US to Begin Sending Controversial Depleted Uranium Shells to Ukraine 英国に続き、米国もウクライナに劣化ウラン弾の引き渡しを開始

US to Begin Sending Controversial Depleted Uranium Shells to Ukraine

Peace groups have long campaigned for a ban on DU munitions

Common Dreams staff

Sep 02, 2023

Source　https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-to-begin-sending-controversial-depleted-uranium-shells-to-ukraine

The Biden administration will, for the first time, send controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, according to Reuters.

The munition can be fired from US Abrams tanks, which are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks.

The shells, which will come from US excess inventory, would be funded by the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which lets the president make transfers from US stocks without Congress' approval in the case of an emergency.

This follows an earlier decision by the Biden administration to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine despite concerns over the dangers such weapons pose to civilians.

If the US deploys depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to retaliate with DU rounds—which are linked to birth defects, miscarriages, and cancer.

Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the production of fuel used in nuclear power stations. Its extreme density gives rounds the ability to penetrate armor-plating easily.

The use of depleted uranium munitions has been fiercely debated, with opponents like the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons saying there are dangerous health risks from ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust, including cancers and birth defects.

Common Dreams has reported:

The U.S.-led NATO coalition that waged the 1999 air war against Yugoslavia also used DU munitions, which experts believe are responsible for a surge in leukemia in the region, both among the local population and foreign troops deployed in the war zone.

Peace groups have long campaigned for a ban on DU munitions. Last September, the United Nations General Assembly approved an Indonesian draft resolution urging further research of the "health risks and environmental impact" of DU weapons and calling for a "cautionary approach" to their use.

The resolution was approved by 147 nations. The U.S., U.K., France, and Israel voted against the proposal. 

 

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米国と英国は、コソボとイラクで放射性兵器（つまり核兵器）である大量の劣化ウラン弾を使用し、多大な被害を及ぼしました。 さらに今回、イギリスはウクライナに劣化ウラン兵器の引き渡しを決定し、劣化ウランの危険性を熟知しているロシアとの核戦争の可能性が高まっております。日本の被爆者団体も劣化ウランの使用に反対の声明を出しました。

（まったくマスコミは報じませんが・・・） 

そしてG7直前の５月１７日、ツイッター情報によれば、英国によりウクライナに提供された、西ウクライナフメリニッキーにある弾薬庫がロシアの攻撃で爆破され、周辺のみならず、西側諸国へも放射能汚染が広がっているという！（これもG７関連ニュースで、日経が「ロシアが脅している」https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOGR19C9Q0Z10C23A5000000/と小さく報じた以外は、まったく報じられませんが・・・。）

そして今、米国もウクライナに劣化ウラン弾を引き渡し始めるという・・・

 

広島、長崎、コソボ、アフガニスタン、イラクに続く、さらなる放射性兵器（核兵器）の使用を許してはなりません。そもそも原発の燃料を作るために出てくる、劣化ウラン（U-238）という物質は、半減期４５億年もあります。体内に吸入・接種するとなかなか出て行かないアルファ線とベータ線の高いU－238を原発稼働のために産出するすることが間違っています！ましてやウクライナ戦争で使用させるとは狂っています。危険を察知したロシアは核兵器を使う可能性までちらつかせています。世界の核戦争の危機が高まっています。今こそ、劣化ウラン弾を含む真の核兵器の廃絶を！核兵器につながる原発の世界的な廃止を求めます！！！

The U.S. and the U.K. have used large quantities of depleted uranium munitions, which are radioactive (i.e., nuclear) weapons, in Kosovo and Iraq, causing tremendous damage. Furthermore, this time, the UK has decided to hand over DU weapons to Ukraine, increasing the possibility of nuclear war with Russia, which is well aware of the dangers of DU. Japanese hibakusha organizations have also issued a statement opposing the use of depleted uranium. We must not allow further use of radioactive weapons (nuclear weapons) following Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kosovo, and Iraq. DU (U-238), which is produced to make fuel for nuclear power plants, has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. It is wrong to produce U-238, which has high alpha and beta radiation levels that are not easily released when inhaled or inoculated into the body, for the operation of nuclear power plants! And to allow it to be used in the war in Ukraine is crazy. Russia, sensing the danger, is even flirting with the possibility of using nuclear weapons. The danger of a global nuclear war is growing. Now is the time for the true abolition of nuclear weapons, including depleted uranium shells! We call for the global abolition of nuclear power plants that lead to nuclear weapons!