November 2007
Issue No. 406
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Toxic souvenirs
Will the whole truth about depleted uranium ammunition ever come out? It depends on who’s looking, discovers Dinyar Godrej.
DU: From waste to weapon
a visual guide.
Don't look, don't find
Can Iraqi doctors break through the wall of indifference? Doug Weir reports.
'We were expendable'
US Army veteran Herbert Reed’s blistering testimony.
Depleted Uranium – the facts
The facts on depleted uranium
Who's the real criminal?
John LaForge squares up to the largest DU munitions manufacturer in the US.
Depleted uranium – Action
Including Building the ban with Belgian activists and DU and the law.
News, views, and & voices
SPECIAL FEATURE
Guilt complex
We feel guilty about what we do (flying, driving a car) and about what we don’t do (not making that demo, not recycling enough). Adam Ma’anit traces the roots of these feelings and argues that we need liberation.
REGULAR FEATURES
A marriage of convenience
Maria Golia observes the wheeling and dealing behind a Cairo wedding.
Hell no, we won't go
US Iraq vets against the war
Propaganda by any other name
Zimbabwe's government spends millions on propaganda
Taxing African wealth
Radio New Internationalist explains how African countries' coffers are being plundered to leave populations in poverty
Drugs, guns and money
Drugs and guns in Colombia’s guerrilla war
Marching for the monks
Burma’s rebels on the line
Skulduggery
World Bank and corruption in Armenia
Buddhas need a passport
China permits reincarnation
Making Waves
How Masih Alinejad is paying the price for confronting Iran’s leaders
Big Bad World
George W stands firm in the face of Polyp
Worldbeaters
Hillary Clinton, frontrunner in the race for the White House, is a woman. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends.
A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
written and directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack
The Witnesses
directed and co-written by André Techiné
Comicopera
by Robert Wyatt
Nights at the Circus
by Bishi
Mistress
by Anita Nair
Hold Everything Dear – Dispatches on Survival and Resistance
by John Berger
The Shock Doctrine
by Naomi Klein
Southern Exposure
Facing up to Algeria’s riot police, by local photographer Samir Sid.
Palestine's Mandela
One man may hold the key for unity among the Palestinians
Kabul lives
A photographic tribute to a city that has plumbed the depths.
Country Profile: Cuba
Experimenting with capitalism in Cuba
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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR
‘Well, you don’t have the torn-off limbs for a start.’ I’d asked a campaigner why depleted uranium hadn’t achieved the same kind of public presence as the anti-landmines campaign and this was part of her reply. She was right, of course.
It was easier to make the case against landmines as indiscriminate weapons - they were blowing up all over the place and maiming civilians. No-one could deny their horrific impact. With the remnants of depleted uranium weapons it’s often a much slower story of toxic and/or radioactive poisoning, the cause and effect less easy to demonstrate without recourse to technical complexities. And then there are the unknowns. Among them the biggie – that nobody fully knows what lies in store for future generations.
There are alarming signs fromthe ailments of people exposed to DU and from the bewildering disorders manifesting in some of their children. But they are chronically under-researched. Doctors don’t know how to explain them. The governments who have used these weapons and who claim they are safe don’t seem particularly bothered.
In March of this year two Australian soldiers active during the Gulf War of 1991 tested positive for DU contamination a full 15 years after their return from Iraq. Apart from a whole host of disabling symptoms, one of them was also separated from his wife who had suffered from burning semen syndrome since his return and had developed cervical cancer. Their Government has responded by assuring them they haven’t been exposed.
As for the civilians in countries where DU contamination persists, they rarely get tested and their suffering is ‘far away’ from us. It must be brought near.
Dinar Godrej for the
New Internationalist Co-operative
dinyarg@newint.org
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
