Sunday, March 20, 2016

Radiation Contamination of Iraq by American Depleted Uranium

http://abutamam.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/radiation-contamination-of-iraq-by.html?view=timeslide
“Hegel remarks upon the appearance of “concrete evil” in history, the intermittent eruption of human malevolence on a colossal scale capable of destroying entire societies. Perpetrators of world-historical crimes are propelled solely by passion—by self-regard, greed and hatred—and pay no heed, Hegel noted, to “order and moderation, justice and morality.” {my emphasis} The imperialist assault on Iraq—which began with the First Gulf War, reached a peak with “shock and awe” attacks launched by U.S./U.K military forces in 2003, and continues today, nearly twenty years later—offers a horrendous example of unrestrained evil spread across a titanic canvas.
Abdul-Haq Al-Ani’s and Joanne Baker’s indispensable book spotlights the appalling criminal enterprise now working itself out in Iraq: Deliberate contamination of the Iraqi nation, its peoples, and natural environment with radiation from previously unheard of weapons of mass destruction—deadly implements of war fashioned from a practically inexhaustible global garbage dump of depleted uranium (DU)."

Uranium in Iraq: the Poisonous Legacy of the Iraq Wars, 

Review of Abdul-Haq Al-Ani and Joanne Baker's book

15 November 2009
For those privileged American “heroes” who pulled the triggers: 
"How Veterans may have been exposed (U.S. Department of  Veterans Affairs)
 When a projectile made with DU penetrates a vehicle, small pieces of DU can scatter and become embedded in muscle and soft tissue. In addition to DU in wounds, Service members exposed to DU in struck vehicles may inhale or swallow small airborne DU particles. Some Gulf War, Bosnia, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) Veterans who may have been exposed to DU are those who were: on, in or near vehicles hit with friendly fire; entering or near burning vehicles; near fires involving DU munitions; or salvaging damaged vehicles.
They get these:
Compensation benefits for health problems
Veterans may file a claim for disability compensation for health problems they believe are related to exposure to depleted uranium during service. VA decides these claims on a case-by-case basis. File a claim online."
But for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians impacted by the American spread DU, they get no compensation nor even "humanitarian" international care and attention; e.g. from the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO).

(PS: WHO established REMPAN in 1987, shortly after the Chernobyl accident, with the objective of meeting its requirements under the Conventions on Early Notification and Assistance in the case of nuclear and radiation accidents. However,the extensive contamination of Iraq and many of its citizens by American DU is not considered by WHO to be an accident).

June 16, 2009