- Dear Jeff,
-
- I wrote this letter to Congressperson Susan Davis, my
representative on the Hill, (in the swamp), and still have not had any
reply. I thought if you might want to share it with your readers so that
they could send a copy to their own representative and or senator? Perhaps
if all of our representatives began to receive copies demanding some kind
of accounting for the use of these inhuman weapons, they would feel more
inclined to respond and save many innocent people from untold suffering.
-
- Thanks, Jim.
-
- To: <susan.davis@mail.house.gov>
- Subject: Uranium Weapons
- Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003
-
- Dear Ms. Davis,
-
- It has come to my attention that the U.S. military is
using and has used, weapons containing Uranium.
-
- These weapons contain both depleted uranium, a by product
of refining mined and smelted uranium ores, and spent fuel rod uranium.
The weapons include - but are not limited to - armor in tanks, rounds used
in gattling guns on A-10 aircraft, rounds used in guns on Bradley fighting
vehicles, and more recently, in ground-penetrating bombs.
-
- This material is being used because it is heavy, cheap,
plentiful, and otherwise useless, that is to say it is all unprofitable
by product material with no commercial use. It is the kind of windfall
for the atomic industry that they just can't resist. It is a great toy
for engineers devoid of conscience to play with, and to devise new and
efficient ways to kill, maim and destroy life with.
-
- Unfortunately, uranium has a few nasty qualities that
make it a criminal material to use in warfare, as US policy makes very
clear when Govt. spokespersons accuse our enemies of plotting to produce
"dirty" bombs that would spread radioactive materials through
the air, water and soil of our country, or the countries of our allies.
These qualities are that it is radioactive, it has a very long half life,
meaning it stays radioactive practically forever, and it is a heavy metal
that is poison to humans, plants and animals.
-
- When this material is used in weapons, it oxides, and
is turned into a fine powder that drifts with the wind, falls to the ground
over an extend area, enters the food chain, contaminates the ground water,
and leads to suffering, slow death, disease, birth defects, cancers and
so on. Very ugly things happen to anyone who makes the mistake of being
born in a place where there is significant concentrations of uranium oxide
dust. Even our own troops, when exposed to this dust, become sick, and
it is widely believed to be a contributing factor in Gulf War Syndrome.
Yet the War Department has stepped up the use of munitions using this
material since the Gulf War, and it has been used extensively in Afghanistan,
and lately in Iraq, even in densely populated urban areas.
-
- This is an outrage. This is a war crime of the first
order. This is a violation of all that is human and compassionate, and
worthy in our nation. It makes me ashamed to know that the greatest nation
in the history of the world is stooping to such a level to demolish and
poison the earth in some of the worlds smallest and most poverty ridden
countries.
-
- I am writing to ask you to seek help in the congress
for an investigation into this matter, and also to seek to persuade you
to submit legislation that will ban these nuclear weapons forever from
our military arsenal. As of this writing, no mechanism exists to clean
up the debris fields caused by the use of these inhuman and terrible weapons.
There can be no justification for causing children to be born with birth
defects for generations to come, because of US policy issues related to
some of the leaders of their mothers and fathers countries, and no excuse
whatsoever to expose one more US soldier to the aftereffects of the use
of these weapons of mass destruction.
-
- I know you voted against the resolution to allow Mr.
Bush to invade and occupy Iraq. I am hoping your moral conscience extends
further than this, and that you will take pity on the helpless, and the
defenders of our democracy. I congratulate you on your courage so far,
and want you to know that your commitment to a human agenda has not been
lost on me, and that I have voted for you in past elections. Please, if
you are too busy to respond personally to this missive, do not neglect
to address this important issue that is being virtually ignored by the
main stream press, and your fellow representatives on the Hill. Thank
you for your consideration in this important matter.
-
- Your constituent,
-
- James Walton
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