- It was Gulf War I, and I was marching up the old Post
Rd. in Connecticut for Peace. I carried a sign reporting on the number
of our soldiers that had been killed thus far, when a sleek, silver BMW
pulled up alongside me. The profusely sweating, purple faced man, his bejeweled
ringed, sausage fingers, tightly gripping the hand tooled leather steering
wheel, spit in my face screaming, "You no-good, unemployed, Communist
faggot!" Never one to miss a chance for a flippant answer, I replied,
"Hey, I have a job!"
This was a first time experience for me of the rabid, frothing, mindless,
frightening vindictiveness that people are capable of. I had never been
a part of the Vietnam era protests, but knew that if ever given the opportunity
I would stand against the insanity of war. I had watched the parade of
citizens on our downtown city streets screaming that Saddam needed to be
killed. The news reported that he was comparable to Hitler! He was evil
personified and needed to be wiped from the face of the earth.
-
- I knew that up until a few weeks before Kuwait slant
drilled into Iraqi oil fields, that we (government officials) had no problem
doing business with this evil despot, supplying both Iraq and Iran with
weaponry during the Iraq-Iran War, plus all kinds of chemicals, and weapons
and agricultural credits. It was rather confusing how the gassing of citizens
by both the Iranians and Iraqis had been benignly overlooked in the mid-eighties,
but now he was evil! What was he before?
-
- I demonstrated against war, for I knew, that if chemicals
or biological weapons were used, our soldiers didn't stand a chance nor
would any civilians. The magnitude of what might be unleashed in such warfare
was too horrific to imagine! Kuwait hired one of America's most prestigious
public relations firms to market the war. They are the ones who came up
with the stories of babies being thrown from incubators, rapes etc. This
came out months after the war in Senate Hearings.
What wasn't made known at this time was that victory as victory is imagined
was never meant to happen. The war ended as abruptly as it had started,
but not before the rag tag peasants of Saddam were incinerated at war's
end escaping from Kuwait by taxi, busses, wagons, cars, and trucks. No,
hardly Saddam's royal troops. Just impoverished peasants, not even having
uniforms and many shoeless. In Iraq one doesn't have the option or privilege
of refusing to go to war. You go or you and your family will be killed!
Unheralded, was the fact that Depleted Uranium was being used for the first
time. No, our men, were not informed. Depleted Uranium is 99.5 percent
of what is left when the most fissionable isotope is extracted from naturally
occurring uranium. The extracted uranium is used in nuclear weapons or
nuclear fuel or nuclear reactors. The 99,5 percent that is discarded cannot
be put back into the mines, because after crushing and processing, the
volume is greater than before it was removed. It is very radioactive and
dangerous to all living things.
The Department of Defense got the idea to use depleted uranium in weapons
because: it is very dense, has great penetrating power to cut through tanks
like butter; it is "pyrophoric', which means that upon impact, it
explodes into fire and smoke, creating submicroscopic radioactive particles
which travel great distances. The United States has hundreds of thousands
of tons of depleted uranium piled in heaps outdoors at Department of Energy
facilities. War is a cheap way of disposing of it.
-
- The half life of uranium is 4 billion years. It will
continue acting internally on living things long after a war is finished.
In 45 billion years it will no longer be a danger! The Army A-10 Thunderbolt
II, the 'Warthog" fired most of the depleted uranium munitions in
the Gulf War, between 300 to 800 tons. The Abrams Tank, the Marines M60,
the U.S. F-16 and U.S. Apache helicopters have been fitted to fire Depleted
Uranium munitions. Many cruise missiles contain Depleted Uranium balance
weights.
The use of Depleted Uranium is no secret but the health hazards are denied.
Gulf War Syndrome not only killed, maimed and made soldiers sick, they
brought it home. See hearings held by Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT.).
In a study of 251 Gulf War veteran's families in Mississippi, 67 percent
of their children were born without eyes, ears or a brain, had fused fingers,
blood infections, respiratory problems or thyroid and other organ malformations.
The U.S. has manufactured and tested depleted uranium in 39 states. The
cleanup bill---just for the depleted uranium---at the Jefferson Proving
Ground in Indiana would be $7.8 billion!
-
- The United States has used Depleted Uranium weaponry
in the Gulf, Kosovo, Serbia, Vieques Island, Torishima Island near Okinawa,
and Afghanistan. It has sold Depleted Uranium to at least 23 countries.
See Akira Tashiro's new book, "Discounted Casualties, The Human Cost
of Depleted Uranium".
The millions upon millions demonstrating throughout the world; called "Communists,
anti-Americans, crazy, left wingers, full of crap and not having a grasp
on reality", have taken the initiative to study the issues of Depleted
Uranium and the horrific consequences. Many have been on the front lines
and not directing war from the sterility of a Nintendo War-room. They've
seen their buddies blown apart. They know better than some bloated couch
potato calling in to TV screaming, "Blow'em to kingdom come---nuke'em!"
Wars have long echoes.
-
- These "Commie-anti-Americans" didn't miss the
march that the media missed on February 12th in Washington D.C., when
hundreds of military retirees protested the loss of their promised medical
care! The procession formed at Union Station and proceeded all the way
to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, where they held a vigil. This was
done in hopes that the nation's highest court would act favorably on the
veteran's rejected plea to the government to restore their promised lifetime
earned health care. The retired servicemen and their families were 'promised'
this care as one of the benefits for 20 or more years of service to their
country!! They want Americans to know that the bravest and best of its
citizens are being refused treatment in their old age by the same government
they defended during their most productive years. The legal system now
declares that these promises made to these men do not carry the weight
of the law! What promises are being made to today's naive youth? These
men who marched in that parade of Gray Lions on February 12,'03, want America
to know, as she waves hundreds of thousands more off to war, that more
than 1,000 retired service personnel who served during World War II and
Korea are dying each day, while not receiving the medical attention they
were promised! Thomas D. Segel, MGSGT USMC (Retired) of Harlington, Texas
can tell you. He was there. Easy to wave men off to war but who remembers
them maimed, poisoned, alone in VA hospitals, sick, living under bridges,
or in abandoned cars? Everyone loves a parade few will enter in with those
suffering.
And speaking of 'reality' what of the costs? Apparently all those salivating
for war (who aren't going) won't mind bearing the brunt of the costs when
they see their communities devastated. Apparently they have no problem
with leaving a legacy of untold debt to their children and children's children?
We spend 40 billion on children's health care, 34 billion on children's
education, 15 billion on higher education, 7 billion on job training, 29
billion on affordable housing, 8 billion on environmental protection, 355
billion and rising on the Pentagon budget. According to William Nordhaus,
an economics professor at Yale University, in an article Dec 5 New York
Review of Books, he notes that the Bush administration has not produced
any official estimates of the cost of a war. The need for a substantial
occupation and peacekeeping force is substantial. The Congressional Budget
Office estimates that occupation could cost between US $17-45 billion per
year! If the post war environment is hostile it would be much higher.
Then there is humanitarian assistance--taking care of the sick, the wounded
and refugees. Nordhaus estimates that between 1 and 5 million people would
require assistance. Depending on the duration, say of one to four years,
the cost could reach 10 billion. Even if Iraqi oil revenues could be increased
to 3 million barrels a day, it would only yield $25 billion annually. Much
of that would be required for imports of food and medicine. Plus, Iraq
still has war claims against it by other nations totaling over $300 billion,
little of which has been paid off. And unlike Desert Storm, there is little
likelihood of other nations helping to pay the bill.
Nordahus writes, "In virtually every country where the US intervened
militarily over the last four decades, it has followed a "hit and
run" philosophy by which bombing runs have seldom been followed by
construction crews. The latest war in Afghanistan is a striking example.
The US spent $13 billion on the war effort. By contrast, the total Pentagon
effort committed to civil works or humanitarian aid has totaled only $10
million."
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-
- Iraq could destroy much of their oil fields, as they
did in Kuwait in '91, or even contaminate them with chemical or biological
weapons. The cost of oil imports could increase to $200 billion per year
in the US, and the resulting shock and inflation would likely set off a
recession. Nordhaus finds that while the US may be militarily prepared,
it is not economically prepared. Since President Bush took office, the
annual federal budget surplus of $360 billion has been eliminated.
-
-
- City, state and school budgets across the country are
in shock. Retirement, and college savings have been decimated. Hundreds
of thousands lost their pensions with little on the domestic scene to show
that anyone will, or is ever going to be held accountable! For 55 billion
we could provide all of our public schools with state of the art computer
systems. For 6 billion a year, we could provide health insurance for all
those children without it today. For 2 billion a year we could provide
Head Start for the hundreds of thousands of eligible kids who can't get
into the program. For another 2 billion a year we could double fund for
clean and renewable energy. Instead of multi-billions for exotic weaponry
blowing other lands and their people apart, we wouldn't have to witness
our elderly cutting their medications in half, or being unable to afford
fuel or proper nutrition. No veteran should be living in a shelter, under
a bridge or without the very best in medical attentions! Homeland (American)
Security could cost between $93 billion and $138 billion in 2003. No, individuals
wishing duct tape and plastic, must purchase these items from their own
funds! One can imagine even now the private contractors positioning themselves
at the public trough!!
Our Secretary of Defense has a plaque on his desk that says, "Aggressive
fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords." I
don't believe the Gray Lions marching on February 12, 03, saw war as a
'sport'. Ask those paralyzed, missing limbs, sterile, with deformed babes
about the 'sport' of it all. Ask the mothers, fathers, wives and brothers
and sisters of those missing in action about the 'sport' of it all. Napalmed
children, vaporized mud huts, lands and rivers radiated forever is not
'sport'. The people trapped in these impossible situations, unable to escape,
are not anticipating that their supposed 'liberation' with the firing of
hundreds of missiles and possible nuclear bombs is 'sport'. Sun Tzu, who
wrote the Art of War in 490 BC states, "Therefore the skillful leader
subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities
without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy
operations in the field." i.e. (occupation for years).
Medical and public health experts have reported that a U.S.-led attack
on Iraq will result in between 48,000 and 260,000 deaths during the first
three months of combat. Post war health effects could take an additional
200,000 lives. The report, Collateral (that's people) Damage: The Health
and Environmental Costs of War on Iraq, was issued by International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.
-
-
- Dr. Amy Sisley, a Professor of Surgery at the University
of Maryland Medical System stated, "In an era where images of combat
are beamed from aircraft, it is too easy to forget about the direct, physical
consequences of war. Bombs deafen, blind and blow apart people, riddling
them with shrapnel, glass and debris. They collapse buildings on victims,
including hospitals and clinics. Unexploded ordinance left behind kills
and maims and battlefield toxins can contaminate the environment for decades
(with depleted uranium 45 billion years).
Recommendations from the group are: First Do No Harm...the need to ensure
that Iraq is disarmed of its weapons of mass destruction does not warrant
an attack which will result in massive civilian and military casualties.
Prevent Further Suffering....a plan must be in place to ensure the supply
of food, water and basic services such as health care to the people of
Iraq who more than anyone else, have suffered under Saddam Hussein. Prohibit
Pre-emptive Military Action...the U.S. should not launch a pre-emptive,
unilateral war against Iraq, nor should the U.N. Security Council condone
a pre-emptive military action. Support Effective Inspections...provide
sufficient resources and backing to U.N. teams to ensure that the Iraqi
regime is disarmed. Director Michael Christ concluded, "Neither Iraq's
suspected weapons programs nor Saddam Hussein's tyranny provide moral or
military justification for risking the lives of massive numbers of innocent
civilians. We urge all nations to spare the innocent in favor of full and
effective inspections."
Millions upon millions of people from Switzerland, Spain, Great Britain,
Italy, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, the Antarctic, Greenland, Mexico,
South America; to hundreds of cities across the United States, have raised
their voices in cries for Peace. Numerous city councils have passed resolutions
against going to war. The Pope, Archbishop Tutu, Nelson Mandela. priests,
ministers, politicians, Rabbis, Israeli youth, Union leaders, poets, artists,
musicians, doctors, nurses etc., have come together to cry Peace!!!
If to be against vaporizing bombing, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, micro-wave
weapons, mines, missiles, and nuclear bombs is to be identified as a "No
good, unemployed, Communist faggot....a left winger, anti-American, out
of touch with reality, looney-tune" then I guess I'm in pretty good
company.
It is impossible to imagine with the genius, the creativity, the talent,
the intellect, and the gifts that exist in all lands, all people, all classes,
all religions; that we embark upon the 21st Century as barbaric savages!!
We, who have encouraged our young to reach for the stars, and touch distant
planets. We now send our brightest and best, our hope for the future, off
to foreign lands to kill other mother's sons!! What madness is this? What
insane 'sport' sees depleted uranium poisoning the whole of the earth?
And where are all those, who so salivate over war and it's mayhem, for
our returning veterans?
Unstudied, uninformed, ignorance labels and heaps insults on that which
they don't understand. A true American welcomes debate, discourse, and
the freedom to voice one's opinion! The hunger for Peace-Justice-Liberty-and
Freedom for ourselves, our children, and our brothers and sisters in foreign
lands, is not a partisan/class issue. War today, unlike any other time
in history, now has the potential to annihilate multitudes throughout the
earth and destroy a beautiful planet...a one of a kind marvel! No, this
is not the time for infantile--blood lust, but sincere thoughtfulness on
every level, of what we are about to unleash, for once unleashed there's
no turning back. "What passing bells for those who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid
rattle can patter out their hasty orisons--no mockeries for them from prayers
or bells, nor any voice of mourning save the choirs---the shrill demented
choirs of wailing shells; and bugles calling them from sad shires. What
candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in
their eyes shall shine the holy glimmer of good-byes. The pallor of girls'
brows shall be their pall; their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,
and each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds. Kyrie eleison". Text
of the War Requiem
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