One Step Farther Back from a DU War?

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By Steve Beckow (about the author) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Steve Beckow - Writer

Planes, tanks, and other munitions systems, mostly American these days, are what deliver depleted uranium (DU) munitions and spread DU in the environment.

That being the case, I am heartened by any news that indicates a wrench being thrown in the works of the military machine of any DU-using nation, not just the United States.

What is it about DU that is troublesome?

DU, once exploded, forms a ceramic dust that is so fine that it travels in the air worldwide.

An infinitesimally small dose of it breathed in, ingested, or absorbed through the skin can lead to lethal cancers and other illnesses.
DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years.
DU cannot be protected against, treated, or cleaned up.
DU harms soldiers on both sides of a fight, civilians in the country of conflict, and all countries downwind.
Once contaminated, a country becomes a DU wasteland.
Soldiers returning from that conflict can carry DU in their gear home to their families or infect their wives with “hot semen.”
DU bonds with DNA and leads to horrible birth defects.

A possible war with Iran would be the most immediate source of a very large dump of DU into the atmosphere. One threat to the U.S. carrier fleet that makes a DU war less likely is the rumoured possession by Iran of Russian Sizzler and Sunburn missiles, which are "unstoppable," carrier-busting weapons. No war in Iran, no DU dump.

Now comes news of a second wrinkle, not from Russia this time but from China, that could stop the forward motion of the American military in the immediate future, even if it has ominous overtones for the far future. I am grateful for the breathing space it provides.

William Thomas put out an article a few months ago saying that American military technicians had discovered a Trojan horse in their microchips -- all of which had been made in China. Three different sets of machinery failed when put through a weapons test. One would be an accident; two a coincidence; but three is sabotage. You can read that article at (1). Now Thomas has put out a second article that alleges that the Chinese have demonstrated that they can control American aircraft. They have given two demonstrations.

The first was to cause such trouble aboard Vice-President Dick Cheney's homebound flight from Australia that he had to stop at Singapore, where he was met by a Chinese official who described to him in detail what had gone wrong with his plane.

The second was the nuclear-armed B-52 forced to land in Minot AFB. What is not known about that flight was that, apparently, it too was "taken over" by Chinese military hackers, working through their onboard computer parts - made in China. The URL for that article is located at (2).

If any country’s war machinery that threatens to dust the Earth with radioactivity is caused to stand down, I am happy, even though I know that there are long-term considerations which could be even more worrisome. At least we have an interlude in which to wake up to the fact that a war using DU weapons will kill this planet.

Endnotes

(1) http://tinyurl.com/2gfvcz.

(2) http://tinyurl.com/2fljmf.

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The author is a former Member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and the author of several Internet books on cross-cultural spirituality.

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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