Hail to the Yugo Chief! At Long Last… (Jan 16, 2001)

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TiM GW Bulletin 2001/1-3

Jan. 16, 2001

Kostunica Shows Some Teeth...

Hail to the Yugo Chief! Then Turn About Face...

NATO and DU: Double Standard and Cover Up; U.S. Knew of DU Dangers Says a 1984 FAA Memo

Kostunica: "We could say those who used the infamous depleted uranium have a depleted conscience"

Brussels 4. Kostunica on DU: "We could say those who used the infamous depleted uranium have a depleted conscience"Jan. 17, 2001

BELGRADE, Jan. 15 - It’s been a long time coming, but the Yugoslav president, Vojislav Kostunica, has finally shown some teeth. Acting like Kostunica of the old - the man that this writer had known personally for along time as a respected friend, the Serb president snubbed both the chief prosecutor of the UN kangaroo court at the Hague, and upset Belgrade’s western quislings who have seized the reigns of power riding on his coat tails.

Kostunica will not meet the war crimes tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, during her visit Belgrade on Jan. 23 to demand Belgrade’s full cooperation, including the arrest and extradition of the ousted former president, Slobodan Milosevic, sources close to the Yugoslav president told the Associated Press today (Jan. 15), .

An associate of the Yugoslav president, Aleksandar Popovic of the Serbian Democratic Party, told Belgrade media that the reason the two would not meet is because The Hague court represents a “political instrument.” “The Hague tribunal is a political tribunal. ... Its prosecution is politically oriented,” the Beta news agency quoted Popovic as saying.

Another Kostunica associate, Milorad Jovanovic, told the AP that the Yugoslav leader meets only “dignitaries of similar capacities,” meaning other statesmen and officials - a rank del Ponte does not hold. The obvious implication of del Ponte being “not important enough,” to meet with Kostunica represented a direct snub to The Hague court, the AP said.

In an interview this weekend, Kostunica said he would not extradite his ousted predecessor and other war crimes suspects to face trial at an international court in The Hague because it would be illegal. According to Kostunica, the Yugoslav constitution does not allow extradition of Yugoslav citizens to a foreign court.

At the same time, Kostunica faced a chorus of strong criticisms from his allies for holding talks on Saturday (Jan. 13) with his predecessor, Milosevic, according to a Jan. 14 Agence France Presse report, which was also carried by today’s New York Times.

"Milosevic should be in jail and not discussing politics with Kostunica," said Zarko Korac, a senior official in the DOS coalition that supports the new Yugoslav president and last month scored a decisive victory in parliamentary elections in Serbia.

Serbia's prime minister-elect, Zoran Djindjic, said that he was "very surprised" by the meeting, and that neither he nor any other leader of the coalition had been consulted. "What possible role can the man who is at the root of ex-Yugoslavia's demise still play in politics?" he asked.

Mr. Kostunica defended the meeting, arguing that he should talk to the largest opposition group, the Socialist Party, which is led by Mr. Milosevic. Before Mr. Milosevic's ouster after a popular revolt on Oct. 5, the president noted, "the head of state never talked to opposition party leaders."

It was the first time the two had met since Oct. 6, the day after the revolt that forced Mr. Milosevic to concede that he had lost the Sept. 24 presidential elections.

OTTAWA, Canada, Jan. 15 - Regular TiM readers ought to be familiar with Prof. Michel Chossudovsky of the University of Ottawa, an occasional contributor to TiM, typically on global economic affairs (if you search our web site using his name as a keyword, you can read some of Prof. Chossudovsky’s past articles). He is also author of "The Globalization of Poverty", Common Courage Press, 2001.

This time, however, Prof. Chossudovsky has sent us an article on a topic getting searing hot, especially in Europe, and especially among the environmentalists - NATO’s use of depleted uranium (DU) in Bosnia and Kosovo. The author attacks not just the U.S. military, the only participant in the Balkans conflict to have used the DU ammunition, but also the various international organizations, such as the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), for “conveying the illusion (contrary to scientific evidence) that the health risks of DU can easily be dealt with by cordoning off and "cleaning up" the "affected areas" targeted by the US Air Force's A-10 "anti-tank killers."

“What they fail to mention is that the radioactive dust has already spread beyond the 72 "identified target sites" in Kosovo,” the author says in this introduction to the article. “Most of the villages and cities including Pristina, Prizren and Pec lie within less than 20 km of these sites, confirming that the whole province is contaminated, putting not only "peacekeepers" but the entire civilian population at risk.

Except for the more than 250,000 Serbs that the Albanians have driven from Kosovo during the NATO-supervised “peace farce.” That’s a tiny silver lining in an otherwise gruesome scenario.

“The death from leukemia of eight Italian peacekeepers stationed in Bosnia and Kosovo sparked an uproar in the Italian Parliament, following the leaking of a secret military document to the Italian newspaper La Republicca.

In Portugal, the Defense Ministry was also involved in what amounted to a deliberate camouflage of "the cause of death" of Portuguese peacekeeper Corporal Hugo Paulino. "'Citing "herpes of the brain', the army refused to allow his family to commission a postmortem examination." Amidst mounting political pressure, Defense Minister Julio Castro Caldas advised NATO Headquarters in November that he was withdrawing Portuguese troops from Kosovo: "They were not, he said, going to become uranium meat".

As the number of cancer cases among Balkans "peacekeepers" rises, NATO's cover-up has started to fracture. Several European governments have been obliged to publicly acknowledge the "alleged health risks" of depleted uranium (DU) shells used by the US Air Force in NATO's 78-day war against Yugoslavia.

The Western media points to an apparent "split" within the military alliance. In fact there was no "division" or disagreement between Washington and its European allies until the scandal broke through the gilded surface.

Italy, Portugal, France and Belgium were fully aware that DU weapons were being used. The health impacts --including mountains of scientific reports-- were known and available to European governments. Italy participated in the scheduling of the A-10 "anti-tank killer" raids (carrying DU shells) out of its Aviano and Gioia del Colle air force bases. The Italian Defense Ministry knew what was happening at military bases under its jurisdiction.

Washington's European partners in NATO including Britain, France, Turkey, Greece have DU weapons in their arsenals. Canada is one of the main suppliers of depleted uranium. NATO countries share full responsibility for the use of weapons banned by the Geneva and Hague conventions and the 1945 Nuremberg Charter on war crimes.

Since the Gulf War, Washington launched a "cover-up" on the health impacts of DU toxic radiation known as the "Gulf War Syndrome", with the tacit endorsement of its NATO partners.

While NATO had until recently denied using DU shells in the 1999 war against Yugoslavia, it now admits that although it did use DU ammunition, the shells "have negligible radioactivity…and [a]ny resulting debris posing any significant risk dissipates soon after the impact." While casually denying "any connection between illness and exposure to depleted uranium", the Pentagon nonetheless concedes - in an ambiguous statement - that "the main danger posed by depleted uranium occurs if it is inhaled."

The shrouded statements from European governments convey the uncomfortable illusion that only peacekeepers "might be at risk", --i.e. radioactive particles are only inhaled by military personnel and expatriate civilians, as if nobody else in the Balkans were affected. The impacts on local civilians are not mentioned.

In docile complicity, a new media consensus has unfolded: the mainstream press concurs without further scrutiny that only "peace-keepers" breathe the air. "But what about everybody else."6 In Kosovo some 2 million civilian men, women and children have been exposed to the radioactive fallout since the beginning of the bombing in March 1999. In the Balkans, more than 20 million people are potentially at risk:

"The risk in Kosovo and elsewhere in the Balkans is augmented by the uncertainty of where DU was dropped in whatever form and what winds and surface water movements spread it further. Working the fields, walking about, just being there, touching objects, breathing and drinking water are all risky. A British expert predicted that thousands of people in the Balkans will get sick of DU. The radioactive and toxic DU-oxides don't disintegrate. They are practically permanent."

Keep in mind that the heavily armed "peacekeepers" together with United Nations staff and civilian personnel of "humanitarian" organizations entered Kosovo in June 1999. The spread of radioactive dust from DU, however, started on "day one" of the 78 day bombing of Yugoslavia. With the exception of NATO Special Forces --who were assisting the KLA on the ground-- NATO military personnel was not present on the battlefield.

In other words, there was no radioactive exposure to NATO troops during a "push button" air war, which the Alliance forces waged from the high skies. Yugoslav civilians are, therefore, at much greater risk because they were exposed to radioactive fallout throughout the bombings as well in the wake of the war. Yet the official communiqués suggest that only KFOR troops and expatriate civilians "might be at risk" implying that local civilians simply do not matter. Only servicemen and expatriate personnel have been screened for radiation levels.

The first signs of radiation on children, including herpes on the mouth and skin rashes on the back and ankles have been observed in Kosovo.8 In Northern Kosovo --the area least affected by DU shells (see Map at http://balkans.unep.ch/du/targetmap.html ) -- 160 people are being treated for cancer.9 The number of leukemia cases in Northern Kosovo has increased by 200 percent since NATO's air campaign, and children have been born with deformities.10 This information regarding civilian victims --which the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has been careful not to reveal-- refutes NATO's main "assumption" that radioactive dust does not spread beyond the target sites, most of which are in the Southwestern and Southern regions close to the Albanian and Macedonian borders.

These findings are consistent with those from Iraq, where the use of depleted uranium weapons during the 1991 Gulf War resulted in "increases in childhood cancers and leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, lymphomas, and increases in congenital diseases and deformities in fetuses, along with limb reductional abnormalities and increases in genetic abnormalities throughout Iraq.” Pediatric examinations on Iraqi children confirm that:

"childhood leukemia has risen 600% in the areas [of Iraq] where DU was used. Stillbirths, births or abortion of fetuses with monstrous abnormalities, and other cancers in children born since [the Gulf War in] 1991 have also been found."

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have tacitly accepted NATO-Pentagon assumptions concerning the health impacts of depleted uranium. When UNEP conducted its first assessment of DU radiation in Kosovo in 1999, NATO refused to provide the mission with maps indicating the locations of "affected areas" (points of impact where DU shells had fallen).

On the pretext that "there was insufficient data available to comprehensively address the issue of the impacts of depleted uranium ordnance," UNEP produced an inconclusive and noncommittal "desk study" which was appended to the 1999 Balkans Task Force Report (BTF) on the environmental impacts of the War. UNEP's desk study pointed to the "possible use of DU" thereby implying that it was still unsure as to whether DU shells had actually been used.

UNEP's evasiveness -claiming lack of sufficient data-- contributed, in the wake of the bombings, to temporarily dissipating public concern. More generally, the UNEP-UNCHS Balkans Task Force report tends to downplay the seriousness of the environmental catastrophe triggered by NATO. Amply documented, the catastrophe was the deliberate result of military planning.

NATO maps (indicating where DU shells had been targeted) were not required for UNEP and the WHO to conduct an investigation on the health impacts of depleted uranium radiation. A study of this nature --inevitably requiring a team of medical specialists in pediatrics and cancer working in liaison with experts on toxic radiation-- was never carried out. In fact, UNEP's stated "scientific" assumption precluded from the outset a meaningful assessment of the health impacts. According to UNEP: "the effects of DU are mainly localized in the places DU has been used and the affected areas are likely to be small".

This proposition (which is presented without scientific proof) is shared by UNEP's sister organization, the WHO:

"You would have to be very close to a damaged tank and be there within seconds of it being hit…These soldiers were very unlikely to have been exposed.''

These statements by UN bodies (quoted by NATO and the Pentagon to justify the use of DU weapons) are part and parcel of the camouflage. They convey the illusion that the health risks to peacekeepers and local civilians can easily be dealt with by cordoning off and "cleaning up" the "targeted areas."

The WHO has warned, in this regard, that depleted uranium could affect children playing in these areas "because children… tend to pick up pieces of dirt or put their toys in their mouth." What the WHO fails to acknowledge is that the radioactive dust has already spread beyond the affected areas, implying that children throughout Kosovo are at risk.

This tacit complicity of specialized agencies of the UN is yet another symptom of the deterioration of the United Nations system, which now plays an underhand role in covering up NATO war crimes. Since the Gulf War, the WHO has been instrumental in blocking a meaningful investigation of the health impacts of depleted uranium radiation on Iraqi children, claiming "it had no data to conduct an in-depth investigation"

Amidst the public outcry and mounting evidence of cancer among Balkans military personnel, UNEP conducted a second assessment in November 2000 which included field measurements of beta and gamma particle radiations in 11 so-called "affected areas" of Kosovo.

Despite NATO's earlier refusal to collaborate with UNEP, the two organizations are currently working hand in glove. The composition of the mission was established in consultation with NATO. The representative from Greenpeace (involved in the 1999 study) had been dumped. NATO maps were readily available; the investigation was to focus narrowly on the collection of soil, water samples, etc. in 11 selected sites ("affected areas") out of a total of some 72 sites within Kosovo (see NATO map below, at http://balkans.unep.ch/du/targetmap.html ).

The broader health issues were not part of the mission's terms of reference. The two medical researchers dispatched by the WHO in 1999 (as part of the desk study mission) had been replaced with experts from the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (see http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/default.htm) and AC Laboratorium Spiez (ACLS), a division of the Swiss Defense Procurement Agency.

AC Laboratorium Spiez (ACLS) has actively collaborated in chemical weapons inspections in Iraq. Under the disguise of Swiss neutrality, ACLS constitutes an informal mouthpiece for NATO. ACLS has been on contract with NATO's "Partnership for Peace" financed by the Swiss government's contribution to the PfP.

Although the November mission was still under UNEP auspices, the Swiss government was funding most of fieldwork with ACLS --a division of the Swiss military-- playing a central role. The mission --integrated by representatives linked to the Military establishment-- was working on the premise (amply reviewed on ACLS's web page) that DU radioactive dust does not (under any circumstances) travel beyond the "point of release."

The results of the report to be published in March 2001 are a foregone conclusion. They focus on radiation levels in the immediate vicinity of the target sites . According to the mission's "back to office report" (January 2001):

"… [A]lready at this stage the Team can conclude that at some of the DU locations, the radiation level is slightly higher above normal at very limited spots. It would therefore be an unnecessary risk to the population to be in direct contact with any remnants of DU ammunition or with the spots where these have been found."

If radioactivity were confined to so-called "very limited spots", why then have KFOR troops been instructed by their governments "not to eat local produce… have drinking water flown in …and that clothes must be destroyed on departure and vehicles decontaminated." According to Paul Sullivan, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, depleted uranium in Yugoslavia could affect "agricultural areas, places where livestock graze and where crops are grown, thereby introducing the specter of possible contamination of the food chain." (In November 2000, Gulf War veterans affected by DU launched a class action lawsuit against the US government).

According to NATO sources (communicated to UNEP), some 112 sites in Yugoslavia (of which 72 are in Kosovo) were targeted during the war with depleted uranium antitank shells. Between 30,000 and 50,000 DU shells were fired. Scientific evidence amply confirms that the DU radioactive aerosol spreads from "the point of release" over a large geographical area suggesting that large parts of the province of Kosovo are contaminated. "[R]adioactive derivatives can linger in the air for months… ''Just one particle in the lungs is enough… a single particle could travel to the lymph nodes, where the radioactivity would lower the body's defenses against lymphomas and leukemia''

When used in war, the depleted uranium (DU) bursts into flame [and] releasing a deadly radioactive aerosol of uranium, unlike anything seen before. It can kill everyone in a tank. This ceramic aerosol is much lighter than uranium dust. It can travel in air tens of kilometers from the point of release, or be stirred up in dust and re-suspended in air with wind or human movement. It is very small and can be breathed in by anyone: a baby, pregnant woman, the elderly, the sick. This radioactive ceramic can stay deep in the lungs for years, irradiating the tissue with powerful alpha particles within about a 30 micron sphere, causing emphysema and/or fibrosis. The ceramic can also be swallowed and do damage to the gastro-intestinal tract. In time, it penetrates the lung tissue and enters into the blood stream. ...It can also initiate cancer or promote cancers which have been initiated by other carcinogens".

The targeted sites within Kosovo (see NATO map at http://balkans.unep.ch/du/targetmap.html) although concentrated on the South-western border are scattered throughout the province. Most of the villages and cities including Pristina, Prizren and Pec lie within less than 20 km. of the 72 DU target sites confirming that the entire province is contaminated.

The bombing of Yugoslavia is best described as a "low intensity nuclear war" using toxic radioactive shells and missiles. Amply documented, the radioactive fall-out potentially puts millions of people at risk throughout the Balkans.

In March 1999, NATO launched the air raids invoking broad humanitarian principles and ideals. NATO had "come to the rescue" of ethnic Albanian Kosovars on the grounds they were being massacred by Serb forces. The forensic reports by the FBI and Europol confirm that the massacres did not occur. In a cruel irony, Albanian Kosovar civilians are among the main victims of DU radiation.

To maintain the cover-up, NATO is now prepared to reveal a small fraction of the truth. The military Alliance --in liaison with NATO member governments-- wants at all cost to maintain the focus on "peacekeepers" and keep local civilians out of the picture, because if the entire truth gets out, then people might start asking questions such as "how is it that the Kosovar Albanians, the people we were supposed to rescue are now the victims?" In both Bosnia and Kosovo, the UN has been careful not to record cancer cases among civilians. The narrow focus on "peacekeepers" is part of the cover-up. It distracts public opinion from the broader issue of civilian victims.

The primary victims of DU weapons are children, making their use a "war crime against children." According to Rosalier Bertell depleted uranium is: "a weapon of indiscriminate destruction because it will by choice affect women and children. Women have tissues that are more radioactively sensitive like the breast and uterine tissue. Children are closer to the ground; they're growing; they'll incorporate more uranium into their bones when they grow and they also have a longer life span so that the cancers that have a longer latency can be expressed. So it selects out women and children."

The use of depleted uranium munitions is only one among several NATO crimes against humanity committed in Iraq and the Balkans

According to official records, some 1800 Balkans peacekeepers (Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo) suffer from health ailments related to DU radiation.26. Assuming the same level of risk (as a percentage of population), the numbers of civilians throughout former Yugoslavia affected by DU radiation would be in the tens of thousands. British scientist Roger Coghill suggests, in this regard, that "throughout the Balkan region, there will be an extra 10,150 deaths from cancer because of the use of DU. That will include local people, K-FOR personnel, aid workers, everyone."

Moreover, according to a report published in Athens during the War, the impacts of depleted uranium are likely to extend beyond the Balkans. Albania, and Macedonia but also Greece, Italy, Austria and Hungary face a potential threat to human health as a result of the use of radioactive depleted uranium shells during the 1999 War.

While no overall data on civilian deaths have been recorded, partial evidence confirms that a large numbers of civilians have already died as result of DU radiation since the war in Bosnia:

"DU radiation and an apparent use of defoliants by US/NATO troops against Serbian land and population [in Bosnia], have caused many birth defects among babies born after the US/NATO bombing and occupation; the magnitude of this problem has stunned Serbian medical experts and panicked the population." 28

A recent account points to several hundred deaths of civilians solely in one Bosnian village:

The village is empty, the cemetery full. Soon there will be no more room for the dead. Among refugee families who moved to Bratunac from Hadzici [in the outskirts of Sarajevo] there is a hardly a household not cloaked in mourning…On them are fresh wreaths, some with flowers that have not yet wilted. On the crosses the years of death 1998, 1999, 2000 and the grave of a 20 year-old woman at the end of the rows. She died a few days ago… No one could even imagine that in only one or two years the part of the cemetery set aside for civilians would be doubly full…

It happens often that one of the natives of Hadzici will suddenly die. Or they will go to see the doctor in Belgrade and when they come back their relatives will tell us that they are dying of cancer… [C]hief doctor Slavica Jovanovic…conducted an investigation and proved that in 1998 the mortality rate far exceeded the birth rate. She showed that it wasn't just a question of fate but something far more serious… 'Zoran Stankovic, the renowned pathologist from the Military Medical Academy (VMA) determined that over 200 of his patients from this area died of cancer, most probably due to the effects of depleted uranium in dropped NATO bombs five years ago. But someone quickly silenced the public and everything was hushed up. 'You see, our cemetery is full of fresh graves while the people from Vinca [Nuclear Institute] claim that uranium isn't dangerous.

What other kind of evidence do you need if people are dying?…' The refugees from Hadzici arrived in Bratunac in a sizeable number. There were almost 5,000 of them. There were 1,000 just in the collective centers. Now, says Zelenovic, 'there are about 600 of them left. And they certainly had nowhere else to go' … Someone dies of cancer every third day; there is no more room in the cemeteries".”

Michel Chossudovsky, Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

TiM Ed.: As our regular readers may also recall, TiM was among the first to report both the use of the DU in Bosnia in 1995, and the subsequent attempted cover-up. We also reported about it contemporaneously during the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia. Some of our correspondents at the time claimed that the use of DU ammunition was allegedly not harmful to humans. You can check out all of our past articles on this topic of you search our web site using “depleted uranium” or DU as keywords.

LONDON, Jan. 12 - We received the following comment from Petar Malic, a TiM reader in London, England, who said, that “a 1984 FAA memo on handling DU… rips to shreads the nonsense being claimed by the authorities.” This TiM reader enclosed an article by Mike Ruppert, published at the From the Wilderness (FTW) web site, from which we bring you the following excerpt:

“As the scandal regarding the 1999 U.S. use of depleted uranium (DU) rounds in Kosovo spreads and re-ignites controversy about the Gulf War Syndrome that has damaged the health of thousands of veterans, "From The Wilderness" has obtained a copy of a 1984 FAA Advisory Circular - still in effect - that shows that DU has been in use as a component in aircraft manufacture for years and that the U.S. government has always treated DU as a hazardous material in full awareness of health risks it presents.

The existence of this advisory bulletin belies the official U.S. Government position that it was largely unaware of health risks connected with DU and raises questions about U.S. prioritization of the relative value of human lives as it becomes increasingly apparent that the United States Government chose to not advise NATO allies in Kosovo or Iraq, or even certain members of its own armed forces of known dangers connected with DU exposure.

Moreover, the bulletin specifically indicates that U.S. aircraft manufacturers like McDonnell-Douglas, now owned by Boeing, routinely posted health advisory and safety precautions in aircraft manuals as far back as 16 years ago. This was, according to the FAA, a result of cadmium-plated DU being used as weights to balance "ailerons, rudders and elevators on certain jet aircraft and certain helicopters."

FAA Advisory Circular 20-123, dated 12/20/84 is entitled "Avoiding or Minimizing Encounters With Aircraft Equipped With Depleted Uranium Balance Weights During Accident Investigations." The two-page memo was written to warn FAA crash site investigators that, as a result of an air crash, DU weights in various parts of the aircraft might have had their cadmium plating removed.

The memorandum states, "While the depleted uranium normally poses no danger, it is to be handled with caution. The main hazard associated with depleted uranium is the harmful effect the material could have if it enters the body. If particles are inhaled or digested, they can be chemically toxic and cause a significant and long- lasting irradiation of internal tissue."

FAA spokesman Les Dorr today confirmed for FTW that the 1984 Advisory was valid and still in effect.

A full copy of the FAA memorandum, including FAA verification of its authenticity is posted on the worldwide web at www.copvcia.com under the heading "Newest Additions."

The story about the FAA Advisory Circular was broken by the journalist Craig Roberts ("The Medusa File"), and disclosed in a casual e-mail on a list- serve discussion group. FTW publisher Mike Ruppert saw the e-mail, and immediately notified Gulf War Vet spokesperson, Joyce Riley, and French documentary producers, Audrey Brohy and Gerard Ungerman, whose new documentary on the Gulf War, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," will air throughout Europe on January 17. Both have done extensive research on DU and both found the existence of the FAA memorandum to be "devastating" to the official U.S. positions on the subject.”

BRUSSELS, Jan. 16 - In another sign of the Yugoslav president’s toughening stance vis-à-vis the western aggressors who bombed Serbia in 1999, the CNN has reported the following quote attributed to Vojislav Kostunica: "We could say those who used the infamous depleted uranium have a depleted conscience"

Meanwhile, vice president and spokesman for Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DPS), Aleksandar Popovic, told a new conference in Belgrade on Jan. 15 that NATO’s use of depleted uranium for military purposes was a war crime.

“The DPS believes that the use of depleted uranium for military purposes is a war crime, and the party expects that all those involved in the use of depleted uranium ammunition, either as executors or those issuing relevant orders should be brought before the Hague-based war crimes tribunal in line with the principle of command responsibility,” Popovic said, but was doubtful as to whether such a thing would happen indeed.

“The DSS was the only one that officially condemned a report by the Balkan Task Force formed at the United Nations Environment Program, which was of political nature rather than based on expertise and scientific research. The report said that there was no knowledge on the use of depleted uranium in this specific case, because NATO was unable to list the locations hit by this type of ammunition.”

Thanks to the Yugoslav Army, however, the public has learned that there were at least eight locations south of the 44th parallel, on the territory of Serbia and Montenegro, where increased radioactivity was reported, and where the traces of uranium shells were found, but the situation in Kosovo has not been clarified yet,” Popovic also said.

He added that it is also known, that between 10% and 70% of uranium dissolves into respirable-size particles, the so-called aerosols, that remain in the air and may be inhaled or dispersed by wind. In other words, the danger is not confined to the locations hit by depleted uranium weapons, but also their immediate vicinity, and even the surrounding area of between a few and a few dozen kilometers away from the given location.

PHOENIX, Jan. 16 - Not all agree, however, with the majority view nowadays being expressed in the European and some American media about the danger of the depleted uranium. Here is, for example, a letter we received today from Brad Dolan, a TiM reader:

“It's been fascinating to see who has been beating the anti-DU drum so hard of late. Unfortunately, a number of authors that I had heretofore enjoyed have greatly discredited themselves by joining the bandwagon. Their number includes Justin Raimondo, Robert Fiske, and yourself.

I'll say this as clearly as possible: There Is No Radiological Hazard From Depleted Uranium - and the chemical hazard is no greater than that presented by lead projectiles.

For God's sake, man, don't you know that people have been smelting, refining, and machining uranium of all enrichments (from "depleted" 0.1% U-235 to "fully enriched" 95%+ U-235) and in every imaginable form (ore, metallic, U308, UF6, etc.) for the better part of a hundred years? There were tens of thousands workers exposed at much higher levels (chemically and radiologically) than any Iraqi or Yugoslav, at sites like Mallinkrodt, National Lead of Ohio, Tennessee Eastman, etc.

There have been dozens of studies of these workers and the scientific facts are clear: chemical effects/heavy metal poisoning from depleted uranium will destroy your kidneys long before you receive enough dose to notice. Do a literature search of the Health Physics Society's _Health Physics Journal_ for starters. Or continue with your propaganda campaign, but admit that's what it is.”

“Thanks for your feedback. Yours is decidedly a minority view on this. But that's especially why we'll consider it for a TiM readers' forum. The only drum we are beating is our usual beat - the quest for the full truth.”

BELGRADE, Jan. 18 - Yugoslav president’s toughening stance vis-à-vis the western aggressors who bombed Serbia in 1999 (see Item 1 of this TiM Bulletin) was short lived. BBC World News reported on Thursday that Vojislav Kostunica did a turn-about-face in agreeing to meet Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, possibly on Tuesday of next week.

Kostunica had previously ruled out a meeting on the grounds that he was "too busy". Del Ponte says she intends to hand over the orders for the arrest of those charged with war crimes - including former President Slobodan Milosevic.

Kostunica repeated his promises to co-operate with the tribunal, but warned that there were problems with handing over Milosevic for trial at The Hague.

PHOENIX, Jan. 19 - TiM readers’ reactions to the above news were swift and uniformly negative. Here’s a selection of the TiM reader comments:

We received the following letter from ML, a TiM reader from Belgrade, Serbia, who asked that his full name be withheld, but whose identity is known to TiM:

“I'm afraid you got your hopes a bit too high a bit to early! Yes, double-talking Kostunica backtracked on the Hague kangaroo court issue. I watched tonight his interview on BBC where he said he will have to "check his schedule" and see whether he will meet Carla Del Ponte, but that he WILL eventually meet her. Just a couple of days ago he was about as resolute as it gets. And now, after hysterical screams from his DOS allies and a couple of New York Times columns, he is back to the Kostunica that we all learned to know in the past four months or so. Does that not remind you of someone?

What it also reminded me of is a scene from Oliver Stone's "Nixon", where Nixon (brilliantly portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins, if I may add) meets some corporate hotshots and tells them he will recognize communist China. One those these displeased fat cats said: "Are you forgetting who put you in that office?" I wonder if Kostunica was asked that a time or two over the past few days?”

“It seems Mr. Kostunica changed his opinion and is going to meet with Carla del Ponte. Shame on him, he is not worth the position of president.”

We received the following letter from Mladen Vranjican, a TiM reader from Florida:

“It was good while it lasted, but now the true Voja (Kostunica) comes out -- not surprisingly. Allowing himself to be badgered by an English talk-show host, Kostunica was on a defensive, accusing NATO and the press for crimes while admitting that Serbs participated in them as well.

Besides dragging the dignity of the office of head of state into mud by getting involved in petty arguments on some talk show, Kostunica is alienating the press as well. Bad move! Naive at its best; stupid at its worst.

More importantly, Kostunica did another 180-degree spin again. Inconsistent, flippant, and wavering is hardly a position of strength and confidence 80% of Serbia's voters are willing to entrust in this man.

So 80% of people in Serbia back Kostunica who has gone back on every one of his words, positions and principles. He and his followers at DSS simply don't understand that with thugs (Kosovo Albanian terrorists) one does not negotiate, one does not waver; one does not make empty threats, or conclude deals. If you want respect, one does not seek friends among enemies; one does not kiss the hand of those who bomb you.

Respect comes from those who lead by example, who are unwaverable, unconquerable, uncompromising, and who deliver on their word, each and every time!”

We received the following letter from APV, a TiM reader from California, whose identity is known to TiM:

“Is it possible to use a consistent set of abbreviations for these (Yugoslav) parties ? (ie. DSS for Kostunica's party). I believe the accepted practice elsewhere is simply to use the party's own language initials. For example the Democratic Socialists of Germany is referred everywhere by its German language initials (SPD) rather than its English language translation DSG.

Because of the myriad of parties operating in Belgrade with similar initials (D for "Democratic" & S for "Stranka" (Party) or "Serbia") it gets extremely confusing to keep track of them all.

Otherwise, a super job. Your story a few days ago, citing a hypothetical (but desirable) Kostunica response to Albright's offer of backing for the Presidential campaign was priceless.”

STRASBOURG, Jan. 17 - The European Parliament has called for a ban on the use of depleted uranium (DU) while investigations into a possible link between DU and cancer are carried out. MEPs voted for the resolution by 339 to 202 after an emergency debate in Strasbourg, the BBC World News has reported.

The motion is not binding but it will add pressure on states to support a moratorium on the use of DU munitions. Some individual Nato countries have already launched their own investigations, while the European Commission has set up a working group of medical and scientific experts that is due to report next month.

The commander of British forces in the Gulf War, General Sir Peter de la Billiere, has also joined calls for a thorough investigation into the possible health effects of DU ammunition.

At about the same time a Swiss laboratory announced Jan. 16 that it had found traces of a uranium isotope that suggest radioactive contamination in American-made munitions that were collected on the battlefields of Kosovo, the New York Times reported on Jan. 17. The lab, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Spiez, said that the quantities found of uranium 236 were minute, and that it was checking for other substances in the spent bullets. They were retrieved by a United Nations mission that was checking the effects of depleted uranium weapons.

Four other European labs are analyzing samples from Kosovo. Their joint findings of toxic materials found in soil, water and spent shells are to be published in March. The lab acted as a furor in Europe over sicknesses among NATO troops who are returning from Kosovo is shifting focus. Scientists and nuclear experts in Europe have said there are indications that some depleted uranium used in antitank rounds was "dirty," or contaminated.

The Swiss finding of uranium 236 is certain to increase anxiety in the debate over why 15 European troops recently died of leukemia and others have unexplained illnesses.

Meanwhile, Finland's nuclear safety authority said it had found a kind of uranium used in nuclear power reactors in ammunition from the 1999 Balkans conflict, but found no traces of plutonium, according to a Jan. 17 Reuters report.

The finding by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) of the uranium 236 isotope in a weapon head from Kosovo followed a similar discovery this week by the Swiss federal weapons laboratory in Spiez.

STUK said it found uranium 236 in a shell sent to its laboratory by a Finnish-led United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) mission to Kosovo, which has investigated the health risks of depleted uranium ammunition.

PHOENIX, Jan. 17 - Here are only some of the MANY TiM reader reactions to our stories on the use of depleted uranium (DU) by NATO. The greatest number of responses contained objections by the TiM readers to an earlier comment by Mr. Brad Dolan (see Item 5 of this TiM Bulletin).

“I had to laugh when I read that letter from a reader who claimed that DU was no more dangerous than lead, and claims to the contrary were simply "propaganda". In August of 1990, I was an engineer at Hughes Aircraft, and we were sent to Yuma Proving Ground to run tests on electronics we had built for the LHX attack helicopter project. At YPG they are constantly testing weapons of one sort or another, so it isn't hard to find munitions lying about the grounds if you want to look for them. The rangemaster specifically warned us not to pick up anything we might find, since - direct quote - "some of them are depleted uranium, and you *really* don't want to put that in your pocket." Why wouldn't I want to put DU in my pocket if it was no more hazardous than lead?

The government knows DU is harmful, and they've known it for years. The real propaganda is that emanating from various government agencies who are claiming it's harmless when they know it isn't. At least I can be thankful that they told us the real story, unlike those used as guinea pigs in the 1950's nuclear tests.”

We received the following letter from Gavrilo Milkovich, a TiM reader from North Carolina:

“Dear Bob, I would just like to say about Brad Dolan's comment on the DU this: "REGARDLESS OF THERE IS A HEALTH HAZARD OR NOT WHY IN THE HELL WHERE THEY DROPPING "ANYTHING" ON SERBIA IN THE FIRST PLACE"!!!!!!

Too many people would like to start the argument on step 9 or 10 overlooking the fact that this should have never happened, it was illegal and it was wrong PERIOD!!!! Please keep up the good work.”

“Hello Bob: I have been following you for a while now and always enjoy your updates. We both have friends on the political side of FRY.

As far as Mr. Dolan’s comments to you regarding DU and its history in industry, one has to ask Mr. Dolan what safety regulatory agency was used to ensure that safe compliance of DU was used on Yugoslavs during the bombing campaign, as FEDOSHA and USDOH does, or has done to National Lead of Ohio and Tennessee Eastman? I would be also interested if Mr. Dolan knew the health, safety and environmental records of these companies? They were not good.

By the way, Mr. Dolan seems to think that heavy metal contamination is a lesser of the DU evils. I love to see him subject himself to the concentration that Yugoslav's were "forced" too. Want to bet Mr. Dolan would be suing everyone from A-Z whom even thought of assisting in the delivery of DU Munitions.

We received the following letter from Aleks Nikolic, a TiM reader from the U.S.:

“To Bob, I want to address the following quote made by your reader (Brad Dolan):

"There have been dozens of studies of these workers and the scientific facts are clear: chemical effects/heavy metal poisoning from depleted uranium will destroy your kidneys long before you receive enough dose to notice. Do a literature search of the Health Physics Society's _Health Physics Journal_ for starters. Or continue with your propaganda campaign, but admit that's what it is."

Although what I have to say does not constitute proof , what the fellow above has to say doesn't constitute proof either.

Very briefly , I'm a long time sufferer of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome . Only very recently have I found treatment(s) that work. One such has been Chelation therapy . This where various Heavy Metals are pulled from your body such as Tin , Lead , Mercury etc . The effects of these metals can vary depending on the genetics, constitution , stress levels etc. of the individual and can include neurological symptoms like multiple sclerosis ...

The effect can also depend on the quantity of metals exposed to . Certainly if a very large amount is ingested , immediate organ damage and death can result .However low grade amounts ingested over long periods of time can result in slow but sure degradation of bodily function .

Up to now what I have been hearing from the defenders of Depleted Uranium is that this is not really a Heavy Metal or radioactive. So I don't know the answer to that but I suspect that it is not true . But it if it is radioactive Heavy Metal then I have no doubts that this poses a health risk just because of my own experiences tell me so. You should also probe your reader to produce these "dozens of studies".

For those dozens, I can guarantee that more than a dozens can be found that can show what the long term effect of heavy metals and Uranium are. You can look it up at www.infotrieve.com on Medline.”

“Brad Dolan's point of view is interesting enough. how does he account for the increase of uterine tumors (young females under 25 years)? And how does he explain the terrifying increase of children born with severe handicaps?

DU is safe when it is not blown some 600 meters from where you live Brad. Ever thought of that?”

THE HAGUE, Jan. 22 - We received the following letter from Jela Jovanovic, secretary general of The Committee for National Solidarity in Belgrade, who enclosed an impassioned plea for help by a daughter of a prisoner held at the UN Tribunal’s jail at the Hague:

“Distinguished Sir / Madam, The citizens' association "The Committee for National Solidarity" addresses to you with an appeal that you urge your Government, the Parliament, the relevant institutions, organizations and media, for the permission that Mr. Radislav Krstic, the general of the Army of the Republic of Srpska, be transferred to the Military-Medical Academy in Belgrade. An urgent re-amputation of his right leg, above the knee, is demanded, that is expected to be followed by a precarious post-operative recuperation.

Regarding the previous experiences with the medical services provided by the Hague Tribunal, and in particular - the death of general Djukic immediately after his release from the imprisonment in Hague, the sudden death of Dr. Kovacevic (later investigations revealed that he vas not given the necessary emergency medical aid), the alleged suicide of Mr. Slavko Dokmanovic in his cell, his personal experience (from the beginning of his stay in the Hague prison he was deprived of the proper medical treatment), General Krstic refuses to be subjected to the necessary operation if it is performed by the medical services of the Hague Tribunal. This may lead to a tragic outcome.

Last month, a member of our Committee visited General Krstic in the prison, and was shocked by his overall physical condition, as well as with the conduct of the prison's medical department. We fear that, if an immediate action is not undertaken, the consequences for the health and life of Mr. Krstic may be tragic.

Today, we have received a stirring plea from his only daughter, Tamara Krstic, and decided to turn to you for help.

My daddy, Radislav Krstic, the general of the Army of the Republic of Srpska, has been in the United Nation's confinement in Sheweningen for the past twenty six months. Right now, his health is in a very bad condition. He is an invalid, since his lower leg has been amputated, and the stump was additionally wounded in the course of his arrest. Due to the inadequate and inefficient medical treatment in the prison, the infection of the bone has developed, with the high risk of gangrene, and the above-the-knee amputation has been recommended.

My daddy justifiably fears the operation, as well as the post-operative treatment, that would take place in the environment that he is at now. A plead to all the good people, throughout the globe, to help my daddy by raising their voice.

I plead to the United Nations, to the International Red Cross, to the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.... Please, help that my daddy does not die in Sheweningen. I address the Board of Judges of the Hague Tribunal, and to the prosecutors in my daddy's process:

- do not say that he 'refuses to use the prothesis'- no, he can not wear it, it hurts,

- do not say that he 'does not want to drink your medicines'- no, you have overdosed him so that he fainted,

- do not tell him to flush his wounds by water - no, there is no such thing in the world. And so much more.

That is why I appeal to you to let my daddy to try to get his cure in his country. As a guarantee, I offer to stay in his cell until he returns to Sheweningen to prove his innocence. His only daughter,”

TiM Ed.: We suggest to both Mrs. Jovanovic and to Ms. Krstic to appeal to the Yugoslav president, Vojislav Kostunica, to intervene on their behalf with the chief prosecutor of the Hague kangaroo court, Carla del Ponte with whom he is supposed to be meeting this week. At least that way some good may come from his turn-about-face (see Item 6 of this TiM Bulletin).

CHICAGO, Jan. 22 - We received the following information about how to write to the prisoners held at the UN Tribunal’s jail at the Hague from Prof. J.P. Maher of the Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago:

Chris Soda (a TiM reader from Canada) has collected a list of ALL Serb detainees incarcerated in the Hague Kidnap Hole. Alphabetically, they are…

Apparently perishable goods are not allowed to be sent to them, but books, icons, etc are OK. The mailing address is:

I don't know how many of them speak or read English, but perhaps we can send them something together, or, I can send something for them to read but translated.”

BELGRADE, Jan. 23 - Carla del Ponte (ponte = bridge in Italian), the chief prosecutor of the UN War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague, tried for a bridge too far when she met Tuesday in Belgrade with the Yugoslav president, Vojislav Kostunica. Having arrived in Belgrade hoping to secure the new Yugoslav government’s cooperation in carrying out arrests based on her secret indictments, a legal novelty invented by the Hague kangaroo court especially for persecution… oops, prosecution of Serb suspects, del Ponte hit a brick wall.

After about an hour of at time a heated discussion with Kostunica, who had initially refused to meet del Ponte, the former Swiss attorney general stormed out of the meeting without handing the sealed indictments, and refused to answer reporters’ questions.

Meanwhile, Kostunica’s office issued a statement about the meeting in which the Yugoslav president raised objections against the Tribunal's basic procedures, including its system of issuing sealed indictments. He told Mrs. del Ponte, the statement says, that he saw a danger of "selective justice" in the tribunal's operations and that by indicting political and military figures, and accusing mostly Serbs, the tribunal was in danger of "laying collective guilt on one people" rather than establishing individual responsibility, as it should.

Kostunica also described sealed indictments as a "shameful" practice, but said that if handed any, he would pass them on to his ministries and Parliament. Mrs. del Ponte has brought with her at least one arrest warrant linked to a sealed indictment of someone known to be living in Yugoslavia, Ms. Hartmann said today. It will be handed over if the authorities accept the obligation to keep it confidential, according to a story in today’s New York Times.

11. Del Ponte Rebuffed by Yugoslav Foreign Minister, Her Car Pelted with EggsJan. 24, 2001

BELGRADE, Jan. 24 - Carla del Ponte is not having a good time in Serbia. In the latest rebuff to the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor, Goran Svilanovic, Yugoslavia's foreign minister, who has until now obediently toed the State Department’s line (see “How Washington Bought Yugoslav Presidency”), made it clear today to that his government would resist Del Ponte’s demands, because the Serb people do not want their former leaders tried at the Hague, the Wall Street Journal has just reported.

"The official position of our government is that trials should take place in our country," Svilanovic told Del Ponte on the second day of her visit to Belgrade. He added that most Serbs don't trust the court in The Hague, and view it as politically motivated and anti-Serb. Svilanovic added that trying Slobodan Milosevic's at home would serve to build up the population’s trust in the local courts.

As Del Ponte met Svilanovic Wednesday, some 200 protesters gathered outside the foreign ministry in Belgrade, and hurled eggs at the UN prosecutor’s motorcade as she was driven from the building.

As we’ve already reported, talks between Del Ponte and the Yugoslav president ended abruptly yesterday, with Vojislav Kostunica resisting demands for the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic and other Serb suspects (see Item 10 of this TiM Bulletin).

BELGRADE, Jan. 26 - Madeleine Albright may be gone from her State Dept.’s seat of power,

but a European imitation of this former would-be ruler of the world has sprung up in Europe. It comes in the form of one Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the UN War Crimes Tribunal. In a style reminiscent of Madam Halfbright’s pompous arrogance, Del Ponte insisted Jan. 26 that Slobodan Milosevic must be tried at The Hague, and warned that failure by Belgrade to co-operate with the court could lead to the imposition of new sanctions.

A mere prosecutor of a kangaroo court telling the world’s heads of state, including the new White House occupant who pays most of her salary, what they must do. Perhaps the George W. Bush administration should reply using the same tactics that Congress sometimes uses against petulant presidents - cut off the funding to this sham of a court in the Hague. And then sit back and watch Madam Kangaroo-cum-Madam Halfbright’s ego wither and dry up like a fall leaf.

If in doubt about Del Ponte’s arrogance and inflated grandeur, check out the following excerpts from the London Independent’s report from Del Ponte’s Jan. 25 news conference in Belgrade:

"We [the tribunal] are the first who must have Milosevic on trial," the chief prosecutor said. She argued that it would take too long for Serbia to try Mr Milosevic and later hand him over to The Hague. "I cannot wait for years until the fugitives are transferred."

Ms Del Ponte said she had the impression that the Yugoslav President, a lawyer, was "not properly informed" about the tribunal. "Dialogue [with Mr Kostunica] was not possible. I tried for half-an-hour to explain about the tribunal. I had to sit and listen to his long complaints," she said.

"He [Mr Kostunica] can and must change his mind," she added. "Full co-operation with my office cannot be avoided if Yugoslavia wants full membership in the international community. If there is no cooperation, new sanctions can be imposed."

TiM Ed.: See what we mean? Here’s an administrative UN appointee telling an elected head of state what he MUST do!? Or else…

“Ms Del Ponte predicted better co-operation with the tribunal as the new Serbian government, which was inaugurated yesterday, takes over. In her talks with the new Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, a time span of two to three months to begin the co-operation was mentioned.

In his maiden speech yesterday, Mr Djindjic said that bringing all those who committed war crimes to justice would be one of the priorities of his government ahead of confronting the dire economic situation in Serbia.”

TiM Ed.: No surprise there… a proven western quisling (Djindjic) kissing up to the new Madam Halfbright, as he had done to the old one (see “Cavorting with the Enemy,” Dec. 1999). Which sets up a possible showdown between Kostunica and Djindjic, something that many analysts have been predicting all along.