Israel’s Weapons a Crime on Humanity
Related: New weapons being used – what are they? Medical staff explains injuries
References, resources, related news and updates below this article
In an article of March 4, Richard Lightbown argues that Israel’s use of depleted uranium, white phosphorus and other toxic metals in its war on the people of the Gaza Strip has put the whole of the Strip’s population and its environment – air, soil, groundwater and possibly seawater – at risk of serious long-term injury and contamination.
Effects of White Phosphorus – Click to enlarge
Press TV on 4 March 2011 reported that cancer cases in Gaza had increased by 30 per cent, and that there was a link between the occurrence of the disease and residence in areas that had been badly hit by Israeli bombing. Zekra Ajour from the Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights told the channel that Gaza had been a testing ground for illegal weapons.
Birth defects
On 20 December 2009 Al-Dameer had published another paper in Arabic on the increase in the number of babies born in Gaza with birth defects, thought to be the result of radioactive and toxic materials from Operation Cast Lead.1 The birth defects included incomplete hearts and malformations of the brain. During August, September and October 2008 the number of cases had been 27. In the comparable months in 2009 the numbers had risen to 47. There was a similar rise in aborted foetuses. Al-Dameer had called for scientific monitoring throughout the Gaza Strip to obtain statistics on deformed foetus cases relating to the intentional use of internationally banned weapons.Similar dramatic increases in birth defects over a longer period have been recorded in Iraq and have been linked to widespread use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons. (It is reported that local midwives no longer look forward to births as they don’t know what is going to come out.)
Depleted uranium
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Regarding the teratogenicity of parental prenatal exposure to DU aerosols, the evidence, albeit imperfect, indicates a high probability of substantial risk. Good science indicates that depleted uranium weapons should not be manufactured or exploded.When later asked in the same interview about white phosphorus, Prof. Hay had replied;
…phosphorus is an essential element in our bodies and so you would I think have to ingest a huge amount to cause any particular problem. But there has been no investigation anywhere that I am aware of to link phosphorus with health problems…Apparently the professor has not read the Goldstone Report of the previous year which states in paragraph 896:
Medical staff reported to the mission how even working in the areas where the phosphorus had been used made them feel sick, their lips would swell and they would become extremely thirsty and nauseous.The toxicity of phosphorus is also recorded in a report by New York medical staff:4
Oral ingestion of white phosphorus in humans has been demonstrated to result in pathologic changes to the liver and kidneys. The ingestion of a small quantity of white phosphorus can cause gastrointestinal complaints such as nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Individuals with a history of oral ingestion have been noted to pass phosphorus-laden stool (“smoking stool syndrome”). The accepted lethal dose is 1 mg/kg, although the ingestion of as little as 15 mg has resulted in death.The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported that breathing white phosphorus for long periods causes “phossy jaw”, a condition in which there is poor wound healing of the mouth and breakdown of the jawbone.5
Depleted uranium in US-supplied bunker-buster bombs
Evidence of the use of depleted uranium against Gaza is tenuous and Goldstone merely recorded in paragraph 907 that it had received allegations which it had not further investigated. Much of this evidence came from Action des citoyens pour le désarmement nucléaire (ACDN: Citizens Action for Nuclear Disarmament). Their report of July 2009 hypothesizes that the GBU-39 bunker-buster bomb is packed with 75 kilogram of depleted uranium. (A UNEP report also ambiguously refers to bunker-buster bombs containing depleted uranium.) The US delivery of 1,000 of these bombs to Israel arrived in early December 2008 shortly before the start of the war. The GBU-39 is considered one of the world’s most precise bombs and Boeing, the manufacturer, claims that the bomb will penetrate three feet of steel-reinforced concrete. (UNEP suggests that it can penetrate reinforced concrete to depths ranging from 1.8 to over 6 metres.) Boeing’s patent on the weapon mentions depleted uranium.6It is not known how many bunker-buster bombs were used against Gaza but it seems reasonable to assume that the number could run into hundreds. It is thought that they were used mostly in the Philadelphia corridor against the tunnels. Desmond Travers, the former Irish army officer who was a member of the Goldstone Commission, would only say that depleted uranium may have been used during the war, although he did agree that it would have been well suited for attacking the tunnels where maximum penetration would have been desired.7 He was also in agreement with ACDN that the use of below-ground targets would have considerably reduced the levels of aerosol uranium that was dispersed into the air.
Col Raymond Lane, who is chief instructor of ordnance with the Irish armed forces, gave testimony to the Goldstone Commission on weapons used in the Gaza conflict. He told the commission that he had no expertise of depleted uranium and so had not investigated it. He gave no reason for his failure to bring in specialist expertise to investigate the subject.8
In April 2009 Jean-François Fechino from ACDN was part of a four-person team which went to Gaza for the Arab Commission for Human Rights. Samples that the team brought back were analysed by a specialist laboratory which identified carcinogens: depleted uranium, caesium, asbestos dust, tungsten and aluminium oxide. Thorium oxide was also found, which is radioactive, as are depleted uranium and caesium. The analysis also identified phosphates and copper, along with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are a health hazard, especially to children, asthmatics and elders.9
Depleted uranium burns at almost 1200 degrees Celsius. (TNT by comparison burns at 576 degrees Celsius.)10 At this temperature the fire vaporizes any metals in the target which in combination with uranium are released into the air in aerosol form. After deposition the aerosols have the potential to contaminate groundwater. (The Gaza aquifer, which is the Strip’s only water source, is also connected to ground water supplies in Egypt, although water only flows into Gaza from Israel.11)
There is empirical documentation that the aerosols can travel up to 42 Km and theoretical documentation that they can travel further. Sderot is about 43 kilometres from the Philadelphia corridor and less than five kilometres from Beit Hanoun. In consequence, it may be that the activities of Israel’s air force have created a greater threat to the Israeli city than all of the 8,000 well-publicized rockets from Gaza ever have.
Depleted uranium accumulation has been recorded in the bone, kidney, reproductive system, brain and lung. It is carcinogenic, toxic to the kidneys, damaging to cellular DNA and causes malformations to an embryo or foetus.
White phosphorus
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Difficulty in detecting the extent of damage to tissue and organs gave serious problems to medical staff trying to treat white phosphorus injuries. Several patients died as a result. Doctors found that when they removed bandages applied to a wound that still contained fragments of white phosphorous, smoke would come from the wound since the chemical continues to burn as long as it is in contact with oxygen. White phosphorous sticks to tissue so that all flesh and sometimes muscle around the burn would have to be cut out. The substance is also highly toxic (Goldstone paragraphs 892/4/5/6).
Click here to watch the full albums of Israel’s war on Gaza “Cast Lead” 2008-2009
Col Lane testified that although white phosphorus gave the best quality of smoke for military purposes it was “horrible stuff” and the Irish army had stopped using it 20 years previously. He recounted how the British army had sea-dumped quantities of the material off the coast of southwest. Scotland in the 1950s, some of which had been washed up on the coast of Ireland by a storm in 2007. It had ignited on drying (the colonel had witnessed this himself) and in one instance a child had suffered burns as a result.
Other toxic materials
Mass spectrometry analysis conducted by the New Weapons Research Group (NWRG) found aluminium, titanium, strontium, barium, cobalt and mercury in biopsies taken from white phosphorus wounds at Shifaa Hospital, Gaza. (Aluminium, barium and mercury have potential for lethal and intoxicating effects; aluminium and mercury can cause chronic pathologies over time; mercury is carcinogenic for humans; cobalt can cause mutations; and aluminium is fetotoxic, i.e. injurious to foetuses.)14White phosphorus bombs are built with alternating sectors of white phosphorus and aluminium. Analysis by NWRC of the powder from a shell near Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza also found high levels of molybdenum, tungsten and mercury. Tungsten and mercury are carcinogenic, while molybdenum is toxic to sperms.
In a report appropriately entitled “Gaza Strip, soil has been contaminated due to bombings: population in danger”, NWRG also conducted analyses of two craters caused by bombs in 2006 and two others by bombs in 2009. In the 2006 craters they identified tungsten, mercury and molybdenum, while in the 2009 craters at Tufah they discovered molybdenum, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper and zinc. Cadmium and some nickel and manganese compounds are carcinogenic.15
NWRG has further conducted research of hair samples from 95 children resident in heavily bombed areas of Gaza. Again using mass spectrometry the study identified the carcinogenic or toxic metals chromium, cadmium, cobalt, tungsten and uranium. One wounded individual also had unusually high levels of lead. The study found the results alarming and considered the levels could be pathogenic in situations of chronic exposure. Thirty-nine of the examinees were recommended for further checks.16
DIME weapons, soil contamination and cancer
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DIME weapons were first used against Gaza by Israeli drones in the summer of 2006, when Palestinian medical personnel reported that it significantly increased the fatality rate among victims.19 Shortly after the DIME weapons were also trialled during the first week of the war in Lebanon in July 2006.
The Goldstone Commission was unable to confirm that DIME munitions were used by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead. Col Lane had told the commission in testimony that there was no actual proof. He then went on to testify that he had been given samples in Gaza which analysis in Dublin had shown to contain DIME materials consisting mostly of tungsten with traces of iron and sulphur. He was of the opinion that ordnance had been used that had some sort of DIME component. He also mentioned that he had read of unusual amputations, and that tungsten and cobalt would have this effect. Weaponry had been found with DIME components which was capable of amputation and there are Palestinian amputees, yet neither Col Lane nor the commission was prepared to say that DIME weapons had been used by Israeli forces.
DIME bombs cause a high proportion of amputations particularly of legs, while patients often suffered internal burns as well. The bombs consist of powdered tungsten alloy mixed with an explosive material inside a casing which disintegrates on explosion. The tungsten powder tears apart anything it hits including soft tissue and bone, causing very severe injuries. Tungsten alloy particles, described as “finely powdered micro-shrapnel”, are too small to be extracted from the victim’s body and are highly carcinogenic. (Goldstone, paragraphs 902-4)
No weapons fragments can be found from DIME bombs with standard diagnostic resources, despite the indication of heavy metals from this type of injuries. Mass spectrometry analyses by NWRG of biopsies from amputation injuries revealed aluminium, titanium, copper, strontium, barium, cobalt, mercury, vanadium, caesium, tin, arsenic, manganese, rubidium, cadmium, chromium, zinc and nickel. Doctors reported that it was difficult to determine the extent of dead tissue (which it is vital to remove). This resulted in higher rates of deep infection, subsequent amputation and higher mortality.20
The wide range of heavy metals discovered by analysis in casualties, residents and soil in Gaza suggests that other unidentified weapons may have also been trialled. (The Sensor Fuzed Weapon has been suggested as one such technological perversion that the Israeli forces may have used.21)
The whole Gaza population and their environment, including generations yet to be conceived, have been put at risk of serious long-term injury from heavy metal pollution of the air, soil and groundwater (and possibly the seawater too), while the causal pollution is likely to cross state borders into Egypt and even into Israel. Reassurances of the legitimate and responsible use and the reduced lethality of weapons (an opinion in part shared by Col Lane) are callous and inadequate in the context of the dangerous reality that has resulted. Meanwhile, the impacts of Israel’s illegal assaults on Gaza remain ignored and its deeds uncensored by the wider international community.
Notes
- Kawther Salam, 29 December 2009; Abortions, Cancer, Diseases and… in Gaza | Intifada-Palestine.
- BBCNews, 4 March 2010; Falluja Doctors Report Rise in Birth Defects.
- Rita Hindin, Doug Brugge and Bindu Panikkar; Teratogenicity of depleted uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective; Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 2005, 4:17 doi:10.1186/1476-069X-4-17.
- Lisandro Irizarry, Mollie V Williams, Geri M Williams and José Eric Díaz-Alcalá, 21 October 2009; CBRNE – Incendiary Agents, White Phosphorus.
- UNEP, 2007; Lebanon Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment, p 149.
- ACDN, 4 July 2009; Report on the Use of Radioactive Weapons in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead | PDF
- Dr Hana Chehata, 9 March 2010; Disturbing Findings of Toxic Uranium Levels in Gaza | Middle East Monitor.
- Video accessed from http://blog.unwatch.org/?p=413
- Palestinian Telegraph, 24 May 2009 | Israel Used Depleted Uranium in Offensive on Gaza.
- Sister Rosalie Bertell | Depleted Uranium in the Human Body: Sr Rosalie Bertell, PhD | video
- www.standwithus.com/FLYERS/WaterFlyer.pdf
- Human Rights Watch, 10 January 2009 | Q & A on Israel’s Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza | PDF
- http://tinyurl.com/287wxo9
- Sobhi Skaik, Nafiz Abu-Shaban, Nasser Abu-Shaban, Mario Barbieri, Maurizio Barbieri, Umberto Giani, Paola Manduca, 31 July 2010| Metals Detected by ICP/MS in Wound Tissue of War Injuries Without Fragments in Gaza | PDF
- NWRC, 17 December 2009; Gaza Strip, soil has been contaminated due to bombings: population in danger | PDF
- NWRC, 17 March 2010; Metals Detected in Palestinian Children’s Hair Suggest Environmental Contamination
- James Brooks, 6 December 2006; US and Israel Targeting DNA in Gaza? The DIME Bomb: Yet Another Genotoxic Weapon, Part II. Al-Jazeerah: Cross-Cultural Understanding.
- John F. Kalinich, et al, 15 February 2005; Embedded Weapons-Grade Tungsten Alloy Shrapnel Rapidly Induces Metastatic High-Grade Rhabdomysoarcomas in F344 Rats | PDF | ehponline.org
- James Brooks, 5 December 2006; The DIME Bomb: Yet Another Genotoxic weapon | Part 1; Al-Jazeera.
- David Halpin, 14 August 2006; Are New weapons Being Used in Gaza and Lebanon | Electronic Intifada.
- James Brooks, 5 December 2006; The DIME Bomb: Yet Another Genotoxic weapon | Part III; Al-Jazeera.
Starve Them; Shoot Them; then Give Them Cancer
An Inquiry into Israel’s use of DIME weaponry in of the Gaza Strip
22 January 2009
At the end of 2006, James Brooks from Vermonters for a Just Peace published a three part expose into Israel’s suspected use of a previously unseen weapon, DIME Bombs, on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Suspicions have arisen once more as Doctors continue to report the ‘strange and incurable wounds’ they are encountering following the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip.
Parts I, II and III of his well-researched and referenced work below:
US and Israel targeting DNA in Gaza? The DIME Bomb: Yet another genotoxic weapon
James Brooks, Media Monitors Network, December 4, 2006
“This warfare of the future is
reminiscent of what Israel has been doing for years, but with one-ton
bombs, 155-mm artillery shells, and tank-fired antipersonnel flechette
bombs. Are FLM weapons like DIME an improvement? Or will they actually
increase civilian casualties and suffering, and mimic depleted uranium
weapons by inducing disease and genetic damage in their victims?”
:: Part 1 of 3 ::
- A Palestinian woman with severe facial injuries from a Dime bomb
- Picture: The Independent
It’s been almost five months
since the first report that Israeli drone aircraft have been dropping a
“mystery weapon” on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Since then, news
media around the world have run stories depicting the strange and
“horrific” wounds inflicted by the new bomb. The international press has
spoken with Palestinian doctors and medics who say Israel’s new device
is a kind of chemical weapon that has significantly increased the
fatality rate among the victims of Israeli attacks. [1][2]
In mid-October, Italian
investigators reported forensic evidence that suggests the new weapon
may also represent the near future of US “counterinsurgency warfare”.
Combined with photographs of the victims and testimony from attending
doctors, this evidence points to the use of Dense Inert Metal Explosives
(DIME). [3]
DIME is an LCD (“low collateral
damage”) weapon developed at the US Air Force Research Laboratory.
Publicly, it is slated for initial deployment in 2008. DIME bombs
produce an unusually powerful blast within a relatively small area,
spraying a superheated “micro-shrapnel” of powdered Heavy Metal Tungsten
Alloy (HMTA). Scientific studies have found that HMTA is chemically
toxic, damages the immune system, rapidly causes cancer, and attacks DNA
(genotoxic).[4-11]
It is unfortunate that the US
media have virtually blacked out the story of Israel’s new weapon, not
least because our own military may soon be using it in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The story might also have told us something about the
grossly disproportionate brutality of Israel’s war on the Palestinian
people—reason enough for the media to suppress it. [12]
Thanks to the intrepid
Italians, the story could even have introduced Americans to their
government’s DIME weapons program. This three-part article will ask
whether Israel is ‘testing’ US DIME bombs in the Gaza Strip, and explore
the workings, dangers, and projected use of DIME weapons and their
roots in depleted uranium (DU) research. These parallels will lead us to
consider DIME in its historical context, as the latest innovation in
the US military’s long-running development of genotoxic weapons.
“They cannot return to life again”
The first reports about
‘Israel’s new weapon’ came from Dr Joma Al-Saqqa, chief of the emergency
unit at Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa. Dr. Al-Saqqa said that
Israel was using “a new ‘chemical’ weapon” and its siege was “a live
exercise on a new ammunition that, so far, has resulted in killing 50
Palestinians and injuring 200.” He observed that, “despite the damage in
internal soft tissue in the bodies of injured people, the fragments
were not detected by X-ray. In other words, they had disappeared or
dissolved inside the body.”[13]
“There were usually entry and
exit wounds,” Dr. Al-Saqqa reported. “When the wounds were explored no
foreign material was found. There was tissue death, the extent of which
was diff icult to determine….A higher deep infection rate resulted with
subsequent amputation. In spite of amputation there was a higher
mortality.” The effects of the weapon seemed “radioactive”. [14][15]
According to Palestine News
Network, Dr. Al-Saqqa “confirmed that there were dozens of wounded legs
and arms. Many of them had been burned from the inside, and distorted to
the point that they cannot return to life again.”[16]
“When the shrapnel hit[s] the
body, it causes very strong burns that destroy the tissues around the
bones…it burns and destroys internal organs, like the liver, kidneys,
and the spleen and other organs and makes saving the wounded almost
impossible. As a surgeon, I have seen thousands of wounds during the
Intifada, but nothing was like this weapon.”[17]
However, Dr. Al-Saqqa could not
analyze the chemistry of the bizarre wounds. On the first day of the
siege, June 27, Israel had conveniently destroyed Gaza’s only criminal
laboratory. [18]
Despite his pleas to the
“international community” to investigate and lend assistance in treating
the victims, “no one has lifted a finger”, the doctor was quoted in
mid-July. “What we found were journalists who came to take pictures, but
as for the medical community, nothing.” [19]
On August 3, the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that Commissioner-General
Karen AbuZayd had visited Dr. Al-Saqqa’s hospital, “where the staff is
struggling to deal with wounds resulting in an unusually high number of
amputations.” Commissioner AbuZayd commented that “what we saw in
Al-Shifa…was rather horrific.” [20]
According to Merlin (Medical
Emergency Relief International), “75 per cent of war-wounded patients
admitted at one hospital needed amputations” following an Israeli attack
on Gaza City. [21]
The World Health Organization
was reportedly considering an investigation into the injuries.
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel “agreed to take away fragments of
tissue from the bodies of Palestinians killed during the recent military
operations in Gaza for possible analysis in Israel but urged the medics
to seek an international investigation.” [22]
Tungsten in Tissue Samples: A DIME Weapon?
On October 19, Italy’s
Rai24news televised an investigative report that supplied crucial new
information. The Italian investigators had tissue samples from the
victims in Gaza analyzed by Dr. Carmela Vaccaio at University Parma. Dr.
Vaccaio reportedly found “a very high concentration of carbon and the
presence of unusual materials, such as copper, aluminum and tungsten.”
The doctor concluded that her “findings could be in line with the
hypothesis that the weapon in question is DIME.”
Rai24news reporters also talked
to Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Ben-Israel, former chief of the IDF’s weapons
development program. General Ben-Israel appeared to be familiar with
DIME weapons. He explained that, “one of the ideas is to allow those
targeted to be hit without causing damage to bystanders or other
persons.” [23]
The US Air Force refers to this
emerging realm of weaponry as FLM (Focused Lethality Munitions). FLM is
expected to provide the ‘weapons of choice’ for targeting “terrorists
hiding among civilians”, as a cheerleading Wall Street Journal article
put it. [24]
With “focused lethality [and]
higher energy materials…nano particles, intelligent fuzing, [and] mass
focus lethality”, the Air Force “will be able to strike effectively,
wherever and whenever necessary, with minimal collateral damage.”
Ominously, the military thinks these weapons will allow it to target
sites “previously off limits to the warfighter.” [25][26]
This warfare of the future is
reminiscent of what Israel has been doing for years, but with one-ton
bombs, 155-mm artillery shells, and tank-fired antipersonnel flechette
bombs. Are FLM weapons like DIME an improvement? Or will they actually
increase civilian casualties and suffering, and mimic depleted uranium
weapons by inducing disease and genetic damage in their victims? These
disturbing questions will be explored in the next installment of this
article.
:: Part 2 of 3 ::
“Horrific” wounds in Gaza may be warfare of the future
In early July, shortly after
the beginning of Israel’s bloody military siege of the Gaza Strip,
reports began to appear that Israeli forces were using a new weapon that
inflicted strange and untreatable wounds, and significantly increased
the death tolls of Israel’s attacks. [27][28]
Italian investigators have
reported evidence that the unidentified Israeli weapon is probably Dense
Inert Metal Explosives, or DIME, a so-called LCD (“low collateral
damage”) weapon developed by the United States Air Force. [29]
DIME bombs blast a superheated
“micro-shrapnel” of powdered heavy metal tungsten alloy (HMTA). Studies
indicate that HMTA embedded in the body disrupts biochemistry and
rapidly causes cancer. Like depleted uranium (DU), HMTA is genotoxic—it
is capable of inflicting genetic mutations. [30-36]
Publicly slated for deployment
in 2008, DIME bombs are small but unusually powerful. Their carbon fiber
casings make “more of the blast energy…available as blast as opposed to
being absorbed in [a] steel case”. The carbon reportedly breaks into
“thousands of harmless fibers” to prevent unintended casualties from
casing shrapnel. [37]
The ‘footprint’ of the DIME
blast is much smaller than a conventional bomb’s, because gravity and
air resistance quickly drag the dense, finely powdered “micro-shrapnel”
to the ground. The blast radius is reportedly as small as 25 feet.
[38][39]
DIME is part of the Air Force’s
Focused Lethality Munitions (FLM) program, which is expected to “allow”
the targeting of “terrorists” wherever they are, even in places
“previously off limits to the warfighter.” [40]
The ideal of FLM is to reliably
kill every human within the blast zone—one way or another. It is ‘total
war’ on a 50-foot circle, within which deaths are not admitted as
collateral, but purchased as insurance.
Israel’s new weapon “slices”
off its victims’ legs, leaving “signs of heat and burns near the point
of the amputation”. It’s “as if a saw was used to cut through the bone”,
according to Dr. Habas al-Wahid, head of the ER at Gaza’s Shuhada
al-Aqsa hospital. [41]
Viewing photographs of the
living and dead Palestinian victims of this device, many of whom are
children, we notice patches of darkened but unburned skin, possibly
where metal powder was driven into and/or through the skin by blast
force. A child’s torso is peppered with holes, some of which, judging
from doctors’ reports, probably tunnel through to exit wounds in the
back. The skin and muscle of one victim is ripped into a blood-encrusted
pulp, as if blasted at close range with tiny birdshot. Some of the
corpses are unrecognizable. Most of the recent photos of “strange”
wounds from Gaza appear to be consistent with what is known about DIME
weapons. [42]
The area of a DIME blast should
be treated with caution until it has been decontaminated (assuming this
is possible). Depending on the local HMTA concentration, soil in the
blast area may remain barren for an indefinite period of time, or it may
grow plants internally contaminated with HMTA. [43][44]
The “who knew?” charade
In the scientific literature on
tungsten and its alloys, the toxicity of HMTA stands apart. This
formula (roughly 9 parts tungsten and one part nickel and cobalt or
iron) damages DNA even when powders of the metals are simply mixed
together. [30][31][35]
Implanting four tiny bits of
weapons-grade HMTA in lab mice induced terminal cancer in 100 percent of
the subjects. A powdered HMTA recipe was tumor-generating and capable
of “genotoxic effects”. At least one experiment found parallels in the
way DU and HMTA attack DNA. The results of another suggested that HMTA
may pass its genetic damage down to the next generation.
[34][31][35][36]
HMTA may be much more
carcinogenic than DU when it is embedded in the body—as intended.
“Tumors developed rapidly” in rats implanted with pellets of HMTA, but
researchers “did not observe tumor formation in the DU-implanted rats.”
Multiple syndromes of heavy
metal poisoning have also been attributed to this alloy, including
polycythemia, which can be induced by cobalt overdose. Because HMTA
contains far too little cobalt to cause the disease by itself,
researchers suspected a synergistic effect among or between the metals.
[34]
In a 2005 article reviewing the
“status of health concerns” about depleted uranium and “surrogate
metals” such as HMTA, three scientists at the Armed Forces Radiobiology
Research Institute (AFRRI) wrote that “medical and political
controversies surrounding the use of DU” had spurred “a search for
substitute metals in armor-penetrating munitions.” [45]
“[N]ew alloys of
tungsten/nickel/cobalt and tungsten/nickel/iron…rival DU in
armor-penetrating performance”, and are “among the leading candidates to
replace DU in selected munitions”. Some of this ordnance “has already
been deployed, although on a relatively small scale.”
The article then reviews the
science detailing the alarming health risks of HMTA, much of it
conducted by the authors, whom we thank for their work. It then attempts
to explain how the military’s favorite “surrogate metal” turned out to
be almost as genotoxic as DU, and probably more carcinogenic: “In many
ways the development of substitutes for DU in munitions has followed a
pattern similar to that for DU deployment, in that incomplete
toxicological information was available prior to their release…it was
assumed that many years of industrial use of tungsten and alloys such as
tungsten carbide…meant they could be used as safely in armaments.”
We infer that it was reasonable
for the military to deploy DU weapons, because the toxicological
information was “incomplete”. It’s a strange scientific rigor that
requires us to know exactly how a known poison works before we stop
giving it to people.
The cold fact is that there
never was a scientifically valid reason to “assume” that depleted
uranium could be used “safely in armaments”. Quite the opposite; as we
shall see in part three, the Army realized more than 60 years ago that
finely powdered uranium products could make extremely potent
antipersonnel weapons. [46]
We currently have “incomplete
toxicological information” about HMTA, but for more than fifteen years
we have had clear warnings about the health risks of combining these
metals. US weapons scientists should have known as early as 1992 that
mixing cobalt with tungsten could greatly increase the resulting alloy’s
cancer potential. [47][48]
It is hardly news that nickel
is carcinogenic and genotoxic, and specialists have long noted that
heavy metal alloys tend to unpredictably amplify the toxicities of their
component metals. With this kind of “incomplete” information at hand,
could military scientists have reasonably “assumed” that nickel would be
a “safe” addition to HMTA?
Concerns have been voiced about
tungsten sport ammunition for several years. Tungsten alloy bullets,
some also containing nickel and cobalt (for superior hardness), were
found to pose potential environmental hazards in several studies. A
probable link between industrial tungsten and leukemia has been
identified. Compared to these findings, however, the toxicity of HMTA
may be of a different order. [43][44]
The “who knew?” apologia
offered by the AFRRI researchers asks us to assume that the scientists
who developed DIME weapons proceeded in sheer ignorance of the existing
science. They were so incompetent that they merely “assumed” that they
could use any tungsten alloy.
Does this implausibility jibe
with the rest of the picture? A multi-billion dollar military weapons
program is stung by the “controversies” surrounding its toxic DU-uranium
weapons, and is under pressure to produce an expedient alternative.
Would this program’s scientists have been allowed to be so cavalier
about consulting the literature? Would the replacement metal be chosen
on blind faith, without bothering to conduct even simple studies of its
potential health impacts?
Logically, we must conclude
that the military developed HMTA in the knowledge that it could have
significant carcinogenic and genotoxic effects. Did they “assume” that
saying “tungsten is safer than DU” would take care of the matter?
Perhaps relatively non-toxic
tungsten carbide, famed for its hardness and cutting ability, would not
have sufficed for the purposes of the DIME bomb. Focused Lethality
Munitions like DIME must kill all of their victims. Slicing off their
arms and legs is not enough.
The last installment of this
article will trace the roots of HMTA in depleted uranium and decades of
US warfare with poisonous, DNA-damaging powders. Then we will return to
Gaza to consider the damage done, and the damage to come, if the
warmakers have their way.
:: Part 3 of 3 ::
The human genome: target or innocent bystander?
Since early July, Israeli
forces have been using a new weapon in the Gaza Strip that inflicts
strange and deadly wounds. Doctors and medics say the unidentified
device has significantly increased fatalities from Israel’s attacks.
[49][50]
In the first two parts of this
article we reviewed evidence that Israel’s new weapon may be Dense Inert
Metal Explosives (DIME), a “low collateral damage” weapon developed by
the US Air Force. The DIME bomb’s “micro-shrapnel” is reportedly made of
HMTA, a tungsten alloy that disrupts body biochemistry, damages the
immune system, rapidly causes cancer, and attacks DNA (genotoxic).
[51-56]
The Road to DIME
DIME weapons are “spin-offs”
from the military’s “bunker buster” research. Initially, “bunker
busters” were made with depleted uranium (DU), which had already been
used in armor-piercing bombs, bullets, and artillery shells. [57] The
former director of the US Army’s Depleted Uranium project, Dr. Douglas
Rokke, warns us that DU is an “illegal…radioactive toxic material”, the
use of which “is absolutely unacceptable, and a crime against humanity.”
[58]
During Gulf War I, US forces
deployed more than 300 tons of DU in Iraq. A few years later, more was
dropped during Operation Desert Fox. Iraqi doctors reported alarming
rises in the incidence of cancer, leukemia, and birth defects, in
clusters closely correlated with US bombsites. Scientists found strong
links between DU and Gulf War Syndrome, which is slowly killing
thousands of veterans. [59-61]
Despite the science, the vets,
and the tragedies in Iraq, the US has stubbornly refused to end its use
of DU. US-UK forces may have expended more than 2000 additional tons of
DU in Iraq since March 2003. Nowadays, however, commanders are supposed
to warn GIs to avoid contact with the results of their work. [62]
After the 2001-2002 bombing of
Afghanistan, the Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC) found that the
urine of Afghanis living near US bombing sites contained 4 to 20 times
the normal level of non-depleted uranium (NDU).
These unexpected results could
not “be explained by…any known geological or other features in the
area.” UMRC researchers were “shocked” that, “without exception, at
every bombsite investigated, people are ill…[with] symptoms consistent
with internal contamination by uranium.” [63]
Their field results indicated
that our weapons scientists had “progressed” beyond DU to NDU, a
processed form of pure uranium that is even more toxic than the depleted
form. The “slightly enriched” uranium reported from recent Israeli
bombsites in Lebanon may possibly be NDU from modified GBU 28 ‘bunker
busters’ supplied by the United States. [64][65]
Dual-Purpose Munitions
Considering the scope of their
destructive power, DU and NDU may be said to function as Dual-Purpose
Munitions, like cluster bomblets that kill both tanks and people. As
their exotic metallurgy “burns” through concrete and steel, DU and NDU
bombs are converted to micron-sized particles that sicken and kill and
murder the next generation in the womb. [66][67]
Agent Orange, an herbicide
heavily used during the war on Vietnam, also performed two functions. It
obliterated the ‘jungle cover hiding the Viet Cong’ while it ‘weakened
the enemy’ with burns, illness, and death, and corrupted the DNA of
hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese. The third generation of its
disfigured and suffering victims is now being born. [68][69]
This madness seems to have
begun during World War II, within the Manhattan Project that built the
first atomic bomb. In a 1943 memo to Brigadier General L. R. Groves,
three researchers proposed steps to develop: “a gas warfare instrument”
[of radioactive material, such as uranium] “ground into particles of
microscopic size to form dust and smoke….in this form it would be
inhaled by personnel. The amount necessary to cause death to a person
inhaling the material is extremely small. It has been estimated that one
millionth of a gram accumulating in a person’s body would be fatal.
There are no known methods of treatment for such a casualty.” [70]
The good doctors were concerned
the Germans might be preparing such a weapon. They urged the Army to be
ready to respond, or act, in kind. General Groves promptly followed
their recommendations.
The toxic HMTA “micro-shrapnel”
spewed by DIME weapons appears to be the latest development in a long
string of carcinogenic and genotoxic weapons developed and deployed by
the US military.
Return to Gaza: The mythology of murder
Israel has denied using DIME
weapons. Nonetheless, Israel’s military has used the occupied
Palestinian territories as a weapons development zone for decades,
testing bright ideas like depleted uranium and poison gases. It would
not surprise us to find that it is now testing a weapon for the US Air
Force on Palestinians in Gaza. [71]
Unfortunately, the DIME
hypothesis is the most plausible explanation for the grotesque effects
of Israel’s new weapon. We can only pray that we have not witnessed the
first experiment in the effects of embedded HMTA in human subjects.
Still, DIME may not explain all
of the evidence. For example, one of the metals found in victims’
wounds was copper. DIME bombs are not known to contain significant
copper, but another US marvel, the Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW), sprays
slugs of molten copper at its targets. Is Israel also testing the SFW?
[72][73]
If DIME weapons are designed to
reduce civilian casualties, why has Israel’s ‘mystery weapon’ increased
the civilian death toll? Perhaps this question should be addressed to
the advocates of Focused Lethality Munitions, and to the remote-control
operators of Israel’s drone aircraft and their commanders and
politicians.
Although much remains unclear about Israel’s new weapon, a few devastating facts are indisputable:
The weapon causes enormous and indiscriminate pain and suffering.
It operates as both a chemical weapon and an anti-personnel explosive.
At the very least, it is likely to induce heavy metal poisoning in its
surviving victims. The weapon has significantly increased civilian mortality rates, in part because it inflicts virtually untreatable wounds.
Despite this public parade of horrors, Israeli forces have continued to
use this weapon against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for nearly five
months.
“Whenever and wherever necessary”
If the DIME hypothesis is
confirmed, authorities will probably explain that it is a new class of
weapon not regulated by international law. The truth is that existing
conventions and treaties have already prohibited some of the most
egregious effects of the new weapon.
To cite one example, the bomb
may be in direct violation of Protocol I of the ’Geneva Convention on
Certain Conventional Weapons’, which “prohibits the use of any weapon
the primary effect of which is to injure by fragments which in the human
body escape detection by X-rays.” [74]
We will likely be told that
DIME weapons provide a more “humane” way to fight “terrorism” by
“reducing collateral damage” and “helping US troops win hearts and
minds”. At the same time, we’ll be assured that the new weapon “packs
quite a punch” and will “give our troops more options” to “take the
battle to the enemy”, even if he is “hiding among civilians”.
Whether Israel’s new weapon is
the Air Force’s DIME bomb or another similarly dreadful invention, the
horrors unfolding in Gaza make it clear that “Focused Lethality” is a
blood-drenched lie. It promises only a deadlier form of indiscriminate
warfare.
US plans to explode payloads of
cancer-causing genotoxic heavy metal powder “wherever and whenever
necessary” may portend an escalation of a campaign currently limited to
the vicinity of “hard targets” we attack with DU and NDU. Whatever we
make of the intent behind these weapons, the habitual result is
chemical-genetic warfare. It cannot be allowed to continue.
- Suspected DIME injury from 2006, Gaza
- Pictures: Vermonters For Just Peace http://www.vtjp.org/images/320gaza_new_weapon_legs.jpg
Notes:
[1]. Palestinian injuries suggest Israel is using chemical weapons in Gaza Ma’an News, 7/10/2006 http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php? opr=ShowDetails&ID=13044
[2]. Israel used chemical weapons in Lebanon and Gaza By Jean Shaoul, Centre for Research on Globalization/wsws.org, 10/24/2006 http://wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/ isra-o24.shtml
[3]. Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip Ha’aretz, 10/19/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=772894
[4]. Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) GlobalSecurity.org, 10/18/2006 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ systems/munitions/dime.htm
[5].
Abstract: Potential late health effects of depleted uranium and tungsten
used in armor-piercing munitions: comparison of neoplastic
transformation and genotoxicity with the known carcinogen nickel Miller, AC, et al, PubMed, 11/26/2006 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/ query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed& list_uids=11873492&dopt=Abstract
[6].
Neoplastic transformation of human osteoblast cells to the tumorigenic
phenotype by heavy metal–tungsten alloy particles: induction of
genotoxic effects Miller, AC, et al Carcinogenesis, Vol. 22, No. 1, 115-125, January 2001, Oxford University Press http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/ full/22/1/115
[7]. Abstract: Carcinogenic Potential of Depleted Uranium and Tungsten Alloys Alexandra C Miller, Ph. D., Department Of Defense, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/ du_library/reports/projects/dod122.htm
[8]. Depleted uranium-catalyzed oxidative DNA damage: absence of significant alpha particle decay Miller, AC, et al, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, Issue 91, 2002 pp. 246– 252 http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/www/outreach/ pdf/tungsten_cancer.pdf
[9]. Embedded Weapons-Grade Tungsten Alloy Shrapnel Rapidly Induces Metastatic High-Grade Rhabdomyosarcomas in F344 Rats Kalinich et al, Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 6, June 2005 http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/ 7791/7791.html
[10].
Abstract: Effect of the militarily-relevant heavy metals, depleted
uranium and heavy metal tungsten-alloy on gene expression in human liver
carcinoma cells (HepG2) By Miller, AC, et al, SpringerLink/Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, 1/1/2004 http://www.springerlink.com/content/u8830 115617471jl/
[11]. Preconceptional paternal exposure to radiation or heavy metals like cadmium can induce cancer in unexposed offspring
By Alexandra C. Miller, Rafael Rivas, Robert J. Merlot and Paul,
Carcinogenesis 5: Environmental and Endogenous Carcinogens/Proc Amer
Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/cgi/ content/abstract/2006/1/448-b
[12]. If Americans Knew http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
[13]. Israel ’is using chemical ammunition’ in Gaza By Duraid Al Baik, Centre for Research on Globalization/Gulf News, 6/13/2006 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? context=viewArticle&code= AL%2020060713&articleId=2730
[14]. Are New Weapons Being Used In Gaza and Lebanon By David Halpin MB BS FRCS, Electronic Intifada, 8/14/2006 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5528. shtml
[15]. Ministry of Health report on toxic Israeli weapons confirmed by Gaza City medical sources Palestine News Network, 7/13/2006 http://www.pnn.ps/english/archive2006/ jul/week2/130706/report5.htm
[16]. ibid.
[17]. Doctors Report Unusual Weapon Used in Gaza Pacifica/Free Speech Radio News 7/11/2006 http://www.pacifica.org/programs/fsrn/ fsrn_060711.html
[18]. Israel ’is using chemical ammunition’ in Gaza Centre for Research on Globalization/Gulf News, 6/13/2006 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? context=viewArticle&code= AL%2020060713&articleId=2730
[19]. Ministry of Health report on toxic Israeli weapons confirmed by Gaza City medical sources Palestine News Network, 7/13/2006 http://www.pnn.ps/english/archive2006/ jul/week2/130706/report5.htm
[20]. UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd: “Please don’t forget what’s going on in Gaza” ReliefWeb/UNRWA, 8/3/2006 http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/ db900SID/EVOD-6SBJDR? OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
[21]. Hospitals in Gaza overwhelmed and running out of supplies Electronic Intifada/Merlin, 8/8/2006 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5455. shtml
[22]. Gaza doctors encounter ’unexplained injuries’ Donald Macintyre, The Independent 9/4/2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/ middle_east/article1359830.ece
[23]. Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip Ha’aretz, 10/12/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=772894
[24]. Air Force seeks a bomb with less bang By Greg Jaffe, The Wall Street Journal/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/11/2006 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06096/679996-84.stm
[25]. Munition Technology Drivers By Col. Thomas “Mas” Masiell, Air Force Research Laboratory, 12/1/2006 http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2001munitions/masiello.pdf
[26]. USAF Unfunded Priority List (UPL) SAF/FMB POC, FY 2007, February 2006, Page 54 http://wwwd.house.gov/hasc_democrats/ Issues%20109th/unfunded/AF%20UFR% 20FY07.pdf
[27]. Israel accused of using ’Dime’ bombs AlJazeera, 10/13/2006 http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ B79DF070-B20C-47A7-A204- 08297E5FC1B2.htm
[28]. Israel used chemical weapons in Lebanon and Gaza By Jean Shaoul, Centre for Research on Globalization/wsws.org, 10/24/2006 http://wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/isra-o24.shtml
[29]. Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip Ha’aretz, 10/19/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=772894
[30].
Abstract: Potential late health effects of depleted uranium and tungsten
used in armor-piercing munitions: comparison of neoplastic
transformation and genotoxicity with the known carcinogen nickel Miller, AC, et al, PubMed, 11/26/2006 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query. fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids =11873492&dopt=Abstract
[31].
Neoplastic transformation of human osteoblast cells to the tumorigenic
phenotype by heavy metal–tungsten alloy particles: induction of
genotoxic effects Miller, AC, et al Carcinogenesis, Vol. 22, No. 1, 115-125, January 2001, Oxford University Press http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/ full/22/1/115
[32]. Abstract: Carcinogenic Potential of Depleted Uranium and Tungsten Alloys Alexandra C Miller, Ph. D., Department Of Defense, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/du_ library/reports/projects/dod122.htm
[33]. Depleted uranium-catalyzed oxidative DNA damage: absence of significant alpha particle decay Miller, AC, et al, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, Issue 91, 2002 pp. 246– 252 http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/www/outreach/ pdf/tungsten_cancer.pdf
[34]. Embedded Weapons-Grade Tungsten Alloy Shrapnel Rapidly Induces Metastatic High-Grade Rhabdomyosarcomas in F344 Rats Kalinich et al, Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 6, June 2005 http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/ 7791/7791.html
[35].
Abstract: Effect of the militarily-relevant heavy metals, depleted
uranium and heavy metal tungsten-alloy on gene expression in human liver
carcinoma cells (HepG2) By Miller, AC, et al, SpringerLink/Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, 1/1/2004 http://www.springerlink.com/content/ u8830115617471jl/
[36]. Preconceptional paternal exposure to radiation or heavy metals like cadmium can induce cancer in unexposed offspring
By Alexandra C. Miller, Rafael Rivas, Robert J. Merlot and Paul,
Carcinogenesis 5: Environmental and Endogenous Carcinogens/Proc Amer
Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/cgi/ content/abstract/2006/1/448-b
[37]. Air Force seeks a bomb with less bang By Greg Jaffe, The Wall Street Journal/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/11/2006 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06096/679996-84.stm
[38]. Cancer Worries for New U.S. Bombs DefenseTech.org, 5/20/2006 http://www.defensetech.org/archives/ 002434.html
[39]. Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) GlobalSecurity.org, 10/18/2006 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ systems/munitions/dime.htm
[40]. USAF Unfunded Priority List (UPL) SAF/FMB POC, FY 2007, February 2006, Page 54 http://wwwd.house.gov/hasc_democrats/ Issues%20109th/unfunded/AF%20UFR% 20FY07.pdf
[41]. Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip Ha’aretz, 10/19/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=772894
[42]. Effects of Israel’s New Weapon Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel http://www.vtjp.org/report/neweapon images.htm
[43]. Possible Health And Environmental Impacts Of Tungsten In Lead Replacement Shot Paul Harrison and Karen Bradley, MRC Institute for Environment and Health 2005 http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/ chemicals/achs/050906/achs0516a.pdf
[44]. Tungsten Effects on Soil Environments Nikolay Strigul, et al, UMass, Annual International Conference on Soil, Sediments and Water, 10/18/2004 http://www.umasssoils.com/abstracts2004/ Tuesday/trainingranges.htm#Tungsten% 20Effects%20on%20Soil%20Environments
[45]. Status of Health Concerns about Military Use of Depleted Uranium and Surrogate Metals in Armor-Penetrating Munitions D.E. McClain, A.C. Miller, and J.F. Kalinich, NATO, 2005 http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/www/outreach/ pdf/mcclain_NATO_2005.pdf
[46]. Memorandum to: Brigadier General L. R. Groves From: Drs. Conant, Compton, and Urey Midfully.org/War Department, United States Engineer Office, Manhattan District, Oak Ridge Tennessee, 10/30/1943 http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/Groves- Memo-Manhattan30oct43.htm
[47]. Abstract: Comparative study of the acute lung toxicity of pure cobalt powder and cobalt-tungsten carbide mixture in rat Lasfargues G., et al, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 1992 http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt =5201679
[48].
Evaluation of the role of reactive oxygen species in the interactive
toxicity of carbide-cobalt mixtures on macrophages in culture D. Lison and R. Lauwerys, SpringerLink//Archives of Toxicology, 6/1/1993 http://www.springerlink.com/content/ k2u94u07558q6224/
[49]. Gaza doctors say patients suffering mystery injuries after Israeli attacks By Rory McCarthy, The Guardian, 10/18/2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/ 0,,1924675,00.html
[50]. Israel used chemical weapons in Lebanon and Gaza By Jean Shaoul, Centre for Research on Globalization/wsws.org, 10/24/2006 http://wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/ isra-o24.shtml
[51].
Abstract: Potential late health effects of depleted uranium and tungsten
used in armor-piercing munitions: comparison of neoplastic
transformation and genotoxicity with the known carcinogen nickel Miller, AC, et al, PubMed, 11/26/2006 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query. fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ uids=11873492&dopt=Abstract
[52].
Neoplastic transformation of human osteoblast cells to the tumorigenic
phenotype by heavy metal–tungsten alloy particles: induction of
genotoxic effects Miller, AC, et al Carcinogenesis, Vol. 22, No. 1, 115-125, January 2001, Oxford University Press http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/ full/22/1/115
[53]. Abstract: Carcinogenic Potential of Depleted Uranium and Tungsten Alloys Alexandra C Miller, Ph. D., Department Of Defense, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/du_ library/reports/projects/dod122.htm
[54]. Depleted uranium-catalyzed oxidative DNA damage: absence of significant alpha particle decay Miller, AC, et al, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, Issue 91, 2002 pp. 246– 252 http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/www/outreach/ pdf/tungsten_cancer.pdf
[55]. Embedded Weapons-Grade Tungsten Alloy Shrapnel Rapidly Induces Metastatic High-Grade Rhabdomyosarcomas in F344 Rats Kalinich et al, Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 6, June 2005 http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/ 7791/7791.html
[56].
Abstract: Effect of the militarily-relevant heavy metals, depleted
uranium and heavy metal tungsten-alloy on gene expression in human liver
carcinoma cells (HepG2) By Miller, AC, et al, SpringerLink/Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, 1/1/2004 http://www.springerlink.com/content/ u8830115617471jl/
[57]. Preconceptional paternal exposure to radiation or heavy metals like cadmium can induce cancer in unexposed offspring
By Alexandra C. Miller, Rafael Rivas, Robert J. Merlot and Paul,
Carcinogenesis 5: Environmental and Endogenous Carcinogens/Proc Amer
Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/cgi/ content/abstract/2006/1/448-b [58]. Cancer Worries for New U.S. Bombs DefenseTech.org, 5/20/2006 http://www.defensetech.org/archives/ 002434.html
[59]. Depleted Uranium and US-Israeli Bombs By Dr. Doug Rokke, PhD, Media Lens, 7/24/2006 http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/ msg/1153759483.html
[60]. Dirty Weapons – Casualties From Iraq War Will Mount By Chalmers Johnson, Pacific News Service, 5/3/2003 http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view _article.html?article_id=84a8df02a7c1f37 0c5ca152d5ef14d6b
[61]. Uranium Radiation Levels in Afghanistan Not Attributable to Depleted Uranium Centre for Research on Globalization – Middle East, 6/5/2003 http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/ UMR306B.html
[62]. Depleted Uranium Radioactive Contamination In Iraq: An Overview By Prof Souad N. Al-Azzawi, Centre for Research on Globalization – Middle East, 8/31/2006 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? context=viewArticle&code= AL-20060831&articleId=3116
[63]. Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons Lingers as Health Concern By Larry Johnson, Common Dreams, 8/4/2003 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines 03/0804-04.htm
[64]. Further Evidence Of Enriched Uranium In The Air In Lebanon Following The Recent Conflict Stop Uranium Wars/Pandora DU research Project, 11/22/2006 http://www.stopuraniumwars.blogspot.com/
[65]. Mystery of Israel’s secret uranium bomb By Robert Fisk, The Independent, 10/28/2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/ article1935945.ece
[66]. The Real Dirty Bombs: Depleted Uranium By Christopher Bollyn, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 8/6/2004 http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2004/ 08/06_bollyn_real-dirty-bombs.htm
[67]. Depleted Uranium Australian Peace Committee, 12/2/2006 http://www.peacecourier.com/depleted_ uranium.htm
[68]. Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign http://www.vn-agentorange.org/
[69]. Agent Orange DNA injury confirmed in Vietnam veterans By Patrick Gower, New Zealand Herald, 7/29/2006 http://subs.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story. cfm?c_id=500855&objectid=10393538
[70]. Memorandum to: Brigadier General L. R. Groves From: Drs. Conant, Compton, and Urey Midfully.org/War Department, United States Engineer Office, Manhattan District, Oak Ridge Tennessee, 10/30/1943 http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/ Groves-Memo-Manhattan30oct43.htm
[71]. The Israeli Poison Gas Attacks James Brooks, Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel http://www.vtjp.org/report/
[72]. CBU-97 Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBU-97
[73]. Textron Systems’ Sensor Fuzed Weapon Production to Include Maritime Capability Textron Systems Corporation, 8/10/2006 http://www.systems.textron.com/mainframe /pressroom/archives/2006/08_10_06.html
[74]. Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons… United Nations: International Law, 10/10/1980 http://www.un.org/millennium/law/xxvi- 18-19.htm
- June 14, 2012 | Study: Drone Warfare | PNN
- June 14, 2012 |Bulldozers used as weapons, says S.A. picketers for peace | We Divest
- May 17, 2011 | Pro-Peace, Pro-Justice Billboards iCall for End to US Military Aid to Israel | Report
- May 4, 2011 | Israeli Army: We use Gaza military operation to test new weapons | Ahram Online
- May 1, 2011 | Another price for nonviolent Palestinian resistance: the ‘Skunk’ | Joseph Dana | - video
- Apr 8, 2011 | The IOF used white phosphorus bombs in its latest aggression | Report
- Jan 22, 2011 | Israel using expired tear gas on Palestinians of East Jerualem (With Pictures) | Silwanic
- Israel’s lucrative weapons exports depend on how effectively it kills Palestinians | SajePress
- Israel’s Chemical Weapons – by James Brooks | Antiwar.com
- Israel’s Use of Chemical Weapons | VTJP
- White Phosphorous: Israel Uses Chemical Weapons | KABOBfest
- Israel used chemical weapons in Lebanon and Gaza | Global Research | Oct 24, 2006
- New and unknown deadly weapons used by Israeli forces, ‘Direct energy’ weapons, chemical and/or biological agents, in a macabre experiment of future warfare | Prof. P. Manduca | Aug 7, 2006
- Palestinian injuries suggest Israel is using chemical weapons in Gaza | EI| July 11, 2006
In this ongoing atrocities, funded by US Tax payers:
- How Many Weapons to Israel? – Website
- Costs of arming Israel can no longer be ignored – Report
- US weapons to Israel deter peace – Report
- US weapons give-a-way to Israel used to kill 735 Palestinian children in past decade- Report
- US Weapons to Israel Are Disincentives to Peace – Report
- Checkpoint Washington – Netanyahu: ‘America is a thing you can move very easily- Report
To learn about the truth behind occupation, the ethnic cleansing and the Nakba – watch these video’s / pictures
- Cast Lead War on Gaza | The Wounded | Photography [ graphic]
- Occupation 101 (Full Movie in 11 Parts) | video
- Al Nakba | English | The Full Movie | video
About Ethnic Cleansing “Policies”
- Map of “Greater Israel” Published by Radical Settler Movement – Article
- All Israeli Massacres on Palestinians – Overview
- Map of already ethnically cleansed, destroyed and excisting Arab Villages – Map
- Current West Bank and Jerusalem – Peace Now – Map – 2011
- Ethnic Cleansing| Special Topic
Weapons & Health effects
- Israel’s widespread use of depleted uranium causes growing cancer (+ 30%) problem in Gaza - Report – Mar 14, 2011
- Eyes (of Doctors) in Gaza - by Dr. Mads Gilbert & Prof.Dr. Erik Fosse – Report
ISRAEL’S WEB WAR DECLARATION: HASBARA GOES WWW!
- Ilan Pappe on his first-hand experiences facing pro-Israel intimidation tactics and how to fight back | Intifada | Dec 28, 2011
- Tweeting with the Israeli Military - by Sami Kishawi – Hasbara fail after the Murder of Mustafa Tamimi – Dec 12, 2011
- Ministry of Hasbara: IDF Has Become Israel’s Chief Delegitimizer~ by Richard Silverstein – Dec 10, 2011
- How to fight the Israel-Apartheid analogy in four easy steps– A guide for useful Hasbara idiots ~ by Prof. Ran Greenstein | Nov 21, 2011
- We Believe in Israel – Toolkit Final Version! | PDF | Nov 2011 (No brain nor brainfunction required)
- Tweeting for Israel | Nov 8, 2011
- New app teaches zionism | Oct 5, 2011
- JIDF & Megaphonies Take Down Reddit Page Pointing Out Existence | Aug 10, 2011
- The new Israeli “Hitlist” available online | June 20, 2011
- Israel preparing itself for Twitter war over Palestinian state | May 25, 2011
About Hasbara
- 10 Big Media Lies about Israel
- Checkpoint Washington – Netanyahu: ‘America is a thing you can move very easily’ | How to Keep the ignorant…
- Israel investing $1.6 million in “new media warriors”
- Captain Israel | Sickening Hasbara Magazine
- Hasbara for Dummies-Insulting our Intelligence
- IDF uses propaganda like an authoritarian regime
- MISCONCEPTIONS & MYTHS ABOUT THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
- What The Media Forgets About Israel
Last but not Least
- Meet the Real Israel – Their own “trophy footage” so no need to discuss – in pictures
- AIPAC | Quick Facts
- The Zionization of American politics and how it could be terminated~ by Alan Hart
- AIPAC Bill will Destroy More American Jobs
- AIPAC Protests Disclosure of Its Secret Files
- AIPAC | What Every American Should Know
- AIPAC’s Scandalous Behaviors
- As a Holocaust survivor, AIPAC does not speak for me
- J Street, AIPAC, Palestine and Israel
- Panic from the Houses off Congress & AIPAC
Articles
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