James A. Stevenson :
copyright April 13, 2003
Some Modern Weapons’ Effects
No words are really capable of describing
the physical reality of the wounds and deaths inflicted by the weapons
that will be described in this essay, but some writers have come closer
than most. Foremost among these writers are physician Helen Caldicott
and the combat journalist John Pilger. And it is from these authors
that we can learn at least something about a few modern weapons’ effects
on human beings. Many people, including children, have experienced
these effects. Indeed, through weapons handling or "friendly fire"
incidents in the Gulf War, Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq, even some U.S.
and British soldiers have experienced some of these effects. At any
rate, various people have experienced either the direct or indirect impact
of some of the following individual weapons or some combination of weapons.
These weapons are the ones that may be in use in the U.S.-British war with
Iraq. They include: 15,000 and 21,500 pound Fuel Air Explosives
(FAEs) known as "Daisy Cutters," and cluster bombs out of each of which
explodes 202 bomblets that burst to send millions of shards of razor-sharp
shrapnel over an area the size 22 football fields, and implosion
bombs, and deep penetration bombs sheathed in depleted uranium, and Cruise
missiles, and depleted uranium 238 shells, and bombing by B-52s or
other high flying craft.
Referring to the gruesome effect
of B-52 bombing, long-time combat journalist John Pilger once described
what happens when people are hit by 70 tons of B-52 bombs dropped in the
"long box" pattern (i.e., carpet bombing). Noting that the U.S. military
"presumed" that everything inside a "box" would be destroyed, Pilger found
that such was nearly true when, during the U.S.-Vietnam War, he reached
the Vietnamese village inside the "box" that had just been hit with "three
ladders of bombs." He discovered that a crater had replaced the street
and wrote: "I slipped on the severed shank of a buffalo and fell
hard into a ditch filled with pieces of [human] limbs and the intact bodies
of children thrown into the air by the blast. The children’s skin
had folded back, like parchment, revealing veins and burnt flesh that seeped
blood, while the eyes, intact, stared straight ahead. A small leg
[of one child] had been so contorted by the blast that the foot seemed
to be growing from a shoulder. I vomited. . . . this is what I saw,
and often; yet . . . I never saw images of these grotesque sights on television
or in the pages of a newspaper. I saw them only pinned on the walls
of news agency offices in Saigon as a kind of freaks’ gallery."
Likewise, Helen Caldicott
describes what happens to people when they are blasted by 15,000-pound
Fuel Air Explosives (i.e., "Daisy Cutters"). These U.S. bombs, and
their latest bigger 21,500-pound version, are so huge that they have to
be dropped by parachute from the rear of huge cargo planes. When
they explode a few feet above ground, they create a wide area of destruction
with devastating fire and blast. Typically holding explosive charges,
this bomb goes off when the "first explosion bursts the container [of]
. . . fuel which mixes with atmospheric oxygen. The second charge
then detonates this fuel-air cloud, creating a massive blast that kills
people and destroys unreinforced buildings [i.e., homes and businesses
rather than military bunkers]. Near the ignition point people are
obliterated, crushed to death with overpressures of 427 pounds per square
inch, and incinerated at temperatures of 2500 to 3000 degrees centigrade.
. . . [A] vacuum effect — then ensues. People in the second
zone of destruction are severely burned and suffer massive internal organ
injuries before they die. In the third zone, [possibly extending
as far as twenty miles from ground zero], eyes are extruded from their
orbits, lungs and ear drums rupture, and severe concussion ensues."
In Afghanistan, Caldicott notes, "Up to 200 civilians died 20 miles away
from the bombs detonation point]. . . . They suffered blast trauma — ruptured
lungs, blindness, arms and hands blown off, almost certainly from FAEs
(i.e., Daisy Cutters)."
As for the deaths and injuries
caused by the flesh-ripping shrapnel shot out by "cluster bombs," these
weapons simply lacerate the people that they hit with various amounts of
multiple wounds. And if they don’t kill outright, there is little
that medical personnel can do to stop severely wounded people from slowly
or quickly bleeding to death from scores to hundreds of unclinchible wounds.
Likewise, the medical consequences
resulting from the use of depleted uranium 238 shells and bombs are such
as to be largely untreatable and vast in their mass destructiveness.
U.S. and British troops have already shot 300-800 tons of depleted, cancer-causing,
uranium 238 shells at Iraqis in the first Gulf War of 1991.
Explaining what this means for flesh and blood — including the flesh and
blood of U.S. troops — Caldicott starts with the technical aspect of uranium
238, and writes: "No dose of radiation is safe, and radiation is
biologically cumulative — each dose adds to the risk of cancer development
years later. . . . Uranium 238, the un-fissionable isotope remaining after
enrichment is dubbed depleted uranium, or DU." It is "1.7 times
more dense than lead and is therefore extremely effective as ammunition
for penetrating metal armor. . . . [But] [u]ranium 238 can also be used
as armor plating in tanks because its density prevents penetration by conventional
weapons. . . ." "Uranium 238," Dr. Caldicott continues, "has a half-life
of 4.5 billion years. In the depleted form after the enrichment process,
it still contains small amounts of uranium 235 and uranium 234. All
three uranium isotopes are alpha emitters and as such are potentially highly
carcinogenic. . . . The depleted uranium 238 used for weapons has the radioactivity
of the original natural uranium . . . Nevertheless, the radiation
emanating from 238 can be dangerous if it enters and resides within human
or animal bodies."
Turning to the precise biological
danger created by using uranium shells and bombs, Caldicott explains, "that
uranium 238 is pyrophoric: when it hits a tank at high speed it burst
into flame. Up to 70 percent of the shell is vaporized and converted
to tiny particles of oxidized uranium 238. Sixty percent of the particles
are tiny — less than 5 percent are light, they can be transported many
miles on wind currents, and they are small enough to be inhaled into the
terminal bronchi — the tiniest air passage of the lungs. They can reside
in these terminal bronchi for many years, irradiating a small volume of
surrounding cells with high doses of radiation. The larger particles
can be wafted up to the throat carried by the mucous and cilial action
of the airways and then swallowed. . . ." Continuing, Caldicott
states that the post Gulf War battlefield and training grounds of Iraq,
Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia were littered with the radioactive debris of "between
300 and 800 tons of uranium 238 with a half-life of 4.5 billion years."
So, the "water supplies in the affected areas are at risk. The dissolved
uranium will concentrate in the food chain, thousands of times at each
step, particularly in milk – including human breast milk. . . . And noting
that "[c]hildren and babies are ten to twenty times more sensitive to the
carcinogenic effects of radiation than adults," Caldicott adds that "the
inhabitants [will be] at risk for cancers and congenital deformities forever
more. Insoluble, tiny ceramic particles of uranium dioxide aerosol
will be inhaled into the lungs of the surrounding population . . . and
the radioactive water will cause pollution of the food supply."
Meanwhile, she notes that those
dangers extend to some of the troops that fired those weapons — U.S. troops.
"One third, or 654 of the 2054 American tanks used during Desert Storm,"
she writes, "were equipped with uranium armor plating . . . But by their
use, the American tank crews were exposed to whole-body gamma radiation,
similar to X-rays emanating from the uranium armor." Whether
from spent exploded shells, external gamma radiation emitted from uranium
shells or gamma radiation emanating from uranium armor, some U.S. and British
troops have probably come in contact with some very dangerous radioactive
contaminates. As Caldicott points out, "[S]ome of the NATO troops
who were exposed to uranium weapons in Bosnia and Kosovo are now reporting
an increase in leukemia, as are the civilians in Iraq. . . . In 1997 uranium
238 was found in the semen of five out of twenty-two American veterans
who had been carrying uranium fragments in their bodies since 1991. . .
. [T]here have [also] been reports of an increase in incidences of congenital
abnormalities in the offspring of veterans and also in the newborn babies
in Iraq: the uranium is finding its way into testicles where it is
mutating genes in the sperm cells. Uranium can also induce testicular
cancer." And, Caldicott goes on, "Uranium . . . can cause a
particular form of nephritis or kidney disease. It is excreted through
the kidney, so this organ is at particular risk. It is known that
many Gulf War veterans are suffering from kidney disease. The kidney
is also at risk because the heavy-metal uranium is also radioactive."
Yet, despite these dangers and growing
evidence of the source of their cause, the U.S. government’s initial response
to this medical crisis — like its earlier response to concerns about the
biological impact of the estimated 17 million gallons of Agent Orange used
in Vietnam — appears to be one of maintaining ignorance and deniability.
Thus, Caldicott writes, "No epidemiological studies have been done by the
Pentagon to determine the true incidence of renal disease amongst the veterans.
Nor have there been any studies to determine whether malignancies have
increased. [And] the Pentagon is also steadfastly refusing to conduct
studies of the civilians living in the contaminated areas. . . . Instead,
the Pentagon and the British ministry of defense," Caldicott notes, "are
blocking efforts to study their troops for relevant diseases, disclaiming
any association of the so-called Gulf War syndrome with uranium ammunition,
even though a secret report issued by the United Kingdom atomic energy
authority in April 1991 — a month after the conclusion of Desert Storm
— warned that only 40 tons of uranium debris left from the DU [i.e., depleted
uranium] weapons could cause over 500,000 deaths. (Actual debris
amounts to not 40 tons but 300 to 800 tons.)."
Just as tragic, probably more tragic,
is the refusal of the World Health Organization (WHO) to conduct any "studies
on the health effects of exposure to uranium 238 following Desert Storm,
Bosnia, and Kosovo." Still, the WHO coordinator for occupational
and environmental health, Dr. Mike Repacholi, has "acknowledged that young
children face a particular risk from depleted uranium." So,
like the tens of thousands of Vietnamese children in parts of the 50% of
South Vietnam that were hit with Agent Orange who have been born dead,
or without chins, hands, legs, palates, scrotums, and with other physical
mutations, or those who have been affected with leukemia, Iraqi children
may suffer unspeakable diseases and malformations spawned by U.S. weaponry.
Already, in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, "[m]edical reports from
Iraq indicate that childhood malignancies have increased to seven times
what they were and the incidence of congenital malformations has doubled
in the areas where the bombing was the most intense."
At the close of these gruesome descriptions
about some weapon’s effects, it is appropriated to quote at some length
the magnificent words and vision which Charlie Chaplin articulated in his
wonderful peroration in one of his best films — one of the ten best films
ever — The Great Dictator. Mingling his damming indictment of tyranny,
greed, and militarism with a vision of peace, social justice, true democracy,
and the unity of all humanity, Chaplin wrote words that are as relevant
for people today as they were when he condemned the fascists of his era.
These are the sentiments and attitudes that every American, every soldier,
and every human being must finally embrace if we are ever to rid ourselves
of terrible weapons and the type of policy makers who so readily order
their use. Chaplin states:
"I don’t want to rule or conquer
anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible. Jew, Gentile,
Blackman, White – we all want to help one another. Human beings are
like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness not by each
other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another.
In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and
can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful,
but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned man’s souls,
has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped into misery and bloodshed.
We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery
that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made
us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and
feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity, more than
cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities
life will be violent and all be lost.
The airplane and the radio
[and television and internet] have brought us closer together. The
very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries
out for universal brotherhood for the unity of all. Even now my voice
is reaching . . . victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison
innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say do not despair.
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed . . . The hate
of men will pass . . . and the power they took from the people will return
to the people. . . .
Soldiers don’t give yourselves
to brutes. Men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives,
tell you what to do, what to think, and what to feel, who drill you, diet
you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give
yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and
machine hearts. You are not machines you are not cattle, you are
men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t
hate. Only the unloved hate. The unloved and unnatural . .
. In the 17th chapter of St. Luke it is written, "The Kingdom of God is
within men," not in one man nor a group of men but in all men – in you.
You, the people, have the power.
The power to create happiness. You, the people, have the power to
make this life free and beautiful – to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then, in the name of democracy, let us use this power – let us all unite
– let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance
to work, that will give you the future and old age a security. By
the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie.
They do not fulfill that promise. They never will. Dictators
free themselves but they enslave the people. Now, let us . . . fight
to free the world to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed,
with hate, and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason –
a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness."
Of course, the great hope and promise
that Chaplin so poignantly expressed so soon after the advent of fascist
conquests in the 1930s is still to be realized. In Gaza, one valiant,
compassionate, remarkable young woman — the 23 year old American peace
activist Rachel Corrie — recently joined others who have tragically sacrificed
everything in a hope similar to Chaplin’s hope for humanity. Rachel
was crushed to death by a bulldozer about a month ago in her non-violent
attempt to stop an Israeli tank from destroying Palestinian homes in the
Gaza Strip. Some of her most beautiful and sensitive emails to her
family were obtained and published by The Guardian on March 18, 2003.
Every word that Rachel wrote to her loving parents and friends is worth
reading, but some of her last words to her mother (in "additional emails")
on February 28, 2003, seem most appropriate here. They are the hopeful,
idealistic words of the best in humanity from one of humanity’s great lost
treasures — Rachel herself. On the eve of her short life being ended,
she wrote: "I look forward to more moments like February 15 when
civil society wakes up in mass and issues massive and resonant evidence
of its conscience, its unwillingness to be repressed, and its compassion
for the suffering of others. I look forward to more teachers like
Matt Grant and Barbara Weaver and Dale Knuth who teach critical thinking
to kids in the United States. I look forward to the international
resistance that’s occurring now fertilizing analysis on all kinds of issues,
with dialogue between diverse groups of people. I look forward to
all of us who are new at this developing better skills for working in democratic
structures and healing our own racism and classism and sexism and heterosexism
and ageism and ableism and becoming more effective."
No one need say that the road to
actualizing Rachel and Chaplin’s beautiful vision of a common humanity
and justice for all will be long and hard. But like Charlie Chaplin
and Rachel Corrie, we should have an implicit confidence in the fundamental
fairness, compassion, goodness, and decency of most people. Then,
if we pace ourselves, is it possible — even if it takes more than several
generations — that millions of people all over the earth will eventually
build a global society that is contrary to everything that some morally
bankrupt elites think is to be forever imposed on humanity? (E)
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Notes to On Some Weapons’ Effects
According to Doctor Helen Caldicott,
cluster bombs are prohibited by the Geneva Protocol. See Helen Caldicott,
The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush’s Military-Industrial Complex,
New York: New Press, 2002, XI, 226, n.11. Dr. Caldicott cites
"Protocol, Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed
Conflicts, Article 51."
Michael Jansen, "To Shock
and Awe into Oblivion," Jordan Times no date, 2 in Al-Jazeerah Opinion
Editorials, HYPERLINK "http://www.aljazeerah.info"
www.aljazeerah.info ; Evan Thomas and John Barry, "Saddam’s War," Newsweek,
17 March 2003, 27; "Fighting a ‘Smart’ War," Newsweek, 17 February 2003,
36.
John Pilger, "Blair is a
Coward," Mirror.co.uk, 29 January 2003, 2, www.mirror.co.u…=12581179&method=full&siteid=50143.
Caldicott, X-XI. My
emphasis.
Caldicott, XI.
Pilger, "Blair," 3; Caldicott,
152.
Caldicott, 69, 147.
Caldicott, 149. Caldicott
notes that the "U.S. military is fond of saying that depleted uranium [DU]
is less radioactive than naturally occurring uranium. However, uranium
238 is 100 percent uranium, unlike the uranium ore in the ground, which
is considerably deluded with soil. Thus, comparing DU with natural
uranium ore is like comparing apples and oranges. It is simply not
relevant."
Caldicott, 151.
Caldicott, 152.
Caldicott, 152.
Caldicott, 151-152.
Caldicott, 153.
Caldicott, 153.
Caldicott, 154. Caldicott,
of course, notes that, in the absence of more/any scientific studies, "The
symptoms of Gulf War syndrome are difficult to collate within a specific
disease entity. Nevertheless, the complaints of the veterans are
surprisingly similar in pattern to the various pathologies induced by uranium
exposure as described by the U.S. military. Without definitive medical
and epidemiological studies, it is at this stage impossible to know exactly
what the future holds for the people to uranium from the weapons used in
the Gulf and the Balkans. Estimate must suffice. [Accordingly,]
the president of the American Gulf War Veterans estimates that 50,000 to
80,000 veterans are afflicted with Gulf War syndrome, 39,000 have already
been dismissed from active service, and 2,400 to 5,000 have died."
See Caldicott, 155-156.
WHO has been unable to conduct
such studies because it is tied into an agreement with the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that stipulates that "if one agency wishes
to carry out a study that affects the work of the other, mutual agreement
is required [and] the IAEA has never agreed to such studies." See
Caldicott, 156.
Caldicott, 156.
Caldicott, 156.
Charles Chaplin, "The Great
Dictator," Director/Producer and speech writer Charles Chaplin, Image Entertainment,
1940.
Rachel Corrie, "Rachel’s
War," The Guardian, 18 March 2003, 2, Guardian.co.uk/Israel.