- #1
theroyprocess
- 141
- 1
U.S. NUCLEAR POLICY AND DEPLETED URANIUM
TESTIMONY AT THE JUNE 28, 2003, PUBLIC HEARING FOR
THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR WAR CRIMES IN AFGHANISTAN
CHIBA, CHIBA PREFECTURE, JAPAN
BY LEUREN MORET <mailto:leurenmoret@yahoo.com>leurenmoret@yahoo.com
PRESIDENT, SCIENTISTS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
CITY OF BERKELEY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONER
PAST PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN GEOSCIENTISTS
We are gathered here today through the efforts of Professor Akira MAEDA and
Haruhisa TAKASE. I would like to thank both of them, and the many citizens
and supporters in Japan, who have made this important event possible. We,
the people of the global community, must hold our governments and elected
officials responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, for these
two issues are impossible to separate. Because health connects all
species, we are all effected by what happens, even in distant countries.
Today I will describe the intimate connection between U.S. nuclear policy
and depleted uranium, and the devastating effects they have had on the
health of all species and the devastation of the environment which supports
all life. Tragically, Afghanistan is just one of the countries devastated
for all future generations by the use of depleted uranium weaponry in U.S.
military aggressive actions dictated by U.S. foreign policy.
Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself.
William Shakespeare (1564_1616)
I am an independent scientist with a background in the geosciences. My
hope and inspiration comes from my work with scientists and radiation
specialists around the world to educate and inform the citizens of the
world about the health and environmental effects from radiation
exposure. In my professional career, I have worked at two nuclear weapons
labs, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab where the transuranium elements were
discovered to build the first atomic weapons, and the Lawrence Livermore
Lab where nuclear weapons development continues.
After working on the cleanup and disposal of high level nuclear waste, I
became a whistleblower in 1991 at the the Lawrence Livermore Lab. After
observing an entrenched pattern of science fraud, theft, graft, corruption,
lack of concerns for safety and security, discrimination against women and
minorities, and severe retaliation practices, I drove out the lab gate one
day, dropped off my badge and my beeper and never went back.
I realized after only two years at the lab, that the culture of nuclear
weapons was a culture of insanity. What species on Earth kills its young
generation after generation? What species on Earth sacrifices its young
for the false notion of security?
At the end of the millenium which gave birth to nuclear weapons, I visited
the Peace Museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the 2000 World
Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs as the guest of
Gensuikin. That visit to Japan changed my life when I finally understood
the horrific effects of nuclear weapons. In 1991, in the first Gulf War,
the United States broke a 60 year taboo and introduced depleted uranium to
the battleground, a radiological weapon which is truly a weapon of
indiscriminate killing and mass destruction.
Now that we know both, we must ask a question - which is worse, the
horrific effects of flash annihilation from an atomic bomb or slow
mutilation forever from depleted uranium weapons?
Today I have a clear conscience, the satisfaction of acting as a citizen
scientist instead of a prositute for the military or corporations, and have
hope for the future. I know that the people of the world are the only ones
who can stop the insanity of nuclear proliferation and radioactive
contamination of the environment which supports all life. With good
information the citizens of the world can make good decisions. My purpose
now with other independent radiation specialists who have joined together
as the World Committee on Radiation Risk is to provide good information
about the health and environmental effects of radiation to the global
community.
DECLASSIFIED MEMO TO GENERAL L.R. GROVES, OCTOBER 30, 1943:
BLUEPRINT FOR DEPLETED URANIUM
A classified memo1 dated October 30, 1943, was sent to General L.R. Groves
from Dr. A.H. Compton, Dr. James B. Conant, and Dr. H.C. Urey, three of the
most competent physicists working under General Groves on the Manhattan
Project. This memo, written nearly two years before the atomic bombs were
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was a recommendation that radiological
materials be developed for use as a military weapon on the battlefield. It
is a blueprint for depleted uranium weaponry.
This memo which is now declassified, was given to me by Major Doug Rokke, a
physicist and former head of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Weapons
Project. He is a Gulf War I veteran and is now suffering from depleted
uranium exposure with severe health effects referred to as Gulf War
Syndrome. My work is inspired by the hibakusha around the world who, like
Doug, have told me their stories.
It is clear from this memo that the U.S. Government and military have known
before 1943 that radioactive materials, dispersed as very fine particles on
the ground or from the air, would be an effective battlefield weapon. This
plan was recommended so that the Germans would not develop it first from
radioactive materials created by the waste of nuclear weapons
development. Depleted uranium is nuclear trash from the nuclear weapons
project.
In the memo, the scientists recommended dispersing the radioactive
materials in very fine particles, 0.1 microns in diameter, from the ground
or the air. It would disperse like a radioactive gas, invisible and
undetectable to the enemy. They described how increasing the amounts of
radiation dispersed would accelerate the lethality and decrease the time
until death and increase the numbers of dead.
It was known at that time that it would contaminate the air, water, food,
and the soil. Entry into contaminated environments was impossible without
certain exposure both to the enemy and to friendly forces. The memo
detailed the fact that no protective methods were possible to develop, and
that very fine particles would pass through all gas masks.
The memo also described that inhaled particles behave like a gas in the
lungs, go directly into the blood and are dispersed thoughout the tissues
of the body. The gut would also be exposed by ingesting contaminated
foods, and areas of the gut where the food sat for longer periods would
have more radiation exposure and increased damage.
In conclusion, it is clear from this 1943 memo, that everything was known
about the extreme hazards to health and environment of radiological
materials dispersed in fine particles on the battlefield. The fact that
depleted uranium burns at high temperatures and forms large numbers of
extremely fine particles makes it even more deadly and effective than
nearly any other material as a radiological weapon. The half-life of
depleted uranium is so great, 4.5 billion years, that environments where it
is used as a weapon will remain radioactive forever.
It is no accident that an international taboo prevented further use of
nuclear and radioactive weapons on the battlefield after 1945. The use of
depleted uranium in Gulf War I was a decision made by the Strategic Defense
Command in order to blur the distinction between conventional and nuclear
weapons. Because public opposition globally is so strong, the use of
depleted uranium was used as a strategy to reintroduce the use of nuclear
weapons.
LEGALITY TEST FOR WEAPONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
Weapons must pass four tests in order to determine that they are legal
under international law. The tests are:
TEMPORAL TEST _ Weapons must not continue to act after the battle is over.
ENVIRONMENTAL TEST _ Weapons must not be unduly harmful to the environment
TESTIMONY AT THE JUNE 28, 2003, PUBLIC HEARING FOR
THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR WAR CRIMES IN AFGHANISTAN
CHIBA, CHIBA PREFECTURE, JAPAN
BY LEUREN MORET <mailto:leurenmoret@yahoo.com>leurenmoret@yahoo.com
PRESIDENT, SCIENTISTS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
CITY OF BERKELEY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONER
PAST PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN GEOSCIENTISTS
We are gathered here today through the efforts of Professor Akira MAEDA and
Haruhisa TAKASE. I would like to thank both of them, and the many citizens
and supporters in Japan, who have made this important event possible. We,
the people of the global community, must hold our governments and elected
officials responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, for these
two issues are impossible to separate. Because health connects all
species, we are all effected by what happens, even in distant countries.
Today I will describe the intimate connection between U.S. nuclear policy
and depleted uranium, and the devastating effects they have had on the
health of all species and the devastation of the environment which supports
all life. Tragically, Afghanistan is just one of the countries devastated
for all future generations by the use of depleted uranium weaponry in U.S.
military aggressive actions dictated by U.S. foreign policy.
Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself.
William Shakespeare (1564_1616)
I am an independent scientist with a background in the geosciences. My
hope and inspiration comes from my work with scientists and radiation
specialists around the world to educate and inform the citizens of the
world about the health and environmental effects from radiation
exposure. In my professional career, I have worked at two nuclear weapons
labs, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab where the transuranium elements were
discovered to build the first atomic weapons, and the Lawrence Livermore
Lab where nuclear weapons development continues.
After working on the cleanup and disposal of high level nuclear waste, I
became a whistleblower in 1991 at the the Lawrence Livermore Lab. After
observing an entrenched pattern of science fraud, theft, graft, corruption,
lack of concerns for safety and security, discrimination against women and
minorities, and severe retaliation practices, I drove out the lab gate one
day, dropped off my badge and my beeper and never went back.
I realized after only two years at the lab, that the culture of nuclear
weapons was a culture of insanity. What species on Earth kills its young
generation after generation? What species on Earth sacrifices its young
for the false notion of security?
At the end of the millenium which gave birth to nuclear weapons, I visited
the Peace Museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the 2000 World
Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs as the guest of
Gensuikin. That visit to Japan changed my life when I finally understood
the horrific effects of nuclear weapons. In 1991, in the first Gulf War,
the United States broke a 60 year taboo and introduced depleted uranium to
the battleground, a radiological weapon which is truly a weapon of
indiscriminate killing and mass destruction.
Now that we know both, we must ask a question - which is worse, the
horrific effects of flash annihilation from an atomic bomb or slow
mutilation forever from depleted uranium weapons?
Today I have a clear conscience, the satisfaction of acting as a citizen
scientist instead of a prositute for the military or corporations, and have
hope for the future. I know that the people of the world are the only ones
who can stop the insanity of nuclear proliferation and radioactive
contamination of the environment which supports all life. With good
information the citizens of the world can make good decisions. My purpose
now with other independent radiation specialists who have joined together
as the World Committee on Radiation Risk is to provide good information
about the health and environmental effects of radiation to the global
community.
DECLASSIFIED MEMO TO GENERAL L.R. GROVES, OCTOBER 30, 1943:
BLUEPRINT FOR DEPLETED URANIUM
A classified memo1 dated October 30, 1943, was sent to General L.R. Groves
from Dr. A.H. Compton, Dr. James B. Conant, and Dr. H.C. Urey, three of the
most competent physicists working under General Groves on the Manhattan
Project. This memo, written nearly two years before the atomic bombs were
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was a recommendation that radiological
materials be developed for use as a military weapon on the battlefield. It
is a blueprint for depleted uranium weaponry.
This memo which is now declassified, was given to me by Major Doug Rokke, a
physicist and former head of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Weapons
Project. He is a Gulf War I veteran and is now suffering from depleted
uranium exposure with severe health effects referred to as Gulf War
Syndrome. My work is inspired by the hibakusha around the world who, like
Doug, have told me their stories.
It is clear from this memo that the U.S. Government and military have known
before 1943 that radioactive materials, dispersed as very fine particles on
the ground or from the air, would be an effective battlefield weapon. This
plan was recommended so that the Germans would not develop it first from
radioactive materials created by the waste of nuclear weapons
development. Depleted uranium is nuclear trash from the nuclear weapons
project.
In the memo, the scientists recommended dispersing the radioactive
materials in very fine particles, 0.1 microns in diameter, from the ground
or the air. It would disperse like a radioactive gas, invisible and
undetectable to the enemy. They described how increasing the amounts of
radiation dispersed would accelerate the lethality and decrease the time
until death and increase the numbers of dead.
It was known at that time that it would contaminate the air, water, food,
and the soil. Entry into contaminated environments was impossible without
certain exposure both to the enemy and to friendly forces. The memo
detailed the fact that no protective methods were possible to develop, and
that very fine particles would pass through all gas masks.
The memo also described that inhaled particles behave like a gas in the
lungs, go directly into the blood and are dispersed thoughout the tissues
of the body. The gut would also be exposed by ingesting contaminated
foods, and areas of the gut where the food sat for longer periods would
have more radiation exposure and increased damage.
In conclusion, it is clear from this 1943 memo, that everything was known
about the extreme hazards to health and environment of radiological
materials dispersed in fine particles on the battlefield. The fact that
depleted uranium burns at high temperatures and forms large numbers of
extremely fine particles makes it even more deadly and effective than
nearly any other material as a radiological weapon. The half-life of
depleted uranium is so great, 4.5 billion years, that environments where it
is used as a weapon will remain radioactive forever.
It is no accident that an international taboo prevented further use of
nuclear and radioactive weapons on the battlefield after 1945. The use of
depleted uranium in Gulf War I was a decision made by the Strategic Defense
Command in order to blur the distinction between conventional and nuclear
weapons. Because public opposition globally is so strong, the use of
depleted uranium was used as a strategy to reintroduce the use of nuclear
weapons.
LEGALITY TEST FOR WEAPONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
Weapons must pass four tests in order to determine that they are legal
under international law. The tests are:
TEMPORAL TEST _ Weapons must not continue to act after the battle is over.
ENVIRONMENTAL TEST _ Weapons must not be unduly harmful to the environment