- "If they had killed us once, it would not be so
bad. But what the Americans have brought upon us is not only depriving
us but our future generations of our basic god given human right, the right
to live. They will be killing us for generations to come" (An Afghan
Victim of US-UK bombing)
-
- In Afghanistan, elders used to cite an ancient saying
"we are made for death and death is made for us" to point to
the inescapable reality of facing death sooner or later. However, when
this natural phenomenon changes form from its natural course to one tailored
by humans, it becomes a tool of life deprivation. This tailored and forced
deprivation of life on millions of people took a form of its own when used
for cleansing generations of people of their basic human right, their right
to live. Specifically, for millions in Afghanistan, their natural course
of life and death took a sharp turn when US-UK military used uranium based
weapons. This violation of immense proportion transformed the natural process
of birth, growth and death into the inescapable horrors of perpetual death.
-
- Perpetual death is characterized by continuous murder
of people of a community, state or nation. It takes several forms. It could
be exercised by conventional means of imposing war and destruction on people.
The Russians have institutionalized this horror in Afghanistan by its invasion
of the country in 1979 and sustained perpetual death there by planting
millions of mines scattered all over country. The United States government
also shares this responsibility after it abandoned the Afghans, leaving
them to death and despair and refused to help them by clearing the millions
of mines left behind after the Sovietsí retreat. These mines have
been maiming and killing Afghans daily since the early 1980s.
-
- However, the form that is exercised currently is the
indiscriminate use of the Weapons of Mass Destruction, namely the usage
of uranium based weapons. This mode of the perpetual death lives up to
its name because it continues to foster deaths of thousands silently and
indiscriminately. In fact, the usage of the Weapons of Mass Destruction
alters the texture of the ecosystem wherein the victims reside. This ultimately
condemns the people living there and future generations to death, and deprives
them of their fundamental human right, the right to live.
-
- The perpetrators of this horrible crime are the governments
of the United States and that of the United Kingdom. The US and the UK
are the only two countries used these horrible weapons indiscriminately
in Iraq during the Gulf War and Balkans in the 1990s and in Afghanistan
from October 7th, 2001 onward. Meanwhile, based on past experiences with
victims of the US-UK bombing in Iraq and the Balkans, every informed source
suspected to have similar situation in Afghanistan. Tragically, the US-UK
armed forces have used three times more uranium based weapons in Afghanistan
than they did in Iraq or in the Balkans. In fact, the types of Weapons
of Mass Destruction used in Afghanistan are more potent than those used
in Iraq.
-
- This became evident with the recent report by the Uranium
Medical Research Center (UMRC), establishing the presence of a mysterious
metal in Afghan soil samples and urine samples of victims. The investigation
carried out by the two teams of experts, one concentrated on the city of
Jalal Abad while the other on the capital Kabul. The two teams gathered
data and established the use of uranium-based weapons there. They discovered
symptoms in population of illnesses associated with exposure to depleted
uranium contamination similar to that in Iraq and Balkans. This added to
the curiosity of the investigators and collected soil samples from impact
sites to investigate them here in the US. The investigators were also surprised
to find high concentration of uranium in the urine of subjects from Jala
Abad. In fact, the level of uranium was 400% to 2000%, the highest level
of uranium ever recorded in civilian population. Incidentally, the uranium
discovered in the urine samples from subjects in Jala-Abad exhibited characteristics
more potent than depleted uranium. The report said the following in regards
to the impact of the uranium-based weapons:
-
- "Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a professor of nuclear medicine
and radiology and a former science adviser to the US military, who set-up
the independent UMRC, has been testing US, British, and Canadian troops
and civilians for DU and uranium poisoning over the past few years. His
findings confirm significant amounts in the subjects' urine as much as
nine years after exposure."
- The above quote points to the perpetual death imposed
on population of any country where the USA and the UK had used uranium-based
weapons.
-
- "Durakovic and his team have searched for possible
alternative causes, such as geological or industrial sources, or the likelihood
of Al Qaeda having uranium reserves. But the uranium found is not consistent
with the "dirty bomb" scenario proposed by the US (in which stores
of radioactive materials might explain the findings), nor is it connected
to DU, or an enriched uranium-type dust that has been found in Iraq and
Kosova."
-
- In Iraq, it took up to five years to have any significant
effects of exposure to depleted uranium, however, in Afghanistan only after
one year, the UMRC research group suspects that 25% of newly born show
symptoms of exposure to uranium weapons. The latter factors further strengthen
the hypothesis of the UMRC that the US-UK militaries are using uranium
ore in their weapons in order to increase its destructive capability. The
usage of uranium ore also makes it difficult to trace these weapons to
the US-UK militaries and creates a distortion as if the uranium had come
from the local uranium deposits. The conclusion of the report was:
-
- "However, marked differences between natural uranium
and the uranium used in the metal fragments found in Afghanistan was uncovered
with the use of an electron microscope, which revealed the presence of
small ceramic particles produced by the high temperatures created on impact.
This method of disguising uranium would benefit governments that are under
pressure from the growing anti-DU lobby."
-
- "The only conclusion is that the allied forces are
now possibly using milled uranium ore in their warheads to maximise [sic]
the effectiveness and strength of their weapons, as well as to mask the
uranium, hoping that it may be discounted as part of any local natural
deposits."
-
- The destructive effects of the uranium-based weapons
became evident in the beginning of the bombardments in Afghanistan, when
Reuters reported that people died from minor injuries. Public Health Minister
Mullah Abbas said:
-
- "Our findings prove that this is true. These bombardments
have radioactive rays and chemical materials that also cause cancer."
(Reuters, October 29, 2001)
-
- The news report continued with quotes that further added
credibility to the claims of many that the US and the UK had used uranium-based
weapons in Afghanistan. Dr. Wazir a surgeon at Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital
had said the following amidst the bombardments: "We have some patients
with superficial injuries with symptoms of chemical weapons." (Reuters,
October 29, 2001)
-
- According to Dr. Wazir a 10 years old boy, who had superficial
injuries died from respiratory problems after the bombing, while another
individual, a 50 years old woman also died from minor injuries. The doctor
continues by citing three of his other patients-two girls aged 12 and 15
and a boy aged 15-who had only sustained superficial injuries from the
US bombings, died hours later from breathing difficulties and internal
bleeding. Dr. Wazir continued:
-
- "These are only three examples. There have been
other cases where we suspect chemical weapons have been used. Most of the
victims have had respiratory problems and internal bleeding for which there
is no apparent cause." (Khalifa.com, October 30, 2001)
-
- At the fighting front north of Kabul, where Taliban forces
were pounded night and day, many dead Taliban soldiers had no visible injuries
except blood flowing out of their mouths, internal bleeding consistent
with uranium based and chemical weapons. Furthermore, many dead Taliban
soldiers had severe discoloration of the skin, orange, without being burned,
while others had their rifles melted in their hands. This aroused suspicion
among Taliban and others that weapons used by the US-UK military were not
conventional weapons. Many Taliban soldiers that survived the bombing in
the north have died after returning to their native villages in the south
and southeast of the country. They had no physical injury upon their death,
however, died from internal bleeding and other bizarre symptoms including
uncontrolled vomiting, diarrhea, and blood loss in urine and stool. Their
families were shocked with disbelieves.
-
- Another bizarre, yet tragic scene was reported near Rish-Khor
military base in Kabul. Multiple witnesses reported seeing dead birds on
tree branches with blood coming out of their mouths. As one witness put
it:
-
- "We were amazed to see all these birds sitting quietly
on [tree] branches; but when we shook the tree the birds fell down and
we saw blood coming out of their mouths. Then we climbed the trees to see
those that were still stuck on tree branches, all of them had bled from
their mouths. Two of the birds appeared to be partly melted into the trees
branches."
-
- These various claims by witnesses of the US-UK bombing
amply establishes that Weapon of Mass Destruction have been used. Amidst
the nonstop bombing, Taliban Public Health Minister Mullah Mohammad Abbas
had expressed concerns about the utility of depleted uranium by the US
in Afghanistan. The Minister was anxious about the long-term contamination
of large areas in Afghanistan. He was aware of the US indifference to the
well being of people in other regions and said: "They used uranium
in Kosovo and our concern is that they will do the same thing in Afghanistan."
-
- According to Dai Williams, independent DU researcher,
there has been 50 to 100 times greater health hazard in Afghanistan than
had been in Balkans from the usage of uranium based weaponsódepleted
uranium, dirty uranium and uranium ore. As pointed out above, the efforts
of UMRC to expose the so-called mystery metal used in the bombing in Afghanistan
strengthened by the efforts of other researchers aimed to explore the ongoing
ëAfghan War Syndromeí similar to the ëGulf War Syndromeí,
which has caused horrific congenital deformities in Iraq. According to
the Washington based Center for Defense Information, several hundred tones
of weaponsósmart bombs and cruise missilesóenriched with
the so-called mystery metal aimed for hard targets such as caves, bunkers
and command and control installations were used in Afghanistan. The problem
becomes more severe when one compares, the hard target weapons used in
Afghanistan to the ones used in Balkans. Dai Williams compares the weapons,
namely hard target weapon in Afghanistan to that in Balkans as follows:
-
- "The mystery metal is 50-75% of the weight of the
bombs - up to 1.5 tons in the GBU-37 Bunker Buster bombs. If this is DU
then target zones will be 50-100x more contaminated than by the pencil-sized
30 mm (0.27 kg) anti-tank shells used in the Balkans War, and more like
the DU ammunition fire in the Gulf War. DU oxide is known to travel up
to 25 miles by wind so large areas may be affected by each bomb."
-
- What this translates into is more deaths, morphological
changes in people, congenital deformities and various types of cancers.
In this tragedy, an intertwined horrifically fatal relationship emerges
between the individual and his/her environment. Since Afghans, as other
people worldwide, live in their respective localities, where they have
lived from childhood on, are forced to make painful choices. On the one
hand, they do not want to leave their villages and cities because those
are their homes. On the other, hand, they can not remain there out of concerns
for the safety of their families from uranium poisons as well as further
bombings. Tragically, they have no choice and no place to go. Even if they
could, for the overwhelming majority it is too late because uranium dust
has already determined their fate, diseases and inevitable death.
-
- In their attempts to "smoke-out" the Taliban
and Al Qaida, the US has bombed these ancient tunnels and caves that villagers
throughout Afghanistan have been using for water supply. This not only
worsened the existing situation characterized by drought and lack of water,
but it also permanently destroyed the ecological centers in east, southeast
and southwestern Afghanistan, and created a perpetual source of disease
and death for populations living in those areas. According to Fred Pearceís
article ëdying of Thirstí in the New Scientist, November 17,
2001, the US military bombed the kajaki dam, which waters land in southwestern
Afghanistan that supports over 1 million people. In the same article, Fred
Pearce articulates the following:
-
- "Afghanistan, which is in the third year of an unprecedented
drought, relies on a mixture of ancient and modern water-supply systems.
As well as relying on the Kajaki dam, the south of the country is peppered
with hundreds of water-supply tunnels, often running for tens of kilometres
[sic] into hillsides to tap water reserves deep underground. The tunnels,
known in Pashto as karez, are now a [sic] target for American warplanes.
Military strategists claim that bin Laden and Taliban troops may now be
hiding out in the karez, many of which are wide enough to accommodate companies
of men. They say the karez made impenetrable hideouts for the mujahedin
during their guerrilla war with Soviet occupiers in the 1980s."
-
- Therefore, the traditional systems of water, Karez system
of tunnels, whereupon thousands in Afghan countryside rely, have been permanently
tailored to serve as sources of perpetual death for locals living there.
-
- The following photos are reminders of the US-UK murderous
legacy of perpetual death experienced in Iraq but now in Afghanistan
-
-
-
-
- Iraqi Baby Deformed thanks to the US-UK depleted
uranium
-
-
- Thanks to the Liberators - victim of the US-UK
depleted uranium
-
-
- Another US-UK liberated child
-
-
- What would you do, if your entire family except
a young sister
had perished in the US liberation attempted in Afghanistan?
-
-
-
- These beleaguered souls are probably dead due to depleted
uranium dust. If they are alive, they will most likely die from dreadful
diseases. This is one example among thousands in the tragedy of perpetual
deaths imposed on the poor and gallant people of Afghanistan I wish to
conclude with the following quote from one of the victims of US-UK bombing
in Afghanistan:
-
- "Tell the Americans, they kill us to sustain your
way of life, when they enjoy living, they better think about the 15 members
of my family. Tell them that they are guilty. Only if they had conscience,
they would know that they are as guilty as their government."
-
- Mohammed Daud Miraki, MA, MA, PhD
- Freelance Academic
- Afghan-American Interviews, December 2002
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