Beyond Treason

[garybeck]

Run time: 01:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h_eao9uwL4   Posted on YouTube: May 15, 2006 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 30, 2007 By DU Member: garybeck Views on DU: 1086

 
the "other" DU.

[JohnyCanuck]

1. Uranium’s Effect On DNA Established and a K & R

Uranium’s Effect On DNA Established

The use of depleted uranium in munitions andweaponry is likely to come under intense scrutiny now that new research that found that uranium can bind to human DNA. The finding will likely have far-reaching implications for returned soldiers, civilians living in what were once war-zones and people who might live near uranium mines or processing facilities.

Uranium - when manifested as a radioactive metal - has profound and debilitating effects on human DNA. These radioactive effects have been well understood for decades, but there has been considerable debate and little agreement concerning the possible health risks associated with low-grade uranium ore (yellowcake) and depleted uranium.

Now however, Northern Arizona University biochemist Diane Stearns has established that when cells are exposed to uranium, the uranium binds to DNA and the cells acquire mutations, triggering a whole slew of protein replication errors, some of which can lead to various cancers. Stearns' research, published in the journals Mutagenesis and Molecular Carcinogenesis, confirms what many have suspected for some time - that uranium can damage DNA as a heavy metal, independently of its radioactive properties. "Essentially, if you get a heavy metal stuck on DNA, you can get a mutation," Stearns explained. While other heavy metals are known to bind to DNA, Stearns and her team were the first to identify this characteristic with uranium.

Depleted uranium - what is left over when the highly radioactive isotopes of uranium are removed - is widely used by the military. Anti-tank weapons, tank armor and ammunition rounds are just some of the applications. "The health effects of uranium really haven't been studied since the Manhattan Project (the development of the atomic bomb in the early 1940s). But now there is more interest in the health effects of depleted uranium. People are asking questions now," Stearns said.

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20060307010324data_trunc_sys.shtml

From a presentation on the effects of Depleted Uranium in Iraq by Thomas Fasy MD PhD, a Professor of Pathology at Mount Sinai Medical School, New York:

Soil particles contain uranium at very low concentrations, typically less than 5 parts per million; the vast majority of these soil particles, however, are too large to be inhaled deep into the lungs. In contrast, the dust particles derived from depleted uranium weapons contain very high concentrations of uranium, typically more than 500.000 parts per million; moreover, most of the D.U. dust particles are sufficiently small to be inhaled deep into the lungs. Thus, compared to the uranium naturally present in the environment, D.U. dust contains uranium in a form that is vastly more bio-available and more readily internalized. (my emphasis /jc)

Uranyl ions bind to DNA; they bind in the minor groove of DNA. While bound to DNA, uranyl ions are chemically reactive and can give rise to free radicals which may damage DNA. Chemically mediated DNA damage of this type may contribute to the ability of uranium to induce cancers.

I would now like to present some epidemiologic data from the Basra governate in the south of Iraq. In February 1991, more than 300 tons (possibly much more than 300 tons) of D.U. weapons were used in South of Iraq. After 5-6 year latent periods, increases in childhood cancers and birth defects were documented in the Basra governate. The most recent data indicate a four fold increase in pediatric malignancies and a seven fold increase in congenital malformations compared to 1990, the year preceeding the war.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4124449

[garybeck]

2. Should be internationally banned.

[JohnyCanuck]

3. A presentation to the European Parliament

PRESENTATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (23 June 2005)

Keith Baverstock PhD; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, KUOPIO, Finland

I have, during a career of some 30 years, developed expertise in evaluating risks regarding the environmental and occupational exposure to ionising radiation and radioactive materials in many different situations. I have done this in the context of employment by the UK Medical Research Council (1971 to 1991) and the European Regional Office of the World Health Organisation (1991 to 2003), both ostensibly "independent" organisations.

Between 2000 and 2002 I examined the evidence relating to risks from the mildly radioactive depleted uranium. My concern was especially raised by the specific exposure context of inhalation of the dust particles produced when a depleted uranium munition impacts a hardened target and burns, producing fine particles of DU oxide (DUO). This material has no natural analogue and does not arise in the normal refining and processing of uranium for nuclear fuel. There is, therefore, no prior experience of exposure to this material than its use in Iraq in 1991.

According to the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP), inhaled DUO would pose a hazard to the lung from radiation if it were insoluble and a chemical toxicity risk to the kidney (physiological toxicity of kidney malfunction) if it were soluble.

DUO is in fact part insoluble and part sparingly soluble. Since 1998 evidence has accrued that human cells exposed in the laboratory to low concentrations of DU exhibit changes characteristic of malignant cells and indeed, when implanted into host animals, will lead to malignancy. In these experiments it seems unlikely, given the low concentrations and the experimental conditions, that this effect is mediated by radiation, but is rather a chemically mediated genotoxicity. (See for example 1-6 The non-radioactive element, nickel, produces similar effects and is an established carcinogen.

In 2001 this evidence led me to believe that inhaled DUO particles, which are capable of penetrating the deep lung (where they would be retained for long periods) posed, for a period of weeks to months, not only a radiotoxicity risk but also a chemical genotoxicity risk and potentially a synergy between the two. Thus any risk evaluated on the basis of the ICRP recommendations would be likely to underestimate the true risk.

http://www.traprockpeace.org/keith_baverstock_23june05.htm

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Dirty Weapons - Casualties From Iraq War Will Mount

Dirty Weapons - Casualties From Iraq War Will Mount


Pacific News Service
May 5, 2003

Commentary, Chalmers Johnson

ammunition as an illegal weapon of mass destruction.

Predictions of a new era of painless, precision warfare neglect disturbing new data on the true number of casualties from the first Gulf War. PNS contributor Chalmers Johnson examines depleted uranium munitions and their potentially devastating impact on civilians and troops in Iraq and Kosovo.

Speaking to the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln from the ship's flight deck recently, President Bush described a new era in warfare where modern weaponry can bring down regimes "without directing violence against civilians." In fact, in both Gulf wars, unintended and potentially devastating consequences to both civilians and U.S. troops contradict administration claims of new, low-casualty combat.

The most important of these consequences is Gulf War Syndrome, a potentially deadly medical disorder that first appeared among combat veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Just as the effects of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War were first explained away by the Pentagon as "post-traumatic stress disorder" or "combat fatigue," the Bush administration is downplaying the potential toxic side effects of the ammunition now being widely used by its armed forces -- depleted uranium (DU) -- and its suspected role in sickening soldiers long after they leave the battlefield.

During 1990 and 1991, some 696,778 individuals served in the Persian Gulf as elements of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Of these, 148 were killed in battle, 467 were wounded in action and 145 were killed in accidents, producing a total of 760 casualties -- quite a low number given the scale of the operations.

However, as of May 2002 the Veterans Administration (VA) reported that an additional 8,306 soldiers had died and 159,705 were injured or became ill as a result of service-connected "exposures" suffered during the war. Even more alarmingly, the VA revealed that 206,861 veterans, almost a third of Gen. Schwarzkopf's entire army, had filed claims for medical care, compensation, and pension benefits based on injuries and illnesses caused by combat in 1991. After reviewing the cases, the agency has classified 168,011 applicants as "disabled veterans." In light of these deaths and disabilities, the casualty rate for the first Gulf War is actually a staggering 29.3 percent.

http://traprockpeace.org/pacificnews05may03.html

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Hawaiian Islands are Contaminated with with Ballistic Uranium

(Hawaii) Depleted uranium (DU) is stored in Hawai'i under the Naval Radioactive Materials Permit. The Navy accidentally fired two DU rounds from Pearl Harbor in 1994. The rounds landed somewhere above Aiea and were never recovered. The Environmental Impact Statement of the 25th Infantry Transformation to the Stryker Brigade Combat Team published in 2004 states emphatically that depleted uranium munitions were never part of the Army's arsenal.

Despite this claim spent DU spotting rounds were found at Schofield Barracks, (An army base and live-fire training range on O'ahu), in August 2005. This discovery was not disclosed by the military but through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) instigated by concerned residents of Hawai'i.

In August 2007 the army admits the Pohakuloa Training Area (An army base and live-fire training range on Hawai'i Island) is also contaminated with depleted uranium spotting rounds. There are hundreds and hundreds of these spent DU rounds on these two live-fire training ranges.

Any uranium product used as munitions becomes ballistic once it is fired, launched or dropped. Ballistic depleted uranium contamination is a serious problem in Hawai'i.

SNIP

Once DU munitions are launched, they become ballistic. They catch fire, and on impact they can punch through anything with tremendous force causing trillions of tiny radioactive particles of DU dust to be scattered in the environment and carried in the air.

This is when the real public health problem begins. Once airborne, these vaporized radioactive heavy metal particles can be inhaled or ingested because of radioactive contamination of air, food or water supply.

http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/display/201476/index.php

PROTECT HAWAI'I

This web site is dedicated to the protection of the land and residents of the Hawaiian Islands. For decades the United States military has used these islands for live-fire artillery training exposing the environment and residents to toxins, including the use of ballistic radioactive depleted uranium (DU) munitions. The Hawaiian Islands are the most militarized islands in the world. Every branch of the United States Armed Forces are stationed in Hawai'i.

In August 2005 depleted uranium spotting rounds were disovered on Schofield Barracks, Oahu despite the military's claims that they NEVER used depleted uranium in Hawai'i. In April 2007 HB 1452 (which was to test Hawai'i for DU) had passed in both State of Hawai'i Houses yet, failed to pass into law. Despite strong testimony and serious public concerns the Bill was tabled to the 2008 legislative session. This action convinces many that our islands are grossly contaminated with depleted uranium and the Hawai'i State legislature does not want to deal with it. (at least not this year) Meanwhile, military live-fire training continues. Two other military toxins of concern are lead and RDX (the Royal Demolition Explosive) both had recorded high levels in the U.S. Army's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) published in May 2004.

http://www.protecthawaii.ws/

[PDJane]

6. Every time the US has gone to war

In the last two decades or so, they have waged nuclear war.

Both Bush presidents and Clinton have dropped the stuff in Iraq. Will someone please explain to me why this is not both genocide and a war crime?

[ConfidentialStatus]

8. I wish I could

Title 18 sec 2441 another law that is selectively enforced. Can someone explain this law?

[JohnyCanuck]

7. America's Greatest Crime is Radioactive Genocide

America's greatest crime against humanity is radioactive genocide particularly against the children of Iraq who are the innocent victims of our illegal war, occupation and economic rape of Iraq ~ We have the blood of countless innocent children on our hands and it will take generations to remove the stain of our illegal and inhumane transgressions : Allen L Roland

Currently, more than 50 percent of Iraqi cancer patients are children under the age of 5, up from 13 percent. Children are especially vulnerable because they tend to play in areas that are heavily polluted by depleted uranium.

America's greatest crime against humanity is radioactive genocide, and prepare to be shocked when you see the pictures of these maimed and disfigured Iraqi children ~ who are the innocent victims of our illegal war, occupation and economic rape of Iraq. http://tinyurl.com/adoq2

[emlev]

9. kick