<< ... NATO troops used depleted uranium by firing about 10,800 shots
(2750kgs) at Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1994 to 1995, and about 31,000
shots (ton) in 1999 at the Kosovo Province of the Yugoslavian Republic.
After the conflict, among the personnel of the PKO and the local
people, countless numbers of them have turned out complaining of
symptoms similar to those of veterans of the Gulf War...
The people of Iraq and Bosnia as well as the veterans of the Gulf War
and the Balkan War all show the same manifestations of grave physical
sufferings and injuries, and there is no doubt that these are the
effects of depleted uranium... >>


THE USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM (DU) WEAPONS

www.albasrah.net

December 15, 2004


1. The Truth About the Use of Depleted Uranium (DU) Weapons by US and
UK Troops

The US and UK troops in the attacks on Iraq that started on 21 March
2003 used DU weapons during the battles at various places in Iraq. The
truth of the use of DU weapons by US troop was verified and admitted by
Brigadier General Brooks in a press briefing on 26 March of the same
year when he said, "DU bombs had been used.".

Michael Kilpatrick, Deputy Director of Deployment Health Support in the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, at a
forum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on 6 March 2004 ,
said, "The Army fired and used from tanks and armored vehicle 24 tons
or less of DU bombs, and the Air Force, 10 tons or less of DU bombs
from A- 10 planes. These, when combined, would be equivalent to 115
tons of metallic uranium.

The US troop has not made any further public announcements detailing
the use of DU weapons, where they have been dropped, and the quantity
of DU weapons used, and this matter has been clarified one by one by
evidences on the countless number of DU weapons used in this war based
on the efforts and good hearts of world-known journalists and
scientists who have conducted surveys on DU in Iraq.

(1) Asst. Professor Hiroyuki Fujita of Keio University conducted
surveys in various places in Iraq, and discovered countless DU bombs in
the urban district of Baghdad. Also, from perforated holes in
destroyed tanks, he detected radiation, and confirmed micronized DU
oxide collected from the pool of an ice-making factory.

(2) A Commissioned Officer of the US Armed Forces, in a US paper,
testified that " 500tons of DU bombs had been used," and "Bunker-Buster
GBU- 28 is equipped with DU."

(3) Ed Pennel, a US soldier, wrote to his via email that "on 29 March
DU bombs were used."

(4) Scott Peterson discovered DU bombs and fine powder believed to be
oxidized particles of depleted uranium in the vicinity of the Planning
Ministry Building and a destroyed Iraqi tank in Baghdad.

(5) The Secretary of Defense of Netherlands admitted that DU bombs
had been used in Samawa.

Also, before the outbreak of the war, on 15 March 2003 , in a press
briefing at the Department of Defense, Colonel Naughton, stated that
"Abrams tanks had been loaded with DU bombshells," and "so were A-
10planes" because "there was not other choice”. Witnesses had
repeatedly seen civilian facilities being targeted by A- 10planes
starting with Iraq's Planning Ministry during the aerial bombing of
Baghdad. Report on the investigation conducted by Scott Peterson, as a
matter of fact, corroborated the statement given by Colonel Naugton at
the above-mentioned press briefing. Abrams tanks were the main battle
tanks used in the ground assault of Iraq. It is, therefore, highly
probable that aside from the facts already verified, the US Armed
Forces has used in large quantity DU weapons, even exceeding the
reported volume, in all areas of offensive operations in Iraq, even at
densely populated areas, particularly Baghdad, Basra, etc. Even the
British Defense Ministry has admitted using 1.9 tons of DU weapons .
The locations have not been revealed to the public, but as an example,
according to a British paper, on 25 March 2003 , there has been an
indication of the probability that DU bombs were used at the western
part of Basra City during an accidental firing by a British military
Challenger tank to another British Challenger tank.


2. Special Properties of Depleted Uranium (DU)

Uranium is found extensively in nature as a mixture of three isotopes.
Natural uranium is not only made up of0 .72% of Uranium 235 , which
causes nuclear fission, but also is mostly (99.2746%) Uranium 238 ,
which does not cause nuclear fission, and the remaining0 .0054%, is
Uranium 234 . For this reason, in order to effectively use it in
nuclear power plants, or in making nuclear bombs, it is necessary to
perform the process called “concentration” by allowing the increase of
the percentage of Uranium 235 that causes nuclear fission. The
by-product in large quantity of this concentration process is depleted
uranium, and is in fact radioactive wastes. The name “depleted” gives
the impression that it has very little harmful effect, but its
radiation dose is equivalent to60 % of natural uranium, and it emits
alpha-ray radiation. Alpha ray has a weak penetration force, can
bounce in the air for only a number of centimeters, and can be blocked
off by a piece of paper. Accordingly, it cannot affect the human body
if there is no direct contact with it, but if even just a small
particle of it enters the body, it can cause an extremely serious
internal radiation exposure. Also, it is an extremely dangerous
material that has the combined properties of not only the toxicity of
radiation ray, but also the toxicity of heavy metals. And its half-life
is 4 . 5billion years, and is said to continue releasing radiation
perpetually.


3. Special Properties of Depleted Uranium (DU) Weapons

Storing depleted uranium is enormously expensive, but disposing it by
all means is what the US Department of Energy has wanted to do. It is
in military weapons that depleted uranium is used in extremely large
scale, and it is used mainly as penetration body that is attached to
bombshells for the sake of increasing its penetration capacity, and
also as armor of tanks in order to increase its defense capacity.
Mainly, uranium weapons have the following advantages:

* Depleted uranium, because of its very heavy density (1. 7times of
lead,2 . 5times of iron) and hardness, when used to tip bullets,
increases the penetration power of the bullets, and displays such
tremendous capacity as to power to open holes in thick iron plates and
concrete.

* Even when there are no explosives inside the bombshell, it
explodes upon impact, and the capacity to kill and injure the enemy is
high because of the high temperature it causes when it burns.

* It is very cheap because its raw materials are radioactive wastes.

However, when depleted uranium explodes upon impact, and burns with
high temperature, it becomes micro-particles of oxidized uranium
(ceramic form aerosol of diametrical-micron; a micron is equivalent to1
/1000mm), discharged heavily, and are packed in tanks. Also, the
particles diffused in the atmosphere and whirled up in the sky, pollute
vast range of the atmosphere, and also, the particles that fall on the
ground pollute the environment such as the soil and water, etc.


4. Dreadful Negative Effects of Depleted Uranium Weapons on the Human
Body

Once the uranium particles are inhaled into the body, the particles
attach first to the trachea and the respiratory system. As the
particles are practically insoluble, they are difficult to dissolve in
the blood, and stay there for a long period of time. Eventually these
clinging particles continue to expose the neighboring organs to
radiation. By that, they cause the cell and the gene to go into some
transformation, and cause cancers, leukemia, lymphoma, congenital
disorders and defects. Then, gradually, they are absorbed into the
blood and lymph, and cause various illnesses and damages to the whole
body. Also, aside from inhalation, they get into the body and enter the
bloodstream by oral ingestion and through wounds.

This kind of very dangerous weapons are being diffused in large
quantity all over Iraq by the US and British troops. Not only during
the war, but also after the war, and an unimaginable length of time of4
. 5billion years hereafter, the people of Iraq will have to bear the
burden of living in this vast polluted land and learn how to survive
with this grim reality. The British and US troops, at the instance
that they drop DU weapons, do not just snatch away precious lives but
cause the Iraqis further and eternal miseries.


I. Physical Damages in Iraq After the Gulf War

During the Gulf War in January 1991, the US Armed Forces dropped 320
tons of depleted uranium weapons on Iraq. Since after the war, there
has been a high incidence of strange phenomenon not seen in Iraq before
the war. There have been several incidences of such phenomenon as
several members of one family developing cancer, or one patient having
several types of cancer, etc., cancer that spreads fast, the outbreak
of infectious diseases due to fast spreading cancer, leukemia, aplastic
anemia, and malignant tumor, and immunodeficiency, massive herpes, and
herpes zoster pain, symptoms resembling AIDS, syndrome due to liver and
kidney dysfunction, hereditary dysphasia (hereditary damage) due to
gene defects. Children, especially infants, who cannot fight back and
are blameless, have become the number one victims of this war. The
southern City of Basra, which is near the battleground of the Gulf War,
has been very seriously damaged, and according to a doctor at the Basra
Educational Hospital, the number of people who have succumbed to cancer
rose from 34 in 1988 prior to the Gulf War to the astonishing figure of
603 in 2001 that was 17 times larger.

(1) Basra Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital. Mohammed Hoji (5) was
diagnosed with leukemia just a year after his own mother, who was also
confined in the same hospital, died of leukemia. The physician in
charge of this case, Dr. Surin Shirub, related, "What makes this case
to stand out is that the whole family and the brothers one by one have
succumbed to cancer and leukemia. This kind of phenomenon never
existed before the Gulf War." The aunt, Abed (32), who was caring for
the boy lamented, "Why do we have to suffer like this even when the war
is over?"..

(2) Zein (5), who was confined in the Basra Maternity and Pediatrics
Hospital, 5 months before, suddenly developed a swollen abdomen, and
was diagnosed with leukemia. Since then, he had become weak and lost
his gaiety. His mother, Semal (25), sighed, "I would like America to
know how the war has caused us so much miseries for many generations to
come."

(3) Abbas (5), who was diagnosed with leukemia 3 years ago, was
sleeping soundly beside his mother Hamdi (30). The hair on his head had
become extremely thin as an effect of drugs administered to him. Hamdi
said, "It's hard when you are helpless to do anything to save your
child from his sufferings." Dr. Jasem (32) of this hospital related,
"The damages of the war are not a temporary matter. Even after that,
its innocent victims will suffer for generations to come.”

These innocent children of Iraq, in fact, have been deprived of their
rights to be born with good health and grow normally because of the
effects of these DU weapons. Furthermore, the economic sanctions
imposed on Iraq by the UN from August 1990 had contributed more to this
pathetic situation. The UN Resolution 661 had exempted from the
embargo materials to be used for medical purposes. However, the
committee that was charged with the implementation of the embargo in
accordance with the provision of the Resolution 661 could not make this
exemption operative due to opposition by commissioners from the US and
UK, and thus, there arose a shortage of medical supplies, vaccines,
syringes, anesthetics, and medical apparatuses necessary for medical
treatments. According to a UNICEF report, by February 1991 , medical
supplies had reached1 / 6of the normal level of stockpile. Also,
UNICEF, in a 1993 report, announced, "at the beginning of the Gulf War,
the number of children dying was more or less 100,000, but after the
war, the rate of death has increased 3 times of the number before the
war. Medical care, and insurance service were rendered useless due to
the shortage of supplies and apparatuses for medical care and
treatment. And also, due to depleted uranium bombs that were used
during the Gulf War, the number of cancer patients suddenly increased
after the war. If proper treatment had been provided at the early stage
of the disease, death could have been avoided, but due to the shortage
of medical supplies and appliances because of the economic sanctions,
patients could not be treated properly resulting in the great increase
in the number of afflicted victims".

Likewise, the postwar depredation had driven the best of doctors in
Iraq out of country. A lot many of the doctors and scholars, who
stayed behind, were actually classified with world-class academes, and
had participated and presented the results of their researches in
international scientific and academic conferences. However, due to the
economic sanctions, they were unable to obtain visas so that they could
participate in international conferences and have the opportunity to
continue to establish scholarly exchanges necessary for the advancement
and improvement of the level of medical practice and treatment in Iraq.
Even if they wanted to go overseas to receive training on radiation
exposure, for example, or perhaps just to procure the necessary medical
supplies, they could not do so because they could not get visas. Data
of Iraqi victims were indispensable in coping with the inexperience
with regard to the effects of radiation due to DU weapons, and while
Iraqi doctors could be in a position to provide those data and
materials, the economic sanctions hampered their progress and
development.

Dr. Junan, a cancer expert at the Ibn Gaswan Hospital, a Maternity and
Pediatrics Hospital in the city of Basra related, "Children's leukemia,
if treated thoroughly at the early stage, has a 70 % chance of being
cured, but the kind of medicine for this ailment is not available, and
so, the patients cannot be treated well, and lamentably just end up
dying. But under the present economic sanctions, we are allowed only
to procure food supplies in exchange for oil, and we are forced to make
do with only 20 % of needed medical supplies. How then can we cure the
sick?" In 2001 alone, 256 cases had been confirmed to be born with
congenital defects in this hospital.


II. Health Hazard on Veterans of the Gulf War


Apparently, it is not only the people of Iraq but also veterans of the
Gulf War in 1991 that have suffered from the effects of the use of
these hazardous weapons. Among them, there has been a high incidence of
various ailments in different parts of the body ranging from loss of
hair, migraine, arthralgia, gastralgia, diarrhea to defective memory,
insomnia, etc., actually chronic symptoms of cancer, leukemia and
immunodeficiency to start with.

According to the year-end survey conduced by the National Gulf War
Resource Center, Inc. (NGWRC) in 1999 , of the 504,047 ex-servicemen,
who retired from the service after the war, and were eligible for
pension from the Veterans' Affairs Administration, 263,000 or more than
52 % of these veterans had complained of some abnormality in their
physical condition, and had demanded for medical care from the US
government and the Veterans' Affairs Administration. Also, 185,780 or
37 % of these veterans had demanded for compensations for incapacity to
work, etc. due to illness and physical disability. Nearly half of
these veterans complained of some kind of health hazard, and more than
9,600 of these veterans in fact are now dead. Although there were only
147 casualties involved in direct combat during the Gulf War, after
returning home, they started showing manifestations of some grave
health problems.

Moreover, since last year, there are among the US soldiers stationed in
Iraq those who are having strange ailments and diseases of unknown
nature. In a recent survey, the number of soldiers, who have already
taken leave for medical reasons has reached 18,000, and in all
manifestation, the cause seems to be depleted uranium .

However, even when this kind of tragedy continues to happen, the US
State Department insists that "the claim that DU is the cause of cancer
of infants in Iraq is groundless," or that "it is highly probable that
the use of chemical weapons containing carcinogen by the Iraqi
military, etc. is the real cause of cancer and birth defects.” But
similar symptoms can be observed in Bosnia and Kosovo where such
chemical weapons mentioned by the US have not been used.


III. Health Hazards After the Balkan War

NATO troops used depleted uranium by firing about 10,800 shots
(2750kgs) at Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1994 to 1995, and about 31,000
shots (ton) in 1999 at the Kosovo Province of the Yugoslavian Republic.
After the conflict, among the personnel of the PKO and the local
people, countless numbers of them have turned out complaining of
symptoms similar to those of veterans of the Gulf War.

(1) According to the Jovanovich Health Center in Bosnia, out of the
5,000 villagers who escaped from the Hajici Village of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, by January 2001 , about 400 people had died mainly
of cancer. At Hajici, there was a weapon factory of the old
Yugoslavian military, and a large quantity of depleted uranium bombs
must have been used to destroy it.

(2) People connected with the Kosovska Mirtovia in the Kosovo
Province had pointed out that by on January 11 , 2001, after the
bombing raid conducted by the NATO in Kosovo, the number of cancer
patients in the said hospital increased by about 200 %, and last year,
the number reached 160 . They denounced the use of DU bombs that they
believed was the cause of the increase in the number of cancer patients
based on the fact that 40 % of these patients were native of regions
that were bombarded with DU bombs.

(3) The people of Iraq and Bosnia as well as the veterans of the Gulf
War and the Balkan War all show the same manifestations of grave
physical sufferings and injuries, and there is no doubt that these are
the effects of depleted uranium.

Furthermore, the truth about the use of DU weapons by the US Armed
Forces in the war on Afghanistan in 2001 and the reality of the
exposure to DU and the hazards to the health of the people there were
all made clear in the closing argument of the prosecutor during the
International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan.


4. Clinical Cases of US Veterans in this Iraqi War

As for Samawa, where the Self Defense Force is stationed, it is
strategically located between Basra and Baghdad. The US army, when
marching to Baghdad passing through this route, met with stiff
resistance from Iraqi troops, and it took them a week to quell the
insurgencies in towns and roads they passed by. Depleted uranium
weapons were used during the fighting.

Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a specialist on Nuclear Medicine, adviser of the
National Science Foundation, and director of the nuclear medicine
clinic created by the US Veterans Department after the end of the Gulf
War, established the Uranium Medical Research Center, which is an
independent research agency based in Canada, and for several years has
continued to examine evidences of depleted uranium contamination of
American, British and Canadian soldiers.

According to a survey conducted by Dr. Durakovic published in the New
York Daily News dated 3 April 2004 , after the Iraqi War, he detected
depleted uranium from the urine of 4 out of 9 US soldiers who were
stationed to keep peace and order in Samawa after the Iraqi War, and
returned home due to bad physical condition after complaining of
chronic migraine, nausea, bloody urine, partial hearing and vision
impairment, etc. The 442 nd MP Company, where the surveyed soldiers
belonged, was in charge of convoy and training of Iraqi policemen, and
was not involved in direct combat. Depleted uranium was detected in
these soldiers, who were doing such mission, and it was probable that
they had been exposed to uranium by inhalation of depleted uranium
particles in the atmosphere. Sgt. Juan Vega, Chief Medical Orderly of
this company related, "One night, 10 to 15 people just suddenly fell
ill and developed symptoms such as fever of as high as 39.4° C, chill
and other symptoms of unexplained nature. More than a dozen people out
of 160 soldiers suddenly had been having kidney stones." He said,
"Samawa is like hell."

The Dutch Company stationed at Samawa after that decided to set up camp
in the middle of the desert because the radiation level in the environs
where the US military set up camps was just too high.


5. Medical Verification


For the sake of argument that the above-mentioned damages have been due
to DU, we shall have to prove that there is a correlation between DU
and its effects on the human body based on medical findings on the
existence of this crisis pertaining to DU. Now, regarding Iraq after
the Gulf War that has reported the most number of DU-related
casualties, we shall use as reference the data gathered by Fasy TM that
were presented at the International DU Symposium held in New York in
June 2003 as a medical paper never before published.


I. The Teratogenicity of Depleted Uranium

(1) The Children of Iraq

According to the data gathered by Fasy TM the frequency rate of
congenital dysphasia is 3.04 per 1000 monitored in Basra, but in 2000 ,
it rose to 17.6 that was 5 - 6 times higher than previously reported.
This is particularly true in many reported cases where the parents were
soldiers who participated in the Gulf War.

(2) Children of Veterans of the Gulf War

The result of a survey conducted to determine the frequency rate of
congenital dysphasia on veterans of the Gulf War by the US Military
Research Institute was published in a New England Journal of Medicine,
a medical journal, according to Cowan in 1997 . The conclusion was that
there was no difference in the rate of frequency of congenital
dysphasia of children of veterans of the Gulf War with veterans who did
not go to the Gulf War.

However, 5 months later, the result of the research conducted by three
British researchers, Pat Doyle, Eve Roman, Noreen Maconochie, refuting
the evaluation made only on children who were born and lived,
disregarding aborted births and stillbirths due to massive congenital
deformities, excluding 1/3 of overall number of discharged soldiers,
and the inaccuracy of these investigations was published in the same
journal.

In 2001, Kang of the Veterans Affairs Administration announced a
research that would not exclude aborted births/stillbirths, and
veterans in their research. The result was that compared to veterans
who did not go to the Gulf War, congenital dysphasia on children of
veterans who served in the Gulf War was 2.3 times for male, and 2.4
times for female. The truth about this increase in number even just on
those who participated in the Gulf War is indeed astonishing.

(3) Animal Experiments

Based on the 2001 research conducted by Domingo JL of Spain, et al.,
when male rats were ingested for a period of 16 weeks with natural
uranium, rate of pregnancy decreased, a degeneration of the testicles
(male gonads) occurred, and there was a decrease in the production of
sperms. Also, it was confirmed that 10 days before and after giving
doses to pregnant mice, ossification is 3 times to 5 times lower
compared to control group in litters, and there are numerous instances
of birth defects of the extremities. (Note: the radioactivity of
natural uranium is 25.9 kilobecquerel, and that of depleted uranium is
16.3 kilobecquerel).

In 2002 , McClain DE, et al. of the US Armed Forces embedded depleted
uranium in rats, and investigated to determine the effects of DU on the
embryo. It was confirmed that the sizes of the embryos of rats are
smaller after more than 6 months of being embedded with DU passing the
placenta.

The congenital dysphasia and various diseases in children of soldiers
who participated in the Gulf War resemble the conditions of Iraqi
children, and this can be traced to the teratogenicity in DU.

II. Carcinogenicity of Depleted Uranium


(1) Iraqi Children


Based on the data gathered by Fasy TM, in 1990 in Basra, out of 100,000
children, there were 3.98 cancer cases, but in 2000, the number
increased to 13.1 cases.

(2) Veterans of the Gulf War

There is no medical report showing that there is a statistical increase
of cancer in veterans of the Gulf War, but there is a need for a
detailed investigation on the rate of incidence of cancer in children
of veterans.

(3) Experiments on Animals

To sum up the series of animal experiments done by Miller, et al. of
the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, DU increases the
oncogene expression per human cell and cell disorder growth, etc., and
causes the existence of cancer forming operation. Also, they explain
that DU, more than even nickel that is known to cause tumor, largely
increases more chromosomal abnormality linked with carcinogens . Hahn,
et al reported that thorotrast and DU produce much more sarcoma
(malignant tumor) when they conducted experiments by embedding
tungsten, which is a heavy metal but non-radioactive material, and
radioactive material thorotrast in rats. This indicates that DU is not
only cancer causing as a heavy metal but is also cancer causing as a
radioactive materials.

(4) Effects on the Human Cell

In 2003 , Schroeder, et al of Germany analyzed the chromosomal
abnormality of the lymphocytes of 16 soldiers who served in the Gulf
War and Balkan War, and these soldiers were proven to have been exposed
to radiation. They confirmed that the rate of specific c chromosomal
abnormality among these soldiers was4 . 2higher when they compared the
chromosomal abnormality ([dicentric] and [centric ring] chromosomes)
that was said to be specific in ionizing radiation with non-specific
chromosomal abnormality. They hinted and concluded that despite the
fact that the specific chromosomal abnormality cell could not survive
for long (half life being up to the extent of 3.5 years), they observed
that even after a lapse of more than 10 years since the Gulf War, the
body continued to be exposed to radiation due to the DU that had
accumulated inside the body for long years.

On top of this, they noted based on available data from Hiroshima and
Nagasaki the fact that this exposure to radiation could cause
chromosomal abnormality in lymphocytes.

Thus, there is no doubt that the cause of cancer such as the increase
in the number of cases of leukemia in Iraq today is connected with DU.

III. Verification of Gulf War Syndrome

The Gulf War syndrome shows chronic symptoms such as fatigue, headache,
muscle and osteoarticular pains, insomnia, neuropsychiatric symptom,
impaired memory, impaired vision, etc.

(1) Physical Condition of Gulf War Veterans

It is evident that based on the data of Fukuda in 1998 , which are data
comparing the physical condition of soldiers who participated in the
Gulf War (hereinafter referred to as GWV) with soldiers who did not
participate in the Gulf War (hereinafter referred to as non-GWV), the
frequency of various symptoms of chronicity is 39 % in GWV against 14 %
in non-GWV of light and medium, etc. symptoms, and 6 % in GWV against
0.7% in non-GWV of serious illness. It is evident that frequency of
such symptoms is higher in soldiers who participated in the Gulf War.
It cannot be far from the truth that based on the data of Kang in 1996
, the rate of death in GWV is 10 .4 against9.6% in non-GWV showing
statistically a difference . However, in the 2002 data of Kang, it
shows that the number of accidental deaths is more numerous among GWV
than among the non-GWV. Also, in 1997 , Gray reported that
hospitalization rate was10 % higher among soldiers who participated in
the Gulf War..

It is true that going to war is accompanied by a great risk, and the
appearance of various symptoms after returning from the war is
designated as "war syndrome." However, based on the report of Harvey
RW, et al. of 2002 , among the soldiers returning from the war, the
number of the disabled persons, who have received services after that,
8.6% served in World War II, 5 % in the Korean War,9 .6% in the Vietnam
War and in the case of the Gulf War, it has reached 16 % (estimated at
110,000 persons).. It is evident that the Gulf War, compared with
other wars, has caused a lot many damages, and they cannot be
categorized simply as some risk of going to war.

Countless researches are being conducted on the causes of these
symptoms, but no massive investigation placing primary focus on DU has
been done. There exist, however, an extensive literature relating to
depleted uranium

(2) Experiments on Animals.


Pellmar TC, et al, in 1999 , revealed evidences of DU causing brain
damage by embedding it in rats, and they arrived at the conclusion that
DU produces neurological disorder. Also, as for effects of depleted
uranium on peripheral nerves, they observed the occurrence of cramps,
pain in the extremities, gait disorder, shiver, etc., and that there is
damage of calcium metabolism of the neuromuscular junction.

(3) Psycho-neuron Abnormalities

McDiarmid, et al. of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center,
in a research paper published in2000 , tested 29 people in 1997 out of
the 33 veterans with fragments of DU in their body they had put under
observation since 1993 . They observed the neurocognizance test
becoming bad in proportion to the high concentration of DU in their
urines, and abnormality in the hormone function of the reproductive
system. Also, they reported the genetic damage and the sperm count
abnormality. Yet, while they recognize this sort of health problems,
they made it look that there were not much complaints about the
symptoms when comparing them with the 21 Gulf War veterans who had not
been exposed to DU. However, 11 out of the 21 were in fact suffering
from some neuron abnormality and were in extremely bad condition, and a
terrible deception was evidently carried out. Similarly, tests were
conducted in 1999 , and in the report published in 2001 , 29 people
with incomparably low concentration of DU in their urines to the 21 out
of the previous 33 people tested were added, and this was to
intentionally dilute the results in an attempt to eliminate the
difference abnormal neuron and reproductive hormone levels.

(4) Chromosomal Abnormality

As previously stated, the chromosomes of 16 people who have been
suffering from Gulf War syndrome are 5.2 times higher of [dicentric]
and [ring centric] chromosomes. Others also, according to Uranobitz, et
al, have verified seeing the chromosomal abnormality in veterans of the
Gulf War who have shown such symptoms.


(5) Increase of Depleted Uranium Density in Urine

P Horan, et al of Canada examined the urines of 27 American, British and
Canadian patients, and detected a high density of DU in 14 people. This
data proves the fact that even after 8 or 9 years after exposure to DU,
high density of DU are being discharged in the urine..

In addition, Durakovic, et al have examined the uranium in the urine of
8 residents of 8 regions in Afghanistan who have symptoms similar to
Gulf War syndrome, published in 2003 data on the detection of high
density of uranium in the urine of all of them. Furthermore, in 2004 ,
they published the data on the detection of DU in the urines of 4 out
of 9 American soldiers, who were in charge of maintaining public order
after the Iraqi War, and returned home due to poor physical condition.

It is clear from the investigations conducted by Horan and Durakovic
that DU remains in the body for several years. There is no doubt about
the DU being more or less in part the cause of the Gulf War syndrome,
and its toxicity.


IV. There are researchers who recognize the toxicity of DU even within
the US Military

Arfsten DP of the Naval Health Research Center and Rictchie GD, et al
of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base have studied in detail all US
military researches, etc. up until then, and in 2001 , in their joint
names, published their dissertation.

(1) High density of DU in the urine was detected after a lapse of 10
years from soldiers, who had inhaled particles or pierced with
fragments of DU during the conflict at the Gulf War and Kosovo.

(2) In mice, the DU accumulated in the testicles, bone, kidneys, and
brain.

(3) In test-tube experiments, there were the genetic disorder
characteristic and teratogenicity, and the rat, when embedded with DU,
developed brain tumor.

(4) It is possible to say that whether it is as a heavy metal or
radioactivity, it has strong effect on the reproduction of rats.

In this treatise, there is the remark that “the opinion expressed here
does not reflect the opinion of the military but are based on the point
of views of the authors.” However, even as researchers of the
military, they have sufficiently recognized the damages caused by DU.

Recognizing the risks is not limited to their researches. As previously
stated, numerous medical researches relating to DU are being conducted
even with grants from the military. Even when they are being conducted
under the direct supervision of the military, these researches are
being given emphasis even when they may verify the danger of DU.

Suffice it to say, it is clear from existing medical dissertations that
DU is an extremely dangerous substance that does not only cause
temporary disorders, but chronic health breakdown, congenital defects,
carcinogens, and other disorders.


6. Effects to the Human Body Exposed Internally to Radiation

I.Official Stand of WHO

The World Health Organization has taken the stand of consistently
denying the danger of depleted uranium. Its basic statement has been
that if exposure has not exceeded the permissible limit of radiation
dosage (In case of the general public,1 millisievert per year), even if
one is exposed to radiation, it will not pose any danger. However, in
a public statement in January 2003 it expressed its most recent stand
on DU radiation and recommended that “there would be a need for places
where contamination to depleted uranium has exceeded the tolerable
level to be cleaned up” and that “children are in danger, so they
should be protected,” and this conceivably is admission of the fact
that substantially, DU can cause health hazards.

II. Method of Evaluation of Present-day Exposure to Radiation

Just how much dosage is the tolerable limit one can be exposed to
radiation is being calculated today on the basis of the Radiation Risk
Model of the International Commission on Radiological Protection
(ICRP). If we follow the Radiation Risk Model of ICRP, the low dosage
of DU, and being of the same degree of exposure to those of other
radiation sources and radiation of the natural world, will make it less
harmful to the health. Also, ICRP's admission of the effects of
radiation to the human body is limited to leukemia, solid cancer,
congenital defects, and effects on genes, and on this theory, it is
saying that symptoms resembling the Gulf War syndrome has nothing to do
with DU exposure. Contentions by WHO, IAEA (International Atomic Energy
Agency) or governments of countries dependent on these agencies and are
denying the danger of DU weapons are founded on this.

III. What kind of agency is the ICRP?

According to Rosalie Bertell of Canada, a scholar in the field of
Radiology, in 1952 , physicists, who took part in the Manhattan
Project, tried to intervene in the National Committee on Radiation
Protection of the International Congress of Radiology, and approached
the members of the radiology commission calling for a collaboration,
and the organization called "ICRP" was created from this merger. The
ICRP, with members designated reciprocally within the group, and with
no fixed tenure of office, is a sort of a non-governmental organization
(NGO), and is composed of physicists and radiologists of
nuclear-capable countries, biophysicists, and administrative officials
in charge of medical care. And out of the 13 members of the Main
Committee of the ICRP, several of them were having additional posts
also in the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation, and use faces of both parties. ICRP and UNSCEAR are not
official public health and sanitation organizations. ICRP is supposed
to be making the decisions regarding political and economic gains of
the use of atomic energy (including development and actual testing of
nuclear weapons) and the tolerance level to prevent predictable health
hazards by exposure to radiation, and the UNSCEAR is supposed to permit
society to make this choice.

ICRP is neither an agency of the United Nations nor is it agency having
responsibility to the U. N., and yet, despite the fact that it is no
more than a private group composed of people of with vested interests
of nuclear-capable countries and atomic energy industry, this agency
behaves in the manner as if the recommendations it releases are of
solemn conclusions of experts, and even manage politically to have them
formulated into laws of various countries starting with those in the
agencies of the U. N. Moreover, that theory, like the theory
established in connection with the effects of the exposure to
radiation, released by universities and research agencies even now, are
being used for educating the young people.

IV. The application of ICRP Radiation Risk Model to internal exposure
is not valid.

The ICRP Radiation Risk Model was created by using data obtained from
surviving atomic bomb victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The surviving
victims of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were exposed
mainly by being bathed externally with high dosage of gamma ray
(external exposure). The Radiation Risk Model has been created on the
basis of data obtained on this one specific condition that is called
"acute dosage of external exposure," and ICRP is making something like
this risk model to conform deductively and applied even to internal
exposure (exposure from within the internal body) of varying chronicity
of all conditions.

Whether or not the ICRP Radiation Risk Model is applicable also to
internal exposure, it can be confirmed by investigating the real
damages. However, this model that has been created by using data of
external exposure cannot possibly accurately evaluate the effects of
internal exposure. A classical example that this model could not
totally evaluate real damages was the nuclear power accident at
Chernobyl.

As a consequence of the Chernobyl nuclear power accident, various
symptoms of low dosage exposure in disaster areas in Belarus, Russia
and Ukraine were confirmed. Despite the release of numerous studies
made on the manifestation of additional ailments, the IAEA, UNSCEAR and
WHO have concluded that the causes of those ailments are due to
psychological reasons and stress. The remarkable increase in the rate
of occurrence of cancer of the thyroid gland uniquely among children
has been verified, but even when there is this increase of cancer of
the thyroid gland, UNSCEAR has underestimated the real damages by
insisting on following the ICRP model.

In the first place, the Radiation Risk Model is nothing but a theory.
By traditional scientific methodology, data obtained from actual cases
will have more bearing than theory, and that is, reality should have
more priority. In other words, theory should be dismissed if it is not
applicable and no conformity with the reality that can be seen.
However, in the case of its estimation of radiation damages, if the
ICRP theory is not applicable and does not conform to the reality,
then, it is rejecting reality.

This is the current status over the damages of radiation, and after the
war, the ICRP theory has been used to hide from the eyes of the world
the truth about victims of radiation of the Three-Mile Island nuclear
power accident and the Chernobyl nuclear power accident, and even
today, it is being brought out to repudiate the hazards of DU weapons
once again.

The effects on the human body by depleted uranium are proven in the
aforementioned medical papers, and various symptoms besides cancer and
congenital defects are being confirmed. The general principle of the
scientific methodology, namely that the truth should have more priority
over theory is once more being affirmed now, and we insist that the
ICRP theory should be abandoned on the basis of its denial of the
danger of DU.

V. ECRR Radiation Risk Model

Anti-nuclear movements that could not turn their eyes from the damages
prevalent in such places of the environs of heteroatom facilities, etc.
as the regions polluted with depleted uranium, the Chernobyl nuclear
power accident, and scientists cooperating with those movements have
insisted that damages caused in reality by low dosage of exposure to
radiation cannot be connected to the traditional ICRP Radiation Risk
Model, and have pointed out the danger to health by low level radiation
exposure.

In the midst of this, on the occasion that the European Union
Parliament was greatly arguing about these issues, the problem of low
dosage radiation exposure likewise prompted the promulgation of
measures for the recycling and reuse of radiation wastes, and in this
connection, the European Committee on Radiation Risk was established
for the purpose of reviewing the traditional ICRP Radiation Risk Model,
and in2003 , the ECRR announced its recommendations. Those
recommendations have pointed out that the effect to the human body of
internal exposure cannot be assessed with the ICRP Radiation Risk
Model. And as for internal exposure, it examined the mechanism of
biological damages on cells and DNA, and created a new Radiation Risk
Model. Chris Busby, a member of the ECRR, calculated the doses of
radiation in the case of having 1 micrometer of α (alpha) emitting
micro particles absorbed into the body on the basis of this risk model,
and the dose given to the structure that was in the range of 30
micrometers of micro particles showed 500 to 1000 millisievert per 1
year (E51). This numerical value, by far, exceeds the radiation
tolerance level (in the case of ordinary people, 1 millisievert per
year) shown by WHO.

In the case of applying the ICRP Radiation Risk Model, even with the
absorption into the body of micro particles of depleted uranium, the
radiation level will be low, but based on the Radiation Risk Model of
the ECRR, the same exposure will most likely be evaluated with high
level of exposure.

The ECRR has recognized also the various health hazards caused by
radiation. Asaf Durakovic, in his treatise (Undiagnosed Illnesses and
Radioactive Warfare) published in the Croatia Medical Journal, verified
the medical thesis on DU, and reported that contamination inside the
body by depleted uranium could cause various cell mutation and DNA
damage (E44). This report substantiated the legality of the theory of
the ECRR Radiation Risk Model.


7. Awareness on the Toxicity of DU weapons of the US Armed Forces

The following are the explanations about the fact that the US Military
is fully aware that DU weapons are harmful to the body by the
development process of these weapons:

I. Letters to General Groves

In October 1943, 3 physicists, A. H. Compton, et al., sent a letter
proposing "research on development and protection of radioactive
weapons" to General Groves who took part in the Manhattan Project.

In this letter, the 3 doctors proposed the organization of a team for
the sake of doing researches on the handling and preparation of
radioactive materials as weapons, and also, the preparation in case the
Nazi Germans would be ahead in developing similar weapons, and on
protection from these weapons. 　They hypothesized that these are
weapons behaving just like toxic gas weapons.

In the letter, they proposed, "as a gas warfare instrument the material
would be grounded into particles of microscopic size to form dust and
smoke and distributed by a ground-fired projectile, land vehicles, or
aerial bombs. In this form personnel would inhale it into the lungs.
The amount necessary to cause death to a person inhaling the material
is extremely small. It has been estimated that one millionth of a gram
accumulating in a person's body would be fatal." Also, it mentioned,
"Two factors appear to increase the effectiveness of radioactive dust
or smoke as a weapon. These are: 1. It cannot be detected by the
senses; 2. It can be distributed in a dust or smoke form so finely
powdered that it will permeate a standard gas mask filter in quantities
large enough to be extremely damaging. An off-setting factor in its
effectiveness as a weapon is that in a dust or smoke form the material
is so finely pulverized that it takes on the characteristic of a
quickly dissipating gas and is therefore subject to all the factors
(such as wind) working against maintenance of high concentrations for
more than a few minutes over a given area."

Moreover, in the letter, they stated the method of using weapons of
this type, 1. As a terrain contaminant, these are spread on the ground
through the air or from the ground, and depending on the amount, the
effects of the radiation on a person would probably not be immediate,
but would be delayed for days or perhaps weeks and lead to death…for
average terrain, no decontaminating methods are known. 2. As a gas
warfare instrument, inhalation of infinitesimal volume of substances
distributed in the form of a dust or smoke or dissolved in liquid can
be fatal. And regarding the effects of these, "as for the terrain
contaminated with radioactive dust and smoke...radioactive materials
can be stirred up as a fine dust from the terrain by winds, movement of
vehicles or troops, etc., and would remain a potential hazard for a
long time. Especially in the case of the latter, "These materials may
also be so disposed as to be taken into the body by ingestion instead
of inhalation. Reservoirs or wells would be contaminated or food
poisoned with an effect similar to that resulting from inhalation of
dust or smoke.....Particles larger than1 μ[micron]in size are likely to
be deposited in nose, trachea or bronchi and then be brought up with
mucus on the walls at the rate of 1/2 - 1 cm/min. Particles smaller
than1 μ [micron] are more likely to be deposited in the alveoli where
they will either remain indefinitely or be absorbed into the lymphatic
or blood...that while chemical gas weapons may exhibit faster effect,
the radioactive substance has more permanent effects."
Here we should exercise special caution regarding the fact that this
letter evidently hypothesize internal exposure, and though it did
specify it to be Uranium 238 , it recognized the danger of internal
exposure caused by micro-particles of radioactive materials.


II. Some of the U.S. Government's Documentation of Harmful Effects of
D.U. Weapons


Documents provided by the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (CADU) of
UK are cited below to prove the harmful effects of DU:

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory circular by M. C.
dated 20 December 1984 warning FAA crash site investigators about
encounters with planes laden with depleted uranium, aircraft balance
weights at sites, when investigating plane crashes accidents that "if
particles are inhaled or ingested, they can be chemically toxic and
cause a significant and long-lasting irradiation of internal tissue.”

On March 7, 1979, the US Army Mobility Equipment, Research and
Development Command stated, "Not only the people in the immediate
vicinity, emergency and fire fighting personnel, but also people at
distances downwind from the fire are faced with potential over exposure
to air borne uranium dust." (This was disclosed in accordance with
request based on the Freedom of Information Act to the National Gulf
War Resources Center by Chris Kornkven, et al.)

U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute, in a June 1995 report to
Congress, says depleted uranium has the potential to generate
“significant medical consequences” if it enters the body. “The
radiation dose to critical organs depends upon the amount of time that
depleted uranium resides in the organs. When this value is known or
estimated, cancer and hereditary risk estimates can be determined.”
On May 1997 26, the Nation Magazine published an article about the U.S.
Army Armaments, Munitions and Chemical Command (AMCCOM) report in July
1990 that depleted uranium is a “low level alpha radiation emitter,
which is linked to cancer when exposures are internal, and that
chemical toxicity causes kidney damage.” Also, AMCCOM’s radiological
task group has stated, “Long term effects of low doses (of DU) have
been implicated in cancer…there is not dose so low that the probability
of effect is zero.”

On August 16 , 1993 , Col. Robert G. Claypool of the U.S. Army Surgeon
General’s Office, in a letter, says, "When soldiers inhale or ingest DU
dust, they incur a potential increase in cancer risk. The magnitude of
that increase can be quantified if the DU intake can be estimated.
Expected physiological effects from exposure to DU dust include
possible increase in the outbreak of cancer and kidney damage.”
Health hazards data, (the Materials Safety Data Sheet:MSDS) from the
U.S. Department of Labor says that the "(DU) increases the risk of lung
carcinoma and chemical toxicity to kidney. Decay products of U-238,
U-235, and U- 234are just as hazardous."

These documents indicated that before the Gulf War, and even after
that, the US Armed Forces and the US government have long been doing
investigations repeatedly on the danger of depleted uranium, and the
hazards of internal irradiation, and knew fully well about its
carcinogenicity and teratogenicity.

After the Gulf War, this awareness spread to the US Congress. In 1992
, the US General Accounting Office and the Senate Appropriations
Committee recommended the probe on the effects to the human body and
environment of depleted uranium to the Department of Defense and the US
Army respectively, and in June, 1993 , in response, the Department of
the Army, submitted the plan for such course of action, namely,
"complete medical testing of personnel exposed to DU contamination,"
"provide adequate training for personnel who may come in contact with
DU contaminated equipment from now," etc.

However, this plan up to now has not been enforced, and as stated below
are deliberately being ignored and distorted:

III. Testimony of Doug Rokke

Doug Rokke was a professor of Physics and Environmental Science at the
Jacksonville University, an Army major (Reserve), and in 1994 - 95 was
in charge of the DU Project of the Pentagon. He took the stand and
answered questions from the prosecutors of the International Criminal
Tribunal for Afghanistan regarding the said project. As to the
background of the formation of this DU Project team of the Pentagon, he
said, "Commissioned officers from the UK, Australia, Canada and Germany
participated in the project to study the risk of DU weapons and I was
tasked by the Army to direct the team. The objective of the project was
to ensure that adequate information and training to soldiers being
deployed to the battlefield are provided by making it clear to them the
risks and hazards when DU bomb weapons are used, and to know what kind
of countermeasures and precautionary measures should be adopted, and to
make proposals as to how to clean up the DU bullets. Also, we submitted
recommendations, which were completely ignored. Up to this day, the US
Armed Forces the US army has not taken any measures to protect the
soldiers." He also mentioned, "We made a proposal that clean-up was
essential, but in reality, complete clean-up was impossible. Therefore,
we proposed not to use DU weapons any longer. However our proposal was
ignored by the upper level of the government and completely ignored by
NATO, UK, Australia and others."

Furthermore, Doug Rokke said that as part of the DU project, they made
several videotapes that were supposed to be produced as videotapes on
DU bombs of the Pentagon. "The first one was an advisory on what kind
of danger was there when a DU bomb would explode, the second about a
manual on when a clean up was being done, and the third one was on how
to measure the radiation, and we made clear that a Geiger counter would
not be effective in measuring DU bombs. The fourth one was about what
kind of equipment should be used in destroying the residue of the DU
bomb, and the fifth one was on how to handle dud (unexploded) bombs.
These were produced especially for the sake of soldiers who would go on
dangerous missions, but in the end, they were never used." he stated.

The US started the DU weapon project, but because of the report that
was released about the extremely high risk of DU weapons, and
recommendation that they should not be used, the results of the
researches of the project were classified. Through the proliferation of
these information and videos, the hazardous nature of DU weapons had
become clear, and the US feared being showered with criticisms by the
international community, and that DU weapons would no longer be used
ever. This is how, according to Doug Rokke, et al. was their
recommendations were ignored, their project dissolved, and why nothing
is done ever to protect the soldiers from DU weapons nor provide them
with medical care.

IV.Awareness on the Violations of International Laws in the US Armed
Forces

Within the US Armed Forces, they are aware about possible violation of
international law regarding the use of this type of weapons being a
violation of international laws in addition to awareness of matters of
this nature related to the danger of depleted uranium as stated above.

The U.S. Air Force’s 1976 manual titled “International Law: The Conduct
of Armed Conflict and Air Operations" names treaties, including The
Hague Conventions of1907 , the Geneva Gas Protocol of 1925 , and the
Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of
War,1949 , and specifically recognized as binding by the US Armed
Forces.

The Geneva Gas Protocol outlaws asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases,
and all analogous liquids, materials or devices, and the Hague
Conventions explicitly forbid the use especially of poison or poisoned
weapons. The Air Force manual defines poison as "biological or chemical
substances causing death or disability with permanent effects when, in
even small quantities, they are ingested, enter the lungs or
bloodstream, or touch the skin.” The manual says, “Any weapons may be
put to an unlawful use," and unequivocally, “A weapon may be illegal
per se if either international custom or treaty has forbidden its use
under all circumstances. An example is poison to kill or injure a
person.”

The 70 's was a period when the US military began a full-scale
development and production of DU bombshells. From this period onward,
the US Air Force has been fully aware that DU weapons are poisonous
weapons, and that their use will be a violation of international laws,
and yet, even with that knowledge, they are used in attacking Iraq, and
its insistence that the use of DU weapons "is not illegal" on the
ground that it has never been explicitly forbidden by any war
convention is definitely a deception.

Another document that can support this fact is the memorandum "On the
Effectiveness of Depleted Uranium Penetrators" of the Los Alamos
National Laboratory written by Lieutenant-Colonel M V Ziehman dated
March 1 , 1991 immediately after the Gulf War. Besides pointing out
the effectiveness of DU bombs used extensively in the military
operations in Iraq, it reads, ""There has been, and continues to be, a
concern regarding the impact of DU on the environment. If no one makes
the case for the effectiveness of DU on the battlefields, DU rounds may
become politically unacceptable and be deleted from the arsenal. If DU
perpetrators proved their worth during our recent combat activities,
then we should assure their future existence (until something better is
developed). If proponency is not garnered, it is possible that we
stand to lose a valuable combat capability. I believe we should keep
this sensitive issue at mind when after action reports are written."
This is actually a notice advising the US military and various
government agencies to bear in mind and to continue to keep silent
about the continuous use of DU weapons, and bear in mind possible the
great criticism regarding the serious effect to the human body and the
environment of the DU weapons and the possible violation of laws stated
previously.

V. Reason for the use of DU weapons by the US Armed Forces
notwithstanding

The US Armed Forces, despite the widespread criticism and skepticism in
and outside of the country, has given as reason for the continuous use
of these deadly poison weapons solely their cost and military
effectiveness. They are considered as a milestone in nuclear
utilization strategy of the US military. The US Armed Forces, at
present is targeting the development and use of4 th generation nuclear
weapons. Last year, since the lifting of the ban on researches of
small-type nuclear weapons, the Department of Energy has given the
incentives to the chiefs of national laboratories such as the Los
Alamos, etc. by telling them "not to waste the opportunity" do these
nuclear testings, and one of the projects was the mounting of these
small-type nuclear weapons in bunker busters that were most probably
loaded with depleted uranium, and used in the war in Afghanistan and
Iraq.

The US Armed Forces, as a pioneer in the use for actual combat of this4
th generation nuclear weapon, despite the fact that there are other
alternatives that may be used as weapons, has targeted a fait accompli
of the claim that the radiation pollution by this use of DU weapons is
within "tolerance level." The Bush administration has asserted that
"the radioactive pollution is kept under control to the minimum" of
subterranean small-type nuclear weapon penetrators, but even if they
are restricted temporarily to only targets of attacks on basement
facilities, etc., they cause extremely serious contamination of the
human body and environment brought about by a tremendous radioactive
pollution accompanied by a nuclear explosion. The US Armed Forces
conceals this fact by putting emphasis on their tolerance level
addressed to the world, and in an attempt to gain permission by the
international community.


8. Environmental Pollution by Depleted Uranium (DU)

I. Widespread Radioactive Contamination in Iraq

In this war on Iraq, DU weapons are used in large cities and towns
starting with Baghdad. Many countries have a limit of public exposure
to radiation prescribed by laws based on the recommendation of ICRP set
at 1 millisievert per annum, and the quantity of depleted uranium
equivalent to this is 11.4 milligrams. The quantity of depleted
uranium contained in a 30 -milligram DU bomb is 280 grams. One shot of
this can emit a radiation surpassing the radiation limit for25 ,
000persons per annum by ignition and micronization. In accordance with
the on-the-spot investigations conducted by privately-run facilities
and scientists, it has been reported that high level radiations are
detected from soils surrounding road ditches and inside of building
sites where warheads and hulls of these DU bombs have rolled into, and
war tanks. The exact amount used is not publicly announced but Michael
Kilpatrick, in a forum stated that even with just 115 tons, it would be
enough to distribute a dosage per annum of about 100,000, 000 people.
The depleted uranium has deeply penetrated the life sphere of people.

At the conclusion of this war on 6 April 2004, UNEP Executive Director
Klaus Toefger said, "UNEP stands ready to conduct early environmental
field studies in Iraq. Given the overall environmental concerns during
the conflict, and the fact that the environment of Iraq was already a
cause for serious concern prior to the current war, UNEP believes early
field studies should be carried out (E61). This is especially important
to protect human health in a post-conflict situation due to the
apparent use of DU weapons in this war. Immediately after that, UNEP
published a "desk study on the Iraq environment" that contained
information on the risks to groundwater, surface water, drinking water
sources, and the scattering of radioactive particles. The report of
the British Royal Society in 2002 also predicts that due to depleted
uranium, the radioactive contamination, after the conflict, will
gradually permeate the soil and water sources in the years ahead.

In the first place, the depleted uranium is a deadly poisonous
substance brought forth as quid-pro-quo for the use of nuclear power
generation to bring wealth and amenities to just a portion of the
population. Laws have been passed regarding the legal obligation of
individuals capitalizing on this to ensure safety management, and the
handling of radioactive wastes by each nation, which uses atomic
energy. The US national regulation "10CRF20" has stipulated the strict
control of the storage, transfer, and use of depleted uranium, and the
paying of careful consideration and caution to prevent its leakage to
the environment. Is this legally and morally forgivable that in its
own country, the US government spends lots of money on the strict
management and storage of radioactive materials, but when it comes to
people of other countries, it has no qualms dumping and scattering
large volume of illegal wastes, even putting the fate of Iraqi in
serious danger and jeopardy by radioactivity?

II. The Development of the Idea of Environmental Protection

The present global environment was formed from even before the human
race appeared on earth, and human race has evolved by conforming and
adapting to it. However, the rapid development of scientific
technology by the pursuit for comfort and convenience brought about the
destruction of the ecosystem, and global environmental pollution, and
that has caused the situation where the very existence of mankind is
now in imminent danger. Amidst this situation, in1971 , the United
Nations convened its first international conference with the
environment for its theme; The United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment, and adopted the "Declaration of the United Nations
Conference of the Human Environment."

In the declaration are expressed the ideals that "both aspects of man's
environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to his
well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights the right to life
itself," "All countries, organizations and individuals at every level,
all sharing equitably in common efforts, to achieve this environmental
goal will demand the acceptance of responsibility and by their values
and the sum of their actions, will shape the world environment of the
future," and "all countries shall bear the responsibility that their
respective countries will not cause damage to the regional environment
of another country."

The deepening and development of the environmental ideology was derived
from movements　attempting to regulate the environmental destruction
brought about by the war. The treaty on the prohibition of military and
other hostile use of environmental modification techniques, which was
approved in 1976 , prohibits the military use of environmental
modification technique (any technique for changing through the
deliberate manipulation of natural processes the dynamics, composition,
or structure of the earth, including its biota, lithosphere,
hydrosphere, or of outer space) likely to have widespread, long-lasting
and also severe effects as a means to cause destruction, damage and
also injury. Simultaneously, Supplementary Protocol of the Geneva
Conventions also came into effect, and stipulated that "it is
prohibited to use as means or method of combat intending or predicting
to inflict widespread, long-lasting, and severe injury."

III. Precautionary Principle

However, without limiting it to the conduct of war, the technique and
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