Why Should Environmentalists Oppose the U.S. War in Iraq
Throughout the history of humanity, war has proven to be the leading cause of environmental destruction. The past world wars and such wars as the U.S. wars in Vietnam, Iaraq, Yugoslavia and Afaghanistan have shown how wars easily destroy the sanctity of human life and the environment.
We oppose the U.S. war in Iraq because we reject mass murder.
Wars claim the lives of innocent civilians. Since 1945, 84% of war victims have been civilians. In 1991, the Gulf War claimed at least 300,000 Iaraqi lives. It is estimated that 500,000 to 1 million Iraqias could die from the U.S. war in Iraq. We do not believe in the propaganda that the current war in Iraq will entail small civilian casualties. Area-impact bombs like napalm, cluster bombs, and fuel-air explosives are created to destroy wide areas and do not discriminate between civilians and combatants. According to the U.S. milaitary, the “smart bombs” or ‘precision bombs’ have a 10% margin of error in hitting their specific targets. These bombs are not as accurate as they are shown to be.
As of March 27, iraqibodycount.net reports that there are already 311 civilians killed. Other esatimates put 430 people wounded in Bagdhad alonga during the initial air bombing attack.
We oppose the U.S. war in Iraq because of the devastating health effects caused by modern military technology and use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). With each advancement in war technology, there is a corresponding increas in civilian casualties. After the war, civilians will face with the long-lasting impact of modern weaponry, such as the health effects of Agent Orange, a highly potent herbicide, which was used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War.
Another controversial case is the use of depleted uranium (DU) in armaments. Depleted uranium, or uranium-238, is a radioactive and toxic waste that has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Even the U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute recognizes it as having the “potential to generate significant medical consequences.” Depleted uranium is used by the U.S. and British military in their M1A1, M1, M60 and Challenger tanks in the form of large caliber penetrators, small caliber rounds, and tank armor.
During the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S. fired nearly a million roundes of depleted uranium bullets and shells, leaving 300 tons of depleted uranium in southern Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. After the war, tests there showed more than %700 increase in cancer incidence among children and women in Bagdhad. Also, 28% of the 573,000 U.S. military personnel in that war became afflicted with Gulf War Syndrome, a sickness characterized with skin rashes, weight loss, chronic fatigue, kidney and liver problems, neurological disorders and cancer.
We oppose the U.S. war in Iraq because of its major negative impacts on the environment in Iraq and in the Middle East.
The U.S. war in Iraq will causea oil spills, and the contamination of marshlands, lakes, coastal lands and human settlements. In the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S. deliberately bombed water facilities, power plants and hospitals. The destruction of eight major dams and reservoirs caused the drastic reduction of potable water supply all over Iraq during the war.
Major oil tankersa, wells and refineries of Iraq were also targeted. Consequently, 6-8 million barrels of crude oil were spilled in the Gulf. This caused the greatest marine oil spill in history, contaminating 20% of the mangroves, polluting 50% of the coral reefs and 560 kilometers of the Northern Arabian Gulf coastline.
Heavy conventional bombs used by the U.S. are known to create temperatures of approximately 3,000 degree Celsius, which is hot enough to destroy all plants, animals and the lower layers of soil which take 1,500 to 7,400 years to regenerate. Bombing usually results in the pollution of vast territories and make them wastelands for long period of time.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report on the Mesopotamian Marshlands shows that destruction of the marches due to the 1991 Gulf War had a devastating effect on wildlife and the people, with an impact on global biodiversity that reached Siberia and southern Africa. These marshlands provide 60% of the fish consumed in Iraq and are the spawning grounds for shrimp fishery in the Arabian Gulf. Most of Iraq’s rice, sugarcane and water buffalo have been reared in these marshlands.
We oppose the U.s.a war in Iraq because it is the height of large-scale misuse and squandering of our non-renewable, precious, and limited resources. Natural resources such as oil, metals and minerals are used non-productively to fuel a war. These resources are better used to build houses, hospitals, farm machineries, roads and schools that the worlda’s vast population greatly needs.
To illustrate its excesses, the U.S. Department of Defense purchased 2,000 billion barrels of oil for military use in 1989. This is enough to run all of the U.S. public transport system for 22 years. The U.S. budget for the war on Iraq is currently at $75 billion (around 4.125 trillion pesos) but may reach more than $1 trillion in the long term. This amount is better channeled directly for the improvement of our living conditions. According to the United Nations, only $40 billion is needed to ensure the essentials of life for everyone in the world.
The production of military weapons already creates unwanted toxic waste. Vast amounts of toxic pollution have been left from the production, storage, and testing of chemical, biological, nuclear and conventional weapons, contaminating millions of acres of land. Over 20,000 tons of deadly chamical weapons still await destruction. Estimated cost of addressing these problems run as high as $65 billion. Even without the U.S. war on Iraq, the U.S. military is already known to be the world’s No. 1 polluter.
AS ENVIRONMENTALISTS, WE OPPOSE THE U.S.-LED WAR IN IRAQ AND DEMAND ITS IMMEDIATE CESSATION. We strongly condemn the saupport given by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for this unjust war. Whatever the U.S. and its allies say, this war is not a war of liberation for the Iraqi people. It is a war that will cause their subjugation and re-colonization. it is clearly a senseless war, waged at the expense of humanity and the environment.
KALIKASAN-PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
March 28, 2003
#26 Matulungin St., Bgy. Central, Quezon City
Tel No.: 924-8756
E-mail kpne@edsamail.com.ph
