On
Thursday, April 7, 2005, Ingri Cassel interviewed independent researcher/writer
Amy Worthington on The American Activist. Worthington's articles on chemtrails,
vaccines, cell phones and depleted uranium munitions first appear in The IO and
then go all over the world. The following interview is a discussion of what
Worthington believes is the most horrible legacy our generation will be leaving
for the next generations: A DU-contaminated world.
Ingri: HI, AMY, WELCOME TO THE SHOW AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TO TALK
ABOUT THE U.S. LEGACY OF DEPLETED URANIUM MUNITIONS.
Amy:
It's really RADIOACTIVE WAR, Ingri. It's one of the most important topics of our
day. Radioactive war has been raging since Bush-Cheney started bombing
Afghanistan in 2001. And yet most Americans still don't understand that in THEIR
name, and with THEIR money, this administration, the U.S. Congress and the
Pentagon have committed nuclear war against both Iraq and Afghanistan, two
non-nuclear countries whose citizens had nothing whatsoever to do with
9/1l.
Ingri: IF YOU TELL PEOPLE THAT THE U.S. AND THEIR BRITISH PARTNERS ARE
USING NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, MOST ARE SHOCKED BECAUSE THE NIGHTLY
NEWS HAS AVOIDED ALL MENTION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONRY.
Amy:
That's right. But tens of thousands of civilians and non-combatants in
Afghanistan and Iraq have been killed with these horrendous, radioactive
weapons. The U.S. military is using two kinds of uranium weapons--non-depleted
and depleted--against these poor people and in the process we are nuking our own
troops.
Ingri: WHY DO YOU CALL THESE WEAPONS NUCLEAR WEAPONS?
Amy:
Experts says that any weapon which incorporates radioactive material can be
considered a nuclear weapon under international law. Uranium weapons we are
using in the Middle East are nuclear weapons because:
*they
result in the same kinds of injury and death as the old type nuclear bombs that
Truman dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII.
*Both
kinds of weapons release deadly alpha, beta and gamma radiation.
*
Both the old and the new uranium weapons derive energy from the nucleus of the
atom, thus the term "nuke."
Ingri: SO ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE U.S. IS DOING TO IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
WHAT WE DID TO JAPAN IN WWII?
Amy:
Yes, but in a cleverly subtle way. You see the old primitive nuclear and
hydrogen bombs burn people from the OUTSIDE IN with gamma radiation, and then
later with internal exposure from fallout. People hit by those weapons died in
large numbers very quickly. Our modern uranium weapons are killing people
slowly, from the INSIDE OUT when victims breathe and ingest the toxic
radioactive gas and particles released as uranium weapons burn on impact. The
deadly results are less conspicuous to public opinion. The further advantage of
our new uranium weapons is that our troops can be used longer before they die.
And make no mistake about it, the Pentagon Brass and the White House know very
well that uranium weapons are killing our troops, but slowly.
Ingri: AND WHAT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT?
Amy:
Sure, chunks of radioactive weaponry and equipment now litter both Afghanistan
and Iraq. Contaminated tanks, unspent bullets and shells are lying in the sand
leaching radioactivity into the water, the food, contaminating animals, insects
even microbes, and making the playgrounds of children absolute death zones.
Riding in with weapons-grade uranium is also radioactive tritium and plutonium,
one of the most deadly toxins on the planet. And remember, the U.S. government
has said that it has no plans to clean up these radioactive war zones.
Ingri: CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS WE ARE USING?
Amy:
The Pentagon's non-depleted uranium weapons include a new experimental class of
bunker busting bombs and missiles. Depleted uranium munitions, which are just as
deadly as non-depleted, are deployed by: *naval missiles and machine guns *A-10
warplanes *army tanks *cannons mounted on the M2 Bradley *helicopter gun ships
*the AV-8B Harriers used by Marines
Ingri: DO WE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH OF THIS NUCLEAR WEAPONRY HAS BEEN
USED SINCE THE WAR ON TERROR BEGAN?
Amy:
Experts estimate is that at least 1,000 TONS of uranium weaponry has been used
against Afghanistan. Researchers who recently took urine samples from sick
people across Afghanistan found that they suffer the highest reading of
non-depleted weapons-grade uranium ever measured in the bodies of a civilian
population. The precious underground water of Afghanistan is now radioactive.
These contaminated people are dying painfully of radiation side effect--raging
cancers and Leukemia. Many children there are being born with hideous birth
defects.
Ingri: BUT ON THE POSITIVE SIDE FOR BUSH AND CHENEY, THE AFGHAN OPIUM
POPPY FIELDS ARE PRODUCING BUMPER CROPS NOW THAT AFGHANISTAN HAS A PUPPET
GOVERNMENT INSTALLED BY THE U.S. MILITARY.
Amy:
That's right. Afghanistan under the U.S.puppet government is a premier
narco-state according to the United Nations. Bush-Cheney are now in control of
87 percent of the world's illegal production of opium. Just about every educated
person knows that US. military and intelligence agencies have used the
international narcotics trade to fund their black budgets for decades. After the
Taliban so rudely terminated the opium industry in the late 90s, Bush-Cheney had
to demonize Afghanistan as an excuse to invade and re-establish the lucrative
opium industry. Remember the Bush dynasty has also been deeply involved with the
international cocaine industry since Bush Sr. ran the illegal and sordid
Iran-Contra project during the Reagan era.
Ingri: WHAT ABOUT THE RADIOACTIVE WAR IN IRAQ?
Amy:
Iraq is a horrible killing field. During Gulf War I in 1991, the U.S. military
used 350 tons of uranium weaponry in Iraq. This likely explains why 325,000 Gulf
War I vets are now on permanent medical disability. Then, in 2003 when the U.S.
invaded Iraq again, both the Pentagon and the United Nations admitted that
coalition forces used another 2,200 tons in March and April of that year alone.
So, at that point, Iraq--only 2/3 the size of Texas--was drenched in 2,500 tons
of radioactive waste. According to calculations by the United Kingdom Atomic
Energy Authority, that's enough radiation to generate over 20 million new
cancers, or a case of cancer for about every citizen in Iraq. But the war and
occupation have been roaring on for an additional two years and no one has yet
calculated how many additional tons have been used against the insurgency and
the civilian population since the invasion. Wherever our troops fight rebellious
Iraqis, they use uranium weaponry, contaminating themselves and innocent
civilians all over again. Uranium weapons were developed for use against hard
targets like tanks, not for controlling crowds and pulverizing stone
buildings.
Ingri: SO YOU ARE SAYING THAT THE LARGE BATTLES WE'VE HEARD ABOUT IN
IRAQ LIKE FALLUJAH WERE CONDUCTED WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONRY?
Amy:
Yes, indeed. The struggle for Fallujah began in the spring of last year and the
final campaign, called Phantom Fury, was concluded by 10,000 marines last
December. U.S. war planes and tanks spewed uranium weapons into that city for
months. Fallujah, once a city of 350,000 people, is now just a pile of
radioactive rubble. Thousands of its citizens are dead and the rest are living
in destitute makeshift camps in the desert and reporting horrible illnesses. But
it was not just nukes that Americans used against civilians of that city. Last
month the Iraqi health ministry told international media that the Americans had
used cluster bombs and hideous chemical weapons that burned people alive. These
chemical weapons apparently included white phosphorous shells, propane bombs and
napalm. Doctors saw victims with hideously discolored skin and huge burn
blisters. Phantom Fury was a flagrant violation of Geneva conventions. It was
pure savage barbarism.
Ingri: WHY DO THE PEOPLE OF NUCLEAR WAR ZONES NEED RIGGED ELECTIONS AND
A FAKE DEMOCRACY IF THEY ARE NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD?
Amy:
Good point! The stacks of science data produced by the U.S. government for the
last 60 years convinces us that all human beings--and sadly, all animals--still
breathing in Iraq are the walking dead. Scientists from the Uranium Medical
Research Center in Canada have produced scientific data confirming that the
soil, the water and the people in Baghdad and Basra and in the farming areas are
"hot" with radiation. The Iraqi people now suffer a rampant cancer epidemic and
their genetic code is toast.
Ingri: SOUNDS LIKE GENOCIDE TO ME.
Amy:
You hit it, Ingri. Bush-Cheney's radioactive wars are among the most abhorrent
genocide projects in human history. The Iraqis are sitting on the second largest
oil deposits in the Middle East. These brave and independent people are an
impediment to plunder--so we just get rid of them by slow burn.
Ingri: EXPLAIN THE HEALTH RAMIFICATIONS TO AMERICAN FORCES WHO HAVE BEEN
WADING AROUND IN ALL THAT RADIOACTIVE MUCK SINCE 2001?
Amy:
Every uranium weapon that hits its target releases both radiation and chemical
poisons in the form of gas and tiny ceramic uranium oxide particles. The
lunatics in Washington could not have picked a more lethal place to use uranium
weapons than the dry, dusty Arabian desert of the Middle East. Uranium and other
toxic metallic particles spewed by burning weapons attach themselves
electrostatically to the fine desert dust which coats and permeates everything
in the environment.This dust is continually re-suspended by winds and traffic
and it will never become less poisonous or less radioactive in the next four
billion years. Our troops in Iraq have been breathing and eating millions of
particles of this radioactive and chemically toxic dust. Their lungs, kidneys,
blood, lymph and other tissues have to be full of it. Scientist say one single
particle can generate cell changes leading to cancer, which has an incubation
period of five to thirty years.
Ingri: BUT DEPENDING ON THE SOURCE AND AMOUNT OF RADIATION ENCOUNTERED,
EVERY CONTAMINATED SOLDIER WILL DIE IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
Amy:
Right! Some of our contaminated troops will die fast, smokers for example. But
thousands of others will live with chronic illness for years. Contaminated
troops now have internal organs being zapped with alpha and beta particles and
gamma rays from the uranium particles trapped in their tissues. The radioactive
uranium isotopes in their bodies will grow more lethal as time goes on because
these isotopes decay and their decay progeny--including thorium and
protactinium--are increasingly destructive to human health the longer they
remain in the body. Uranium weaponry is the ultimate horror weapon because it
makes people increasingly sick and there is no cure for those contaminated--no
practical way to cleanse the tissues of trapped, non-soluble, radioactive
particles.
Ingri: WHY CAN'T THE MILITARY SUPPLY PROTECTIVE GEAR TO U.S.
TROOPS?
Amy:
There is no suit or breathing apparatus that would protect U.S. troops against
such fine radioactive dust. The military found in its own tests that trying to
filter out such material is useless. It quickly permeates and clogs the most
advanced HEPA filters. Putting troops in moon suits in hot dry climates in a
battlefield environment would be ludicrous even if they were effective. Besides,
our tank and transportation crews are exposed to huge doses of gamma rays from
transporting and handling uranium weaponry. A tank crew inside an Abrams tank
gets the equivalent of one chest X-ray a day. Handling penetrators gives them
equivalent of 50 chest X-rays in one hour.
Ingri: ARE THERE ANY REPORTS YET OF RADIATION-SICK U.S. TROOPS? Amy:
Yes, quite a few. The New York Daily News did a series late last year on Army
National Guard soldiers coming back from Iraq suffering radiation poisoning.
Those soldiers had to have their urine tested by private labs outside of the
United States in order to confirm that they have uranium contamination. The
Pentagon naturally refuses to use reliable, state-of-the-art testing
equipment.
Ingri: BE MORE SPECIFIC ON THE SYMPTOMS THAT INDICATE URANIUM
CONTAMINATION.
Amy:
Well, uranium poisoning exhibits all the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome suffered
by several hundred thousand Gulf War I vets. Uranium particles lodge in the
lungs, causing severe damage, asthma and/or reactive airway disease. Soldiers
who died from so-called atypical pneumonia in Iraq in the last two years
displayed all of the symptoms of severe radiation poisoning to the lungs. By the
way, Ingri, did you see that ABC's Peter Jennings has just been diagnosed with
lung cancer and he is very sick? He's an ex-smoker and he has been to
radioactive war zones to do news reports.
Ingri: YES!
Amy:
Trapped uranium particles are especially hard on the kidneys, causing victims to
excrete blood and often to become incontinent. Many of our macho troops will end
up in diapers, a fact never mentioned in America's military recruiting centers.
Contaminated troops get severe headaches and ugly rashes, fevers and night
sweats. They suffer abnormal weight loss because uranium blocks metabolic
processes. They suffer extreme joint, nerve and muscle pain, vision problems and
multiple chemical sensitivities. They suffer thyroid dysfunction and
cardiovascular symptoms. Their immune system goes haywire, they can't sleep,
their teeth and hair fall out quickly. The final stages of radiation poisoning
are multiple cancers and lymphomas.
INGRI: SO, THOSE MAGNETIC "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" STICKERS OUGHT TO SAY
"SUPPORT OUR TROOPS FOREVER." WE MUST ALSO REMEMBER THE DAMAGE TO THEIR BRAIN
AND NERVOUS SYSTEM -- THIS IS HUGE!
Amy:
You're so right, Ingri. Brain damage is a tragic side effect of uranium
poisoning. Radioactive particles breathed through the nose can go right to the
brain. Scientists have shown in recent studies that uranium isotopes easily
cross the blood brain barrier and cause gross neurological dysfunction.
Scientists studying sick Gulf War I vets have found all kinds of brain
dysfunction and chemical abnormalities in the nervous system of
radiation-exposed vets. Radiation victims develop memory loss, confusion and
life-threatening mental disorders. They often display impulsive anger, violent
behavior, depression and phobias. Just two weeks ago USA Today reported that
about one in four veterans home from Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 16 months
have been diagnosed with mental disorders. And the New York Times tells us to
expect tens of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq with serious mental
problems.
Ingri: COULD RADIATION-INDUCED MENTAL ILLNESS OF OUR TROOPS BE
MANIFESTING IN THEIR BIZARRE BEHAVIOR INCLUDING THE TORTURING AND SODOMIZING OF
IRAQI PRISONERS?
Amy:
I think so. Cruelty to other humans has to be a form of mental illness. Through
Freedom of Information, the ACLU has just obtained from the Pentagon many
hundreds of documents and videos demonstrating not only widespread abuse
perpetrated by our troops against wounded and unarmed Iraqis, but also
demonstrating the perverse delight with which the abuse is rendered.
Ingri: THE WHOLE SITUATION IS GROTESQUE. MANY OF OUR TROOPS ARE ABUSERS
WHILE AT THE SAME TIME THEY THEMSELVES ARE ABUSED BY THOSE WHO SENT THEM TO
RADIOACTIVE WAR ZONES.
Amy:
Exactly. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing our GI's actually laughing in the
heat of battle. It is believed that our troops are issued hallucinogenic drugs
to reduce their sense of fear in combat conditions. Add that to mind-bending,
anti-malaria medications and throw in the squalene adjuvant used in military
vaccinations--which is known to cause serious neurological damage [The Idaho
Observer, March, 2005] and you have a pretty potent formula for creating a
severely demented military population. And by the way, the British who have far
fewer troops than we committed to the war, are now reporting that many hundreds
of their troops are returning home with "severe" mental illness.
[Editor's note: Many of these Gulf War vets still well enough to work
will come home and find gainful employment as policemen. DWH].
Ingri: HOW MANY TROOPS HAVE BEEN RADIATION-CONTAMINATED SINCE THE WARS
BEGAN?
Amy:
It is impossible to know exactly how many U.S. troops have been
uranium-contaminated since the nuclear war on terror began with the bombing of
Afghanistan. New figures released by the Pentagon show that 1,048,884 troops
have been deployed to the war zones since 2001. If you factor in British troops,
coalition forces, plus media personnel, diplomats, aid workers, civilian
contractors, foreign mercenaries and support personnel in Kuwait, which is also
very hot, we are looking at well over a million people involved in war-making
and occupation activities who face serious health ramifications down the road
from uranium and other actinide poisoning.
Ingri: AND OUR TROOPS WILL BE IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN FOR YEARS TO
COME.
Amy:
Tens of thousands of fresh U.S. troops are yet to be sacrificed in the
radioactive war zones. U.S. officials say they will keep troops in Iraq at least
three more years. Actually I think we will have troops there forever. There is
no exit strategy because Bush-Cheney and their corporate backers want control of
Iraqi oil and they will pay any price in human suffering to keep control of that
oil.
Ingri: WHAT DOES NUKING OUR OWN TROOPS DO TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY? Amy:
The longer we nuke our own troops the happier China and Russia and their Muslim
allies will be. Should they come to get us someday, our military could be
decimated and our gates wide open. To my knowledge, Russia and China don't nuke
their own troops. Someday we may face a Chinese Army of 2.5 million.
Ingri: SO IT'S LIKE OUR LAUNCHING RADIOACTIVE WAR IS NATIONAL
SUICIDE.
Amy:
You betcha. The Kamikazes of Japan and the suicide bombers of Palestine have
nothing on us. U.S. troops flowing into radioactive war zones are suicide
specialists in the first degree. It's amazing how these people--active duty
troops, reservists and the Guard--have just marched off to their doom without a
peep or mutter. Had they unified and refused to go to war with over-kill nuclear
weapons, the warmongers in Washington would be forced to terminate the use of
uranium weaponry.
Ingri: WHAT WILL BECOME OF OUR TROOPS AS THEY RETURN HOME SICK FROM
RADIATION POISONING?
Amy:
The very same things that happened to the hundreds of thousands of sick Gulf War
I vets who are now on medical disability from THEIR war--or dead. Here are my
predictions for how the Bush administration will handle their broken toy
soldiers:
*The
Pentagon will continue to insist that radiation contamination has no part in
their illnesses. The Pentagon-- despite its own incriminating studies--will
never in our lifetime admit that uranium weapons are deadly to our own troops
because they do not want to pay compensation for radiation claims.
* Our
new crop of sick vets will be given no therapy whatsoever for radiation
poisoning. They will be improperly tested or not tested at all. Their medical
records will be lost or destroyed. They will be told their ailments are all in
their heads. They will be booted out of the military when they are too sick to
be useful.
*If
they make waves, they will risk being singled out for retribution and benefits
reduction. Ingri: AND WHAT ABOUT THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN?
Amy:
Their spouses will be horribly impacted. Wives and girlfriends will be burned
and chemically contaminated by radioactive semen and they will suffer abnormal
numbers of miscarriages.
*Because uranium damages DNA, many of their children will be born with
serious, disfiguring birth defects and impediments and then THEIR CHILDREN will
be born with even worse defects because chromosomal damage caused by radiation
gets worse in each successive generation.
Ingri: AND WE WILL NEVER KNOW HOW MANY DIED FROM RADIATION
POISONING!
Amy:
That's right. Our new crop of atomic vets will die alone, most of them in pain,
poverty and bitterness because the truth is, the American people will have
forgotten all about them. They will be non-entities who gave their short lives
for oil and opium. Forty-three percent of our Marines are only 21 years old, or
younger.
Ingri: WE HAVE NEVER BEEN TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT AMERICAN CASUALTIES IN
IRAQ, HAVE WE?
Amy:
Never. We have always known that the Pentagon's number of war casualties is
completely false. Especially in regards to the number of dead. Dan Rather
confirmed last year that since the beginning of the war, the U. S. government
has cooked the books by listing only those killed in actual combat, instead of
the full number of troops killed for all reasons. Deaths in transit to medical
facilities are not added to the official tally and neither are deaths that occur
once soldiers return home. Americans will probably never know the true number of
dead from the war on terror because, as our troops die from complications of
radiation poisoning, they will simply fall off the charts.
Ingri: WHAT CAN CONCERNED AMERICANS DO AT THIS POINT?
Amy:
Realistically we cannot save U.S. troops who are already contaminated. I foresee
no cure in the near future. Bush-Cheney are now spending 6 billion dollars a
month to wage their continuing nuclear holocaust and there is virtually no money
for researching the treatment and cure for chemical and radiation damage
suffered by the troops involved. In the 1990s, Congress allotted over $247
million for research into the causes of Gulf War Syndrome and the Pentagon
wasted nearly every dime with useless studies designed to obscure the truth
about the Pentagon's role in poisoning its own troops.
Ingri: BUT WE COULD WARN POTENTIAL RECRUITS ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE GETTING
INTO IF THEY JOIN THE MILITARY NOW.
Amy:
Yes, that is one of the most important things we can do. We can try to save
lives of many young people who are being bribed with bait-and-switch financial
incentives to get sucked into radioactive war zones. There are 6,000 military
recruiters crawling through our high schools and colleges, mall parking lots and
game parlors looking to put their hooks in the jaws of 17-year-olds slated to
become the next crop of radiation fodder. These high-pressure war salesmen are
turning many of our schools into military recruitment centers. And of course,
there is always the possibility of a draft. All Bush-Cheney have to do is stage
another 9/11 type terror incident and they will get draft legislation passed
overnight!
Ingri: SO HOW DO WE GET TO THESE KIDS TO EDUCATE AND WARN THEM?
Amy:
I think the best resource materials are two great new documentaries. I hope our
listeners will grab a pen to write this down.
*A
DVD titled "Beyond Treason," to be released summer, 2005, will fully document
Gulf War Illness and uranium poisoning suffered by our troops. This documentary
by Capt. Joyce Riley's group is being produced by The Power Hour in cooperation
with the Gulf War Veterans Association. The website for information is
www.gulfwarvets.com.
*The
other documentary is a fantastic German film (in English) which takes the viewer
right into radioactive war zones with researchers who actually film evidence of
nuclear weapons used by coalition forces. They also interview Iraqi doctors
working with people dying from radiation. Available in both video and DVD, this
film is titled "The Doctors, the Depleted Uranium and the Dying Children." It is
very graphic, showing horrible suffering, but it good for people who want to see
and understand the science of radioactive war. This video would be fantastic to
show at colleges and high schools in every community. You can call 413-773-7427
for information on obtaining this great film. Or go to: www.traprockpeace.org.
This site is a treasury of information on uranium weaponry and keeps us abreast
of what is happening in the fight to restore sanity to the world.
Closing comment from Amy: The Bush administration is positively obsessed
with nuclear weapons. They are developing a new fourth generation of nuclear
weapons and Bush's new Energy Secretary, Samuel Bodman, announced in February
that preparations should be made to resume nuclear testing in Nevada. You know,
Ingri, a resumption of nuclear testing will create a whole new generation of
sick down winders throughout the United States. So everyone's life is on the
line here. We either stick together in this fight against uranium weapons, or we
are all going to fry separately.
Note
- Non-depleted uranium is the highly-concentrated feed stock used for the
enrichment process to create nuclear weapons and fuel for nuclear reactors. This
material is stored and transported under lock and key in the U.S.
Depleted uranium is a waste product from the uranium enrichment process
and during that process it gains a deadly man-made isotope called U-236. This
material is stored and transported under lock and key in the U.S.
