From: | Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org> |
Date: | 29 Jan 2006 08:11:59 -0000 |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | [CPEO-MEF] Wisconsin Greens support DU testing |
Press Release Green Party Greens Support AB832 - Depleted Uranium Testing and Treatment for National Guard and Veterans Wisconsin Green Party wisconsingreenparty.org January 25, 2006 Today the Wisconsin Green Party announced its support for AB832 - whose purpose is to inform National Guard members and military veterans of the dangers and available tests and treatments for depleted uranium (DU) exposure. "A basic element of supporting the troops is ensuring that we give them adequate care when they get home," said Bob Poeschl, Wisconsin Green Party Co-chair. "There are no cures for DU exposure, but tests will help to document exposure for compensation and treatment." DU is a highly toxic heavy metal which, when burnt, creates radioactive dust that can cause kidney problems, cancers, and birth defects. Despite its known toxicity, the Pentagon uses depleted uranium widely - in projectiles on ammunition, casings for bombs, shielding on tanks, and in airplane wings and for ballast in ships. Depleted uranium's half-life is 4.5 billion years. Depleted uranium is forbidden under several agreements signed by the United States. The Hague Regulations of War on Land (1899 & 1901) forbid the use of poison weapons. Depleted uranium fits the U.S. military's own definition of poison. The Toronto, Ontario epidemiologist Rosalie Bertell -- a well-known expert on DU -- has called the DU dust that results from is pulverization upon impact with hard targets "metal fumes." As such, the use of DU is a violation of the 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol to which the U.S. is a Signatory Party, which prohibits the use of gas "and all analogous liquids, materials or devices". In addition, Protocol One to the Geneva Conventions 1977 forbid the use of weapons that do "severe, long-term damage to the environment" and as such can be said to outlaw the use of depleted uranium. In addition, the use of depleted uranium in military weapons goes against established principles of humanitarian law. Under these principles, weapons used in armed conflict must meet four criteria: 1) they must be able to be limited in effect to the field of battle, 2) they must be limited in effect to the time period of the armed conflict, 3) they must not be unduly inhumane, and 4) they must not unduly damage the environment. Studies of civilians and soldiers with exposure to DU conducted in Iraq after the Gulf War found that cancers and birth defects were ten times higher than before the war. Studies done by the UN Environment Program (Unep) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the U.S. used DU, found proof of groundwater contamination seven years after the conflict, and recommended that residents use alternative water sources. In addition, they found air contamination, and recommended decontamination of the surrounding buildings. "Testing of our Wisconsin National Guard members who were exposed to DU will not only help strengthen the case that DU use is illegal under international law, more importantly, it will help to ensure that our servicemen and women in future conflicts will not be poisoned by their own government," said Ruth Weill, Co-Chair of the Wisconsin Green Party. Wisconsin veterans of the Gulf War (1990/1991), Bosnia (1994/1995), and the Balkan region (1999), have potentially been contaminated by depleted uranium. The Wisconsin Green Party is affiliated with the Green Party of the United States, and stands on the four pillars of Social & Economic Justice, Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, and Ecological Wisdom. For more information, visit http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org. ; The Green Party of the United States' website is http://www.gp.org. ; MORE INFORMATION International Depleted Uranium Study Team http://www.idust.net/ ; Urgent Steps Needed to Protect US Troops, Iraqis from the Effects of Depleted Uranium http://gp.org/press/pr_05_02_03.html ; Depleted Uranium http://www.snowshoefilms.com/depleteduranium.html ; For the full, original press release go to http://www.gp.org/press/states/wi_2006_01_25.shtml -- Lenny Siegel Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041 Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545 Fax: 650/961-8918 <lsiegel@cpeo.org> http://www.cpeo.org _______________________________________________ Military mailing list Military@list.cpeo.org http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military | |
Prev by Date: [CPEO-MEF] Ft. Riley (KS) neighbors Next by Date: [CPEO-MEF] Whittaker-Bermite (CA) Cleanup Plans | |
Prev by Thread: [CPEO-MEF] Ft. Riley (KS) neighbors Next by Thread: [CPEO-MEF] Whittaker-Bermite (CA) Cleanup Plans |