uranium news

A Less than Grand Strategy: NATO’s New Vision, The Preemptive Use of Nuclear Weapons Global Research by Spencer Spratley March 21, 2008 - ‘”A few months ago, a report was published entitled “Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership”. It was written by five generals and it proposes a new vision for the NATO alliance and a strengthening of ties between the United States and the European Union. ………

….The report contains some shocking and alarming statements …………‘The first use of nuclear weapons must remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction, in order to avoid truly existential dangers.” …………In sum, nuclear weapons remain indispensable, and nuclear escalation continues to remain an element of any modern strategy.”

In short, the publication suggests that NATO should adhere to the Bush administration’s credo of “strike first” and that the definition of “proportional” can, and must, include the use of tactical nuclear weapons. The flawed logic is that the Western world should be prepared to use nuclear weapons in order to prevent their “enemies” from developing and/or using those same weapons. It goes without saying that that this position carries with it a whole host of problems.

The following issues immediately spring to mind:

1) The naive belief that “mini-nukes” are somehow a safe and proportional response to perceived threats is an unproven and frightening proposition which contains the potential to plunge the world into a nuclear holocaust. ………

..2) A policy of preemptive use eliminates any real notion of deterrence. If a government felt it was being targeted for attack or regime change, what incentive would there be for that nation to refrain from striking first with WMD’s or any other means at their disposal?

3) It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where this policy would not, in fact, encourage the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (and weapons of all kinds). Common sense suggests that nations who feel cornered would likely adopt an attitude of, “If we’re gonna be hit, lets make sure we can hit back.”

4) The publication does not address the long-term implications of a preemptive attack. Decapitating the leadership of a nation and laying waste to its terrain does not provide any reason to hope that from the ashes of such a calamity would emerge a model state which would pose no further threat to the Western world. …………………

……..The report itself contains other flaws and arguments which only serve to polarize groups and nations and move us further from a spirit of co-operation and understanding…………………………………………………..”.

Big boys’ undermining non-proliferation regime
11 Feb 2008 The following is an excerpt from the speech of of Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy: “………………………………………
The big boys continue to say we need nuclear weapons, we need to develop more modern nuclear weapons, we need mini-nukes, we need bunker busters, but it is bad for you to have nuclear weapons.
Simply if you go anywhere people will tell you this is called double standard. It is not sustainable. And I try as much obviously in my job to make sure that we do as much to avoid proliferation but we are working against the tide. Unless as Frank Walter mentioned weapon states have to lead an example. They have to show the way that we are making our way to move towards nuclear disarmament.

That is no now a fantasy. When I see people like George Schultz or Henry Kissinger or Sam Nunn talking about abolition, these are not people who are naive or no aware of security deterrents. These are people who through their maturity have come to the conclusion that nuclear weapons as they call it is increasingly hazardous, decreasingly effective and if you really want to protect ourselves, you need to move towards nuclear abolition…………………………………….”.

Top brass call for nuclear first strike Sydney Morning Herald Ian Traynor in Brussels January 23, 2008 “THE West must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the “imminent” spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new NATO. The document, written by five of the West’s most senior military officers and strategists, has been presented to the Pentagon and NATO’s secretary-general. They have called for root-and-branch reform of NATO and a new pact drawing the US, NATO and the European Union together in a “grand strategy”. ……………………………………………The manifesto has been written following discussions with active commanders and policy makers, many of whom are unable or unwilling to publicly air their views. It has been presented to the Pentagon in Washington and to NATO’s secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, over the past 10 days. The proposals are likely to be discussed at a NATO summit in Bucharest in April………………………… The authors are: General John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff and NATO’s former supreme commander in Europe; General Klaus Naumann, Germany’s former top soldier and former chairman of NATO’s military committee; General Henk van den Breemen, a former Dutch chief of staff; Admiral Jacques Lanxade, a former French chief of staff; and Lord Inge, field marshal and former chief of the general staff and the defence staff in Britain…………………….Guardian News & Media “

India fails to have its way with IAEA
THETIMES OF INDIA 12 Jan 2008 , Rajat Pandit , TNN NEW DELHI: – “Indian negotiators have so far failed to have their way with IAEA on two key issues in what will be yet another setback to the prospect of the operationalization of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
Though foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Friday said the three earlier rounds of talks with the international nuclear watchdog had progressed smoothly, expressing hope that “we would wrap it up in the next round of talks in mid-January”, sources said India has failed to persuade IAEA to meet its concerns on two crucial issues. ………………………

………….While pointing out that it’s not in the business of supplying fuel, IAEA is also wary of conceding anything to India which may become a precedent for other countries to ask for the same……….”.

Iran, Russia, and the Bomb Iran’s black market dealings are shrouded in mystery, but its procurement networks for nuclear bomb ingredients have most likely focused on the former Soviet Union. Spero News By Rens Lee 21 Dec 07 – “……………………………..what lethal nuclear items Iran may already possess cannot be inferred from the performance of its uranium conversion and enrichment facilities and from the spotty intelligence that shaped the NIE. Indeed, Iran’s highly publicized nuclear energy program could serve as a convenient cover for a parallel small scale-but potentially lethal-weapons-building effort that relies extensively on black market operations to obtain strategic nuclear wares. Iran’s black market dealings are shrouded in mystery, but its procurement networks for nuclear bomb ingredients have most likely focused on the former Soviet Union. Iran’s legal nuclear cooperation with Russia, for example, could mask and facilitate a variety of illegal transfers, and also give Iran plausibility regarding its motives and actions. Also, Iran, like other aspiring nuclear actors, may seek weapons components by means of smuggling chains that they either patronize or control. …… ……….Russia, of course, has long been a focus of proliferation concern ………….Even the most modern security systems are vulnerable to insider theft, especially when senior personnel of the enterprise are involved. (The latter would know how to circumvent or defeat the various steps in procedures designed to contain nuclear material at authorized sites.)…………………………..”

The war of Uranium, the ignored war
uruknet December 7, 2007 “The United States knows how to kill, but kills better with Uranium bombs. Nuclear war has started with the Trojan horse of the bombs and projectiles of uranium used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The effects of the uranium war came home in the bodies of the veterans that participated in the fist war of Golf, who transmitted to their women the destructives genetic effects in the “ardent sperm” and the women passed it to her children that were born with no arms and other mutations. 240.000 veterans of Golf War I are in permanent medical inability and more than 11.000 already died, almost everyone “Cannon fodder” (or of uranium) poor, from Latin origin, afro-American or Asian.
Tons of uranium has fallen over Iraq and Afghanistan. The effects of the metal powder deployed on the winds, the sand storms, the water, the soil and the living creatures affect also a big region that is breathing particles of uranium in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel.

The United States launched experimental mini atomic bombs in the surroundings of Kabul, without anybody knowing, except the victims. Since a decade children with no eyes no encephalon and with other horrendous genetic malformations are being born. The government of Washington and the big media maintain this tragedy in the darkness of secret. A handful of scientists, family of veterans of war and people of press struggles desperately to contain the proliferation of the radioactive contamination in Asian Europe.

Cancer increases in more than 1.000 percent. All of this is coming to knowledge because of t

22 U.S. Physicists Petition Congress To Restrict Bush’s Authority To Use Nuclear Weapons - All Headline News Linda Young -February 2, 2007 Washington, DC (AHN) – “The recent nuclear saber rattling of Pres. George W. Bush in response to the perceived threat of Iran developing nuclear weapons has made some leading U.S. physicists nervous. Bush’s threat to use nuclear force against a nation that does not have nuclear weapons jarred 22 physicists to the point of asking Congress to restrict the president’s power to use nuclear weapons. Washington, DC (AHN) – The recent nuclear saber rattling of Pres. George W. Bush in response to the perceived threat of Iran developing nuclear weapons has made some leading U.S. physicists nervous. Bush’s threat to use nuclear force against a nation that does not have nuclear weapons jarred 22 physicists to the point of asking Congress to restrict the president’s power to use nuclear weapons. ………………The 22 physicists include twelve Nobel laureates”

Bush’s push for new nuclear weapons – New Scientist – 4 August 07 - “WHO wants a shiny new set of nuclear weapons? Hands up, the Bush administration. Who doesn’t? Democrat-controlled Congress.
A statement just submitted to Congress by the Secretaries of Energy, Defense, and State argues that if the “Reliable Replacement Warhead” plan isn’t approved, the US might have to re-test cold war stocks, breaching its moratorium. Critics say the new nukes are not needed and will antagonise other countries.

So far, Congress has sided with the critics, slashing the proposed budget and calling for detailed preliminary studies.Building new weapons and refusing to discuss treaties makes it “hard to convince the world we have peaceful intentions”, says Phil Coyle of analyst group the Center for Defense Information.

‘We have to fulfil our obligations and commitments if we expect non-nuclear parties to cooperate,’ says Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association. President Bush has refused to seek ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban signed by former president Bill Clinton……………………………………….”

From Hiroshima to Iraq, 61 years of uranium wars - A suicidal, genocidal, omnicidal course Global Research, by Leuren Moret June 12, 2007“…………………………………..Carpet and grid bombing with depleted uranium weaponry in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan has guaranteed permanent radioactive terrain contamination. The recent discovery that U.S. depleted uranium bombs dropped by Israel on Lebanon in 2006 contained enriched uranium4,5 suggests covert testing of fourth generation nuclear weapons.

The United States and its allies are fully aware that this weaponry violates the Geneva and Hague Conventions and the 1925 Geneva Poison Gas Protocol.6 It meets the definition of WMD in the U.S. Code7 in two out of three categories. And its use violates U.S. military law.8 since the U.S. is a signatory to The Hague and Geneva Conventions…………………………….Heavy grid and carpet bombing with depleted uranium by the U.S. military on the eastern side of Afghanistan beginning in 2001 guaranteed heavy contamination in areas where deep snows in the mountainous regions provide water for Pakistan and parts of western India.

By contaminating vital water supplies in vast regions with radioactive contaminants……………Radioactive wars with low level radiation will mutilate the DNA of all exposed living things. This is not just a war against people; it is a war against the environment. Few living things will escape the slow radioactive poisoning which mutilates DNA and is passed on to all future generations………………………Nuclear power plants deliver the same lethal fission products in their emissions over a period of months and years that a nuclear bomb delivers in a nanosecond. Chronic exposure to low level radiation in emissions released from nuclear power plants may be deadlier in many ways than one acute exposure to a nuclear bomb detonation……………………….

The agreement to build the world’s first thermonuclear reactor, now located at Rokkasho in northern Japan, ironically was made in a 1985 summit between Reagan and Gorbachov. It will release the equivalent emissions in one year of 365 new nuclear reactors. There are only about 411 commercial nuclear reactors in the world. Japan will soon have the equivalent radioactive emissions of 419 nuclear reactors, in a country the size of California. Japan has a magnitude 8 or greater earthquake every 5 years!……………………………………………..”

Explaining How Depleted Uranium Is Killing Civilians, Soldiers, Land – Christopher Bollyn Global Research, June 17, 2007 “Depleted uranium weapons, and the untold misery they wreak on mankind, are taboo subjects in the mainstream media. This exclusive report should break the media embargo imposed on the American people.Despite being a grossly under-reported subject in the mainstream, there is intense public interest in depleted uranium (DU) and the damage it inflicts on humankind and the environment.While American Free Press is actively investigating DU weapons and how they contribute to Gulf War Syndrome, the corporate-controlled press ignores the illegal use of DU and its long-lasting effects on the health of veterans and the public……………..’The numbers are overwhelming, but the potential horrors only get worse,’ Robert C. Koehler of the Chicago-based Tribune Media Services wrote in an article about DU weapons entitled ‘Silent Genocide’ ‘DU dust does more than wreak havoc on the immune systems of those who breathe it or touch it; the substance also alters one’s genetic code,’ Koehler wrote.’The Pentagon’s response to such charges is denial, denial, denial. And the American media is its moral co-conspirator.’The U.S. government has known for at least 20 years that DU weapons produce clouds of poison gas on impact. These clouds of aerosolized DU are laden with billions of toxic sub-micron sized particles. A 1984 Department of Energy conference on nuclear airborne waste reported that tests of DU anti-tank missiles showed that at least 31 percent of the mass of a DU penetrator is converted to nano-particles on impact. In larger bombs the percentage of aerosolized DU increases to nearly 100 percent…………………..Studies have shown that inhaled nano-particles are far more toxic than micro-sized particles of the same basic chemical composition. British toxicopathologist Vyvyan Howard has reported that the increased toxicity of the nano-particle is due to its size………………………………..”

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