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friends for Peace,For those who do not know me, my name is Yumi Kikuchi, a Japanese mother/writer/activist who started the Global Peace Campaign right after 9/11/01. Hello, I am in Berceley right now. Yesterday, I traveled back from Arcata, 6 hours from here by car. I was at the meeting of Arcata city coucil when these two wonderful resolutions passed on Jan 15, 2003, Marin Luther King's birthday. It was great and a small victory of ours, those for peace and life. Arcata is a small town of less than 20,000 people, but it is definetely a beginning of great turn for peace and I hope many other cities of USA and the world follow the brave initiative of the city of Arcata. I thank people and city council of Arcata to pass these resolutions. My special thanks goes to : David Meserve, a city coucil member of Arcata who took the intiative at city coucil level for those two resolutions. Seth, Organic Honey maker who invited me to Arcata so that I can witness the historical moment . Brian Wilson, who is an inspiring peace activist of the USA. Vecky,who put this press release together. love and peace, Yumi =========================================================== Here is the Addicted To War billboard Here is the Addicted To War billboard   Here is the Addicted To War billboard, which went up on Wednesday March 19th around the same time the United States began bombing the people of Iraq again. These pictures were taken by Andy Manoff, who designed the billboard and arranged to have it go up at this great location where Hollywood Blvd., Sunset Blvd., Virgil and Hillhurst intersect, just across from the Vista Theatre in Hollywood / Silver Lake. In Peace & Solidarity Frank Dorrel Publisher DU.....A Warning To The World Is Attached Henry: My name is Dr. Doug Rokke. I was tasked by DA and DOD to clean up the DU mess. It can't be done. As we get ready for war once more DU will be used with tragic consequences. A copy of my UN-UNESCO - Child and the Family talk follows. A copy of our warning to the world is attached. DOD folks continue with their lies that DU health and environmental warnings came from Iraq. Can you please help us. thanks, dr. doug rokke 217-643-6205 THE SCOURGE OF DEPLETED URANIUM Dr. Doug Rokke, Ph.D. presented during "The Child: A Victim of War and a Messenger of Peace" United Nations - UNESCO International conference May 24-25, 2001 Athens, Greece ABSTRACT: Depleted uranium munitions have been used in combat because they are extremely effective. However, in winning these battles we have contaminated air, water, and soil. Consequently, children, women, and men have inhaled, ingested, or got wounds contaminated with uranium. Uranium is a heavy metal and radioactive poison. In this paper Dr. Rokke, who was the health physicist originally tasked by the United States Army to clean up the DU mess, will discuss: What is du? How is DU used by the military? Where and when has du been used? What did we find immediately after Operation Desert Storm friendly fire and combat incidents? How did the Depleted Uranium Project get started and what were it's objectives? What adverse health effects have been observed, recognized, treated, and documented? Based on all previous research and the Depleted Uranium Project what were the recommendations? What has occurred? What should happen next? IN SUMMARY: MEDICAL CARE MUST BE PROVIDED TO ALL DU CASUALTIES. ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION MUST BE COMPLETED. DU MUNITIONS MUST BE BANNED. RECENT EVENTS. Medical evidence and especially the birth defects in children born to parents in areas with DU contamination is an issue of growing concern. Depleted uranium (uranium 238) along with other contaminates of war have been implicated. Today, 10 years after the Gulf War, warriors and non-combatants are exhibiting serious adverse health effects from exposure to depleted uranium munitions contamination, Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, and released industrial chemicals. While health effects are linked to complex exposures I would like to focus on Depleted Uranium or DU. Today, United States, British, Canadian, and NATO officials continue to state specifically that there are no known adverse health effects in those of us in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Depleted Uranium Medical project. That is a lie as proven by our own medical records based on diagnosis of medical problems completed by our personal primary care physicians. A press report from January 10, 2001 reported that 'Defense Secretary William Cohen stated that DU was no more dangerous than "leaded paint," and a U.S. Army briefer assured reporters "it was safe enough to eat". I do not know of any physician that would insinuate that either lead paint or uranium is safe to eat. The children of the world have been poisoned by lead and now depleted uranium. While government officials continue to deny any relationship between uranium exposures and adverse health effects, uranium miners and casualties of war who were exposed to uranium contamination are exhibiting the same adverse health effects. Although, the "Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act 0f 1990" was suppose to provide compensation payments to these Americans, a report on the front page of the March 27, 2001 New York Times described how these individuals were sick and waiting for payments because of inadequate budgetary allocations. I find it very disturbing that while one portion of the U.S. government recognizes the serious adverse health effects of uranium exposure, U.S Department of Defense officials refuse to recognize the same health effects from exposures caused by wartime use of uranium munitions. Officials of the World health Organization released their anticipated report during April 2001. While this report made specific recommendations, the authors of this report just as with other governmental agencies reports, did not consult with those of us who actually cleaned up the DU mess following ODS and completed the research as part of the Depleted uranium project. I also find it astonishing that once more the authors of a report have ignored the facts that although medical care for all exposed individuals has been required since the war and environmental remediation had been also recommended or required that neither have been completed. The WHO DU report also did not contact any of us who are confirmed DU casualties nor speak to our physicians about observed and diagnosed health effects of uranium (DU) exposures. Once more the Los Alamos memorandum (March 1991) directives written by LTC M. Ziehmn, USMC, are fulfilled. WHAT IS DU? Depleted uranium (DU) which is 99.8% by mass U-238 is made from uranium hexaflouride, the byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Recent documents released by the U.S. Department of Energy state that a small proportion of other toxic heavy metals such as plutonium also are present. Although the 60 % of the ionizing radiation given off by gamma emissions from U-235 and U-234 was eliminated during the enrichment process, alpha particles at 4.2 Mev and 4.15 Mev that cause significant internal ionization with consequent cellular damage were proportionally increased. The continuing incomplete statement that DU is 60% less radioactive than natural uranium simply ignores the serious internal damage caused by alpha emissions! In addition daughter products emit beta particles and gamma rays that may cause further radiological damage. While DU may not be an external hazard it is a very serious internal hazard. Consequent inhalation, ingestion, and wound contamination pose significant and unacceptable risks. Also spent penetrators or fragments emit beta particles at 300 mrem/ hour and thus can not be touched or picked up without protection. HOW IS DU USED BY THE MILITARY? DU is used to manufacture kinetic energy penetrators- giant pencils or rods. Each kinetic penetrator consists of almost entirely uranium 238. The United States munitions industry produces the following DU munitions with the corresponding mass of uranium 238: 7.62 mm with unspecified mass 50 cal. With unspecified mass 20 mm with a mass of approximately 180 grams. 25 mm with a mass of approximately 200 grams. 30 mm with a mass of approximately 280 grams. 105 mm with a mass of approximately 3500 grams. 120 mm with a mass of approximately 4500 grams. Submunitions / land mines such as the PDM and ADAM whose structural body contain a small proportion of DU. Many other countries now produce or have acquired DU munitions. DU is also used as armor, counter weights, radiation shielding, and as proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy as a component of road and structural materials. All of these uses are designed to reduce the huge U.S. Department of Energy stockpiles left over from the uranium enrichment process. It is important to realize that DU penetrators are solid uranium 238. THEY ARE NOT TIPPED OR COATED!!!! During an impact at least 40 % of the penetrator forms uranium oxides or fragments which are left on the terrain, within or on impacted equipment, or within impacted structures. The remainder of the penetrator retains its initial shape. Thus we are left with a solid piece of uranium lying someplace which can be picked up by children. DU also ignites in the air during flight and upon impact. The resulting shower of burning DU and DU fragments causes secondary explosions, fires, injury, and death. Simply: Who would want thousands of solid uranium pencils of masses between 180 and 4500 grams lying in your backyard? Who would want any uranium contamination of any type lying in your backyard? WHERE AND WHEN HAS DU BEEN USED? Photographic evidence of destroyed equipment and reports suggest that DU was used for the first time during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Physicians using medical laboratory tests have verified an internalized DU exposure in the individual who inspected that destroyed equipment. The Persian Gulf War was the first significant use of DU in combat. Pilots flying aircraft fired at least 850,950 rounds and another 9,640 rounds were fired by tank gunners for a total weight of 631,055 pounds or over 315 tons. Recent conversations with the individual who managed all DU rounds suggest that this figure may be to low and that the actual quantity should be 25% greater or about 390 tons. Although warnings were issued to refrain from DU use the U.S. Marines fired DU munitions on three separate occasions during 1995 and 1996 while conducting operations in Okinawa and then did not tell the Japanese Government for over one year. During 1995 the U.S. military also fired at least 10000 rounds of DU munitions in Serbia. Recently U.S. forces fired at least 31000 rounds of thirty millimeter DU munitions into Kosovo or Serbia. DU munitions have been fired on ranges in Indiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, Maryland, Scotland, and Canada. Astonishingly, the U.S.Navy fired DU on Vieques, Puerto Rico to prepare for Kosovo attacks. Vieques is currently a national and international issue with confirmed environmental contamination and documented adverse health effects similar to those observed in other DU casualties. Recently, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld decided to suspend Vieques operations. However, Secretary Rumsfeld must order complete environmental remediation and medical care for all affected children and others on Vieques. All military operations must be stopped forever. WHAT DID WE FIND IMMEDIATELY AFTER OPERATION DESERT STORM FRIENDLY FIRE AND COMBAT INCIDENTS? I was assigned to the ODS DU assessment team as the health physicist and medic by Headquarters Department of the Army in Washington, D.C. What we found can be explained in three words: "OH MY GOD". According to official documents each uranium penetrator rod could loose up to 70 % of it's mass on impact creating fixed and loose contamination with the remaining rod passing through the equipment or structure to lie on the terrain. On-site impact investigations showed that the mass loss is about 40% which forms fixed and loose contamination leaving about 60% of the initial mass of the penetrator in the solid pencil form. We found that standard radiacs will not detect his contamination. Equipment contamination included uranium fragments, uranium oxides, other hazardous materials, unstable unexploded ordnance, and byproducts of exploded ordnance. U.S. Army Materiel Command documents sent to us during ODS stated the uranium oxide was 57% insoluble and 43 % soluble and at least 50% could be inhaled. In most cases except for penetrator fragments, contamination was inside destroyed equipment or structures, on the destroyed equipment, or within 25 meters of the equipment. However during the 1994 and 1995 Nevada tests we found DU contamination out to 400 meters from a single incident. After we returned to the United States we wrote the Theater Clean up plan which reportedly was passed through U.S. Department of Defense to the U.S. Department of State and consequently to the Emirate of Kuwaiti. Today, it is obvious that none of this information regarding clean up of extensive DU contamination ever was given to the Iraqi's. Consequently, although we knew there were and still are substantial hazards existing within Iraq they have been ignored by the United States and Great Britain for political and economic reasons. Iraqi, Kosovar, Serbian, and other representatives have asked numerous times for DU contamination management and medical care procedures but this information has not been provided. Although residents of Vieques, who are U.S. citizens, also have asked for medical care and completion of environmental remediation DOD officials still refuse to complete these essential actions. HOW DID THE DEPLETED URANIUM PROJECT GET STARTED AND WHAT WERE IT'S OBJECTIVES? The probable health and environmental hazards of uranium contamination were known before the Gulf War. A United States Defense Nuclear Agency memorandum written by LTC Lyle that was sent to our team in Saudi Arabia stated that quote "As Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), ground combat units, and civil populations of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq come increasingly into contact with DU ordnance, we must prepare to deal with potential problems. Toxic war souvenirs, political furor, and post conflict clean up (host nation agreement) are only some of the issues that must be addressed. Alpha particles (uranium oxide dust) from expended rounds is a health concern but, Beta particles from fragments and intact rounds is a serious health threat, with possible exposure rates of 200 millirads per hour on contact." end quote. This memorandum, the reports that we prepared immediately after the Gulf War as a part of the depleted uranium assessment project to recover DU destroyed and contaminated U.S. equipment, the previous research, and other expressed concerns led to the publication of a United States Department of Defense directive signed by General Eric Shinseki on August 19, 1993 to quote: "1. Provide adequate training for personnel who may come in contact with depleted uranium equipment. 2. Complete medical testing of personnel exposed to DU contamination during the Persian Gulf War. 3. Develop a plan for DU contaminated equipment recovery during future operations." It is thus indisputable that United States Department of Defense officials were and are still aware of the unique and unacceptable hazards associated with using depleted uranium munitions. Consequently, I was recalled to active duty in the U.S. Army as the DU Project Director and tasked with developing training and environmental management procedures. The project included a literature review; extensive curriculum development project involving representatives from all branches of the U.S. Department of Defense and representatives from England, Canada, Germany, and Australia; and basic research at the Nevada Test Site located 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, to validate management procedures. The products of the DU project included: Three training curricula: (1) Tier I: General Audience, (2) Tier II: Battle Damage and Recovery Operations, (3) Tier III: Chemical Officer / NCO; Three video tapes: (1) "Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness", (2) "Contaminated and Damaged Equipment Management", and (3) "Operation of the AN/PDR 77 Radiac Set"; the draft Army Regulation: "Management of Equipment Contaminated with Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities"; an United States Army Pamphlet specifying "Handling Procedures for Equipment Contaminated with Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" and a redesigned radaic capable of finding and quantifying DU contamination. Although, these products were completed, approved, and ready for distribution by January 1996, U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Defense, British, German, Canadian, and Australian officials have disregarded repeated directives and have not implemented or only have implemented portions of the training or management procedures. The training curriculum and management procedures have not been given to all individuals and representatives of governments whose populations and environment have been exposed to DU contamination as verified by U.S. General Accounting Office investigators in a report published during March 2000 and through personal conversations. WHAT ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED, RECOGNIZED, TREATED, AND DOCUMENTED? Deliberate denial and delay of medical screening and consequent medical care of U.S. friendly fire casualties who inhaled, ingested, and had wound contamination and all others with verified or suspected internalized uranium exposure limits recognition and verification of health effects. Although we recommended immediate medical care during March 1991 and many times since then the United States Department of Defense, the British Ministry of Defense, and consequently the United States Department of Veterans Affairs are still reluctant to provide thorough medical screening and necessary medical care. Dr. Bernard Rostker wrote to me in a letter dated March 1, 1999 that physicians and health physicists at the completion of the ground war decided that medical screening and care for uranium exposures was not required. Actual documents refute this! Today, individuals are sick (including me) and others are dead who were denied medical care even though I requested it in a letter dated May 21, 1997 which was sent to the Office of Surgeon U.S. Army Materiel Command and forwarded to Dr. Rostker. Verified adverse health effects from personal experience, physicians, and from personal reports from individuals with known DU exposures include: (a) Reactive airway disease, (b) neurological abnormalities, (c) kidney stones and chronic kidney pain, (d) rashes, (e) vision degradation and night vision losses, (f) gum tissue problems, (g) lymphoma, (h) various forms of skin and organ cancer, (I) neuro-psychological disorders, (j) uranium in semen, (k) sexual dysfunction, and (l) birth defects in offspring. Today, health effects have been documented in uranium processing facility employees of and residents living near Puducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio; Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington. Employees at uranium manufacturing or processing facilities in New York, Tennessee, Iowa, Massachusetts, and the four corners area of southwest Colorado also have repeatedly reported health effects similar to those reported by verified Gulf War DU casualties. Iraqi and other humanitarian agency physicians are reporting the same health effects in exposed populations. Scottish scientists recently verified that residents of the Balkans were excreting uranium in their urine. This suggests that depleted uranium (U-238) is mobile and contaminating, air, water, and soil just as specified in the October 1943 letter to General Leslie Groves. Today, verifying correlation between uranium exposures and adverse health effects, except in only in a few cases, may not be possible because of deliberate delays in required screening, a radio-bioassay. Screening involves the collection and analysis of urine, fecal, and throat samples within 24 hours of exposure. Today, months or years after exposure, only a small fraction of the sequestered uranium will be detected. That is why WHO scientists recommended immediate testing of exposed populations. This detectable fraction represents only the mobile or soluble portion. A recent autopsy in Canada has revealed that sequestering is occurring and that the mobile fraction may not be representative of what is actually present. Even when verified medical evidence attributing adverse health effects to DU exposures is available official recognition and documentation is limited. For example during 1994 and 1995 United States Department of Defense medical personnel at an U.S. Army installation hospital removed, separated, and hid documented diagnoses (including my own) from affected individuals and other physicians. Some medical records were retrieved during the fall of 1997, but, probably too late for many individuals. Today, this practice continues and consequently exposed individuals are not receiving adequate and effective medical care. This includes individuals whose required medical care has been requested and ordered many times. This will continue as long as the United States, British, Canadian, NATO, and other governments are permitted to ignore the emerging evidence and deny medical care to all individuals who have been or may have been exposed to depleted uranium (uranium 238), other isotopes, and other contaminants created as result of depleted uranium munitions use. The criteria describing exposures requiring medical screening within 24 hours of exposure and consequent medical care were specified in a message from Headquarters Department of the Army dated October 14, 1993. These exposures included: "a. Being in the midst of smoke from DU fires resulting from the burning of vehicles uploaded with DU munitions or depots in which DU munitions are being stored. b. Working within environments containing DU dust or residues from DU fires. c. Being within a structure or vehicle while it is struck by DU munitions." These guidelines must be applicable to all exposed individuals with care independent of military or civilian status. They must be implemented now!!!!!!!! Medical care must be planned and completed to identify and then alleviate actual physiological problems rather than placing an emphasis on psychological manifestations and continued testing. Children and others are sick and deserve care for the complex exposures that have resulted in health problems. Medical care for known uranium exposures should emphasize (concern in parentheses): a. neurology (heavy metal effects) b. ophthalmology (radiation and heavy metal effects) c. urology (heavy metal effects and crystal formation) d. dermatology (heavy metal effects) e. cardiology (radiation and heavy metal effects) f. pulmonary (radiation, particulate, and heavy metal effects) g. immunology (radiation and heavy metal effects) h. oncology (radiation and heavy metal effects) i. gynecology (radiation, neurological, and heavy metal effects) j. gastro-intestinal (systematic effects) k. dental (heavy metal effects) l. psychology (heavy metal effects) Many individuals with known exposures still have not received requested care. As stated on March 10, 2001 by Dr. Michael KilPatrick, U.S. Department of Defense, only 60 individuals (including myself) are receiving minimal medical care from physicians assigned to the Baltimore Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs Depleted Uranium program. That includes only a fraction of over 350 individuals with verified exposures. Today, I and others must take antibiotics and steroids to control medical problems. It is impossible to get proper care and treatment. IF YOU DO NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT FOR THOSE WITH VERIFIED EXPOSURES AND HEALTH PROBLEMS THEN YOU CAN SAY DU DID NOT CAUSE ANY ADVERSE HEALTH PROBLEMS BECAUSE YOU NEVER SAW ANY HEALTH EFFECTS. SO MUCH FOR MEDICAL SCIENCE WHEN A COVER-UP IS DIRECTED BY POLITICIANS TO LIMIT LIABILITY. The cover-up started with the infamous Los Alamos memorandum sent to our team in Saudi Arabia during March 1991. This memo told us to be sure that we should only report our findings so DU munitions could always be used. IN OTHER WORDS LIE! A letter sent to General Leslie Groves during 1943 is even more disturbing. In that memorandum dated October 30, 1943, senior scientists assigned to the Manhattan Project suggested that uranium could be used as an air, water, and terrain contaminant. According to the letter sent by the Subcommittee of the S-1 Executive Committee on the "Use of Radioactive Materials as a Military Weapon" to General Groves (October 30, 1943) inhalation of uranium would result in "bronchial irritation coming on in a few hours to a few days". This is exactly what happened to those of us who inhaled DU dust during Operation Desert Storm and in U.S. soldiers in the Balkans. The subcommittee went on further to state that "Beta emitting products could get into the gastrointestinal tract from polluted water, or food, or air. From the air, they would get on the mucus of the nose, throat, bronchi, etc. and be swallowed. The effects would be local irritation just as in the bronchi and exposures of the same amount would be required. The stomach, caecum and rectum, where contents remain for longer periods than elsewhere would be most likely affected. It is conceivable that ulcers and perforations of the gut followed by death could be produced, even without an general effects from radiation". Today, medical problems continue to develop. Still medical care is denied or delayed for all uranium exposed casualties while United States Department of Defense and British Ministry of Defense officials continue to deny any correlation between uranium exposure and adverse health and environmental effects. They contend that they can spread radioactive waste (uranium 238) in anyone's backyard without cleaning it up and providing medical care. Their arrogance is astonishing! BASED ON ALL PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND THE DU PROJECT WHAT WERE THE RECOMMENDATIONS? The DU project and review of previous research reinforced our original 1991 conclusions and recommendations that: 1. All DU contamination must be physically removed and properly disposed of to prevent future exposures. 2. Specialized radiation detection devices that detect and measure alpha particles, beta articles, x-rays, and gamma rays emissions at appropriate levels from 20 dpm up to 100,000 dpm and from .1 mrem/ hour to 75 mrem/ hour must be acquired and distributed to all individuals or organizations responsible for medical care and environmental remediation activities involving depleted uranium / uranium 238 and other low level radioactive isotopes that may be present. Standard equipment will not detect contamination. 3. Medical care must be provided to all individuals who did or may have inhaled, ingested, or had wound contamination to detect mobile and sequestered internalized uranium contamination. 4. All individuals who enter, climb on, or work within 25 meters of any contaminated equipment or terrain must wear respiratory and skin protection. 5. Contaminated and damaged equipment or materials should not berecycled to manufacture new materials or equipment. WHAT HAS OCCURRED? Visual evidence, personal experience, and published reports verify that: 1. Medical care has not been provided to all DU casualties. 2. Environmental remediation has not been completed. 3. Contaminated and damaged equipment and materials have been recycled tomanufacture new products. 4. Training and education has only been partially implemented. 6. Contamination management procedures have not been distributed and implemented. WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT? All citizens of the world must raise a unified voice to ban the future use of depleted uranium munitions and force those nations that have used depleted uranium munitions to recognize the immoral consequences of their actions and assume responsibility for medical care and thorough environmental remediation. And to cite a famous quotation: "AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM". But if the children are sick or dead and the citizens of the world permit this to continue then there will not be a child who can fulfill the prophecy and lead us to peace. I IMPLORE YOU TO ACT!!!! =========================================================== LOOKING FOR DEREK HUDSON: The photographer of the picture of U.S. Gulf War veteran and his child in the ad in Washington Post on Feb. 6. If you know Derek hudson, please forward the message below. Thank you. Yumi Kikuchi ---------------------------- Dear Derek Hudson, I am responsible for the production of the ad in Washington Post on Feb. 6 deciding to use your photo without being able to find you and to have permission from you to use it. We tried our best to find you, but could not. Please accept my sincere apology for to have used it without your permission. I could not find any better photo than yours for this ad. http://www.peace2001.org *Click English Version We took the picture first from the book Metal of Dishonor, but the resolution was so poor that we took it from LIFE magazine's web site. Sara of IAC has given me the permission to use the photo from the book. We are non-profit voluntary group working for peace based in Japan. If you read this, please e-mail me as soon as possible to have anagreement for the use of your photo. Thank you very much for the great work you have done.Å@Your picturespeaks million words and will wake up many people in the USA. The use of Depleted Uranium must be banned so that we do not repeat the tragedy of this child and the father and many more. mailto:yumik@awa.or.jp love, peace and gratitude, Yumi Kikuchi founder/Global Peace Campaign Becky Luening wrote: NEWS: Arcata City Council Resolution on DU PRESS RELEASE January 17, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: S. Brian Willson (707) 826-9197 ARCATA CITY COUNCIL PASSES RESOLUTION TO BAN THE USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM Arcata, California City Council voted unanimously last night (with oneabsence) to pass a "Resolution to Ban the Use of Depleted Uranium." The resolution, initiated by Veterans For Peace Humboldt Bay Chapter 56, and modeled after a similar resolution passed by the City of Davis, California in 2000, petitions the Federal Government to: immediately ban the use of depleted uranium (DU/U-238) in weapons or armor; cease sales of DU to other countries and to ban commercial sales of DU; provide appropriate medical care for veterans and others suffering from DU contamination; provide adequate protection for personnel handling DU weapons or involved in DU cleanup; and engage in cleanup of DU contamination wherever it has been used. The Arcata City Clerk is instructed to send copies of the resolution to elected officials, the president, and the United Nations. The resolution condemning DU, which possesses 60 percent the radiation of U-235 and has a radiological half-life of 4.5 billion years, is expected to launch a public educational campaign that describes the horrific lingering effects of DU on human and environmental health. Some DU has been found to have traces of plutonium and other transuranic elements. The alarming evidence of its radiological and toxic health effects, especially as it seems related to dramatic accelerations of rates and severity of cancers and birth defects, is accumulating where the U.S. has used DU-in southern parts of Iraq, in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. In addition, over 30 percent of the 700,000 Gulf War I veterans are now reported as sick, with the U.S. Veterans Administration at least acknowledging the vast majority of claims with the diagnosis of "Gulf War Syndrome." Many of these sicknesses are believed attributable, at least in part, to exposure to DU. ********** "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. . . . The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today--[is] my own government. . . . This madness must cease. . . . We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. . . . Let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter--but beautiful-- struggle for a new world." --Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Time To Break Silence," April 4, 1967 PRESS RELEASE January 17, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: S. Brian Willson (707) 826-9197 Arcata City Council Passes Resolution Condemning USA PATRIOT Act Arcata, California City Council voted last night to pass a resolution to "Defend the Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties." Mayor Bob Ornelas opened the council session with a moment of silence commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.'s 74th birthday before the council considered the resolution, drafted and introduced by recently elected council member Dave Meserve. Passed by a vote of 3 to 0 with one abstention and one absence, the resolution identifies and condemns the unconstitutional provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and other Homeland Security legislation. Nearly two dozen cities have already adopted similar resolutions addressing the threats to long-held civil liberties posed by the USA PATRIOT Act, with Northampton, Massachusetts being the first. Humboldt Bay Veterans For Peace Chapter 56, of which Dave Meserve is an associate member, formally endorsed the resolution, and several of the group's members gave impassioned testimony during the public comment session of last night's city council meeting. The resolution denouncing the USA PATRIOT Act is intended to serve as the basis for a subsequent ordinance that would explicitly instruct city law enforcement officials to refuse to follow any orders by state or federal agents that appear to violate the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights. Instead, local officials would be required to notify the mayor, the city manager and city attorney, giving the city the power to weigh the constitutionality of such orders and the ramifications of following or not following them. [GPC] NY TIMES PEACE AD -No War On Iraq Dear friends for Peace, GPC, with the support of 2,800 people of 16 countries, succeeded putting two full page peace ads in NY Times and LA Times in USA,one peace ad in Italian paper(La Stampa) and 10 peace ads in Persian magazines and papers last year to stop the bombing in Afganistan. Veterans For Peace endorsed the ad and GPC was able to help to promote their great work a little bit( as a result, VFP membership grew 4 times more). I am preparing for another ad to stop the new war on Iraq and am inviting peace groups to endorse the ad. Take a look at the draft in the making(need comments/revision) below: http://www.peace2001.org/gpc/02gpc_main_nytimes.html I can put 10-15 peace groups' name and URL in the ad. If you want your organization's name in this ad, contact me a.s.a.p(no later than Dec 20). The purpose of this ad : 1. To stop the new war on Iraq by raising awareness of American public and supporting peace movement in the USA and the world 2. To promote three important books on Iraq and US foreign policy * Children of the Gulf War by Takashi Morizumi http://www.savewarchildren.org * Fire This Time by Ramsey Clark http://leftbooks.com http://www.iacenter.org * Addicted To War by Joel Andreas http://www.addictedtowar.com 3. To promote anit-war demonstration on Jan 18,2003 by Int'l ANSWER Coalition and raise money for that (The money from the ad goes to Int'l ANSWER Coalition/IAC to pay for the organizing demonstration) We need to raise $37,500 , so that we can put the ad in the 1st or 2nd week of Jan. 2003 before the US may start the military action against Iraq. I would appreciate any amount of donation to make this happen. Pls. send a check (of US Bank, in US Dollars) to: Gen Morita 1047 Naka, Kamogawa, Chiba, Japan 296-0111 (by Chiristmas if possible) If you do not have a bank a/c with US Bank, you can make a Postal Money Order at any post office and send it to the address above.We can receive either US dollars or Japanese Yen only. If you are in Japan, you can send money from any post office: A/C Name: Open Japan Yubin Furikae A/C Number:00980-5-12290 *write "for NY Times Ad" at the message column If you have any question, pls. e-mail me or call me: mailto:yumik@awa.or.jp Tel:81-470-97-1011 fax:81-470-97-1215 *It is home-office, so pls. do not call me in the middle of the night. I have 2 babies(1 and 2 year old) sleeping! Pls. spread this to your friends and loved ones. love and peace, Yumi Kikuchi founder, Global Peace Campaign http://www.peace2001.org 1047 Naka, Kamogawa, Chiba, Japan 296-0111 ~ Global Peace Campaign ~ http://www.peace2001.org Daily Attunement for Peace at 8.45am New York time. Seed thought: "May Peace Prevail on Earth" |
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Text of the Ad Main Title: "Can You Let More Iraqi Children Die?" Text: Do you know that the 1991 Gulf War was a war of mass destruction? It was also a nuclear war - radioactive DU weapons were used. Please read:"Children of the Gulf War" by Takashi Morizumi, "The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf" by Ramsey Clark and "Addicted To War, Why The US Can't Kick Militarism" by Joel Andreas Learn what the U.S. has done in Iraq. Learn what you never heard in the mainstream media. Raise your voice before our government drops bombs on innocent children in Iraq or anywhere else. Many millions of people all over the world are deeply opposed to a new war on Iraq. --------------------------------------------- Join Us for a massive National Anti-War Rally on Sat. Jan. 18 in Washington DC and San Francisco For details call: 212-633-6646(NY) or 415-821-6545(SF) www.InternationalANSWER.org Sign the International People's Referendum against the war at: www.VoteNoWar.org ***Take a look at the draft in the making(need comments/revis ion) below: http://www.peace2001.org/gpc/02gpc_main_nytimes.html You Can Donate On-Line Now You can donate online for NY Times Ad Dear All, Dec 25 was the dead line and we sent the final text of the ad to NY Times and paid the half of the ad fee, 2 million yen($15,000). The final text can be seen here: http://www.peace2001.org I had to borrow half of that personally (1 million Yen=$7,500) so I still need to rasie 3.5 million yen (about $27,500) for the ad. Need your help. Spread this International grassroot effort by Global Peace Campaign! The good news is that Lee Vanderlaan from the Veterans For Peace provided the service below for you and your friends to help this campain on line. You can donate without writing a check if you have a credit card. Thanks Lee and whoever is going to help. Love and peace, Yumi =============================== Yumi and all, Thanks for this very positive effort to help run the ad to prevent war in Iraq. There is now a specific button on the VFP site for donation to the ad. You do not have to further specify that the donation is for Yumi's New York Times project, as a button indicates exactly this. (10th button from the top) You can find it at:click on the Donate line, http://www.veteransforpeace.org or go directly to : https://www.donate.net/ccn/basket.asp?dept_id=590 Thanks very much. We will double the effort to get the word out! Thanks Yumi !! Wage Peace! --Lee Vander Laan Veterans for Peace The U.S. war machine in black and white 2002-12-30 Asami Nagai and Yomiuri Shimbun for Yomiuri 30 December 2002 On page 49 of Joel Andreas' cartoon book Addicted to War (AK Press), four well-fed men use the ideals of democracy, freedom, justice and peace to justify U.S. wars. In the next frame, the same men--representing bankers, corporate executives, politicians and generals--grin as they think about their true goals: money, markets, natural resources and power. A lot of people may think that foreign policy has little to do with their daily lives, but the opposite is true. To understand why, just turn to page one, where a wide-eyed woman complains about the huge amount of money the U.S. government has taken out of her pay cheque. Later, her son asks her to help raise money to buy toilet paper for his school, followed by a scene at a school board meeting where the principal explains that the school receives very little assistance from the federal government. The author uses the 2002 fiscal year federal discretionary budget to show how the government used the money they take in--50.5 percent goes to military spending, and only 8 percent to education. And that's just the beginning. The book forges on, explaining that the true history of U.S. foreign policy is entirely different from what is usually taught in schools or reported in the mainstream media. Addicted to War, originally published in 1992, was updated and reprinted in April in the United States, followed by a Japanese translation in October. In two months, more than 20,000 Japanese copies have been sold, while 40,000 copies of the English version have been sold in the United States. "The sale of 20,000 copies in two months is surprising," said Ryoji Ueno of Godo-shuppan Corp., which published the book in Japan. "A lot of readers buy several extra copies and give them to their friends as gifts. This book, written by an American, is a good textbook, helping Japanese citizens understand why the United States appears so eager to wage war." The updated edition of Addicted to War was planned as one powerful tool in the peace movement. Earlier this year, Yumi Kikuchi, 40, a Japanese writer, environmentalist and peace activist, started a second peace campaign to donate one book to each U.S. school. A donation of 1,000 yen will be used to donate one copy to one school. Kikuchi received her copy of the original Addicted to War from Frank Dorrel, a Vietnam War veteran and peace activist. Dorrel came across the book by chance in 2000, and hired a private detective to find the author. He eventually tracked down Andreas, a sociologist finishing his Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles, and asked him to update the book. Then came the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Kikuchi, however, became involved in the peace movement only after the attacks. Before that, she was more active in conservation issues. Immediately after seeing the attacks, and hearing U.S. President George W. Bush declare his "War on Terrorism," she e-mailed her friends to tell them her worries about a new war. "Then I received a reply from an American friend who attached a letter from a former marine addressed to President Bush," Kikuchi said. "My friend said, 'This is a very calm letter. How about collecting donations and printing it in the paper?'" She agreed, and on Sept. 15, 2001, the Global Peace Campaign started up in cyberspace. "None of my American friends wanted war, but they said it was extremely difficult for them to say so in the United States," Kikuchi said. "Since I'm not a U.S. citizen, I thought I could do that part. Printing the letter in a major newspaper (as an ad) has great significance, as many Americans can see it." Kikuchi obtained permission from the writer of the letter in question and started soliciting donations for the 140,000 dollars ad fee. Within just two weeks, Kikuchi raised the money she needed to print the ad. The group, along with Veterans for Peace, a non-profit organization dedicated to the abolishment of war, published it on Oct. 9, 2001, in The New York Times. Thanks to Japanese media coverage, another 10 million yen was raised. In the end, donations came from about 3,000 individuals from 16 countries, paying for ads in The Los Angeles Times, an Italian newspaper and 10 Persian-language periodicals. "We received many responses to the ad," Kikuchi said. "And of course many of those were hate mail. But about 60 percent of the responses were positive and supportive." Kikuchi said she understands the feeling of those who write nasty messages. "They were still panicking; their pride was crushed. Some lost friends in the attacks," she said. "But, I have the impression that Americans are generally ignorant about what their government has been doing to foreign lands. "When I visited U.S. cities for four months last year (after the attacks), I watched the media every day. It was totally dominated by news on U.S. retaliations against the Taliban and how things were improving in Afghanistan. After seeing that over and over, even I felt (the bombings in Afghanistan) were a good thing," she said. "There was no coverage of 'collateral damage,' no mention of how many were killed or who they were," Kikuchi continued. "But the U.S. media would report a single death of a U.S. soldier on the front page. Of course, it's sad to lose an American life. But the gap between the coverage of Afghans and that of Americans is so huge. If they aren't told what is really going on in other parts of the world, Americans are deprived of the opportunity to form negative opinions of wars." Kikuchi said she likes the book because the history is not made up. "All the sources are listed at the end of the book," she said. "The book clearly reveals who pays for wars, who fights in wars, who dies and who reaps the profits," she said. "It became clear to me it would be better to sell this book than to spend so much money on an ad with only one day of life. So I called Dorrel, offered to help him, and immediately sent 5,000 dollars of my own money to help cover printing costs." "I believe the power of this book is how easy it is for the average person to read it and begin to understand what the United States has really been doing with its foreign policy," Dorrel told The Daily Yomiuri. "Wars, interventions, covert operations...all of this has been done on behalf of U.S.-owned corporations and big businesses. Yet, amazingly, most Americans do not know any of this." Kikuchi especially wants young people to read it now that the new version is available. "If they examine all the information on pro-war motives and antiwar sentiments and still want to join the military, that's totally fine. But it's unfair for young men and women to make such an important decision without all the facts," Kikuchi said. For Kikuchi, who worked as a bond trader for a U.S. bank for four years, the attacks on the United States completely destroyed her old identity. "I loved America, still do. My husband holds a U.S. green card," she said. "After I began to see the reality of the world, I realized that I belong to an extremely wealthy privileged class, though I am not financially rich. I trample many others just by maintaining an ordinary Japanese standard of living. Now, I really want to use my energy and potential to turn the world into a fairer place to live." Kikuchi said people can be addicted to money, just as they can be addicted to war. "It's fun to earn a profit," Kikuchi cheerfully said. "Money junkies tend to seek more and more, and eventually begin to convert the value of everything, including people, into terms of money." Kikuchi herself was on the verge of money addiction, when she visited Belize and happened to get involved in activities to save the rain forest there. Her life took a new turn. At 28, she left the bank to become a full-time conservationist. "Human relationships in the financial world were quite superficial," Kikuchi recalled. "Environmental activists are totally different. In the ad campaign, they provided me with whatever help and encouragement they could." Kikuchi's campaign goes on. In early January, she plans to publish another ad in The New York Times. The ad reads: "Can You Let More Iraqi Children Die?" followed by sentences like, "Do you know that the 1991 Gulf War was a war of mass destruction? It was also a nuclear war--radioactive DU (depleted uranium) weapons were used." The eye-catching photo of a smiling Iraqi girl, who lost her hair due to treatment for leukemia, was provided by Japanese photographer Takashi Morizumi. "The Japanese are not free from blame," Kikuchi said. "As long as our government is providing support for U.S. wars, we're part of it." Now, rejoicing at Addicted to War's excellent start, Kikuchi is preparing a Korean version, while Dorrel is in charge of German and Spanish versions. "Addicted to War" is available at www.addictedtowar.com |
