Campagin Against Depleted Uranium

Report from Ban-DU, a U.S. partner to CADU

We continue to work hard to spread the word about the deadly effects of depleted uranium, to civilian populations as well as service personnel who suffer its consequences. We have made posters of colour photos of a few of the deformed and dying children in Iraq (5,000 a month), due to Sanctions and DU exposure. We have displayed them in several public locations. Along with the posters we offer a brochure to help educate the public. It includes action ideas and addresses of officials who could influence public policy. We are angry that our military is so obsessed with power that they refuse to acknowledge the damage to health to civilians as well as our military personnel. We have had considerable (unsatisfactory) correspondence with top officials in the Pentagon, other government agencies and veterans' associations. We have urged many of the popular TV talk shows to cover this topic, so far with no results. But we keep trying.
Thanks to the behind-the-scenes guidance of Dan Fahey (Military Toxics Project), an amazingly accurate coverage of DU was put on national TV (Sixty Minutes) in December 1999, watched by 80 million Americans. The program covered how much the military knew about DU's toxic effects before it was used in battle (in Iraq), and how little they warned or protected service personnel, even afterwards, during the pathetically little cleanup.
The Pentagon followed the program with its PR machine telling that their studies show no significant health effects could result from its use. No public outcry has resulted, either due to the effectiveness of the Pentagon whitewash, or else the public is numb from too many recent revelations of wrong-doings.
We listened to the same denials and rhetoric for 25 years about agent orange. Now we learn of radiation experiments on civilians (without their knowledge) that occurred back in the 1960's, and of experimental bacteriological gases and sprays used on selected civilian populations... What more has the military done that we don't know about? We have come to know that our governments will do anything to enhance their desperate need to make deadly and deadlier weapons of destruction. It is the power thing as well as a profitable product to sell all over the world. How sad.
We are angry that our young men and women in uniform are constantly being used as guinea pigs, not only with DU, but being fed irradiated food, and given experimental immunisations, and who knows what else?
We continue to urge our government to halt the use of DU weapons (and take out of service those already made), to stop selling DU weapons or DU for commercial use to other countries (and reclaim that which we have already sold abroad), to clean up the contamination of DU weapons everywhere we have imposed it (testing as well as battle sites), to provide appropriate medical care for those who have been affected, to prohibit any further use of DU for commercial, civilian products and reclaim those already in use. Share with us your success stories on how you are getting this story out!
We are impressed with your gains with your MP's, and your hearings at the United Nations. Keep up your great work!!
Betty Schroeder
Ban-DU
5349 W. Bar X Street
Tucson, AZ 85713
USA
[email protected]

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From CADU News 3: Winter 1999/2000

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Page last updated: 6th December 2002