On March 24th, 2006 Anti-Flag and Rep. Jim McDermott held a press conference in Los Angeles to announce the start of a petition drive to force Congress to adopt bill H.R. 2410 — The Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act, which was introduced in the 109th Congress by Rep. Jim McDermott. The bill calls for in-depth studies to be conducted on DU and its effects on the health of those exposed to it. As of today the bill has 39 co-sponsors comprised of 38 Democrats and one Republican. Learn more on D.U. below.

SIGN THE PETITION TODAY @:
www.millionemailmarch.com


Essay on DU from Anti-Flag’s, For Blood and Empire

Depleted Uranium (i.e. DU): the name implies that it is a nontoxic material, but nothing could be further from the truth. DU is extremely toxic and has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years. Depleted Uranium is the by-product of nuclear energy production. DU is “a very heavy substance, 1.7 times denser than lead, and it is highly valued by armies for its ability to punch through armored vehicles. When a weapon made with a DU tip or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight through it and then erupts in a burning cloud of vapor. The vapor settles as dust, which is chemically poisonous and also radioactive.” BBC NEWS January 4, 2001 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1101447.stm

Rep. McDermott, a medical doctor, psychiatrist and a Vietnam-era veteran, witnessed the devastating effects Agent Orange had on the health of those exposed to it in the Vietnam War, as well as the Pentagon’s denial that Agent Orange was a health hazard. (It is now widely accepted in the scientific community that the Agent Orange used in Vietnam was a hazard to human health.) Just as the Pentagon denied that Agent Orange was harmful to human health, the Pentagon now argues that DU is not harmful. The Pentagon’s argument flies in the face of certain cancer rates in parts of Iraq, which have increased by more than 600% in areas of Southern Iraq where tons of DU was dumped via U.S. armaments in Gulf War One. Faced with a lack of credible scientific research, and troubling questions where human health appears to have been co-opted as a result of the use of DU, Rep. McDermott has introduced a bill in Congress. H.R. 2410 — The Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act was introduced in the 109th Congress (2005). It calls for in-depth studies to be conducted on DU and its effects on the health of those exposed to it. The bill has 39 co-sponsors comprised of 38 Democrats and one Republican.

SIGN THE PETITION TODAY @:
www.millionemailmarch.com

MORE ABOUT DEPLETED URANIUM:

The Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (CADU)

Physicians for Social Responsibility Report on Depleted Uranium

1,000 - 2,000 TONS DU Spread Over Iraq’s Cities

Decorated Army Expert On DU: “The use of DU is a war crime”