Afghanistan: The Nuclear Nightmare Starts

By Davey Garland

When questions were asked in the British parliament a
year ago about whether depleted uranium (DU) weapons
had been used in the military strikes on Afghanistan,
"It is not being used at present" was defense minister
Geoff Hoon's reply.

A few days earlier, Hoon had been similarly vague on
the issue, assuring us that: "No British forces
currently engaged in operations around Afghanistan are
armed with depleted uranium ammunition. However, we do
not rule out the use of depleted uranium ammunition in
Afghanistan, should its penetrative capability be
judged necessary in the future."

The defense minister played his cards close to his
chest, no doubt having been informed that DU or other
uranium weapons were being used by the United States
(and no doubt British) forces to penetrate the caverns
of Tora Bora and other targets (including civilian
ones), especially in the vicinity of Kabul.

The refusal of the Ministry of Defense to fully admit
that dangerous uranium weapons may have been used in
Afghanistan and the conflicts in the Balkans (Bosnia
and Kosova), when evidence shows the contrary,
illustrates just how sensitive the government is to
the possibility that its use, or its collusion in the
use, of weapons of mass destruction may be discovered.

This is not just because thousands of innocent
civilians will suffer due to radiological (and heavy
metal) poisoning, but also because the government is
prepared to send British troops and aid workers,
possibly for a long occupation of the war zones,
ill-equipped and vulnerable to contamination.

When the Afghan crisis began, many of us believed that
a great amount of DU/dirty uranium would be used to
achieve the US-British campaign objectives, both to
penetrate the opposition's hideouts in rocky terrain
and to test new weapons systems (dirty uranium or
dirty DU contains radioactive contaminants, such as
plutonium isotopes, derived from spent fuel from power
reactors). The amount used in Afghanistan might have
exceeded the several hundred ton's of DU/dirty uranium
used in the 1990-91 Gulf War and the Balkans
conflicts.

Startling report

A startling new report based on research in
Afghanistan indicates that our worst fears have been
realized. The study, produced by the Uranium Medical
Research Centre (UMRC), points to the likelihood of
large numbers of the population being exposed to
uranium dust and debris.

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.

Two scientific study teams were sent to Afghanistan in
the aftermath of the conflict in 2001-02. The first
arrived in June 2002, concentrating on the Jalalabad
region. The second arrived four months later,
broadening the study to include the capital Kabul,
which has a population of nearly 3.5 million people.
The city itself contains the highest recorded number
of fixed targets during Operation Enduring Freedom.
For the study's purposes, the vicinity of three major
bomb sites were examined.

It was predicted that signatures of depleted or
enriched uranium would be found in the urine and soil
samples taken during the research. The team was
unprepared for the shock of its findings, which
indicated in both Jalalabad and Kabul, DU was possibly
causing the high levels of illness but also high
concentrations of non-depleted uranium. Tests taken
from a number of Jalalabadd subjects showed
concentrations 400% to 2000% above that for normal
populations, amounts which have not been recorded in
civilian studies before.

Those in Kabul who were directly exposed to US-British
precision bombing showed extreme signs of
contamination, consistent with uranium exposure and
with some types of chemical or biological weaponry.
These included pains in joints, back/kidney pain,
muscle weakness, memory problems and confusion and
disorientation. Many of these symptoms are found in
Gulf War and Balkans veterans and civilians. Those
exposed to the bombing report symptoms of flu-type
illnesses, bleeding, runny noses and blood-stained
mucous.

The study team itself complained of similar symptoms
during their stay. Most of these symptoms last for
days or months. The team also conducted a preliminary
sample examination of new-born infants, discovering
that at least 25% may be suffering from congenital and
post-natal health problems that could be associated
with uranium contamination. These include undeveloped
muscles, large head in comparison to body size, skin
rashes and infant lethargy. Considering that the
children had access to sufficient levels of nutrition,
the symptoms could not be due to malnourishment.

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.

The only conclusion is that the allied forces are now
possibly using milled uranium ore in their warheads to
maximize the effectiveness and strength of their
weapons, as well as to mask the uranium, hoping that
it may be discounteded as part of any local natural
deposits.

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.

Repeated warnings of this possible contamination was
sent to both the British and Afghan governments in
April by scientific researcher Dai Williams in her
report, "Mystery Metal in Afghanistan". Warning were
also sent to the UN Environment Program, the World
Health Organization and Oxfam. All have ignored them
and failed to conduct their own investigations.

Iraq

Present information and studies stressing the growing
mortality rates amongst young children, especially the
new born, indicate that malnutrition and other social
causes cannot be the only attributable source of this
phenomenon. This is confirmed by health specialists,
international observers and a few brave officials from
local hospitals who are convinced that this rise in
illnesses and malformation are due to uranium/DU
weapons.

In October, Durakovic spoke on al Jazeera television,
claiming that the amount of DU/uranium used in
Afghanistan far exceeded that of past conflicts. He
also warned that if the scale of the attacks in
Afghanistan was matched or exceeded in a forthcoming
war in Iraq, then the consequences would be of
appalling proportions for both civilians and military
forces alike.

This scenario has substance, if the $393 billion
defense authorization bill that Congress approved
recently is taken into account. More than $15 million
was assigned to modifying bunker busters bombs to
nuclear capable, quite apart from uranium being added
to conventional and bunker buster systems.s. Money was
also invested in other weapons of mass destruction,
including thermobaric and electromagnetic weapons.

The anti-war movement must oppose radiological and
other weapons, as well as research and access to the
source materials. Many of us have seen the
heart-wrenching pictures of deformity and death in
Iraq, and know of the growing cancer wards in Bosnia
and Kosova, not to mention the 80,000 American, 15,000
Canadian and thousands of British, Australian, French
and other troops! who are suffering a painful
existence from Gulf War Syndrome plus the growing
number suffering from a Balkans equivalent.

Davey Garland is a coordinator of the British-based
Pandora DU Research Project. Source; Green Left
Weekly, Issue of December 2002.