEGATION REFLECTIONS IN JONESBOROUGH, TN
| While in Jonesborough, TN, members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation to halt production of uranium weapons offered reflections during the 10-day period -- between May 18 and 27, 2007 -- on what they encountered. The focus of the campaign was U238 uranium weapons cores produced at Aerojet Ordnance. The reflections are below: |  |
CPT DU REFLECTION: A DAY OF CONTRASTS (May 19, 2005) By Jane MacKay Wright On day one of the Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation, we attend a conference on depleted uranium in Johnson City, Tennessee . Spring green colors the eastern corner of Tennessee, while inside we watch photos of Afghan orphans and deformed babies. Leaves ripple in a warm breeze, while inside we learn of toxic dust blowing across the state. Weaponized uranium is of no harm to anyone says the Department of Defense, but Gulf War veterans sicken and die. The military orders preventive training and toxic cleanup, then denies it is necessary. Patriotic Americans in Jonesborough, TN manufacture uranium core for their army, and are exposed to radiation. Farmers' fields become contaminated battlefields. We think of Iraq. We see Tennessee. The sun shines as we walk in the warm light. A bird sings to us. CPT DU REFLECTION: WORKING TO TURN SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES (May 20, 2007) By Kirsten Romaine
Today our group stationed itself across the road from depleted uranium producer, AeroJet Ordnance, to protest its innocuous looking factory of death. CPT DU REFLECTION: WHEN COOPERATION PREVAILS, THINGS HAPPEN (May 24,2007)  Photo by Murray Lumley -- Jane Wright, Cliff Kindy and Linda Modica at press conference ... |
.jpg)
I'M CONVINCED THAT DU USE IS TREACHEROUS -- I HOPE YOU ARE, TOO
| Researching the sites listed in this blog, it became clear that those engaged in warfare are using depleted uranium munitions without regard for the everlasting toxicological and radiological impact on the planet and its life.
For humans, the impact is killing and crippling - read the posts herein to understand why. The arguments for the "precautionary principle" advanced by scientists and physicians is compelling -- those who would employ and deploy depleted uranium should take every means to assure that its use is safe; victims and the general public shouldn't have to bear that burden.
Unfortunately, even WHO and the IAEA have argued that its use in munitions doesn't present the hazards that are asserted in the posts here. To me, this is mindful disregard, a displacement that is deadly and treacherous. War is equally evil, but its impacts up to now haven't so deeply threatened life on the planet.
The CPT delegation is part of a decades-old international effort to bring this disregard and treachery into public conversation, so that we can, since we have to, be those who espouse the "precautionary principle" regarding DU use. Life depends on it. Read the posts included here and elsewhere. I hope you'll join this campaign. -- Wes Rehberg |
 |
KOSOVO SITES IDENTIFIED AS HIT BY DU WEAPONS IN 1999
The map below illustrates sites impacted by DU weapons during NATO-US attacks in Kosovo during 1999 as a result of severe ethnic conflicts between Serbians and Kosovor-Albanians, many who fled after massacres in 1998. For a reprint of a LeMonde Diplomatique article in English on what is considered to be a coverup of the DU dangers, click here (PDF file). For the BBC news timeline and stories of these NATO strikes, click here. For Federation of American Scientists photos of one segment of NATO air operations, offered during a NATO press conference, view this web page.  |
DU HEALTH RISKS & LESSONS FROM GULF WAR I -- TWO SCIENTIFIC REVIEWS
The following are two downloadable PFD files that address how official government organizations and scientific analysts differ on the assessments of dangers of depleted uranium weapons.
|
** "Health Risks of Depleted Uranium - An Independent Review of Scientific Literature" by Mike Pritchard, University of Toronto - PDF file |
DU CARD ISSUED TO BRITISH TROOPS DEPLOYED TO IRAQ
|
|
 From the Traprock Peace Center web site -- Text: You are eligible for a urine test to measure uranium. If you wish to know more about having this test, you should consult your unit medical officer on return to your home base. Your medical officer can provide information about the health effects of DU. Information is also available on the MOD [Ministry of Defense] web site: www.uk/issues/depleted_uranium/index.htm |
CONFERENCE & ENCAMPMENT ON DEPLETED URANIUM (DU) WEAPONS IN NORTHEAST TENNESSEE
|
Register now for an unprecedented conference and encampment focused on Depleted Uranium production in Appalachia, and help us stop the production of weaponized nuclear waste ! |
|
URANIUM WEAPONS COVER-UPS - A CRIME AGAINST HUMANKIND
Uranium Weapons Cover-ups - a Crime against Humankind
 This analysis is posted on the World Uraniums Conference 2003 web site, a conference held in Hamburg, Germany, in 2003. It was prepared by Piotr Bein, Ph.D., M.A.Sc., P.Eng., and Karen Parker, J.D., Diplome (Strasbourg) © 2003. Its abstract begins with these words: Munitions that contain low-grade uranium 235 – insufficient to trigger nuclear explosion – are chemical-radiological weapons. They contain other toxic-radioactive elements and have indiscriminate effects. They are illegal by virtue of international conventions, laws and customs of war. When used in populated areas or in the presence of numerous troops (enemy or friendly), they become weapons of delayed but mass destruction (WMD). Fatal consequences of depleted uranium (DU) armour-piercing ammunition emerged in veterans and civilians after wars in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans. While the victims remain neglected, hundreds of tons of uranium from weapons developed in recent years against hard and buried targets have polluted Afghanistan. Up-coming war scenarios involve larger chemical-radiological contamination potential. The military, governments, and nuclear and weapon industries fail to or inadequately disclose the effects of uranium weapons, and manipulate inquiries of international health organizations. The media act as a propaganda outlet for these groups. The purpose of Information Operations behind the propaganda is to influence perceptions and actions of foreign and domestic public, governments, and intelligence. A spiraling group self-deception perpetuates the propaganda for fear of liability and criminal responsibility. Covering up information on war crimes and crimes against humanity, and military and foreign policy based on such information, are crimes themselves ... For the entire article, click here ... |
"POISON DUst" VIDEO and A DU AUDIO RESOURCE
Included below are links to excerpts from the Sue Harris video "Poison DUst," posted on YouTube, as well for the purchase of the DVD. Also included is a link to a pertinent audio file.
| The links below are borrowed from the International Institute of Concern for Public Health in Canada: -- Poison DUst -- the movie --
Poison DUst is a film by Sue Harris, starring Rosalie Bertell, Helen Caldicott, and others. It describes the horrors of depleted uranium as used in warfare. The movie used to be available in whole on Google Video, but no more, as of this writing. You can catch 4 excerpts on YouTube as listed below, or can buy the DVD on line. You Tube -- part 1/4 You Tube -- part 2/4 You Tube -- part 3/4 You Tube -- part 4/4 Producer's page Buy the DVD at Amazon.com | Available on Wild Clearing's Web site is the following for download and listening, also posted in the Traprock Peace Center web site, listed in the Blog Roll: A talk by Maj. Douglas Rokke, DU opponent and the Pentagon's former director of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project, who will also be addressing the May 19 East Tennessee State DU Conference. The talk was given in May 2003 in Albany, NY, sponsored by the Physicians for Social Responsibility: You may download an mp3 audo file here of his talk. |
DU RESOURCES FROM VARIOUS WEB SITES
Below are web sites dedicated to providing resources as well as forums for understanding dangers of depleted uranium munitions:
| traprockpeace.org Pages and pages of links, forums and downloadable files on DU, nonviolence, community work, efforts to end war, and environmental and justice issues. |
| |
| IDust: An archival reference resource Mission: To disseminate information and coordinate advocacy efforts worldwide; To bring about a total ban on weapons that contain depleted uranium. |
 | |
| Norbert's Bookmarks for a Better World This is web site with 30,000 links including a number on military armaments and depleted uranium munitions. |
| |
| World Uranium Weapons Conference This 2003 conference in Hamburg, Germany, provided an international forum on DUs -- "the trojan horse of a nuclear war" |
|
| Another web site to view offers an online video of: "Iraq: The Hidden War" -- visit The Information Clearing House for this and other videos. |
"DISSIDENT" BLOG'S ARTICLE & VIDEOS ON DU EFFECTS IN IRAQ
Uranium and the War - The effects of depleted uranium weapons in Iraq, from "Dissident"
| Anne Herman, CPT reservist, provided the CPT DU delegation with the following link, which offers an article by John Williams on the effects of depleted uranium munitions in Iraq, as well as a video on DU weaponry. To vist the "Dissident" blog item, click here. |  |
DU DELEGATION GROWS - TENNESSEE DU CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED FOR MAY 19
|
To all: -- Important updates on the increased 15-member CPT delegation (Christian Peacemaker Teams) and an announcement about the DU (depleted uranium weapons) conference open to all at East Tennessee State University. You'll note that there are several from Canada and Colorado on the delegation team as well as one from Puerto Rico. Just one is from Tennessee, site of AeroJet Ordnance, a major producer..
In her delegation update, Claire Evans, CPT delegation coordinator, announced that Anne Herman, Sonia Santiago Hernández, and Michael Smith have joined the delegation.
Anne, now of El Paso, has been active witnessing against military bases in New York State, in the movement to close the School of the Americas, and on border issues in El Paso. She is an activist colleague who spent six-months in federal prison a few years back for crossing the line during an SOA protest at Fort Benning. Also joined are Sonia Santiago Hernández, of Puerto Rico, founder of Mothers Against the War, and Michael J. Smith of Illinois, who is a registered nurse and has been a CPT nonviolent activist nationally and internationally. More on all the current delegates is within the list below
Meanwhile, the Tennessee DU conference, open to all and free, also has been organized by Christian Peacemaker Teams as well as STOP-DU. -- The conference is a key part of the 9-day CPT DU delegation. The nine days will also include more intimate interviews with those associated with and impacted by DU weapons and their manfucture, and nonviolent direct action. .
The CPT conference announcement immediately follows. A major purpose of the delegation is to help us all - including the delegates - better understand and analyze the issues within and behind DU production. Please circulate and post ...
Nemaste, Wes Rehberg, delegate member
* * * From Linda Modica and Cliff Kindy:
Friends,
It's happening! Saturday, May 19, a major conference on depleted uranium is scheduled for East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. There is no registration cost, so you can afford to travel and bring your friends. Military personnel, especially those who have been in Iraq and Afghanistan, are most welcome to help us strategize next steps. There is a Camp DU tenting option for those who choose just across the road from Aerojet Ordnance, one of the primary manufacturers of DU penetrator cores for the 120 mm Abrams tank shells. Saturday parking for the conference is free on campus and there are various eating places near Room 102 in Rogers Stout Hall, where we will be meeting, next to the Sherrod Library.
Major Doug Rokke, PhD, has been the Pentagon expert on depleted uranium. Cathy Garger writes eloquently on the issues of depleted uranium munitions. Mohammad Daud Miraki, PhD, is an articulate speaker and author of Afghanistan After Democracy. These three lead off the day at 9:00AM, EST, and will be followed by break out groups that grapple with next steps in this nonviolent campaign to stop the production of depleted uranium weapons.
It is past time to expose the horrors of DU to the US public and put together a plan to stop its use. Come join us in this major step. Alert and invite media to cover this event. Christian Peacemaker Teams is sponsoring a DU Delegation that runs from May 18 - 27. This conference is an integral part of this international delegation. To join the delegation, go to cpt.org and check links to delegations and registrations.
Questions? Contact either Linda Modica at lcmodic[at]aol.com or 423-676-2925, or Cliff Kindy at the kindy[at]cpt.org or 260-982-2971.
Blessings of peace to your days |
CAMPAIGN TO STOP DEPLETED URANIUM DELEGATION TO JONESBOROUGH - May 18-27, 2007
| LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Co-Leader: Murray Lumley, Toronto, Age 66. He has been active locally in protesting against militarization and nuclear weapons. A CPT reservist since 2000, he has most recently spent time with CPT''s U.S.-Mexico Borderlands project and participated in last November's DU delegation. Co-Leader: Cliff Kindy, North Manchester, IN; Age 57. An organic farmer, he served as a full-time member of the Christian Peacemaker Corps in Hebron, West Bank; Chiapas, Mexico; Colombia; native communities in North America; and Iraq. He is currently spearheading the Stop DU Campaign, a project of CPT's Northern Indiana regional group. Russell Attoe, Madison, WI. Age 60. An electronics technician at the University of Wisconsin, he has long been active in peace and justice issues. He participated in a delegation to the U.S./Mexico border, and has vigilled against the School of the Americas several times. With his wife, Judy Leurquin, he produces a weekly table TV program on Third World concerns. Bill Durland, Colorado Springs, CO. Age 76. He has experience as an attorney and college professor with long-time involvement with nonviolent action. He is active in a local peace and justice group, Friends of Sabeel, and CPT-Colorado. A CPT reservist, he has been on CPT delegations to Iraq, Israel/Palestine and the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Genie Durland, Age 71. She taught at Pendle Hill and has spent extended time in the Middle East. She is active in a local peace and justice group, Friends of Sabeel, and CPT-Colorado. A CPT reservist, she been on CPT delegations to Iraq, Israel/Palestine and the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Ron Forthofer, Longmont, CO. Age 63. Formerly a professor of biometry, he is involved in local peace groups and has served as a peacekeeper at actions in the Denver/Boulder area. He participated in two CPT delegations to the Middle East and spent time on the Pierre, South Dakota project as a CPT reservist. Ron Friesen, Loveland, CO. Age 74. He is involved in CPT-Colorado and local peace groups and has participated as a peacekeeper at several local actions. He was part of a CPT delegation to Chiapas and served on teams in South Dakota and the U.S.-Mexico Border. Anne Herman, El Paso, TX. Age 73. Has been active witnessing against military bases in New York State, in the movement to close the School of the Americas, and on border issues in El Paso. A CPT reservist, she has served with on teams in Chiapas, Mexico; Oneida, NY; and the Arizona Borderlands, and participated in delegations to Vieques, Puerto Rico and Iraq. Kirsten Romaine Jones, Toronto, ON. Age 69. Inspired by Quaker ideals, she has been involved in nonviolent actions since 1955 in Canada, the USA, Belgium and the U.K. She has been a nonviolence trainer in prisons, schools and other organizations and volunteers with a local mediation center. Judy Leurquin, Madison, WI. Age 66. A retired psycho nurse, she has a long-standing interest in DU. She has been active in peace and justice issues for many years. She participated in several delegations to Central America and to Cuba, and vigilled against the School of the Americas several times. With her husband , Rus Attoe, she produces a weekly table TV program on Third World concerns. Jane MacKay Wright, Providence Bay, ON. Age 63. She taught media arts at the college level for 18 years, including three months in China. She was involved with the Cruise Missile Conversion Project in Toronto in the early 1980s, and is active in her Quaker meeting. A CPT Reservist, she served with teams in Iraq, New Brunswick and Kenora, Ontario. Wes Rehberg, Chattanooga, TN. Age 70. He spent more than 20 years as a journalist and produces documentary videos on social justice themes. He is also a retired United Methodist pastor. He has been involved in a range of peace and justice issues locally and internationally. Michael J. Smith, Gibson City, IL. Age 60. He is active in local and district wide Mennonite Church social justice efforts. He participated in CPT delegations to Vieques, Puerto Rico; Colombia and the Middle East and served with CPT's Grassy Narrows project. He is a registered nurse anesthetist and a CPT reservist. Dick Williams, Boulder, CO . Age 76. He is an ordained Methodist minister with experience as a college professor and research consultant. He is involved in the Colorado CPT group, has been on delegations to Haiti, Chiapas and Vieques, Puerto Rico, and served with CPT in Chiapas as a reservist. Gretchen Williams, Boulder, CO Age 75. She has experience as a bio-feedback therapist and has been involved in anti-nuclear and other peace actions. She participates in CPT-Colorado; has been on delegations to South Carolina, the Middle East, Vieques and Chiapas, and has served with CPT in Chiapas as a reservist. She also regularly volunteers at CPT's Chicago office. Claire Evans Delegation Coordinator Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. |
WELCOME
| Welcome to this blog . I'll be seeking to post multimedia updates - principally video, audio and text - on this site before, during and after the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation to Jonesborough, Tennessee, from May 18-27. These posts will be personal and, as well, hopefully newsworthy as the delegation team takes shape and its efforts unfold in this campaign. The reason I decided to blog this are two: the blogosphere is an important, well-utilized media form; RSS and ATOM feeds are automatically generated for those who prefer to use RSS readers. The next post will be particularly lengthy as I try to catch up with what has transpired thus far -- Wes Rehberg | |
