Children of the Gulf War
WILPF Australian Tour Project
Latest News
The interest in the use of DU weapons and the effects on people and the environment is an increasingly hot topic in the world due to increased public awareness. Also, the opposition to the war against Iraq and the continuing presence of foreign troops now has many voices.
Below is a range of past articles on Iraq and Depleted Uranium. For the latest information, visit DU-specific sites such as
http://www.dusk-qld.info/
http://www.cadu.org.uk/intro.htm
http://www.nodu-hiroshima.org/en/
http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/uran/index_e.html
http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de/speakers.htm
or search for ‘depleted uranium’ at one of many alternative media sites, including:
www.commondreams.com
www.alternet.org/
http://www.zmag.org/
Selected reports
Explosive remnants of war in Iraq ICRC Report (25 June 2003)
http://electroniciraq.net/news/918.shtmlVillage Battles Illnesses from Nuclear Waste—Many have symptoms tied to material looted from nearby facility
by Anna Badkhen - San Francisco Chronicle
In the cramped classrooms of Amin Bit Wahab high school, 800 teenage girls in this small Iraqi village are receiving a crash course on the damaging effects of radiation. Last month, looters descended on the concrete depths of the nearby Tuweitha Nuclear Research Center, carrying off dozens of barrels filled with toxic waste. Much of the contaminated material landed in village homes.
http://commondreams.org/headlines03/0526-03.htmDangerous Loot South of Baghdad—Iraqis close to a nuclear research site become ill after materials are pilfered. Doctor says symptoms point to acute radiation syndrome.
By John Hendren - LA Times Staff Writer
Elifat Rusum Saber, 14, has been nauseated, tired and bleeding from the nose since her brother brought home metal and chemicals from the neighboring Tuwaitha nuclear research center two days after the
fall of Baghdad
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraqnuke22may22001423,1,7797724.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2DworldSeven Nuclear Sites Looted - Iraqi Scientific Files, Some Containers Missing
by Barton Gellman - Washington Post
Seven nuclear facilities in Iraq have been damaged or effectively
destroyed by the looting that began in the first days of April, when U.S.
ground forces thrust into Baghdad, according to U.S. investigators and
others with detailed knowledge of their work.
http://commondreams.org/headlines03/0510-01.htmU.N. Atomic Chief Again Warns U.S. About Iraq
by Walter Pincus - Washington Post
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned the United States for the third time yesterday of the danger of radioactive contamination in Iraq because of looting at nuclear sites and called on the Bush administration to allow his safety and emergency response teams to enter the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13249-2003May19.htmlAl-Tuwaitha, Iraq: the Iraq Nuclear Complex Turned into a Horrific Uranium-contamination Zone
by Hisataka Yamazaki - Depleted Uranium Center/Japan
At the al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Complex, the largest nuclear facility in Iraq,
dozens of drums containing natural uranium called "yellow cake" were looted and their contents were discarded all over the site.
Click hereNuclear watchdog fears terrorist dirty bomb after looting at al-Tuwaitha
Ian Traynor in Zagreb - The Guardian
United Nations nuclear inspectors, barred from Iraq by Washington, are increasingly worried that the widespread looting and ransacking of Iraq's nuclear facilities may result in terrorists building a radioactive "dirty bomb".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,955374,00.htmlLooters at key Iraqi nuke site terrify residents Al-Tuwaitha, Iraq
Looters rifling through one of Iraq's main nuclear sites at Al-Tuwaitha and carting off whatever they can carry are making local residents terrified of the danger. The complex, believed to have held natural or low-grade uranium, was extensively pillaged several days ago but the looting is still going on.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/07/1052280324928.htmlBreak-in fear at nuclear store
by Ian Traynor in Vienna and Julian Borger in Washington - The Guardian
Nuclear weapons inspectors expressed concern yesterday that warehouses containing highly radioactive material under UN seal may have been broken into at al-Tuwaitha, the nerve centre of Saddam Hussein's secret nuclear bomb project.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,934486,00.htmlIraq looters exposed to radioactive yellow cake
by Tsuyoshi Nojima - The Asahi Shimbun
They wanted water containers; they may have killed the village. Iraq-Villagers looted a nuclear power facility here during the waning days
of the war and instead of treasure, may have made off with death-drums
filled with radioactive uranium oxide concentrate, also called yellow cake.
http://www.asahi.com/english/international/K2003050800179.htmlIs U.S. covering up ‘depleted’ uranium health impacts in Iraq?
by the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers
The unchecked looting of hospitals and the destruction of public health records—Was this an operational failure or a deliberately staged event?
http://www.sfbayview.com/051403/depleteduranium051403.shtmlRemains of toxic bullets litter Iraq—The Monitor finds high levels of radiation left by US armor-piercing shells
by Scott Peterson
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0515/p01s02-woiq.htmlU.S. Under Fire for Use of Cluster Bombs in Iraq
by Jack Epstein
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0515-02.htmInformation about gagged Belarusian researcher Prof Yu. I. Bandazhevsky, who has been researching the radioactive effects of Chernobyl.
http://www.llrc.org/health/subtopic/bandaz.htm
http://www.nonviolence.org/nukeresister/nr125/125yury.html
http://www.llrc.org/rat/subrat/rat429.htm#ref1%20Navajo Miners Battle a Deadly Legacy of Yellow Dust
By Ben Daitz, M.D.
http://nytimes.com/2003/05/13/health/13NAVA.html?8hpibArticles on the high cancer rates on Vieques, Puerto Rico
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40529-2003May10.html
http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthscout/prss/513159.html
http://www.healthcentral.com/news/NewsFullText.cfm?id=1501381Door Opened for New Era of Nuclear Arms
By Paul Richter
A key Senate panel backs a bill that would end a 10-year ban on research, upgrade the Nevada test site and let the president pursue smaller weapons.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nukes10may10,1,7920980.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2DheadlinesIraqi nuclear sites looted.
http://commondreams.org/headlines03/0510-01.htmThe two faces of Rumsfeld 2000: director of a company which wins $200m contract to sell nuclear reactors to North Korea 2002:
declares North Korea a terrorist state, part of the axis of evil and a target for regime change
By Randeep Ramesh
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,952196,00.htmlWhat about the spent fuel?
By Robert Alvarez
http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2002/jf02/jf02alvarez.htmlThe NRC's Dirty Little Secret
By Daniel Hirsch, David Lochbaum & Edwin Lyman
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still unwilling to respond to serious security problems.
http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/mj03/mj03hirsch.htmlThe Real Casualty Rate from America's Iraq Wars
by Chalmers Johnson
http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=634Senator Edward Kennedy yesterday warned that the Bush administration was preparing to restart the testing of nuclear weapons so it could develop a new generation of bunker-busting bombs and tactical "mini-nukes", potentially triggering a new arms race
By Julian Borger
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=030502%7Eto.asp
The Weapon We Gave Iraq by Scott Taylor (17 Feb 2003)
http://commondreams.org/views03/0217-07.htmRun-down Iraqi hospitals struggle to treat cancers linked to Gulf War bombing
By Elizabeth Neuffer in Basra
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/26/1043533954183.html
And below, links to organisations who provide regularly updated sources of information - and to earlier articles:
GlobalSecurity.org
a non-profit non-partisan policy research group that seeks to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons. The page on depleted uranium provides numerous links to sources and resources.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/ military/systems/munitions/du.htmA Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan: A Comprehensive Accounting
by Marc Harrold, a selection of photographs on the US bombing of Afghanistan
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mwheroldIraq links cancers to uranium weapons—U.S. likely to use arms again in war
by Robert Collier
http://www.sfgate.com/ cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/ archive/2003/01/13/MN233872.DTLMore clues to Gulf War Vets' illnesses: Insecticides, anti-nerve gas drug linked to infertility in soldiers
by Kathleen Sullivan
http://www.sfgate.com/ cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/ archive/2003/01/10/MN124084.DTLVieques Cancer Rate Increase Confirmed by the Puerto Rico Health Department.
http://www.forusa.org/ Programs/puertorico/PR_Update_1002-2.htmlPeople Struggle to Save Their Children From Being Casualties of Navy War Games
http://www.forusa.org/ Programs/puertorico/ViequesSi_Conteris.htmlA Navy Admiral Speaks—
RADM (Ret.) Eugene Carroll, Jr., USN
http://www.forusa.org/ Programs/puertorico/PR_Update_1002-4.htmlNavy Lies About Its Sunken, Radioactive Ship near Vieques
http://www.forusa.org/ Programs/puertorico/PR_Update_1002-3.htmlAfghanistan: The Nuclear Nightmare Starts by Davey Garland
http://www.truthout.org/ docs_02/011103E.dpltd.urnim.htmToxic Ammo is Tested in Fish Areas - U.S. Navy uses depleted uranium in coast waters; activists may go to court by Larry Johnson
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ local/103402_fife09.shtml
copy at: http://www.commondreams.org/ headlines03/0109-02.htmIraqi Cancers, Birth Defects Blamed on U.S. Depleted Uranium
by Larry Johnson
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ iraq2002/95178_du12.shtml
copy at: http://www.commondreams.org/ headlines02/1112-01.htmGround Zero Center for Nonviolent Action:
http://www.gzcenter.orgThe National Gulf War Resource Center, Inc.
http://www.ngwrc.org/ Dulink/du_link.htmUranium Medical Research Centre
http://www.umrc.net/