Ms. Moret is an environmental scientist. Her Ph.D. research was on atmospheric dusts, and how they move, and are transported around the world, and much of our pollution now is transported in less than a week from Asia on and with atmospheric dusts. Thirty-four percent of mercury pollution in the United States is from Asia. Truly, we're globally one environment. So, when you're doing things in one country, eventually it's going to end up in your country too, no matter how many continents or oceans separate you.
The truth about depleted uranium known for over sixty years and the facts of what was happening to the returning vets of the first Gulf War led Leuren Moret to put together certain truths about what our veterans were being subjected to in Iraq. Some of what Ms. Moret found
Depleted uranium comes from the waste of nuclear plants. For years the question has been raised what would we do with the waste from nuclear power plants. The half life of the uranium is four billion years and exposure to the depleted uranium is potentially as hazardous as exposure to the uranium itself. Apparently we have found a “solution” to the problem of waste from nuclear power plants. Depleted uranium can be added to weapons.
This is not a new truth. Consider this fact presented by scientists working on the first atomic bomb in 1943. A memo prepared October 30, 1943 stated that the material used in the atomic bomb could be “… ground into particles of microscopic size to form dust and smoke and distributed by a ground-fired projectile, land vehicles, or aerial bombs. In this form It would be inhaled by personnel. The amount necessary to cause death to a person inhaling the material is extremely small. It has been estimated that one millionth of a gram accumulating in a person's body would be fatal. There are no known methods of treatment for such a casualty.
Two factors appear to increase the effectiveness of radioactive dust or smoke as a weapon. These are: (1) It cannot be detected by the senses; (2) It can be distributed in a dust or smoke form so finely powdered that it will permeate a standard gas mask filter in quantities large enough to be extremely damaging. An off-setting factor in its effectiveness as a weapon is that in a dust or smoke form the material is so finely pulverized that it takes on the characteristic of a quickly dissipating gas and is therefore subject to all the factors (such as wind) working against maintenance of high concentrations for more than a few minutes over a given area.
Memorandum to: Brigadier General L. R. Groves From: Drs. Conant, Compton, and Urey War Department United States Engineer Office Manhattan District Oak Ridge Tennessee October 30, 1943 Declassified June 5, 1974
Commenting on the memo quoted above Ms. Moret says:
In this memo, I was just astounded to read it because it's actually a blueprint for depleted uranium. This is in 1943, before they'd even dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And actually, the three physicists who wrote the memo were the top physicists on the Manhattan Project-Conant, Urey, and Compton.
And what they recommended to General Groves was that he develop radioactive materials, including depleted uranium, into a military weapon that could be used on the battlefield. In the details of their memos they described grinding it to up to 0.1µ [1/10 of micron], which is very, very fine particles. This is smaller than bacteria. It would behave like a gas. It diffuses into the lungs and gets into the blood. It completely contaminates the environment and denies access to both the enemy and friendly forces without being exposed. It also said that it goes through gas masks. It goes through filters-air filters. It's impossible to filter out-the very fine particles. And there is no protective clothing that can be designed to protect you from exposure. Leuren Moret speaking on depleted uranium Spangenberg Theater Gunn High School Los Altos, California April 21. 2003
Leuren Moret goes on to say that virtually these same particles described over 60 years ago by the scientists who designed the atomic bomb are present in the weapons used in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Ms. Moret asks “What happens when these particles get into the blood?”
After uranium metal burns...and depleted uranium is pyrophoric - it burns when it heats to 170° C. So, as soon as they shoot them, and the surface of the weapon heats up to 170° C, it starts burning. And you can see them. They look like tracers going through the air on the battlefield.
They are creating billions and billions and billions of superfine particles. These do not settle out by gravity. gravitational forces do not pull them out of the air. They stay suspended. They act like a radioactive gas.
And we know- I work with 8 independent scientists- we've measured depleted uranium, which after it burns, is very very insoluble. It forms oxides that will almost not dissolve. And because they will not dissolve, they will not become body fluids And so, the body cannot excrete them through the kidneys in the urine.
These particles are like fairy dust. They go everywhere that a red blood cell or a white blood cell will go. And they stay in the body-millions and billions of them. These alpha particles tear through the cell. They tear through the membrane, which damages the immune system. They tear through the mitochondria, which is your energy system. They tear through the DNA, causing mutations.
And then, the energy that they dump in the cell along that path, disturbs the hormones, the molecules in the compounds, the signaling system that helps the cells communicate with each other because they're in a cooperative system.
I'd like to read to you why Gulf War syndrome is so complex. It's a complex of illnesses. And it's also combined with chemical exposure on the battlefield. And even Doug told me they had eight vaccinations in one day at one time. That trashes your immune system. In addition, they were exposed to biological agents. They were sprayed with pesticides. They had an illegal anthrax vaccine with squaline in it.
Very, very, very tiny amounts of chemicals and radiation can do terrible damage. We're just finding that out now. And the synergistic effects of chemicals and radiation working together...there's no research on that. We don't even know. We just know it's really bad. Lauren Moret same speech
Ms. Moret describes some of the dangers to unborn children. For a more detailed account of the possible dangers to new born and unborn children consult Appendix D
The United Nations has also looked at the subject of depleted uranium. In 2002 they put out a report. Below are some of the findings of their report. Some of the material substantiates the findings of Ms. Moret .