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OB tes Ny E\N? THE POPE CALLS FOR A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER IRAQ POLLUTED BY DEPLETED URANIUM S and coalition forces a unleashed at least 75 tons of toxic depleted uranium on Iraq during the war, reports the Christian Science Monitor. An unnamed US Central Command spokesman disclosed to the Monitor in late November that coalition forces fired 300,000 bullets coated with armour- piercing depleted uranium (DU) during the war. "The normal combat mix for these 30-mm rounds is five DU bullets to one—a mix that would have left about 75 tons of DU in Iraq," wrote correspondent Scott Peterson. Peterson measured four sites around Baghdad struck with depleted uranium munitions and found high levels of radioactive contamination, but few warnings to this effect issued among the populace at large. While the Pentagon maintains that spent weapons coated with the low-level radioactive nuclear waste are relatively harmless, Peterson notes that US soldiers have taken it upon themselves to print leaflets or post signs warning of DU contamination. "After we shoot something with DU, we're not supposed to go around it, due to the fact that it could cause cancer," said one sergeant, requesting anonymity. On a group of abandoned, burnt-out US munitions supply trucks, Peterson saw signs put up by US troops, warning in Arabic, "Danger: Get away from this area". A local vendor said that soldiers in masks warned him and others to keep away from the site. Two other sites visited were randomly selected Iraqi armoured vehicles destroyed with DU bullets. The remains of these tanks sit near a produce vendor on the out- skirts of Baghdad, and have become popu- lar playthings for children. The Geiger counter reading from "a DU bullet frag- ment no bigger than a pencil eraser" near one child registered 1,000 times the nor- mal level. There were no warnings posted to inform the populace of the radioactive emissions coming from any of the tanks. (Source: Yellow Times.org, 5 December 2003, http://www.yellowtimes.org/article. php ?sid=1683) Pe John Paul II launched one A of the most important diplomatic initiatives of his long papacy on | January when he called for "a new international order" to replace the one that emerged from the Second World War. Though he did not offer a detailed plan, his words appeared to show that he wanted the United Nations replaced in view of its failure to block the US-led use of force in Iraq. The Pope called in December for the reform of world institu- tions and deplored any failure to respect international law. But in a sermon during a mass at St Peter's in Rome he went much further, referring to the UN as if it were already a part of the past. "More than ever, we need a new interna- tional order that draws on the experience and results achieved in these years by the United Nations," he declared during a ser- vice to mark the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, celebrated on | January. In his homily, the Pope said the new world order he wanted "would be able to provide solutions to the problems of today...based on the dignity of human beings, an integrated development of soci- ety, solidarity between rich and poor nations, and on the sharing of resources and the extraordinary results of scientific and technological progress". The Pope believes that not enough of these goals are being achieved with the present system of international organisa- tions, including the UN, the IMF and the World Bank, that emerged in the late 1940s. The central issue, seen from the Vatican's point of view, is the growing irrelevance of a painstakingly constructed body of international law which is being ignored by the US administration during its "War on terror". (Source: The Guardian, 2 January 2004) 6 = NEXUS "Cracked pepper or depleted uranium?" www.nexusmagazine.com FEBRUARY — MARCH 2004