Our current nuclear war.

• Author: Hilgartner, C.A.

The issues in the proposed "preemptive" strike against Iraq go beyond making the United States the aggressors; beyond violating international law, the UN Charter, the Nuremberg Decisions, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, etc. They even go beyond committing genocide against the Iraqi people. Our proposed attack amplifies the outrage already committed in Iraq, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, where we destroyed the foundations of all life, human and other. "It's pretty straightforward," said former CIA director R. James Woolsey, who has been one of the leading advocates of forcing Hussein from power.

In order to understand what I say, look up "depleted uranium" on a search engine. Also, read the book, Metal of Dishonor, by Helen Caldicott et al (paperback, 1997).

I offer my comments in outline form, as briefly as possible.

1. Natural uranium occurs in several isotopes, including a fissionable isotope, symbolized as U-235, which we could in principle use to make nuclear "devices," nuclear power plants, etc.; and the most common isotope, U-238, which will not undergo nuclear fission. "Depleted" uranium means that some portion of the military-industrial complex has already extracted the fissionable U-235-leaving behind the 99.3% of the original sample, which consists mainly of U-238. The weapons with which we have armed our military forces use depleted uranium projectiles, a coating of depleted uranium on our bombs, etc.

2. Uranium has a very high density-I .8 times that of lead. Projectiles or missiles containing depleted uranium have such a high momentum that they penetrate standard steel armor, etc., "like butter." When they strike an obstacle, the uranium shatters into fine particles, about 70% of which then spontaneously burn, in the oxygen of the atmosphere, into uranium oxide smoke-- forming aerosol particles, less than 5 microns in diameter. These particles will travel long distances when airborne. Organisms exposed to particles of this size will breathe them in and retain at least some of them, will get them into any wounds they may have, etc.

3. Uranium, like lead, cadmium, arsenic, etc., functions as a poison if it gets inside a living organism.

4. U-238 spontaneously undergoes radioactive decay, emitting two kinds of ionizing radiation: alpha particles (helium nuclei, traveling at velocities close to that of light--very heavy, very harmful, but not able to penetrate very far) and gamma rays (like super-energetic X-rays--very harmful, and...