OMNI
US CHEMICAL
WAR NEWSLETTER #3.
July 4, 2021
Compiled by
Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
(#1 July 16, 2012; #2, 9-7-13).
CONTENTS
See
WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction
CHEMICAL
WAR
Gerry
Sloan, “National Insecurity” (poem)
Nadya
Williams, Doc. Film, “The People vs. Agent Orange”
Wardah
Amir. Holding Chemical War Users Accountable
UNSC
v. All Uses of CW
Raf
Casert, “US. Russia Clash. . . .”
Bill
Fletcher, Jr. “Agent Orange and the Continuing Vietnam War.”
Liebelson, Chemical Weapons in Syria and Going to War
BIOLOGICAL
WAR
BAS,
“21ST Century Perspectives” (7-21-20)
Michael
Pembroke, Korea, chapter 12
NUCLEAR
WEAPONS AND RADIOACTIVITY
DEPLETED
URANIUM
Ulson Gunnar, “America’s Love Affair”
Henes,
Uranium Pollution in Tennessee
Newsletters #1
AND #2
TEXTS
Agent Orange
and the Continuing Vietnam War“
Gerald
Sloan. NATIONAL (IN)SECURITY MEMORANDUM #115
With
a stroke of the pen
JFK
approved the use
of
chemical defoliants
in
Vietnam, thus violating
the
Geneva Conventions,
though
his own generals
had
misgivings. Kennedy
believed
they were sexier
than
conventional weapons
while
covertly banging Marilyn.
My
cousin Kenneth Layton
was
a Vietnam veteran
who
died of leukemia
due
to Agent Orange exposure.
The
government took twenty years
to
admit culpability, to offer
token
reparations. Instead of
dying
quickly at the hands of
the
Viet Cong, he died slowly,
compliments
of our own military-
industrial
complex. I never
got
a chance to thank him for
his
service--that obscene cliche.
Meanwhile
the U.S. Forestry Service
baptized
Oregon with defoliants,
first
cousins of Agent Orange
inducing
miscarriages, birth
defects,
diseases, death--
the
EPA asleep at the wheel
or
in cahoots with Dow Chemical.
Factoid:
We sprayed 20 million
gallons
of dioxin in Vietnam
(the
half life of dioxin
is
one million years.)
The
new term for this
is
"eco-terrorism,"
no
ocean, no landfill
deep
enough to wash
away
our collective sins,
to
defy the corporate will.
Please
sign up to see this film - "The People VS Agent Orange" - coming
virtually to San Francisco
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A new, excellent professionally-made
documentary film, "The People VS Agent Orange" will be having a
virtual theater run starting March 5th.
it starts out in the U.S. - specifically Oregon - and the decades-long
fight by ordinary citizens there to stop the deadly spraying of their
forests. The 86 minute film then ties in, of course, the use of the toxic
herbicide in the American war in Viet Nam.
Cost is only $12 to view it at home. After purchasing a
ticket you have 10 days to see it.
This is not past history, as dioxin is still being used as a
defoliant - and a major law suit in France against nearly 30 corporate giants
is being decided now.
Below is the information on the film with the Bay Area theaters
highlighted.
One could watch the film through any venue in the US but we are
encouraging people to see the film via their local theater
as they get a cut of the proceeds. Streaming starting March
5, 2021 through
the Balboa and Vogue Theaters in
San Francisco and the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.
The People VS. Agent Orange tells the
story of Agent Orange’s long lasting legacy on human health and the environment
through the lives of two amazing women.
Tran
To Nga, a French-Vietnamese woman, was exposed to the Agent Orange during
the American war in Vietnam. She is currently suing Dow, Monsanto/Bayer and the
other producers of the dioxin contaminated herbicide in French court for
compensation for the health issues she has since developed. The court’s
decision is due in May.
Carol
Van Strum and her community fought against the use of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, the
herbicides that made up Agent Orange, in the State forests around her home in
Oregon in the 1970s. Even though the US military banned the use of 2,4,5-T in
Vietnam in 1970 due to its dioxin contaminant it was still allowed by the EPA
to be sprayed in the forests of Oregon until 1979. The fight in Oregon
continues against the use 2,4-D and other herbicides around the community’s
water reservoir.
The
film also addresses the impact of Agent Orange on veterans, children of
veterans and the Vietnamese whose health continues to be compromised by this
toxic legacy of the war.
Information
on where you can stream the film at a theater near you can be found at
the War Legacies Project or
the People VS. Agent Orange websites.
The
War Legacies Project is coordinating and collaborating with others that are
organizing webinar discussions around the film and the issues it
raises. Contact Susan Hammond if
you would like to coordinate a discussion about the film in your
community. You can also view the discussions that have already occurred.
The
War Legacies Project with the support of Veterans for Peace; Northwest
Center for Alternatives to Pesticides; Beyond Toxics; Lincoln County Community
Rights; and Oregon Community Rights are sponsoring a limited number of
discounts to take $4.00 off the streaming fee of $12.00 for veterans, community
rights and environmental activists, students, seniors and others.
Contact Susan if you would like to receive a
discount or to make a donation to enable WLP to sponsor more
discounts for those who would not able to stream the film otherwise.
Enough is enough: holding users
of chemical weapons accountable.
Wardah Amir. BAS (April 27, 2018).
Air strikes aren’t the only way to
stop chemical weapons attacks. A new Voices of Tomorrow essay.
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Raf
Casert (AP). “U.S., Russia Clash on
Chemical Weapons.” NADG (11-20-18). A “heated session” of the Organization
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons the US and Western powers fought with
Russia and China over identification of the perpetrators of chemical attacks.
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April 28,
2014 In
observance of the United Nations Day of Remembrance for all
Victims of Chemical Warfare, VFP has selected an article from blackvoicenews.com. Link to
article - http://www.blackvoicenews.com/commentary/more-commentary/48980-agent-orange-and-the-continuing-vietnam-war.html Bill
Fletcher, Jr. is
a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate past president
of TransAfrica Forum, and national board member of the “Vietnam Agent Orange
Relief & Responsibility Campaign.” Follow him on Facebook and
www.billfletcherjr.com. In a 2009 visit to Vietnam I
asked a retired colonel in the Vietnam People’s Army about the notorious
toxin “Agent Orange.” The colonel, who was also a former leader in a
Vietnamese advocacy group for Agent Orange’s victims, spoke fluent English
and was a veteran of the war with the United States. I asked him when had the
Vietnamese realized the long-term dangers associated with the Agent Orange
herbicide used by the U.S.A. His answer was as simple as it was
heart-wrenching: ”When the children were born,” was his response. In an effort to defeat the
National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese Army (the Vietnam People’s
Army), the U.S. concocted the idea that if it destroyed the forests and
jungles that there would be nowhere for the guerrillas to hide. They, thus,
unleashed a massive defoliation campaign, the results of which exist with us
to this day. Approximately 19 million gallons of herbicides were used during
the war, affecting between 2 million and 4.8 million Vietnamese, along with
thousands of US military personnel. Additionally, Laos and Cambodia were
exposed to Agent Orange by the USA in the larger Indochina War. Despite the original public
relations associated with the use of Agent Orange aimed at making it appear
safe and humane, it was chemical warfare and it is not an exaggeration to
suggest that it was genocidal. The cancers promoted by Agent Orange
(affecting the Vietnamese colonel I interviewed, as a matter of fact) along
with the catastrophic rise in birth defects, have not only haunted the people
of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, but also the United States. Those in the US military
involved in the dispersal of Agent Orange, and those who were simply exposed
to it, brought the curse home. The United States government
has refused to take responsibility for the war of aggression it waged against
the Vietnamese. This includes a failure to acknowledge the extent of the
devastation wrought by Agent Orange. Ironically, it has also failed to assume
responsibility for the totality of the horror as it affected U.S. veterans,
thus leaving the veterans and their families to too often fight this demon
alone. Congresswoman Barbara Lee
recently introduced House Resolution 2519, “To direct the Secretary of State,
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to provide assistance for individuals affected by exposure to Agent
Orange, and for other purposes.” In many respects, this bill is about
settling some of the accounts associated with the war against Vietnam. The
U.S.] reneged on reparations that it promised to Vietnam and to this day
there remain those in the media and government who wish to whitewash this
horrendous war of aggression as if it were some sort of misconstrued moral
crusade. HR 2519 takes us one step
towards accepting responsibility for a war crime that was perpetrated against
the Vietnamese and that, literally and figuratively, blew back in our faces
as our government desperately tried to crush an opponent it should never have
first been fighting. For that reason, we need Congress to pass and fund HR
2519. HR 2519 should be understood as a down payment on a much larger bill
owed to the peoples of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and to the US veterans
sent into hell. [For more information on HR
2519 and the issue of Agent Orange, contact the "Vietnam Agent Orange
Relief & Responsibility Campaign" at www.vn-agentorange.org.] |
Are Chemical Weapons Reason
Enough to Go to War?
What are they? How do they work? Where
else have they been used? —By Dana Liebelson
| Fri
Aug. 30, 2013 8:23 AM PDT [forwarded
by Larry W]
Bodies are
buried in
UPDATE
August 30, 2013, 1:00 PM EST: The Obama Administration has released its assessment
of the chemical weapons attack in Syria. According to the document (view it here),
the US government "assesses with high confidence" that the Syrian
government carried out the attack, using a nerve agent. The document also says
that the Syrian regime maintains a stockpile of numerous chemical agents,
including mustard, sarin, and VX.
Here is the map released by the White House
showing areas reportedly affected by the August 21 chemical attack (click to enlarge.)
The Obama administration has moved a fifth
destroyer containing cruise missiles into the Mediterranean Sea and seems
prepared to take limited punitive military action against Syria for the presumed use of
chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad's regime. The White House is expected to declassify evidence today
that will show that Assad's forces launched a poisonous gas attack against
civilians earlier this month, killing more than 1,300. A year ago, President
Obama set a "red line," noting that the use of chemical weapons
would be unacceptable in the Syrian civil war that has raged for over two years
and killed over 100,000 people. But with
But Obama says he'll go
ahead regardless.
·
Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq War Architect, Is Skeptical of Intervening
in Syria
The former secretary of
defense knows a thing or two about military intervention overseas.
·
Neocons Push Obama to Go Beyond a Punitive Strike in Syria
The same hawks who gave us
the Iraq War are using the chemical weapons issue to win support for deeper US
involvement in the Syrian war.
BIOLOGICAL WAR
“Twenty-first century perspectives on the Biological
Weapon Convention: Continued relevance or toothless paper tiger.” BAS,
July 21, 2020
The COVID pandemic has
underscored the folly of biological warfare, a strategy that relies on
weapons—viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens—that would indiscriminately
wreak havoc on the attacked and the attacker alike. Read in the Bulletin magazine.
Michael Pembroke. Korea:
Where the American Century Began.
Chapter 12, “Secrets and
Lies,” pp. 170-73. “Biological Warfare
Program.”
NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND WAR, RADIOACTIVITY
DEPLETED URANIUM
Ulson Gunnar. “America’s
Love Affair With Nuclear & Radioactive Weapons.” 2016
http://journal-neo.org/2016/02/12/americas-love-affair-with-nuclear-radioactive-weapons/
The United States would have the world
believe that it is in mortal danger should nations like Iran or North Korea
obtain operationally effective nuclear weapons. We are told that there is a
grave risk of these weapons being used against another nation and that the US
(with the support of the “international community”) must confront these
government, and if possible undermine and overthrow them. Why?
Since
a nation has already used nuclear weapons against another state, ironically
enough that nation being the United States itself, we already know the
devastating effects of nuclear weapons. Besides the immense, indiscriminate
initial blast, nuclear weapons also produce a persistent radioactive threat
amid the fallout afterwards.
The
fallout and the catastrophic effects it has on human health for years afterward
make nuclear weapons particularly horrifying and abhorrent. The United States
didn’t drop only one nuclear bomb on another nation, Japan, it dropped two. The
data collected in the aftermath of these attacks have helped form our
collective fear of these weapons.
Ironically
the US is using the fear its own nuclear warfare has created as leverage to
wage still more war.
Depleted Uranium – All the Fallout, None of the Bang
But
what if the catastrophic human health effects of fallout could be achieved
without the immense, city-flattening initial explosion? What if you could use a
weapon to induce long-term spikes in cancer and birth defects without the
political ramifications of dropping a nuclear bomb on a population? Some
readers may be tempted to cite “dirty bombs,” and they would be partially
correct. But there is another correct answer. Depleted uranium or DU
ammunition.
Depleted
uranium is one of the densest materials munitions can be made out of. Because
of their density, they are able to penetrate armor other rounds cannot. DU was
initially conceived as an additional deterrence, a weapon of last resort in the
event of a full-scale Soviet invasion of Western Europe during the Cold War.
Because
of the overwhelming number of tanks the Soviet Union possessed, it was believed
extraordinary measures would be needed to even the odds, even at the cost of
radioactive contamination of the battlefield.
The
catastrophic effects of littering the battlefield with contaminated ammunition
possessing a half-life of several billion years was a risk NATO was willing to
take to ensure the survival of Western Europe. How then, did this weapon of
last resort become a weapon commonly used?
The
first Gulf War in 1990, Operation Desert Storm, included the heavy use of this
doomsday contingency. The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons
(ICBUW) in their recent piece titled, ““The most toxic war in history” – 25 years later,” would
note:
This
month marks the 25th anniversary of the start of Operation Desert Storm, the combat
phase of the Gulf War. Precipitated by Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait
in August 1990, the conflict was the first to see the widespread use of
depleted uranium (DU) ammunition. US and UK forces subsequently acknowledged
firing a combined 286,000kg of DU – the vast majority of which was fired by US
Abrams and M60 tanks, and A10 and Harrier aircraft.
. . . . http://journal-neo.org/2016/02/12/americas-love-affair-with-nuclear-radioactive-weapons/
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2014/04/28/agent-orange-and-continuing-vietnam-war
Not
only is the US guilty of immense hypocrisy, it has managed to hijack what are
supposed to be “international institutions” to help perpetrate this hypocrisy.
This is yet another example of just how important it is to establish a true
balance of global power through a multipolar system of sovereign nations, in place
of the “international order” that currently exists, which sidesteps nation
sovereignty and empowers global criminality rather than stopping it.
Ulson
Gunnar, a New York-based geopolitical analyst and writer especially for the
online magazine “New Eastern
Outlook”.
Radioactive pollution in Tennessee
JONESBOROUGH, TN (USA): Activists reveal
radioactive pollution
by Michael Henes. July
20th, 2013. CPTnet 19 July 2013
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Ken Edwards, Brethren
Pastor and member |
Christian
Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Appalachian Peace Education Center (APEC) held a
press conference on Monday 15 July announcing the findings of a recent study
revealing uranium contamination in the
area surrounding Aerojet Ordnance
Johnson City Press newspaper
and NBC-affiliate WJHL Channel 11 attended the conference held on Old State
Route 34 across from the northeast
Standing
at a table arrayed with soil samples gathered outside AOT, representatives of
CPT and APEC spoke about the contamination in the area while affirming their
faith in the goodness of humanity.
John
Mueller, a former chemist, noted that a 2013 study has
demonstrated that soil, creek sediment and biological life near the plant are
contaminated with waste from the manufacturing of radioactive weaponry.
“Because
Aerojet is the only nearby company that can work with processed uranium, we
assert that the Aerojet plant is polluting the environment with uranium,” Mr.
Mueller said.
Depleted
Uranium, widely used by the
Aerojet
declined an offer by CPT to participate in the press conference. Monday,
guards looked on as Jonesborough resident and APEC Board member Ken Edwards
handed fliers to people driving by. However, when Edwards, a Church of
the Brethren Minister, began approaching people within the facility parking
lot, a guard came out and told him, “You cannot do that here.”
Maryknoll
nun Rosemarie Milazzo, emphasized CPT and APEC's commitment to a nonviolent
path toward transformation. “We believe all weapons are immoral and their
use is incompatible with the most basic principles of humanity and
environmental health protection. How can we as a civilized society
continue to harm others by disregarding our responsibility to care for and
protect our land?”
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CPT reservist Merwyn DeMello
proclaims the |
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Contents #1 (July 16,
2012).
VVAW vs. Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Relief Act
VFP vs. Agent
Orange
Wikipedia: Tear
Gas
War Resisters
League Campaign vs. Tear Gas
Israeli Tear
Gas
Contents #2 (September 7,
2013).
Messamore, 10
US Chemical Attacks
DIOXIN, DU
Palazzo,
Myelodysplastic Syndromes
IRAQI
CHEM WAR VS.
URANIUM
ICBUW,
VFP, Ban Uranium Weapons
TEAR GAS
Hall, WRL’s
Anti-Tear Gas Campaign
WRL, Resistance
to Tear Gas in
Search Google
END CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL
WARFARE NEWSLETTER #3
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