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[ Converted text/html to text/plain ] >===== Original Message From davey garland ===== Dear all, if folk could circulate this, grass-roots support is rising, but we need more. cheers davey (pandora) August, 2003 Dear Colleagues for Peace We are writing you to ask your urgent support for a new Campaign dealing with an issue relating to the spread and use of nuclear weaponry – that of depleted uranium (DU) and other uranium weapons (e.g., bunker-busters, and proposed “next-gen” nuclear weapons of the Bush Administration). An international coalition of peace, anti-nuclear, and anti-weapons organizations has come together to create a unique organizing conference to launch an international campaign to enforce existing laws and conventions prohibiting the further use and development of such weapons. The campaign would also seek to gain medical treatment and environmental clean up for affected populations – hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of civilians and veterans worldwide who have been exposed to these radioactive and toxic materials through war (civilians, peace-keepers and veterans in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, the Balkans), or through manufacturing and testing of these weapons (USA, Puerto Rico, England, Russia, Okinawa, South Korea, India and many other lands). Please see our website (URL below) for background information on these exposure issues, which are constantly minimized or ignored by nations like the US and Britain, which want to continue using these weapons in their next wars. To date, while the Conference and proposed movement have met with enthusiastic responses from the international activist and research community (see attached comments), funding support thus far has been critically short. If the Conference planners cannot raise a minimum of $30,000 by mid-September, the Conference is in jeopardy of facing cancellation. Foundation support, while verbally sympathetic, has been absent due to the already overstretched commitments to other projects, and sagging economic climate, both in the US and in Germany. And so the Conference planners have decided that, if this Conference is to take place, the Movement and its supporters will have to raise the necessary start-up funds on our own. For this reason, we turn to you. We ask that you read the accompanying materials describing the urgent and time-dependent need to hold this Conference now, and the comments we have received from those who know this issue. Also, visit the Conference website at: http://www.uraniumweaponsconfere nce.de[1] There you will find materials describing the purpose, goals, background materials, proposed participants and all the work done to date on this Conference. Finally, we ask you to make a contribution towards our $30,000 US initial target that will enable this Conference to succeed in its mission – stopping these de facto nuclear war weapons before they are used again, and providing justice for those already victimized by these “quiet nuclear wars” already tolerated by the World community. The US and Britain just dumped another 1,100 to 2,200 tons of uranium contaminants on Iraq (and its own troops in the field and in the Occupation); we want to insure that this is last time such contamination takes place. We welcome your questions and comments. For information about how to make your contributions tax-deductible (GAAA in Germany; and NEIS in the USA), please contact the project representative closest to you (see our Conference Brochure on the website for contact information). Unlike the large nuclear weapons of old, this nuclear genie is still partly in the bottle. Meaning we still have a rare chance to cork it -- permanently. But we need your help to do this. We simply can’t wait another year or two – or another war or two in Korea or Iran, as the US is currently proposing -- or the opportunity will be lost, possibly forever to stop the attempt to “normalize” and “conventionalize” nuclear warfare and weapons. You can help stop these “acceptable” nuclear wars that the Bush Administration and others envision before they start. Please make this Conference and this movement a reality with your contribution, and your participation. Gratefully, Marion Küpker Project Coordinator GAAA, Germany contact: marion@motherearth.org Dave Kraft Project Assistant NEIS, USA Davey Garland Assistant Pandora Project, Great Britain enclosures DEPLETED URANIUM / URANIUM WEAPONS: THE TROJAN HORSES OF NUCLEAR WAR AN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL/ORGANIZING CONFERENCE University of Hamburg, Germany, October 16-19, 2003 www.uraniumweaponsconference.de WHAT THIS CONFERENCE WILL DO: Bring together internationally renown experts in the fields of radiation health, international law, peace/anti-weapons and anti-nuclear activism and organizing, to Develop a unified strategy and international Campaign on DU/uranium weapons issues Educate the public, media and other attendees to the issue Utilize a live-Internet feed at the Conference to link those unable to attend due to poor health, cost or distance to those developing the strategy WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR – THE CONFERENCE HAS: Undergone extensive planning to date; this can be viewed at: http://www.uraniumconference.de[2] Outreached over 30 internationally-known experts who have agreed to attend, if funding permits Received the endorsement of the student organization at the University of Hamburg, and arranged for the use of a number of fully A/V and PowerPoint capable rooms at the University at no cost Received the commitment of local German activists to establish a live-Internet feed for the Conference at greatly reduced cost Established an active website, to be used for information and later correspondence Received the endorsement of numerous organizations and individuals worldwide WHY THE DU/URANIUM WEAPONS ISSUE IS IMPORTANT: DU munitions and other uranium weapons have already been “field tested” in the Gulf Wars, the Balkans and Afghanistan, spreading radioactively and chemically toxic uranium which will have toxic effects for the next 4.5 billion years across battlefields and densely inhabited areas alike DU and uranium weapons munitions ARE radioactive. Their use and promotion constitute an attempt by users and manufacturers to blur the distinction between “conventional” and “nuclear” weapons to increase their acceptability in the world community. They may not be as dramatic as “traditional” nuclear weapons; but, are in effect worse because their use and proliferation are being tolerated and promoted. They are the “Trojan Horse” radiological weapons that ”legitimize” quiet nuclear warfare. Many international experts believe that their use constitute a violation of international laws and conventions, and some believe their use constitutes a war crime, the users, war criminals WHY THIS CONFERENCE MUST HAPPEN NOW – WE CAN’T AFFORD DELAY: A Movement must galvanize before the further development, proliferation and use of these weapons makes opposition impossible, as with the current “traditional” nuclear weapons. “Legitimization” – either formal or de facto -- cannot be allowed to occur, and must be stopped before it expands The US and Britain have again used these munitions in the recent Gulf War; they are planning further military interventions where, presumably these weapons will be used again, unless they are stopped Critical evidence, data, informational sources, and health statistics are at risk of “disappearing” or becoming increasingly unavailable to independent researchers through the Coalition occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, making independent verification of hazards next to impossible. Tremendous free and low-cost resources – speaker commitments, conference locations, price breaks on hotel costs, internet-feed, website – have already been assembled, and may be lost if not used in October. This would dramatically increase costs further for future attempts to hold the Conference, making it even less likely to get the necessary funds, and less likely to ever hold such a conference. WHAT IS NEEDED: An estimated $30,000 US is needed by mid-September to insure that the Conference will proceed An estimated $60,000 US may be needed by late-October/early-November to conduct all aspects of the Conference as originally planned, and vital follow-up work ________________________________________________________________________ Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo! Messenger http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/[3] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT click here[4] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service[5]. ===References:=== 1. http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de 2. http://www.uraniumconference.de 3. http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/ 4. http://rd.yahoo.com/M=251812.3170658.4537139.1261774/D=egroupweb/S=17050 16061:HM/A=1693353/R=0/SIG=11t71ok4g/*http://www.netflix.com/Default?mqso=6017 8294&partid=3170658 5. http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk