NATO Headquarters
Brussels, Belgium
Press Release (2001)037
13 March 2001
Statement by the NATO Spokesman
REPORT BY THE UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME CONCERNING DEPLETED URANIUM
NATO welcomes the publication of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on possible health hazards associated with the use of Depleted Uranium munitions in Kosovo. Throughout, as is acknowledged, we have given full assistance to the UNEP team, and we welcome the report's conclusion that the health hazards are minimal.
NATO takes matters of health and environment very seriously. We have a particular interest in the well-being of NATO and Partner soldiers, as well as any health and longer term environmental considerations that may affect the local population in the Balkans. That is why we have established an ad hoc committee to serve as a clearinghouse for all relevant information concerning Depleted Uranium, and have made a clear commitment to maximum transparency and openness on this issue. All reports, including today's UNEP report, stress that the health risks of Depleted Uranium are insignificant. But that does not stop our determination to be proactive and transparent in our handling of this issue.
The UNEP report shows in particular that the risks to KFOR
personnel of exposure to Depleted Uranium are negligible, and
neither is there evidence of any harm to the civilian
population. NATO has consistently stated that DU could only be a hazard under very specific, very limited circumstances, and this report emphasises how unlikely it is that our personnel, and the local population, will have been exposed to sufficient DU to
suffer ill-effects.
A number of other points are worthy of note. For example, the
report states: that the risks of widespread or localised
contamination is insignificant, and radiation levels are barely
measurable; that even where DU material was found on the
surface, the risks to health were still insignificant; that
there has been no groundwater contamination or impact on the
food chain; that the measurable levels of plutonium and U-236
found within Depleted Uranium munitions are so low as to have no effect on radioactivity levels.
While emphasising the insignificant risks, the UNEP report also
refers to some remaining issues, and makes a number of
recommendations, including further assessing the feasibility and
justification for cleaning up or marking sites where
appropriate. NATO has been conducting its own study into the
issue of clearing or marking sites and the UNEP report will be
taken into full account.
This report adds to the existing and growing body of independent
evidence that Depleted Uranium munitions have not been
responsible for any ill-health in KFOR/SFOR personnel or
civilians in the region. Since this became a matter of public
concern NATO and its member nations have launched many studies, as well as reviewed existing medical literature, and have found no reason to revise the current view that the use of Depleted Uranium munitions in the Balkans has harmed neither our personnel nor the local population.
Nevertheless, NATO will not be complacent on this issue, which
remains a high priority. Our ad hoc committee remains in place
for the exchange of information. Today's UNEP report adds to the
information available and should help reassure those who have
been concerned about the effects of Depleted Uranium.
The Centre for Peace in the Balkans
http://www.balkanpeace.org
February 2001
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BALKANS?
After all that happened last fall on a political scene in Yugoslavia and Serbia, the unavoidable logical question is: "What's next for the Balkans"?
With divergent interests of the US and Western Europe, Albanian terrorism in Serbia and Macedonia, Montenegrin secessionism and renewed nationalism in Croatia, the Balkans will be a hot spot for some time to come.
Europe vs. U.S. : Divergent interests
While publicly applauding the political changes that took place in Yugoslavia on October 5 of last year, the US has not done anything to support the new authorities in Belgrade. On the contrary, it can be said that the US is making life difficult for President Vojislav Kostunica and his administration; politically
through the Hague tribunal and militarily by allowing Albanian terrorists to operate freely in Kosovo and the 5km buffer zone between Kosovo and Serbia.
A recent visit by Hague tribunal chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte to Belgrade was followed by two prominent U.S.Senators, John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Del.). The Senators told the Yugoslav leadership that unless they cooperated fully with the tribunal, no aid would be forthcoming from the U.S. Such demands are creating tough choices for the new authorities
and causing a great deal of political turbulence. Both Senators are well known for supporting Albanians and the terrorist so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Sen. Lieberman told the Washington Post on April 28, 1999: "The United States of America and the Kosovo Liberation Army stand for the same
human values and principles...Fighting for the KLA is fighting for human rights and American values." Sen. McCain demand the use of US ground troops against Yugoslav forces during NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia.
The buffer zone between Serbia and Kosovo is a safe haven and training ground for Albanian terrorists. While controlled by US troops, the terrorists were free to enter and leave in uniforms and with weapons. The Europeans, tired of Albanian intransigence, placed their own troops in the region to slow
down terrorist movements.
It will take some time for new U.S. president George W. Bush and his foreign policy team to reverse the policies of the Clinton administration. At present, the desires of Europe and that of the US are in opposite camps. The Europeans want a stable region without conflict, while the US has tacitly approved of Albanian terrorism, going so far as to provide training and arms for them.
Building Greater Albania
The Greater Albania project seems to have hit some obstacles, but the dream remains alive. Recent condemnation for terrorist attacks from the Council of Europe has taken a shine off the self-styled Albanian "freedom-fighters." Even the US could not stay silent when Albanian snipers took pot shots at US ambassador to Yugoslavia, William Montgomery, during his tour of the Presevo Valley.
Undeterred and unrepentant, Albanians continue to arm and train. Recently, an offshoot of the KLA announced its presence in Macedonia where the terrorists have shot at police, army personnel and border guards. Whenever things get too hot for them in Macedonia, or any other area for that matter, the terrorists slink back to Kosovo where NATO troops turn a blind eye to their activities.
Recently, the KLA is looking into new sources of 'financing' in parts of Europe that were previously outside their scope of operations (http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/may00/hed98.shtml)
(even with the baby black market http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/july00/hed361.shtml)
and as a result, it is turning out to be a nightmare for Western Europeans. The European Union has called the movement "economic refugees" to its member states a number one concern. The illegals are smuggled by criminal gangs, many idenitified as being Albanian in origin. The activities of Albanian criminals are creating enormous policing challenges for European law enforcement agencies. Whatever sympathy the Albanians enjoyed previously is quickly eroding as a result of their criminal enterprises.
Recent developments suggest that Albanian strategists and their consultants entered into an extremely dangerous game without a predictable outcome. Their first gambit, getting NATO to intervene on their behalf worked. The second, continuing armed provocations in order to force the West into calling elections
in Kosovo and giving them independence all but in name, is failing. It is totally unrealistic to believe that Kosovo Albanians will be content with any form of autonomy, even the self-governing type provided by the communists in 1974. Kosovo Albanians organized a number of violent demonstrations during
the 80s (http://www.balkanpeace.org/cib/kam/kams/index.shtml) only because the law for autonomy didn't include the right to secession or independence. There is no indication that they will stop at anything until they achieve their independence goal and the Greater Albania project. Look for continued and increased terrorist attacks by Albanians in Serbia, Macedonia and eventually Montenegro.
Belgrade's Choices
Essentially, Belgrade is faced with three choices: 1) Do nothing; 2) negotiate and 3) use force. Option one is not an option as the situation on the ground is untenable. The terrorists have set up checkpoints and preventing the free flow of people and goods.
The new authorities have opted for a negotiated settlement with the Albanians, who have rejected the proposed peace plan. That action prompted the following comment: "We have to give it a shot," said one Western diplomat of the Serbian government's latest plan. "But I don't know if it will really work. In the end, there is going to have to be some use of force on the Serbian side." The use of force will have to be swift, decisive and with a minimum of civilian casualties.
Belgrade will not have a free hand to deal with the situation on the ground but, if the diplomatic momentum continues, Yugoslav forces could end up working in tandem with NATO troops. Whatever the means, use of force us unavoidable.Serbia and the Economy
When William Clinton defeated Bush the Elder in the 1991 presidential election, he did it with the catchphrase "It's the economy, stupid." Newly sworn-in Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic, along with his economic advisors, have been saying that since former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic announced elections last year. They had to add corruption, lawlessness, nepotism and state and personal cleptocracy to the list, but this is the Balkans, after all.
The authorities are attempting to revive the Yugoslav economy, but this will truly be a Herculean effort. The first task is to rewrite existing laws allowing for foreign ownership and joint ventures, as well as liberalizing ownership laws in Yugoslavia itself. The tax code must be re-written, both personal and corporate. An intensive effort must be mounted to wipe out the black market economy that was the economy during eight years of economic sanctions. This would also allow the government to have a tax-base with which to rebuild the infrastructure, mainly roads and the electronic grid.
Once the legal framework is set, attracting foreign investment that will rebuild plants and factories and provide local employment is the next challenge. Yugoslavia's natural trading partners are Germany, Italy, Greece, Ukraine and Russia. The capital investment will come from Western European countries,
specifically Germany, France and Italy.
The task may not be as hopeless as it sounds. Serbia (and Yugoslavia) represent a strategic position for Europe:
- Germany has billions of dollars invested in the Danube and wants to secure control and unobstructed passage of ships from the Black to Baltic Sea.
- The Iran-Western Europe natural gas pipeline would enable Europe to have diversified deliveries of Russian natural gas. This highly rumored pipeline was only in the planning stages as the US opposed it fearing it would strengthen Iran. Under all realistic plans, the natural gas pipeline will have to go through Serbia on its way to Western Europe which means direct competition
between companies such as British Gas, French and German companies. The advantage here could be the influence France and Germany have with top-level Yugoslav authorities.
The Yugoslav economy was practically non-existent during the past eight years, except for the black market. It has nowhere to go but up. The currency has stabilized and has held solid for the last three months. Slowly, western companies are opening branches to take advantage of Yugoslavia's highly educated
labour pool and advantageous geographic position. The only worrying aspect is the slow pace at which economic progress is being made.
The Bush Team
The United States has sent out some conflicting signals when it comes to the Balkans. During the elections, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said the Bush Administration would pull US troops out of the Balkans very quickly. Once in office, Secretary of State Colin Powel said the US was in for the long haul. On the political front, Secretary Powell refused a meeting with Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, sending a clear message that the new administration will not support a further destabilization of Yugoslavia (http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/feb01/hed2552.shtml).
However, Secretary Powell also met with Hashim Thaci and Ramus Haradinaj, heads of the terrorist KLA. Conflicting reports were issued as to the topic of discussion, with the Albanians saying the US was for Kosovo's independence, while Powell's spokesperson said the topic was never broached.
The Bush team is fully aware of the problems they face in the Balkans: wide-spread corruption in Bosnia (http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/nov00/hed1143.shtml)
which puts in question all investments made by the West up to this point; Albanian extremism is spilling over into FYR Macedonia (http://www.balkanpeace.org/cib/mac/mac15.shtml)
which poses a questions of how far reaching is American tolerance for Hashim Thaci, Ramus Haradinaj (http://balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/sept00/hed560.shtml)
and the rest of the KLA leaders who are constantly walking that fine line between criminal actions and 'political' aspirations (http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/aug00/hed516.shtml).
It is more and more obvious that Kosovo is becoming the base for drug smuggling (into Western Europe) mafias (http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/sept00/hed569.shtml).
It is expect that Europeans will put pressure on their American allies regarding Albanian 'politicians' and their aspirations to build a European Medellin in Kosovo. (http://www.balkanpeace.org/our/our03.shtml).
The U.S. is in conflict with Europe (and the rest of the world) over the controversial Missile Defence Shield, policies towards Iraq and Israel, trade issues and finally the Balkans. It will take time for the Bush team to divest itself of Clinton's and former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's illogical policies in the region, and that divestiture cannot come too soon for the Europeans, and especially the residents of the region.
Montenegro - A Family Affair
The very first post-graduation job Milo Djukanovic secured was as prime minister of Montenegro. Appointed to the post by his good friend, then Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Djukanovic did not miss a trick from his mentor. Having bit the hand that fed him (like Milosevic did with Stambolic), Djukanovic
had no choice but to turn "democrat" and sing from the same sheet as Madeleine Albright, the International Crisis Group, Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman.
As president of Montenegro, Djukanovic turned it into a family business, with himself as capo di tutti capo. It is telling that Djukanovic's finance minister and close friend was forced to resign after being indicted by Italy for cigarette smuggling. Rumors persist that Djukanovic is the target of a wide-ranging criminal indictment by Italy. "Handsome" Milo's legal troubles
do not end at the potential Italian indictment, they only begin. There is another rumor that Djukanovic was secretly indicted by the Hague tribunal for his role in the bombing of Dubrovnik. Informed sources say that unless Djukanovic plays ball, the indictment will be made public. Milo was only too willing to oblige, as a recent Del Ponte visit to Podgorica proved.Djukanovic's potential legal troubles are the main motivation for his desire to secede Montenegro from Yugoslavia. He thinks that as president of an independent state, he will enjoy some sort of immunity as a political factor of stability in the region. Obviously Mr. Djukanovic has not been reading the papers or he would have known about the fate of former Chilean strongman Augusto Pinochet and his own mentor, Slobodan Milosevic.
Djukanovic will press on for Montenegro's independence, as it is his lifeline, at least in his own mind. The reality is that if he had the support for an independent state, he would have gone to the people instead of trying to pull a Milosevic and do it through the Montenegrin parliament.
Montenegro is economically unviable and only exists because Djukanovic is still propped-up by the US, a carryover from the Clinton/Albright years. Where once a White house regular, Djukanovic could not get as much as a cup of coffee from Powell, let alone a meeting. Should the US sever the financial
umbilical cord, it would at the same time sever Djukanovic's political career.
Bosnia's nightmare
Five years since the Dayton agreement was signed and the only thing different in Bosnia is the military uniforms. Since Bosnia is being virtually occupied by NATO troops and governed by the triumvirate of US ambassador Thomas Miller, OSCE representative Wolfgang Petrich and UN representative and former US general Jacques Klein, little was achieved without their dictate. It is worth noting that their attempt to buy stability has largely failed. The Federation entity (Muslim-Croat) received several billions of dollars in foreign aid, most of which disappeared without a trace.
Money aimed at helping Bosnia pay off its foreign debt has been used instead for loans to well-connected officials to help their personal businesses. Western officials suspect that reconstruction money "may be lining the pockets of the officials close to Izetbegovic's ruling party, who head almost all of Bosnia's state-owned public utilities companies," according to the Boston Globe. http://www.balkanpeace.org/cib/bos/bosi/bosi03.shtml
At the same time media reports about scandals showing that unconfirmed war stories about Muslim forces killing their own citizens (mostly Sarajevo) were true. http://www.balkanpeace.org/cib/bos/wctb14.shtml. Five years after the Dayton love-in (all the signers are out of office now - Clinton, Izetbegovic, Milosevic, Tudjman), Bosnia does not have an economy or political stability. While its second part, the Bosnian Serb entity known as Republika Srpska has formed an expert government that at least has the potential for success,
the Federation entity is still struggling to decide who will receive a mandate to form the new government. At the same time, the HDZ (which enjoys majority support from Bosnian Croats) has threatened to abandon all the Federation's institutions and start a constitutional crisis. The Croat representative in the Bosnia's "Presidency of three equals," Ante Jelavic, has recently wrote a latter to the UN demanding a new conference about Bosnia and a re-writing of the Dayton accords. Simply put, the HDZ wants its own Croatian entity in Bosnia and no further co-existence with the Bosnian Muslims. Considering the fact that the ruling triumvirate has violated the Dayton accords on numerous
occasions, including making the city of Brcko a third entity, nothing should come as a surprise, including the complete disintegration of a country that was forced to be a country.
The Croatian Wildcard
A rally in Split on Sunday, February 11, 2001, saw 100,000 people gather to protest efforts to arrest retired Maj. Gen. Mirko Norac, 33, a popular hero of the country's 1991 war for independence from the former Yugoslav federation. According to reports, "dozens of people gave the Nazi salute during the playing of the national anthem, recalling the merger of nationalism and fascism in Croatia during World War II."
Norac is being charged for war crimes by the Croatian government and is not on any Hague wanted list. According to the Washington Post (Feb. 16/01), "Prosecutors' interest in Norac stems from events in 1991, when he was 23. Norac allegedly took part in the brutal killings of Serbs, including women, children and the elderly. According to Nacional, citing confidential court testimony, six Croats who participated in the killing said Norac's paramilitary forces took 15 civilians between ages 15 and 60 to a forest outside Gospic and executed them.
Norac is also accused of overseeing the execution of prisoners and the rape and execution of women at a prison camp he helped set up in 1991." Croat extremists are outraged that a "hero" of the "Patriotic War" may face war crimes charges, and in a Croatian court. Their movement is gaining momentum with a disenchanted Croat public. (more about the Norac case at: http://www.balkanpeace.org/gcgns/index.shtml)
The inability of President Stipe Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan to resuscitate the economy, unemployment climbed to 26% under their rule, has given the hardliners and extremists a new impetus. Both Mesic and Racan are fighting for their political lives as war veteran groups are calling them traitors and demanding their resignations. It is unlikely that Croatia will
see foreign investment in the country as long the political situation remains uncertain.
Conclusions
Of course, the prerequisite for profitable investment is a stable political situation in the region. From that perspective it is very clear why Europe is not supportive of Djukanovic's idea for independence, why Europe wants the Kosovo problem solved, and why they want Bosnia and Hercegovina to become a link between Yugoslavia and Croatia, connecting Republic of Srpska and Yugoslavia in the form of a "special relationships".
The coming spring will certainly bring a lot of events. First of all, there will be a division in the Momir Bulativic's SPP (Socialist People's Party) where most will accept Predrag Bulatovic's pragmatic diplomacy. We can expect something similar to what happened in the Milo Djukanovic's ruling party DPS (Democratics Party of Socialists) which may fall apart due to a lack of vision in regards to Montenegro's future and decreased public support.
As such, Mr. Djukanovic is forced to form political coalitions that are not supported by many of his party members. The elections in Montenegro will show a huge division between the people, and this alone brings up a question if it is in Serbian best interest to carry this political weight around its neck. In case Serbia gets a guarantee that Kosovo will remain a part of Serbia (theoretically guaranteed by UN Resolution 1244), Kostunica-Djindjic could
give up on keeping the federation together at "any cost" and call for a referendum with the question if Serbs want to live together with Montenegrins.
But, then again, should there be a division of Kosovo along Serbian and an Albanian parts, we would expect Republika Srpska to ask for integration with Serbia which would inevitably lead to new disturbances in Balkans. Legally inexistent "Herceg Bosna" (Croatian federation inside Bosnia and Hercegovina) would also see this as an opportunity (http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/nov00/hed1193.shtml)
to do the same with Croatia. In this scenario, the chances for economical prospects in the region are bleak, so we can expect American and European corporate lobbies to make sure this scenario doesn't get implemented.
There are many scenarios for the Balkans. They range from the bleak (civil wars in Montenegro, Macedonia and South Serbia), to pragmatic (region semi-stable, continual Albanian attacks in Serbia and Macedonia), to the wildly optimistic who dream of a Balkania project, a Balkan version of the European Union. At best, forecasting is a fool's game, so we will spare the reader other than to say, the Balkans are the Balkans - anything can happen.
DU - UPDATES
INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE DIGEST
BRIEFS - US tri-service 30mm ammunition agreement
INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE REVIEW
DATE:DECEMBER 01, 1999
EDITION:1999
VOLUME/ISSUE:032/012
The US Air Force (USAF), Marine Corps, and Navy have signed a joint total ownership cost initiative, aimed at harmonizing requirements for training practise (TP), amor-piercing (AP), and high-explosive (HE) ammunition in 30mm x 173 caliber. Harmonization should lead to reductions in training ammunition acquisition costs, and possibly to the introduction of a tungsten-penetrator round as an alternative for the depleted uranium GAU-8 round fired by USAF A-10 close- support aircraft.
The USAF is said to be looking for a 'green' AP round with an improved stand-off capability which would enable the A-10 to engage ground targets with its cannon from a safe altitude.
=================================================
Ford Pinto case (Unsafe at any speed case ) could be used as legal precedent if proven that Pentagon used DU instead of Tungsten in order to save money.
In that case Pentagon and Ordnance manufacturers should be sued in class'action suit by the following groups:
US citizens living near target ranges
Canadian citizens living near target ranges ( Nanoose Bay, Halifax)
US veterans from Gulf war, Bosnia and Kosovo Other Gulf war veterans Civilians from Iraq and Yugoslavia
There are many other groups that were / are / will be affected
A CALL TO ACTIONIDUST is a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) of international researchers, activists and scientists with a global strategy to stop the use of Depleted Uranium U-238 (DU) in military weapons by the year 2010.
The establishment of IDUST represents a timely and urgently important targeted expansion of alliance-building, education, research and outreach efforts. IDUST builds on the foundation of knowledge skills gathered, and work accomplished over the past 15 years by it's team members.
DU is a highly toxic heavy metal with a radioactive half-life of four and one-half billion years. DU has accumulated in enormous quantities since the dawn of the nuclear age. Despite the name "Depleted" Uranium, DU has more than 1/2 the radioactivity of Natural Uranium, which is pure uranium.
Our focus is to increase public awareness of both the problems associated with DU in weapons and the need to enforce existing international humanitarian and human rights law that prohibit the use of DU in military weapons. We have a plan to aid in the elimination of this highly toxic and radioactive material that is used in military weapons
across the globe.
Our immediate work is recruiting IDUST volunteers and Advisory Board members to form IDUST Teams particularly in countries where DU is suspected to be part of the military arsenal or has been contaminated by
DU, some of these countries include: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Bosnia, Canada, Czech Republic, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Iraq, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Panama, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Yugoslavia.
To succeed will require a mass movement across the globe. We need IDUST volunteers and Advisory Board members that can help in the following
areas: Local Organizing, Internet Management, International Law, Media Relations, Fundraising, Resources, Research, United Nations, Exchange
Programs, Indigenous Lands Studies, Proliferation Studies, Medical Experts, Scientists to Test and Analyze Water, Air and Soil Samples.
Please call us, Damacio Lopez, Executive Director at (505) 867-0141<E-mail IDUST@swcp.com> or Maria Santelli at (505) 247-9694.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
DU has become internationally recognized as a health hazard. It is a suspected environmental contaminant in more than 50 sites across the
U.S. and on battlefields and test sites throughout the world. Affected communities experience health problems similar to those of U.S. Gulf War veterans and Iraqi soldiers and civilians.
Since the 1960s weapons containing DU have been tested and developed near communities across the U.S. One such community is Socorro, New Mexico where DU open air testing began in 1972 and ended in 1993 after pressure from a local citizens group called "Save our Mountain."
DU is very appealing in military weapons because of its heavy weight and pyrophoric qualities which cause it to burn like a cutting torch through
steel when a DU penetrator strikes a hard target. This material which would otherwise be nuclear waste and cost the Department of Energy
billions of dollars to dispose of is now provided free of charge for military use and to private industry. It is the pyrophoric quality that makes this weapon so horrific, the burning of DU creates respirable size
radioactive dust that can have short and long term health effects on the human body, such as kidney problems, followed by cancers and birth defects.
The U.S. military uses DU in various weapons such as armor-piercing bullets, shielding on tanks, counter weights and ground penatrators on
missiles, fragments that penetrate armor and anti-personnel mines. NATO forces have used such weaponry in combat since the Persian Gulf War, and
most recently in Yugoslavia. Yet use of weapons containing DU are considered illegal under international laws governing weapons of war.
Weapons must meet these four criteria under existing internationalhumanitarian and human rights law in armed conflict:
1) weapons must be able to be limited in effect to the field of battle (the territorial limitation);
2) weapons must be limited in effect to the time period of the armed conflict (the temporal limitation);
3) weapons must not be unduly inhumane (the humanity limitation);
4) weapons must not unduly damage the environment (the environmental limitation).
DU in military weapons are inherently illegal under this criteria.
The Pentagon has been selling excess and obsolete stocks of brass covered shells that include 50-caliber armor-piercing rounds for $1 a
ton to Talon Manufacturing Company. Last year Talon sold more that 100,000 armor-piercing 50 caliber rounds on the civilian market. The buyers ranged from the militaries of Brazil and Colombia to civilian weapons dealers in the U.S. Gun dealers boast that the projectile will go through six inches of steel up to a 45-degree angle at 1,000 yards.
The 50-caliber guns are considered accurate at 2,000 yards and can hit targets 4 miles away with some effectiveness. Talon even sold 35,000 rounds of the refurbished 50-caliber armor-piercing projectiles back to the U.S. military. The U.S. military arsenal includes a 50-caliber DU armor-piercing projectile. IDUST is investigating this report to find out if these armor-piercing rounds contain DU.
Human populations exposed to DU contamination:
1) People who reside near facilities that process or are involved in the research, development and testing of DU.
2) Combatants and civilians in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (1990/1991 Gulf War). Bombings continue today with missiles that contain DU.
3) Combatants and civilians in Bosnia (1994/1995 war).
4) Combatants and civilians in Yugoslavia and the surrounding Balkan region (1999 war).
Some U.S. military doctors claim that human health effects from DU are not well known, however on October 30, 1943 the U.S. War Department
proposed the "Use of Radioactive Materials as a Military Weapon." Two objectives were recommended at that time, 1) as a terrain contaminating material, the radioactive product would be spread on the ground and would affect personnel, 2) as a gas warfare instrument, the material would be ground into particles of microscopic size to form dust and smoke and distributed by a ground-fired projectile, land vehicle, or aerial bombs. In this form it would be inhaled by personnel. This proposal gave way to decades of secret human radiation experiments.
After the Gulf War, Iraq did extensive health studies of civilians and soldiers who may have been exposed to DU and found that cancers and birth defects were ten times higher than the levels experienced before the Gulf War. Over 250,000 returning Americans Gulf War troops have reported to veterans hospitals asking for medical help for what has become known as the Gulf War Syndrome.
IDUST PLAN
Through coalition and alliances with other organizations, IDUST works to inform, and coordinate community advocacy efforts around the globe to halt the proliferation and use of weapons containing DU. We demand health studies and medical care for soldiers and civilians exposed to DU
and the cleanup and remediation of contaminated sites and the total elimination of DU in military weapons by the year 2010.
IDUST is building a global network of new faces, new information, relationships with credentialed United Nations (UN) NGOs and groups to advocate for local, national and international laws, policies and resolutions that will lead to the total elimination of DU in military weapons. The past, current and future work of IDUST consists of alliance
building through community organizing strategies, networking activities, research, education, media outreach and personal contacts.
We are recruiting additional IDUST volunteers and Advisory Board members to help form IDUST Teams in communities worldwide to demand the enforcement of international human rights and humanitarian laws governing weapons of war.
IDUST researches the connection between money in politics and the DU weapons industry to better understand the political and economic motives
of decision makers. A principle objective of our work is to aid international bodies that have jurisdiction over weapons of war. IDUST compliments the efforts of other groups that also seek the elimination
of weapons containing DU.
Our work plan for 2000/2001 includes these four goals:
1) Create local, national and international forums for community exchanges and education. Formation of IDUST Teams.
2) Research: "Depleted Uranium Industry and Money in Politics," "Depleted Uranium on Indigenous Lands," "Global Proliferation of Depleted Uranium."
3) Promote health and environmental studies in domestic and international communities affected by DU contamination. Help American and British Gulf War veterans get their medical care.
4) Impact international laws and policies to halt the use of DU in military weapons.
Tax deductible contributions are appreciated. Send to IDUST, P.O. Box 1688, Bernalillo, New Mexico 87004. USA IDUST is a project of New Mexico Research, Education, and Enrichment Foundation (NMREEF)***********************
Who's Going to Clean Up Serbia?
By Joan McQueeney Mitric
Sunday, July 9, 2000; Page B01
Look at a map of Europe, and the long blue line of the Danube stands out. Starting as a thin stream in Germany's Black Forest, and already mighty as it passes Strauss's Vienna, this colossal river cuts a 1,770-mile southeasterly course through 10 countries before emptying into the Black Sea. The Danube, for centuries a major trade route, links central Europe's grandest capitals--as well as some of its most diverse ecosystems--and supplies drinking water to millions.
Halfway along this vital watercourse, where the river is at its widest, sits a political, geographical and metaphorical obstruction known as Serbia, a state many Western policymakers are pretending no longer exists. Most plans to rebuild and stabilize the Balkans circumvent Serbia entirely. Perhaps because Serbia's villainous president, Slobodan Milosevic, is an international pariah and indicted
war criminal, the West is turning its back on the
environmental disaster that NATO's 78-day bombing war left behind.
A year later, the Serbian portion of the Danube, between Bulgaria and Hungary, remains impassable. Debris from a half-dozen shattered bridges continues to clog the waterway, crippling commerce in countries both up and downstream. More troubling--and potentially longer-lasting--are the toxic residues from NATO's high-altitude assault on Serbia's industrial infrastructure. Hidden in the Danube riverbed and lingering in its wetlands, these pollutants have the potential to affect the health and well-being of 85 million Europeans and their
descendants in the Danube Basin for decades to come. By its nature war is destructive, but when the war is over the destruction should end.
Many Americans remember the war with Serbia--the
dominant state in what is left of Yugoslavia--as a
casualty-free conflict (from the U.S. point of view), an immaculate intervention that has long since left their radar screens. To me, though, it was much more personal. Yugoslavia became my adopted country three decades ago, when I met and married a Serb who had come to the United States to get his doctorate. On almost annual visits there, I
have enjoyed the loving hospitality of Yugoslav friends and family; together we mourned as the country fell apart.
During last year's war and in its aftermath, our sorrow has turned to anger. Under the U.S.-led NATO onslaught, my Serbian friends saw hospitals and schools damaged, workplaces obliterated, electricity cut off, their economy in tatters. Little wonder they had difficulty believing the leaflets NATO dropped that told them the war was aimed
only at Milosevic, to force a halt to the atrocities his thugs were committing against Albanians in Kosovo.
When NATO's bombs slammed into food-processing plants and automobile factories, oil refineries and electrical transformers, they released large quantities of long-lasting chemicals that Americans would not tolerate in the smallest amounts in their own backyards. These toxins, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), liquid mercury and
vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), made their way not only into the Danube but into the soil and air of this largely agricultural country of 10 million in the heart of Europe.
PCBs, and their toxic chemical relatives, dioxins, have been linked to cancer and other ills and have been banned since 1977 in the United States. Ingested by animals, PCBs bind to fatty tissue and can be passed from fish and game to humans; infants can absorb them with their mothers' milk.
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found dioxin-laden soil on the streets of tiny Times Beach, Mo., in 1983, it spent $200 million to clean up the site--and even so, no residents have been allowed to move back.
Closer to home, Washingtonians may recall a basement fire last autumn involving a few ounces of PCB-contaminated oil. It closed the Commerce Department at 14th Street NW for four days and terrified parents of the children enrolled in the building's first-floor day care center. One of those
parents, an EPA scientist, told me: "Even one nanogram [a billionth of a gram] per cubic meter is not an appropriate exposure level for children."
In that context, consider what happened in April 1999 when NATO bombs struck the sprawling Zastava car and munitions depot in the Serbian city of Kragujevac--in a region that is home to 320,000 people. More than two tons of oils containing potentially carcinogenic PCBs in the auto plant's paint shop combusted or spilled out to the Lepenica
and Velika Morava rivers, tributaries of the Danube that feed reservoirs used for drinking water and irrigation. According to independent scientists from FOCUS, a multinational environmental agency based in Switzerland, and from the Regional Environmental Center in Szentandre, Hungary, the amount of PCBs and dioxins unleashed at Kragujevac was 1,000 times higher than the level that would trigger an environmental emergency-and quick intervention-in Germany.
Unfortunately for the people of Kragujevac--and for
anybody downstream--defeated Serbia has neither the technology nor the money to do a proper cleanup.
Also in April 1999, NATO warplanes pounded riverside oil refineries at Novi Sad and the plastics and fertilizer plants in Pancevo, on a tributary of the Danube northeast of Belgrade. The ensuing fires released petroleum byproducts and cancer-causing VCM. Pancevo residents soon suffered what the New York Times described as "a surge of unexplained symptoms," including headaches, rashes and
miscarriages. Several Western journalists visiting the area six weeks later became ill and were treated for nausea and respiratory problems.
Downstream from the attacks, residents of Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria watched with alarm as oil slicks and fish kills, some reported to be 50 yards long floated by. They complained to European authorities that they feared toxic particulates from the massive fires would leach into the soil, poison their shared aquifers or end up in Danube River-fed reservoirs.
One of the bombed Pancevo plants used liquid mercury, a highly poisonous metal associated with neurological disorders, to produce chlorine. When scientists from the U.N. Balkan Task Force and FOCUS took riverbed core samples near Pancevo late last summer, they estimated that 50 to 100 kilograms (110 to 200 pounds) of liquid mercury
and other byproducts were scattered over a
24,000-square-yard area. They said these agents were "very toxic and highly trans-boundary," and capable of remaining for years in river water and sediment. Both international teams independently found levels of mercury in mussels and aquatic life four times higher than those allowed by food safety standards of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization.
In fairness, every international team doing environmental assessments in Yugoslavia has had difficulty distinguishing preexisting damage to soil and water systems from new toxins linked to the war. Long before the bombing, the Danube's viability was under siege from both industrial polluters to the north and from 50 years of lax
environmental oversight in Yugoslavia and the former Eastern Bloc nations. Scientists taking core sediment samples after the war have found toxins dating from the '60s, '70s and '80s--including contaminants related to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. But the NATO bombing unquestionably made the situation worse. Preexisting pollution is no reason to dismiss the environmental fallout
from the war; it only makes the case for a cleanup more urgent.
To minimize allied casualties, NATO decided on a
bombing campaign whose targets included civilian
infrastructure far from the Kosovo front. The economic and ecological consequences of that choice are long-term and potentially devastating. Pollutants recognize no political boundaries--they will not stay put or poison only Serbia. Rather, they are bleeding out, contaminating soil and water,
fish and fowl, far from Milosevic's Belgrade.
So who should pay for the necessary cleanup? Serbia, whose per capita income has fallen below that of Albania, long the poorest country in Europe, cannot. It is doubtful that Milosevic would do it if he could, since he is happy to exploit the postwar destruction for his own ends--refusing, for example, an offer from Austria to rebuild one of the bombed bridges over the Danube because he wanted more
in reparations from "aggressor nations." Milosevic is a dark force whose murderous policies have left Serbia isolated, defeated and bankrupt, and he is happy to paint anyone in Serbia who opposes his misrule--and this includes most of my Serbian friends--as NATO's pawn.
But the United States is also in something of a state of denial. Two weeks ago at the United Nations, as U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke tried to expel Yugoslavia's representative from a discussion about the future of the Balkans, he referred to Yugoslavia as a "nonexistent state." The United States has repeatedly let it be known that no help will be forthcoming until Milosevic is gone: At a March congressional hearing, Larry Napper,
the State Department's coordinator for Eastern European assistance, repeated the Clinton administration's long-standing position: "As long as Milosevic is in power we will not be doing any reconstruction assistance in Serbia."
The people of Serbia are indeed unlucky in their leader--as are the people of Iraq, which was also the target of a high-altitude bombing campaign in the Gulf War's first days. I believe this kind of war from above is wrongheaded and full of hubris, taking a disproportionate toll on civilians. But if we are going to continue to use it as a foreign policy tool, if we target factories, power plants and the rest of the infrastructure of modern industrial society,
we should be prepared to take responsibility for the
environmental consequences.
When I think about all of this, I keep coming back to my first encounter with Yugoslavia. It was December 1968, and the farmers in my husband's village regaled me with stories from their childhood, when Josip Broz Tito was trying to keep the country from being swallowed by the Soviet bloc. Many remembered American tractors with a picture of two hands clasped in friendship stamped on their sides, and said those big green machines and Ohio "C-192"
corn seeds had helped them survive Stalin's punishing blockade of the '50s.
Crowded around one of the village's only televisions, my new Serbian friends cheered as American astronauts spacewalked across the night sky. To these peasants, the acrobatic astronauts, the "helping hands" tractors and the Ohio corn represented the best of American exports.
Does America today believe that the mantle of sole
remaining superpower means it can wage war for
"humanitarian" reasons--and ignore the human costs? Should the country that led the NATO alliance and dropped 80 percent of the bombs--along with the leaflets that said the enemy was Milosevic, not the Serbian people--just
walk away from the mess it helped create? Can America's allies in Europe afford an environmental and economic wasteland festering on their southern border?
I do not think so. It was in America's interests in the '50s to respond to the needs of Yugoslavia--which, after all, was communist--with a creative and generous show of goodwill. So today it is in our long-term interests to project power in the Balkans with an equally creative and generous concern for the people there and the shared environment in which they live.
Joan McQueeney Mitric is a Washington-based writer specializing in health issues.
UPDATES ON THE CYANIDE SPILL IN THE TISA RIVER
REC INITIATIVES ADDRESS CYANIDE DECIMATION OF TISA RIVER
SZENTENDRE, Hungary, Feb. 16 -- In response to the tragic cyanide spill that has decimated the Tisa and other rivers of the Danube river system, the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) is calling for a decisive, cooperative effort for remediation and a thorough investigation of the immediate and long-term implications of the event.
The Center will support every effort to deal with the urgent tasks in the aftermath of the disaster according to the relevant international environmental documents, especially the Helsinki Transboundary Watercourses Convention, the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21, the Helsinki Industrial Accidents Convention, the Aarhus Convention, the Danube River Protection Convention and any relevant EU directives on industrial accidents.
For the past two weeks, the devastating industrial pollution spill has been passing through the Danube river system. The vast quantity of high-concentration cyanide and heavy metal effluent released from the Aurul gold mine site near Baia Mare, Romania, killed everything that breathes in the smaller tributaries in Romania and on the Hungarian and Yugoslavian stretch of the river Tisa. As the poisonous plume passes through the territory of five Central and Eastern European countries, entering the Black Sea through the Danube, it leaves lasting contamination in the riverbed, the subsurface waters and the biota.
The damage of a transboundary ecological disaster can only be remediated and restored by transboundary co-operation of all those who suffered from the accident, and those who share responsibility for having caused it. The REC calls on the European Commission to join in the effort of raising environmental safety in the region, especially in light of European enlargement issues.BELGRADE
February 14,Serbian Minister for health put a ban on fishing in Danube, claiming that levels of pollution are below tolerable limits, however not giving the exact cyanide concentration.
The water works in Vinca, east suburb of Belgrade on the Danube river, has suspended water extraction from the Danube. The officials say that the levels of pollution are tolerable and the ban is put just "in case". State TV claims that levels are higher than acceptable and the Belgrade officials that is not, both of them abusing environmental catastrophe for gaining political goals. This is "deja vu" from the recent situation caused by NATO bombing where information were hidden or disclosed, depending who manipulates with them and for what (political) purposes.
At the same time, it is reported from Kanjiza, on the very border with Hungary, that there has been more than 1500 kg of dead fish taken from Tisa, so far. Fish is floating downstream but local people do not have proper instruction what to do with it.
Belgrade water supply system is not endangered, they say, since most of the wells are on Sava river. Still, there are several wells on the very mouth of Sava to Danube river. No one gave the information if those wells were switched off or if it might happen that underground water from Danube could mix with Sava. The functioning of those wells was always under question since they pump water directly to a water system and pipes (where it is mixed with water from water treatment installations), without sending this water to be treated and purified before!
There is no information on long term consequences. What will happen with undergroung water when cyanide fell on the river bed? How this pollution will influence the crops and live stock in the area?
The overall chaos is reflected to this situation as well and incapability and incompetence of government and governmental institutions of handling such complex problem, is obvious.
FEB. 11 -- The cyanide spill that is passing through the Tisa River in Hungary is causing unprecedented destruction of life, experts have said.
Below are a few days worth of stories on the Tisa spill from MTI, the Hungarian News Service, followed by our Feb. 3 story from “Green Horizon,” which gives some background information.
At the end of this message are some interview sources who can give further information.
IN ADDITION TO THE INFORMATION IN THE REPORTS BELOW,
we’ve heard from water experts and other news sources that the spill is heading for Szeged, near Hungary’s southern border, and should be there by tonight. The cyanide concentration was still 3.7 milligrams per liter -- 37 times the acceptable level, yesterday. The spill is expected to reach Yugoslavia tonight or tomorrow morning, and is expected to maintain a concentration of 1 milligram per liter -- still 10 times the acceptable level and still strong enough to kill fish. Experts say that the kind of total decimation the life in the Tisa has seen is unprecedented. In a related development, Romania has agreed to pay damages to Hungary, but the amount has not been set, according to MTI. We have also heard that Hungarian and Yugoslav officials are now gathering in Szeged to discuss ways to monitor the spill.
Updates from the Hungarian News Agency’s news in English,
should be out soon. Look for them on the web at:
<http://www.mti.hu/news.
Other sites with information about the cyanide spill are:
<http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/02/08/environment.hung
ary.reut/index.html
<http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_63800
0/638286.stm
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000210/sc/environment_roma
nia_3.html
FEB 9, HUNGARIAN NEWS AGENCY:
SOLNOK UTILITY SUSPENDS WATER EXTRACTION FROM TISA
Budapest, 9 February (MTI) - The water works of the central
Hungarian city of Szolnok (central eastern Hungary) has
suspended water extraction from the Tisa River at its surface
facility as the cyanide level in the river rose. The pollution is the
result of a spill last week, caused by an industrial accident in
Romania.
The 80,000 residents of the city have been without water since
early Wednesday, and the pipes will not be re-opened until the
cyanide level drops to below 2.0mg/litre, which is expected to
occur before noon on Wednesday, an official at the water works
reported to MTI.
Environmental officials said that the cyanide concentration at
Szolnok was 2.85mg/litre at 4am.
Huge amounts of dead fish were reported to be drifting past
Szolnok along the Tisa early Wednesday, as the cyanide level
rose.
FEB 9, HUNGARIAN NEWS AGENCY
CYANIDE POLLUTER BLAMES DISASTER ON WEATHER
Budapest, 9 February (MTI) - The chief executive of an Australian-Romanian gold mining venture blamed freak weather for the cyanide spill which caused ecological havoc on the Szamos and Tisa rivers in Hungary.
The CEO of Aurul, the company held responsible for the pollution, told the Hungarian daily Nepszava that the over 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-polluted water had been flowing into the Lapos, a tributary of the River Szamos, for three whole days before authorities could contain the damage two weeks ago.
CEO Philip J. Evers, who has resigned his position, said that the
weather around Baia Mare was exceptionally wet over recent
weeks. The result was that polluted water filled the reservoir to the brim and eventually overflowed, he explained.
Evers admitted that the company's predecessor also had been
responsible for cyanide leaks, and Aurul, set up last year, had
been fined for minor offences. He said that the interruption in
operations because of the spill was costing the company USD
350,000 a week.
When asked about compensation, Evers sidestepped the issue,
saying that negotiations were underway on ministerial level, and
the company was not involved in them.
FEB 7, HUNGARIAN NEWS AGENCY:
FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ON CYANIDE POLLUTION
Budapest, 7 February (MTI) - Hungary's Foreign Ministry, in
cooperation with the other concerned ministries, is doing its utmost to handle the impact of the serious ecological pollution on the Hungarian sections of the Szamos and Tisa rivers, based on valid agreements, and making use of bilateral Hungarian-Romanian diplomacy.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry told MTI on Monday that
various options, such as bilateral agreements and other legal
possibilities available to Hungary, were being examined to enforce its compensation claims over the pollution, which reached Hungary from Romania at the beginning of last year.
"We trust in the readiness of the Romanian side to cooperate,"
said Gabor Horvath.
The cyanide, which leaked from an industrial plant in Baia Mare,
Romania, and flowed into the Szamos, reached the Hungarian
section of the river early last week, causing serious ecological
damage. The pollution is forecast to reach the town of Szolnok by the middle section of the Tisa in Hungary on Tuesday morning.
FEB 6, HUNGARIAN NEWS SERVICE
CYANIDE POLLUTION - SLIGHTLY LESS LETHAL TO TISA
THAN SAMOS
Nyiregyhaza/Budapest, 6 February (MTI) - The cyanide pollution
slowly leaving the upper portion of Hungary's Tisa River in
Szabolcs County caused less havoc to river life than it did on the Szamos, the river along with the pollution entered Hungary from Romania, where it totally wiped out all life, Sandor Szoke, director of the Environmental Protection Authority for the Upper Tisa Region told MTI on Sunday.
Microscopic testing of the Tisa indicated that 30-50pc of life had been destroyed there, he said.
Samples taken from the northern Hungarian sections of the river
suggest a significant decline in the cyanide concentration, though masses of fish have continued to die around the towns of Tokaj and Tisaujvaros, the Northern Hungarian Environmental Protection Authority reports.
The cyanide-polluted water is expected to reach the town of
Kiskore on Monday, and the city of Szolnok at around dawn on
Tuesday.
FEB 5, HUNGARIAN NEWS SERVICE:
CYANIDE POLLUTION ON TISA RIVER KILLING HUGE NUMBER OF FISH
Budapest, 5 February (MTI) - Masses of fish have been dying in
Hungary's second largest river, the Tisa, as a result of the cyanide pollution that flowed into the river from Romania. The Northern Hungarian Water Management Authority has been removing the dead fish from barges around Tokaj, Erika Toth, chief of the water quality protection department of the authority reported to MTI on Saturday evening.
People living along the river claim never to have seen this number of fish dying.
Ferenc Sallai, head of the water quality defence department of the Environmental Protection Authority of Northern Hungary reported that, at 6 am, a one-litre water sample was found to contain 5 mg of cyanide. At 8 am a sample taken from the same place contained 12.4 mg. By afternoon the cyanide concentration had dropped to "only" 3.9 mg/litre. However, even this smaller level is extremely high, since the maximum acceptable level is 0.01 mg.
Sallai reported that people who live along the river, particularly
those who fish for a living, are being tragically affected by the
cyanide. All fish are dying, including those in riverside fish farms.
The general opinion is that there is no legal remedy or chance of
compensation, because there is no valid international
compensation accord between Hungary and Romania concerned
with the killing of fish. A decision will be made on whether or not to turn to the International Court in the Hague.
FEB 3, GREEN HORIZON:
CYANIDE SPILL NEAR HUNGARIAN-ROMANIAN BORDER THREATENS WATER SUPPLY
A Jan. 30 break in a retaining dam at a waste-water facility in
Northern Romania allowed a cyanide spill that has entered
Hungary, killing fish and threatening the water supply of
approximately 60,000 people, according to the Feb. 3 edition of the Hungarian Daily Nepszabadsag on Feb. 3. The nature of the spill made it difficult to clean, so officials could only track the poison, to see how far it travels before dissolving to a safe level, the paper said. Measurements taken in the Hungarian River Szamos at the Romanian border showed a concentration of 32.5 milligrams per litre, 325 times the tolerable limit, the paper reported. The contamination was continuing to flow north, and was threatening to enter the Tisa River, where it could affect the water supply of several surrounding towns, the paper said.
Some sources for further information are:
DR. JANOS ZLINSZKY
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
tel (36 26) 311-199
E-mail: <jzlinszky@rec.org
FERENC LASZLO,
Institute for Water Pollution Control of Vituki
tel (361) 215-6140
E-mail: <laszloferenc@vituki.hu
JOSZEF HAMAR,
Tisa Club (an NGO concerned with the river)
Tel: (36-56) 375-497
DR. PAL MIHALTZ,
Tecnical University of Budapest, Environmental Lab
tel (361) 463-2574