JustPeace#25

Hot News

• 
  Questioning Depleted Uranium.
  
  The use of Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons in Iraq and elsewhere is shaping up to be one of the biggest human and environmental tragedies of the 21st century. The Greens have started to ask questions about what New Zealand is doing on the issue in general, and on protection for NZ personnel exposed to DU in particular. Questions and Answers below.

  Question [to the Minister of Defence]: Is the Government taking any steps to seek a ban on the possession and use of weapons using depleted uranium; if so, what are those steps?

  Answer: The government is not currently taking any steps to seek a
  
  ban on the possession or use of weapons using depleted uranium.

  Question [to the Minister of Defence]: What steps has the Government taken to protect New Zealand service personnel and New Zealand aid workers against the possible toxic effects of depleted uranium, following extensive use of depleted uranium weapons in the recent Iraq war?

  Answer: All personnel deployed into areas where depleted uranium may have been used receive information on the possible risks that this substance may pose. This particularly relates to the possible risks associated with vehicles hit by these weapons. The Defence Force will also provide medical checks and support to any personnel who are concerned that they may have been exposed to depleted uranium.

Hot Action

• 
  Send Us Your Sticker Slogans!
  
  Ideas for slogans for a new Green Party peace sticker (or stickers) are urgently needed. The new sticker will have the JustPeace URL like the current No War! sticker, but new words to go above it are needed. So please put your creativity caps on, and fire your catchy ideas to
  
  
  christine [dot] dann
  
  [at]
  
  clear [dot] net [dot] nz
  
  
  (Christine Dann)
  
  
  .
• 
  Independence (From America?) Day, July 4
  
  – action ideas for this day (Friday next) can be found on the
  
  Peace Movement Aotearoa site
  
  . One Green suggestion is that New Zealanders write letters of support to Americans who have lost their personal independence for protesting against the American war machine, such as the Catholic sisters currently imprisoned for their destruction of military hardware. If you have names, addresses (and stories) of such people, please send them to
  
  
  christine [dot] dann
  
  [at]
  
  clear [dot] net [dot] nz
  
  
  (Christine Dann)
  
  
  for inclusion in the next issue of JustPeace.
• 
  Analysis Of Action.
  
  What can be done to terminate the Bush juggernaut? In a discussion paper prepared for Foreign Policy in Focus, American historian Jeremy Brecher gives a thoughtful review of actions to date and possible future actions. Well worth a read. The full paper can be found at
  
  the Foreign Policy in Focus website
  
  .

Hot Analysis

• 
  DU Expert Touring Australia Warns of Risks to Troops.
  
  Dr Douglas Rokke is a US Gulf War veteran and a doctor who has been studying the effects of DU on soldiers who served in that war. He is currently touring Australia speaking on the dangers of DU. Excerpts from an article in
  
  The Melbourne Age on 17 June
  
  are given below

  ‘ Australian troops who served on the battlefield in Iraq were at serious risk of radiation sickness, a US military expert on depleted uranium warned.

  Dr Doug Rokke, who first joined the US military as a medical officer in 1967 and rose to the rank of major, spent seven months in Iraq in 1990-91 in the lead-up to and after the first Gulf War.

  During that conflict, Dr Rokke was tasked with measuring the effects of depleted uranium (DU) on American forces and their equipment, and how best to “clean-up the mess”…

  … Now, more than 12 years later, the health physicist who rose to become the foremost US military expert on DU, is still suffering the effects of radiation exposure. He has skin rashes across his body, suffers from respiratory, eye and renal ailments and is excreting uranium in his urine at 4,000 times the permissible level.

  He believes at least 30 of his 100-strong team have died of ailments directly related to their exposure, either through breathing in or absorbing the minuscule dust particles through their skin, or through shrapnel.

  “Everybody is sick. We’ve all got rashes, respiratory and kidney problems. It’s there, there are no two ways about it,” Dr Rokke told AAP.

  “It’s been there since we cleaned up and it’s never gone away.

  “Not only is it a serious health concern, it is a serious health risk.

  “Your guys (soldiers) are coming back with it now.”

  Dr Rokke, who produced documents in support of his claim that the US government had covered-up the hazardous effects of DU, said his life had been ruined since he first “blew the whistle” in 1997. ‘

• 
  Uranium Weapons Causing Harm in Afghanistan.
  
  Uranium weapons are endangering lives and health contaminating the environment in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. Of particular concern is what appears to be the use of non-depleted uranium in weaponry. Documentation of research INTO and personal experience of U weapons in Afghanistan can be found in the article ”
  
  “>The Silent Genocide from America
  
  ” by Mohammed Daud Miraki, director of the Afghan DU and Recovery Fund.
  
  JustPeace was produced by Christine Dann, Tim Hannah and Keith Locke, MP

  If you have feedback on the content of JustPeace, or news items, please
  
  
  christine [dot] dann
  
  [at]
  
  clear [dot] net [dot] nz
  
  >email Christine Dann
  
  .

  The Green Party is not responsible for the content of external links, or of externally produced articles, and their contents may not reflect Green Party views or policies.