| Uranium
missiles: After Zyklon B, a new German technology for a
weapon of mass destruction I
am able to report in great detail on the consequences of
war for the population of Iraq since 1991. My last visit
to distribute aid took place in December 1998. I am
President of the International Yellow Cross, whose
headquarters are in Austria.
As a result
of the war, poverty in the previously wealthy oil state
of Iraq has now reached over 70%. During my last trip to
Baghdad in the mornings and evenings I saw emaciated,
dirty children carrying bags looking for something to eat
in the piles of rubbish on the streets. During the night
dogs, some of whom are very sick, come from the thickets
on the Tigris and also feed off the piles of rubbish
amidst loud barking and in the mornings the emaciated
children are back with their bags.
The poor
people are completely dependent on the state food rations,
which are generally sufficient for two weeks. Protein-rich
food or vegetables are available only on the free market:
the prices for many products have risen a thousand-fold.
At present the average income of an Iraqi family stands
at I.D. 2,000 to 3,000, whilst the price of a kilo of
meat or fish comes to ID 1,800 and 1 kilo of tomatoes
costs I.D.200. According to UNICEF, approximately 860,000
children under 5 in Iraq are malnourished. In March 1994
11,480 children of this age died; at present the death
rate is between 5,000 and 6,000 per month. These children
are continually suffering from infectious diseases:
during the last few years these have included in
particular polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis, tetanus,
whopping cough and diphtheria. Even measles has a high
death rate.
In southern
Iraq in particular an increasing number of children are
being diagnosed with leukaemia, plastic anemia (bone
marrow disorders), cancerous tumors and deformities, for
whom the Mother Theresa organisation has established a
collection point. These symptoms have been attributed to
ammunition containing uranium, which was used by the
allied forces during the Gulf War. Approximately 300
tonnes of this type of ammunition is located in Iraq,
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. As a result of the long
decomposition process regarding toxicity and
radioactivity, waste from the uranium industry, primarily
depleted uranium of Isotope 238, is stored in secure
depots.
In order to
reduce the high costs of storage, depleted uranium is
gladly given to any interested parties, largely free of
charge. Depleted uranium has features, which are very
attractive to the arms industry, in particular: (1) It is
practically the heaviest material which occurs naturally.
(2) The depleted uranium missiles developed using German
technology have a high penetration and are more suitable
than anything else for penetrating steel armor plating. (3)
It is also an inflammable material. When armor plating is
penetrated, it sets itself on fire and releases highly
toxic and radioactive materials, uranium oxide, whilst it
is burning.
Secret
service reports have now shown that German military
leaders planned to use radioactivity at the end of 1943.
It is probable that the development of "special
missiles" also dates back to this time. US spies
were aware of this. A few weeks after the end of the war,
in April/May 1991 in a battlefield in Iraq I found
missiles with the shape and size of a cigar, which were
unusually heavy and were of a colour similar to lead.
Approximately
one year later in March 1992 I saw children playing with
this type of projectile in southern Iraq outside Basra
close to the border with Kuwait. One child in this group
developed leukaemia and died of the disease. This
incident made me uneasy: I asked the Iraqi police to
collect the projectiles. I had decided to have the
missiles and their casing investigated.
As early as
the end of 1991 I had diagnosed a previously unknown
illness in Iraq, which was the result of kidney and liver
disorders. I reported on this on 28th October 1991 under
the heading "Were Iraqi children the victims of ABC
weapons?"
In December
1991 I narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, which
was repeated in Germany on 3rd January 1993 when I was
seriously injured. The investigation of one of these
unusual missiles caused serious difficulties for me in
Germany: it was highly toxic and radio active - the
missile casing was also radio active. The projectile and
the missile casing were seized by a large number of
German police wearing protective clothing under extremely
stringent safety procedures, transported in special
containers and stored in a secure depot far away from any
centres of population.
I was
arrested a few weeks later and taken into custody for
releasing ionised radiation. During my prison sentence I
was mistreated. I was summoned to appear in court on 4th
January 1999 and informed that I might have to be
accommodated in a closed psychiatric unit, possibly
against my will. In the meantime my pension had
repeatedly been stopped and the German authorities had
refused to accept me in the pension medical insurance
scheme.
On my return
from abroad I was attacked in Germany and a bag
containing important documents was stolen from me. Since
28th April 1998 I have been under police supervision and
have to report to the local police twice a week. My post
and telephone are monitored. There were international
protests supported by petitions against the conduct of
the German authorities.
During the
last 5 years I have been able to carry out detailed
investigations in Iraq. According to the results, contact
with the depleted uranium ammunition which I discovered
will lead to the following, in particular with regard to
children: 1) a breakdown of the immune system with a
sharp rise in infectious diseases (2) widespread herpes
or shingles, even in infants. (3) Symptoms similar to
Aids, even in infants (4) kidney and liver disorders
resulting in a previously unknown illness, which has now
been named Morbus Gunther. (5) Leukaemia, aplastic anemia
(bone marrow disorders) or cancer. (6) Genetic
deformities, which also occur in animals (7) miscarriages
or premature birth in pregnant women.
The allied
soldiers in the Gulf were informed about the dangers of
the depleted uranium missiles only a week after the end
of the war. At a lecture in Washington it was pointed out
to me that during the Gulf War the allied commander had
not been informed about the side effects of the uranium
missiles constructed using German technology. The results
of my investigations in Iraq show a similarity to the so-called
"Gulf War Syndrome" occurring in allied
soldiers and their children. The genetic deformities in
American, British and Iraqi children are similar.
Like all
heavy metals such as lead or cadmium, uranium is highly
toxic. Humans are not supposed to come into contact with
it. According to investigations carried out in the
meantime, the dosage on the surface of the uranium
missile I discovered is 11 microSv. per hour. In Germany
the permitted annual dosage is put at 300 microSv.
Handling such a missile will therefore give you more than
the annual dosage in one day. I saw children playing with
12 such missiles, which had dolls' faces drawn on them.
According to
estimates by the British Atomic Energy Authority,
approximately 40 tonnes of this ammunition has been left
lying around the border area of Kuwait, other experts
even put the figure at 300 tonnes. One British company
turned down a contract to remove this uranium ammunition
owing to the danger to the health of their employees. As
these areas of desert also have periods of rain, the
toxicity and radioactivity enter the ground water and
finally also the food chain. It represents a long-term
source of danger to the? Million people living in this
area, which according to recent British investigations
has probably already occurred.
Bedouin
tribesmen have reported that hundreds of camels, sheep
and birds, which had been used as target practice by
American troops, were lying in the battlefields of the
Kuwaiti desert. However, investigations by an American
veterinary surgeon and experts in infectious diseases
showed that these animals bore no signs of gunshot wounds
nor had they succumbed to an epidemic. Some of the dead
animals had been infested with insects, which according
to the US media had also died.
At the
request of Saudi Arabia all vehicles and military
equipment damaged by uranium ammunition had to be
collected by the US army and transported to the USA: they
had previously been buried in the desert. According to
information from the US, "Gulf War Syndrome" is
attributed to vaccinations, malaria prophylaxis,
delousing agents, insect-repellents, substances against
the nerve gas Soman, but also to the associated depleted
uranium ammunition. Poisonous gases were not used in the
Gulf War, although a West German company helped Iraq to
construct a poisonous gas factory in Samarra and to
produce the appropriate grenades. Another West German
company supplied a plant to fill and screw together 122mm
grenades. This plant was completely destroyed by the
bombing in the Gulf War.
The allied
troops were informed of the dangers of the German
technology only nine days after the end of the war. Gulf
War veterans in the USA and the UK reported illnesses
including damage to various organs, tooth and hair loss
or cancer. Pregnant military personnel bore children with
deformities. One US NCO conceded that many Gulf War
veterans now fear that they were used as "guinea
pigs" in a radiation experiment. According to the
President of the US Gulf War Veterans, between 50,000 and
80,000 US army personnel have been affected by the so-called
"Gulf War Syndrome", 39,000 of whom have so far
had to be relieved of active military duties, whilst
between 2,400 and 5,000 have died.
In the UK
approximately 40,000 Gulf War veterans suffered from
"Gulf War Syndrome", of whom 16 have died to
date. However, according to other reports, over 100
deaths have already occurred. Children with deformities
have been shown to the House of Commons by British
soldiers, who returned their military medals at the same
time. Australian, French and Canadian soldiers have also
been affected by "Gulf War Syndrome". The
incidence of such illnesses is even rising in Kuwait.
Such
symptoms have been attributed to 250,000 men, women and
children in Iraq and the rate of mortality is high.
Children primarily succumb to leukaemia: in one Baghdad
hospital 1,050 cases have been recorded - five times as
high as before the war. The sick come chiefly from the
South of the country. In Basra doctors noted where the
patients originated from: 765 cancerous patients came
from an agricultural area to the West of Basra - there
was a tank battle there in 1991.
In March
1994 it was reported in the USA that out of 251 families
of Gulf War veterans in the State of Mississippi, 67% of
their children were born with deformities such as missing
eyes, ears, fingers, arms, legs or suffered from serious
blood disorders or breathing difficulties. I have
photographs of these children.
In the
meantime the President of the US Gulf War Veterans has
endorsed my suspicions that these illnesses are on a par
with the nuclear reactor disaster in Chernobyl in 1986.
However, similar occurrences have also taken place in
central Europe. In this connection I recall the crash of
a US A 10 fighter plane over Remscheid in 1988 and an
Israeli EL A1 transport plane, which was returning from
the US, and crashed over Amsterdam in 1992. Both planes
are alleged to have been carrying radioactive material,
including uranium missiles. In the period after the
crashes there was an increased incidence of skin
disorders, diarrhea, leukaemia in children and babies
with deformities in these areas. A Swedish Institute
examined 15 people who had been at the site of the crash
in Amsterdam when it happened. The longer they had
remained there, the higher the level of uranium found in
their faces.
In November
1996 it was reported that about 1,000 children were
suffering from a syndrome of unknown origin in the former
Yugoslavia. Their symptoms were similar to "Gulf War
Syndrome" and over 600 children were taken to
hospital.
In December
1997 and January 1998 the Bosnian media reported that in
some parts of the country a dramatic increase had arisen
in cases of leukaemia, cancer and babies with deformities.
An unusual outbreak of disease had also occurred in cows:
milk production declined rapidly and sometimes stopped
completely. The blood content in the milk was often so
high that it could not be used for human consumption. In
some cases calves were also born with deformities:
without skin on their feet, without hooves or tongues,
genetic mutations, which had also been observed in other
types of mammals. Alterations in the vegetation were also
visible: there was very little fruit, which did not have
deformities and a strange moss had formed. According to
investigations by the Nuclear Research Institute in Vinca,
the radioactive radiation after the NATO bombings had
increased to dangerous levels when uranium ammunition
based on German technology was used. The infants of
refugees from Kosovo are reported to have widespread
shingles, which is very unusual amongst infants.
I detected
serious side-effects in nearly 30% of the patients
treated in so-called radio active "treatment centre"
in West Germany: infections and shingles, indications of
a collapse of the immune system.
I am
particularly pleased that after having initially
completely rejected my arguments in discussions and after
I had presented my evidence, I have been able to convince
my colleagues Eric Hoskins and Ulrich Gottstein of the
side-effects of the uranium missiles made using German
technology. I have since been asked by a German doctor
and lawyer to provide documentation, as an employee of a
German factory making armored tanks is seriously ill.
In my
lectures I have repeatedly pointed out that Germany is
liable to provide compensation to anyone injured by
uranium missiles: I am particularly thinking of the many
sick children and those with deformities.
As a medical
doctor and scientist I once again urge a ban on the use
of depleted uranium ammunition, which the armies of 9
countries now possess: USA, UK, France, Russia, Israel,
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Thailand. This appeal
also applies in particular to the laser weapons developed
recently, which cause irreparable blindness when they are
used.
|