Warfare 378

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

1/61

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTSENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

OF WARFAREOF WARFARE

Consumption of resourcesConsumption of resources

Toxic chemicalsToxic chemicals

Munitions dangersMunitions dangers

Nuclear contaminationNuclear contamination

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

2/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

3/61

In the Cold War,In the Cold War,the U.S. and Soviet militaries rarelythe U.S. and Soviet militaries rarely

battled each other.battled each other.

Yet they killed thousands of theirYet they killed thousands of their

own soldiers and civilians throughown soldiers and civilians through

environmental contamination.environmental contamination.

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

4/61

CONSUMPTIONCONSUMPTIONOF RESOURCESOF RESOURCES

Huge amounts of energy (8% in U.S.)

Large percentage of iron and

steel, and other metals

Nearly half of Peripherys debt

is from importing of arms

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

5/61

Military spending

0 100 200 300 400

Iraq, Ira , i ya, yria, . Korea

i a

Italy

a i ra ia

Germa y

ra ce

Britai

Ja a

ssia

ite tates

ilitary s e i g( illio s of ollars)

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

6/61

Our global priorities

0 100 200 300 400

La mi es

zo e e letio

Deforestatio

Glo al armi g

ci rai

lea ater

e e a le e ergy

oil erosio

ergy efficie cy

ilitary

ct al s e i g( illio s of ollars)

ee e s e i g( illio s of ollars)

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

7/61

TOXICCHEMICALSTOXICCHEMICALS

Military toxic wastesMilitary toxic wastes

Agent OrangeAgent Orange

Chemical weapons useChemical weapons use

Chemical weapons disposalChemical weapons disposal

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

8/61

Chemical weapons use

Iran, Iraq used gas in 1980-88 war;

Iraq gassed Kurdish minorityGas attacks in World WarI

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

9/61

Chemical weapons use

Moscow

gas raid kills

121 hostages,

2002

Sarin attack in

Tokyo subway,

1995

U.S. experiments

on militarypersonnel and

civilians, 1950s-60s

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

10/61

Agent Orange defoliant

20 million gallons

ofherbicides sprayed

in Vietnam War to deny

Cover to guerrillas

Also used by So.Africa

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

11/61

Effects ofAgent Orange (dioxin)

Vietnamese civilians

and veterans

U.S.

veterans

Limited

compensation

to veterans for

cancers,

diabetes,

birth defects

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

12/61

Chemical releases in Gulf War?

Bombing ofIraqi

biochemical sites, 1991

Detections of

chemicals in air

Moral responsibilties

of both sides?

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

13/61

Chemical

BunkersIn Iraq

Detonation ofIraqichemical/biological storage

after end of Gulf War

Possible exposure to troops?

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

14/61

Kuwait oil

well fires, 1991

Set by withdrawing

Iraqi forces; also

spilled oil intoPersian Gulf

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

15/61

Draining of

southern Iraq

marshes, 1992

Area was haven for

Marsh

A

rabs,Sh

ia rebels

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

16/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

17/61

Chemical

weapons

testing anddisposal

6000 sheep killed in

Utah nerve gas test, 1968Alabama protest against

chemical arms incineration

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

18/61

Toxic wastes left on bases

U.S. military bases in

the Philippines,

Panama,Alaska

Soviet bases in

Eastern Europe

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

19/61

BadgerArmyAmmunition Plant, Wisconsin

Propellant plant, 1940s-70s.

Groundwater poisoned with nitrates.

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

20/61

Ironies of abandoned toxic bases

Rocky MountainArsenal in

Colorado was poisoned underground,

but the surface is a wildlife haven.

Many military

bases are Superfund

toxic clean-up sites.

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

21/61

MUNITIONSMUNITIONS

Gulf WarSyndromeGulf WarSyndrome

Bombing rangesBombing ranges

Flight rangesFlight ranges

Land minesLand mines

Cluster bombsCluster bombs

Depleted UraniumDepleted Uranium

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

22/61

Land mines

Old land mines explode every

22 minutes, claiming about

26,000 victims a year.

Su

dan Kosovo

Cambodia

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

23/61

De-Mining

Operations1998 ban on

plastic land mines

Sch

oolyard inL

aos

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

24/61

Cluster bombs

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

25/61

Cluster bombs

Nis, Yugoslavia

market bombing,

1999

Bomblets

in Laos

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

26/61

Depleted Uranium (DU)

Dense mu

nitions to penetratetanks, armor. Made from

low-level reprocessing waste.

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

27/61


Huge cancer rates in

southern Iraq (387 tons

of DU left behind) DU tested on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.

Would cost $4 billion to clean Indiana base.

Releases radioactivity when

explodes or burns, leaves behind dust

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

28/61


DU also used in Bosnia,

Kosovo,Afghanistan82% of U.S combat troops in

Iraq came in contact with DU dustMetal of Dishonor video

www.konscious.com

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

29/61

Gulf WarSyndrome

Agent Orange of the 1990s

A variety of illnesses

reported by military personnel

Increase in personnel cancers, 1991-97

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

30/61

Gulf WarSyndrome

CAUSES?

Depleted Uranium?

Chemical releases?

Oil well fires?

Pesticides?

A combination?

Iraqi civilians

also affected:

leukemia victim

in Basra hospital.

Children of U.S. troops affected

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

31/61

Vieques naval

bombing range,

Puerto Rico

Hiddenundetonated

explosives

Explosions,.noise, affect on fishing,

use of DU and chemical testing.

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

32/61

Opposition to

Vieques bombing

Fishermen blockade Navy ships, 1970s

Christian camp after stray bomb

kills guard, 1999. Navy agrees

to gradual withdrawal.

Rallies in

San Juan and

New York

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

33/61

Low-level jet flights

Practice for flying under radar.Effect on cattle, wildlife,

horses, human stress

riven out of Europe.

Went to Nevada, Canada, etc.

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

34/61

Low-level flights

in Canada

InnuIndians

in Labrador protest

disruption of their

hunting culture

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

35/61

NUCLEAR WEAPONSNUCLEAR WEAPONS

Production, Use,

Testing, WasteProd

uction, Use,

Testing, Waste

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

36/61

Uranium mining

Began du

ringManhattan Project 1940s

Deaths of Navajo, Dene

uranium miners

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

37/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

38/61

Nuclear weapons production cycle

Spent fuel from civilian energy industry can be used for bombs

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

39/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

40/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

41/61

LosAlamos NuclearLabs, New Mexico

Fires in 2000 endangered

LosAlamos, Hanford

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

42/61

Atomic bombing of Japan

220,000 died at

Hiroshima andNagasaki

280,000 more

exposed toRadiation

(Hibakusha)

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

43/61

NuclearClub

Original: U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China

Spread since 1970s: Israel, India, Pakistan, possibly North Korea

Disarmed in 1990s: Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakstan, SouthAfrica

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

44/61

Weapons-grade uranium stockpiles

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

45/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

46/61

Atomic Veterans

andDownwinders

17,000 cancer cases

in the U.S. alone

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

47/61

Nuclear fallout from

Nevada Test Site

Atmospheric nuclear

tests halted in 1963;

continued underground

Reassuring government leaflet

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

48/61

Strontium-90 in milk

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

49/61

U.S. tests in the Pacific

75% increase in cesium in islanders

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

50/61

Evacuation ofIslanders

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

51/61

Soviet tests

in Kazakhstan

Kazakhs protest

Genetic defects

nearSemey

(Semipalatinsk)

B i i h l

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

52/61

British nuclear

tests inAustralia

Effects onAborigines

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

53/61

French tests in Polynesia

French bombing of

Greenpeace ship in

New Zealand, 1985

Also inAlgeria in 1950s

Chi l i Xi ji

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

54/61

Chinese nuclear tests in Xinjiang

In Muslim Uigur minority region after 1964

1996 Comprehensive

NuclearTest Ban signed;

but some small tests continue

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

55/61

India and

Pakistan

nuclear tests

Indian leader in front

ofH-Bomb mural

Pakistani

crowds

celebrate

first test,

1998

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

56/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

57/61

Military nuclear accidents

roken arrow

Lost nuclear weapons: 43+ Soviet, 7 U.S.

Plane crashes, sub sinkings, silo explosions

Some scattered radiation

Lost submarine reactors: 6 Soviet, 2 U.S.

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

58/61

Nuclear plants as targets of war

Israel bombs Iraqs Osirak

reactor construction, 1981.

Iraq launches missile at

Israels Dimona nuclear

laboratory, 1991.

U.S. bombs Iraqi

operating reactors, 1991

Reactors as possible

terrorist targets?

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

59/61

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

60/61

Kyshtym waste disaster,

1957

E

xplosion atS

oviet weapons factory forcesevacuation of over 10,000 people in Ural Mts.

Area size of Rhode Island still uninhabited;

thousands of cancers reported

Orphans

W b it

8/6/2019 Warfare 378

61/61

Websites

Military Toxics Project

www.miltoxproj.orgCenter for Defense Information

www.cdi.org

Council for a Livable World

www.clw.org

U.S. military environmental agencies

http://aec.army.mil

http://enviro.navy.mil

http://www.af.mil/environment

Gulf War Veterans Resource Linkshttp://www.spidersmill.com/gwvrl

Chemical Weapons Working Group

www.cwwg.org

Documents

Warfare 378