From the December 2003 Idaho Observer:

World conference prepares case against U.S. for DU-related war crimes

HAMBURG, Germany -- Scientists and human rights activists from all over the world traveled to the University of Hamburg October 16-19 for the World Uranium Weapons Conference, DU/Uranium Weapons: The Trojan Horses of Nuclear War. The conference discussed the human misery and environmental degradation taking place wherever the U.S. takes its depleted-uranium (DU)-dipped war machine. More than 200 people from 21 countries and five continents attended the event.

“The evidence coming from the scientists, health experts and lawyers at this conference is clear: DU is causing significant health effects worldwide and is illegal under existing international laws and convention. Now it is up to the activist community to force rogue governments like the U.S. and Great Britain to observe international law as they preach it to other nations,” stated conference organizer Marion Kupker.

DU is a byproduct of atomic weapons manufacture that had been accumulating for decades until the U.S. military began using it to coat its equipment. The radioactive material is very dense and is used both for projectiles and armor.

The fallout from DU is being felt most significantly in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Water sources are being polluted and swirling dust is reported to contain DU particles that enter the body where it begins the process of killing it. Soldiers exposed to the material are suffering “mysterious” illnesses that perpetually perplex Pentagon officials and VA physicians.

Dave Kraft of the Evanston, IL-based Nuclear Energy Information Service stated, “The evidence at this conference, if not the precautionary principle, argues against any manufacture, testing or use of these weapons.”