top
Anti-War
Anti-War
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Weapons of Mass Destruction Found - Made and Delivered by the U.S.A.

by Douglas Mattern (worldcit [at] best.com)
Weapons of Mass Destruction have been Found -- and they are ours
Weapons of Mass Destruction Found
Made and Delivered by U.S.

By: Douglas Mattern - 05/04/03

Agent Orange

It's ironic that at the same time U.S. military teams are desperately looking for evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, specifically chemical weapons, an extensive scientific report was just released on the massive use of the chemical Agent Orange by the U.S. in Vietnam.

The five-year study by health experts from Columbia University, working under a U.S. government contract, found the amount of the cancer-causing dioxin in Agent Orange was previously underestimated.

Agent Orange was a herbicide used in Vietnam to defoliate trees and remove cover for the Vietcong. Shipped in orange-striped barrels, it was a reddish-brown liquid containing four chemicals.

Professor Jeanne Stellman, the project leader, believes at least twice as much dioxin was involved as has been reported, and this is conservative estimate. The study concluded that millions of Vietnamese were likely to have been sprayed upon directly.

Previous research has revealed that some Vietnamese have 200 times the normal level of dioxin in the bodies. Other reports show grotesque birth defects in children from women exposed to Agent Orange, and the nightmare continues some 30 years later.

By any definition the use of Agent Orange constituted chemical warfare by the U.S. in South Vietnam.

Cluster Bombs

One of the most barbaric weapons ever created by the human mind is the cluster bomb. Cluster bombs and shells are small explosive bomblets that are carried in a large canister that opens in mid-air, scattering the bomblets over a wide area. Individual canisters can carry as many as 200 bomblets and can be delivered by aircraft, rocket, or by artillery projectiles.

Hundreds of metal fragments from each of the bomblets travel over a wide area and do horrific damage to people, with a single fragment able to cause intestines to explode.

Because cluster bombs disperse widely they are especially dangerous when used near civilian areas; moreover, they have a high failure rate and may not explode until picked up or stepped on, often years later. Many are small or brightly colored, making them particularly attractive to children.

The UK Daily Mirror reported on April 21 that in the city of Kirkuk, 52 people have been killed in the past seven days by unexploded munitions. The Mines Advisory Group - the charity loved and supported by Princess Diana - has 700 people working in northern Iraq. They say that of all the war zones they have entered, Iraq is by far the worst they have ever seen.

Between 1964 and 1973 the US dropped a large number of cluster bombs over the small country of Laos. Now, 30 years later, people are still being killed and maimed at a horrendous rate from the millions of bomblets that did not explode when first dropped. They still remain on the ground waiting for the next innocent victim.

Depleted Uranium

Another mass destruction weapons that has been used by the U.S. in the new onslaught against Iraq is Depleted Uranium (DU). This is a very dense metal that is used as the casing on weapons and able to penetrate all types of armor. DU ignites on impact and burns at 5000 C, carbonizing its victims.

On ignition radioactive uranium dioxide particles are created that can remain suspended in the earth's atmosphere for months and travel vast distances. This radioactive material contaminates land. There is substantial evidence that DU can cause ill health and cancers, and birth defects in children, although the Pentagon continues to deny it.

Professor Doug Rokke, ex-director of the Pentagon's depleted uranium project - said use of DU is a 'war crime'. Rokke said: 'there is a moral point to be made here. This war was about Iraq possessing illegal weapons of mass destruction -- yet we are using weapons of mass destruction ourselves.' He added: 'such double-standards are repellent.

A United Nations resolution categorizes depleted uranium weapons alongside nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, napalm, and cluster bombs as a 'weapon of indiscriminate effect'.

All of the above weapons are long-lasting, causing death and maiming long after the soldiers have gone home, and surely qualify as weapons of mass destruction.



Douglas Mattern is president of the Association of World Citizens (AWC); a San Francisco based international peace organization with branches in 50 countries, and with UN NGO status. The website for AWC is http://www.worldcitizens.org Douglas is a contributing writer for Liberal Slant.



Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
Abraham
Tue, May 6, 2003 5:08PM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network