MSP sends dossier on depleted uranium to Defence Secretary: come clean on dirty bombs!
February 22, 2011
Character assassination used to silence DU opponents.
Dr Bill Wilson MSP (SNP) has sent the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, a dossier containing what he describes as “significant evidence pointing to the devastating effects of depleted uranium (DU) on the health of armed services personnel and civilians, and of the UK and USA’s attempts to suppress such evidence and prevent the investigation of the effects of DU” and called on the UK Government to take appropriate action.
DU = dirty bombs
Dr Wilson said, “There is much talk about terrorists potentially using ‘dirty bombs’, i.e. weapons which emit radiation and indiscriminately affect anyone in the vicinity, yet the USA, the UK and Israel have deployed many tonnes of DU-tipped shells. DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years and the microscopic uranium oxide dust that DU shells produce on impact can be blown hundreds of miles, inhaled and ingested. If these are not dirty bombs then what are they?
“There is considerable evidence that thousands of armed services personnel, their families and countless civilians have been and are continuing to be affected by DU in many ways, suffering, for example, premature death, respiratory problems, cancers, stillbirths and birth deformities.
Character assassination
“Furthermore, I have seen enough evidence to believe that those who are brave enough to look into the effects of DU risk losing their jobs and worse. Character assassination is one tool in the armoury of those who seek to silence truth-seekers. I have received emails scurrilously attacking the credibility of one my informants. Unfortunately for the defender of DU, I happened already to hold various documents disproving his baseless allegations. It was an eye-opening insight into the ruthlessness of the pro-DU lobb
“I have urged Liam Fox to investigate the impact of DU on the health of UK service personnel and civilians. I have also requested him to:
· acknowledge the validity of the precautionary principle as it pertains to the potential health effects of DU;
· comply with UN resolutions pertaining to DU;
· cease to use all DU weapons (for example, CHARM 3 120 mm anti-tank rounds), and to
· clean up the mess left in theatres of war where DU weapons have been used by allied troops (this to include such measures as oiling radioactive dust to prevent it being carried by the wind and barricading heavily contaminated sites such as destroyed tanks, where clean-up is not practical and where children are currently free to play).”
Dr Wilson concluded by saying, “I am not holding my breath, but it would be wonderful if the coalition government did the right thing here, took the moral high ground and turned its back on dirty bombs, once and for all. In the meantime I am asking the Scottish Government to look into the health of armed services veterans and their families resident here, as I have little faith that the UK Government will do so.”