Damacio Lopez in Manchester

As part of his UK tour Damacio Lopez, Executive Director of IDUST (International DU Study Team) came to Manchester at the end of July. He told us how he had come to campaigning from his home town in New Mexico. The contempt with which he was treated when he raised doubts about the testing of DU weapons close to the local school, spurred Damacio on to throw himself wholeheartedly into campaigning. In his talk three points stood out:
1. If the military arguments are considered, tungsten is no substitute for DU, Damacio claimed.
2. There are very serious problems for US serving soldiers. If they are in the army or associated jobs, they receive generous health insurance for themselves and their families. If they leave or criticise their employers, the health insurance is in jeopardy.
3. When our supporters approached the Ministry of Defence about the clean-up of the DU contamination after the war, the replies said there was no legal obligation to carry this out. Ultimately this will prove an almost impossible task, considering the amount of DU which has been used now in Iraq. One report recently said that areas of Iraq were 'littered with empty DU shells'.