Stao  Mihajlo  Mihajlov i zamislio se. Toliko se dugo i jako zamislio da su
mu  se  zile  na  glavi  videle. Napregao se i dosao do svakojakih otkrica.
Rezultat, da ne kazem minuli rad, videli smo u Nasoj Borbi od 4 januara ove
godine.
Kaze  Mihajlo,  nisu  Amerikanci  bombardovali  Republiku Srpsku bombama sa
atomskim  zracenjem.  Potom  veli,  taj  vrli  strucnjak za atomsku i druge
energije,  kako  nisu valjda Amerikanci ludi da ozrace sopstvene trupe, jer
im  je dosta i legionarske bolesti, te kako jedna demokratska zemlja, kakva
je  valjda  Amerika,  ne  bi  sebi  dozvolila  da  izvrsi genocid nad nekim
narodom,  pa  makar to bili i primitivni Srbi. (Hirosima, Vijetnam, Koreja,
Panama, Irak ... se ne vode pod G za genocid nego C za collateral damages)
Zakjlucak  koji donosi MM je da je naravno rec o antiamerickoj patki (sic!)
te da se ta patka moze uvaliti samo onom najneprosvecenijem delu ovog naseg
naroda  dok  on,  koji naravno pripada onom prosvecenom i obrazovanom delu,
odbija  da  mu  je uvale, dal' zato sto je antiamericka ili preferira drugu
pernatu  zivinu, ostaje nam da pogadjamo. Neosporno je da radijacije nema i
tacka. Reko drug komesar.
U  prilogu  dva  teksta gde najneprosveceniji deo Amerike govori o upotrebi
municije  od osiromasenog uranijuma u Golfskom zalivu i Bosni, te o uticaju
zracenja na americke vojnike i lokalno stanovnistvo.
1)  International  Appeal  to  Ban Depleted Uranium By former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark
2) RADIOACTIVE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE 1990s (From Gulf Veterans web page)
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1)  International  Appeal  to  Ban Depleted Uranium By former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark
Drafted by Ramsey Clark
Depleted-uranium weapons are an unacceptable threat to life, a violation of
international  law and an assault on human dignity. To safeguard the future
of  humanity,  we  call  for  an unconditional international ban forbidding
research,  manufacture,  testing,  transportation, possession and use of DU
for military purposes. In addition, we call for the immediate isolation and
containment  of  all  DU weapons and waste, the reclassification of DU as a
radioactive    and   hazardous   substance,   the   cleanup   of   existing
DU-contaminated  areas, comprehensive efforts to prevent human exposure and
medical care for those who have been exposed.
During  the  Gulf  War, munitions and armor made with depleted uranium were
used for the first time in a military action. Iraq and northern Kuwait were
a   virtual  testing  range  for  depleted-uranium  weapons.  Over  940,000
30-millimeter uranium tipped bullets and "more than 14,000 large caliber DU
rounds  were  consumed  during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield." (U.S.
Army Environmental Policy Institute)
These  weapons were used throughout Iraq with no concern for the health and
environmental  consequences  of  their  use. Between 300 and 800 tons of DU
particles  and  dust  have  been scattered over the ground and the water in
Kuwait,  Saudi  Arabia  and  Iraq.  As  a  result, hundreds of thousands of
people,  both civilians and soldiers, have suffered the effects of exposure
to these radioactive weapons.
Of  the  697,000  U.S.  troops  who  served  in  the Gulf, over 90,000 have
reported  medical  problems. Symptoms include respiratory, liver and kidney
dysfunction,  memory  loss, headaches, fever, low blood pressure. There are
birth  defects  among their newborn children. DU is a leading suspect for a
portion of these ailments. The effects on the population living in Iraq are
far  greater.  Under  pressure, the Pentagon has been forced to acknowledge
Gulf War Syndrome, but they are still stonewalling any connection to DU.
Communities  near DU weapons plants, testing facilities, bases and arsenals
have  also  been exposed to this radioactive material which has a half-life
of  4.4  billion years. DU-weapons are deployed with U.S. troops in Bosnia.
The spreading toxicity of depleted uranium threatens life everywhere.
DU weapons are not conventional weapons. They are highly toxic, radioactive
weapons.  All  international law on warfare has attempted to limit violence
to  combatants  and  to  prevent  the  use  of cruel and unfocused weapons.
International  agreements  and  conventions have tried to protect civilians
and non-combatants from the scourge of war and to outlaw the destruction of
the environment and the food supply in order to safeguard life on earth.
Consequently,  DU  weapons  violate  international  law  because  of  their
inherent   cruelty  and  unconfined  death-dealing  effect.  They  threaten
civilian  populations  now and for generations to come. These are precisely
the  weapons  and  uses  prohibited  by  international  law for more than a
century  including the Geneva Conventions and their Protocols Additional of
1977.
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2) RADIOACTIVE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE 1990s
... In the 1940s and 1950s, hundreds of thousands of American soldiers were
knowingly  exposed  to  the  radioactive fallout of nuclear testing; in the
1960s  and  1970s,  thousands more suffered the effects of Agent Orange; in
the 1990s, military use of depleted uranium (DU) is contributing to another
generation  of  veterans  whose  severe illnesses, deaths and children with
birth  defects  were and are an avoidable tragedy. DU munitions and armored
vehicles  are  currently being deployed in Bosnia, in what could become yet
another  international  human  health and environmental catastrophe, and DU
ammunition  has  already been used in that conflict. The recent Army report
on   DU   sanctions  both  its  use  and  its  proliferation,  despite  the
consequences 1.
1: DU in Bosnia: The 160 M1A1 tanks sent to Bosnia use DU ammunition. Their
presence  is  confirmed in the December 25, 1995, edition of Army Times. DU
has  already  been  used  in  that conflict: See Associated Press report by
David Crary published in the Planesburgh, NY, Press Republican of August 6,
1994:  ;Two  U.S.  A-10s  destroyed  the  [Bosnian  Serb] M-78 mobile 'tank
buster'...;  DU can also be considered in the context of the history of the
U.S.  military's  use  of  its  own  troops to test such things as chemical
weapons (mustard gas, for example) and psychotropic drugs.
...  Although the Army has developed safety procedures and publications for
dealing  with DU, these were seldom, if ever, put into practice in the Gulf
War.  The  AEPI  report,  on page 81, concedes that the 144th Army National
Guard  Service  and  Supply Company was allowed to proceed with battlefield
cleanup for three weeks before these materials were introduced. Pages 81-85
document  the  overall  lack  of  precautions.  Gulf War soldiers and field
commanders  declare  that they were never warned that DU is radioactive: in
fact,  General  Calvin  Waller  told  NBC's  ;Dateline; that neither he nor
General  Norman Schwartzkopf were ever told about the health hazards of DU.
Early  information  suggests that troops deployed in Bosnia with DU-armored
tanks  and  personnel  carriers  and DU rounds are also unaware they are at
risk  from  DU exposure, and the Bosnian government has not been advised of
the risk.
...There  is  no  safe  way  to  use  DU,  and a very basic question is why
something  considered to be hazardous radioactive and chemical waste in all
other  circumstances  is  considered safe in battlefield conditions. As the
AEPI  admits  on  page 78, ;As much as 70 percent of a DU penetrator can be
aerosolized  when  it  strikes  a  tank  (Fliszar  et  al., 1989). Aerosols
containing  DU  oxides  may contaminate the area downwind. DU fragments may
also  contaminate  the  soil  around  the  struck  vehicles.;  DU munitions
aerosolize  when  used, DU tank armor can aerosolize when struck, and there
are  many  paths  by  which  the resulting particles may enter the body: by
inhalation,  ingestion,  or through open wounds. On page 101, the AEPI also
concedes,  ;If  DU  enters  the  body,  it  has  the  potential to generate
significant  medical consequences. The risks associated with DU in the body
are  both  chemical  and  radiological.....S  Once  inside  the human body,
uranium  particles  tend to stay, causing illnesses such as lung cancer and
kidney disease that often take decades to manifest. According to pioneering
radiation  biomedical  researcher  Dr.  J.  W. Gofman, particles of uranium
smaller  than  5  micron  in diameter can become permanently trapped in the
lungs.  Leonard  A.  Dietz, former Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory scientist
has  estimated  that  a trapped, single uranium oxide particle of this size
can expose the surrounding lung tissue to approximately 1,360 rem per year.
This  is  8,000  times  the  annual  radiation  dosage permitted by federal
regulations  for  whole  body exposure to the general public. Particles not
trapped  in  the respiratory system may be ingested and find their way into
the kidneys and reproductive organs.