Wisconsin Green Party
wisconsingreenparty.org
January 25, 2006
Contacts:
Ruth Weill Co-Chair, Wisconsin Green Party,
spokesperson@wisconsingreenparty.org
414-562-6097
Bob Poeschl Co-Chair, Wisconsin Green Party,
spokesperson@wisconsingreenparty.org
920-312-0529
Today the Wisconsin Green Party announced its support for AB832 - whose
purpose is to inform National Guard members and military veterans of the
dangers and available tests and treatments for depleted uranium (DU) exposure.
"A basic element of supporting the troops is ensuring that we give them
adequate care when they get home," said Bob Poeschl, Wisconsin Green Party
Co-chair. "There are no cures for DU exposure, but tests will help to
document exposure for compensation and treatment."
DU is a highly toxic heavy metal which, when burnt, creates radioactive dust
that can cause kidney problems, cancers, and birth defects. Despite its
known toxicity, the Pentagon uses depleted uranium widely - in projectiles
on ammunition, casings for bombs, shielding on tanks, and in airplane wings
and for ballast in ships. Depleted uranium's half-life is 4.5 billion years.
Depleted uranium is forbidden under several agreements signed by the United
States. The Hague Regulations of War on Land (1899 & 1901) forbid the use
of poison weapons. Depleted uranium fits the U.S. military's own definition
of poison. The Toronto, Ontario epidemiologist Rosalie Bertell -- a well-known expert on DU -- has called the DU dust that results from is
pulverization upon impact with hard targets "metal fumes." As such, the use
of DU is a violation of the 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol to which the U.S. is a
Signatory Party, which prohibits the use of gas "and all analogous liquids,
materials or devices". In addition, Protocol One to the Geneva Conventions
1977 forbid the use of weapons that do "severe, long-term damage to the
environment" and as such can be said to outlaw the use of depleted uranium.
In addition, the use of depleted uranium in military weapons goes against
established principles of humanitarian law. Under these principles, weapons
used in armed conflict must meet four criteria: 1) they must be able to be
limited in effect to the field of battle, 2) they must be limited in effect
to the time period of the armed conflict, 3) they must not be unduly inhumane,
and 4) they must not unduly damage the environment.
Studies of civilians and soldiers with exposure to DU conducted in Iraq
after the Gulf War found that cancers and birth defects were ten times
higher than before the war. Studies done by the UN Environment Program
(Unep) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the U.S. used DU, found proof of
groundwater contamination seven years after the conflict, and recommended
that residents use alternative water sources. In addition, they found air
contamination, and recommended decontamination of the surrounding buildings.
"Testing of our Wisconsin National Guard members who were exposed to DU will
not only help strengthen the case that DU use is illegal under international
law, more importantly, it will help to ensure that our servicemen and women
in future conflicts will not be poisoned by their own government," said Ruth
Weill, Co-Chair of the Wisconsin Green Party.
Wisconsin veterans of the Gulf War (1990/1991), Bosnia (1994/1995), and the
Balkan region (1999), have potentially been contaminated by depleted uranium.
The Wisconsin Green Party is affiliated with the Green Party of the United
States, and stands on the four pillars of Social & Economic Justice,
Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, and Ecological Wisdom. For more information, visit
http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org.
The Green Party of the United States' website is http://www.gp.org.
MORE INFORMATION
International Depleted Uranium Study Team
http://www.idust.net/
Urgent Steps Needed to Protect US Troops, Iraqis from the Effects of
Depleted Uranium
http://gp.org/press/pr_05_02_03.html
Depleted Uranium
http://www.snowshoefilms.com/depleteduranium.html
