The Second Day of Action Against DU

Tuesday June 03, 2003 21:06

by cadu per vs

A-10 + DU =

The A-10 combat aircraft is the major battlefield source of toxic and radioactive ammunition made from depleted uranium (DU). In Tuscon again two were arrested at a Tuscon Army Recruitng Centre after warning recruits about Uranium ammo.

Please Distribute Widely

The Second Day of Action really had an fantastic response with actions happening all over the world. It was much larger than the first day as well which is very encouraging.
Below are some reports received so far. They just give a sample of the large and small events that took place all over the world.
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In Tuscon, USA, The Second International Day of Protest Against Depleted Uranium was marked in 18' chalk letters that give a warning to Tucson's A-10 pilots.
As dawn broke in Tucson Thursday morning, May 29, pilots approaching Davis-Monthan AFB could see broad strokes of white gypsum marking letters in the brown Sonoran soil. Near the north end of the runway, the ecological graffiti reads:

A-10 + DU =
WAR CRIME
The A-10 combat aircraft is the major battlefield source of toxic and radioactive ammunition made from depleted uranium (DU).
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In Tuscon again two were arrested at a Tuscon Army Recruitng Centre after warning recruits about Uranium ammo.
The hazards of the U.S. arsenal of depleted uranium weapons was the subject of a peaceful vigil in front of military recruiting
offices in Tucson this morning. Most of the radioactive ammunition is fired by the A-10 Warthogs warplanes that train over Tucson.
Members of the Tucson Pledge of Resistance organized the event to demand that the military fully inform potential recruits of theknown hazards posed by American and British use of depleted uranium armaments. Fifteen people participated in today's Tucson event, which was part of the second International Day of Action Against Depleted Uranium.
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At Dundrennan DU test fire range in Scotland. There was a funeral march to the gates, with several kids carrying a coffin. There were several speakers, then there was a mass die-in. Next some 'weapon inspectors' went off and wandered around the perimeter fences of the base. Around 70 people attended and Scottish TV news covered the action.
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In Perth, Western Australia, leaflets were handed out a vigil - to
let people know that the International Day Against DU was happening
*****
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In Nashville Tennessee a group went to Congress man Jim Cooper's office today for the second annual International Day of Action Against Depleted Uranium. We had a petition with 40 signatures asking Mr. Cooper to support the proposed Depeted Uranium Munitions Study Act of 2003 (H.R. 1483). We gathered the signatures outside his office within 2 hours. Five of us went in to visit with Jim Cooper. However, we did not get to meet with the Representative. We were told by two of his staffers that Mr. Cooper yearns to meet with his constituents, and this morning he was so desperate to meet with his constituents that Mr. Cooper went to one of the malls in Nashville to meet senior citizens and to discuss his political agenda with them!
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The Rossendale Stop the War group, as befits a small group, just gave out 500 leaflets by the Rawtenstall Market. However, we had a good response. Every one read the leaflet or put it in their pocket to read later. One Pakistani man took three to put up in his Mosque.One lady whose son was serving in the Gulf said she would send it too him. She was very worried about him and gave us the impression that he and his mates were worried too. It was a day to cherish.
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The Clapham Junction vigil by Wandsworth Stop-the-War, London.
A small number of us (6 or 7) set up a stall outside the station, and lined up in front of the entrance, carrying A3 photographs of deformed babies, and handing out a pamphlet explaining about DU (more or less our press release, clipped to fit on one page).
The local paper (Wandsworth Guardian) sent a photographer down, and he took a few pictures of us. We carried on for about an hour as planned, and had started packing up at 7:15 when a pair of policemen turned up, saying they had received a call that we were displaying offensive pictures. A few minutes earlier, another pair of cops had surrounded the 2 activists on the other side of the flower stall, with pretty much the same message. They had received another phone call from a member of the public. So that's 2 phone calls, apparently. Our pair said that we ought not to display these pictures in public, then dithered a bit saying they were fairly sure we weren't allowed, before finally deciding that this was definitely the case - something about publically displaying obscene images involving children ! They were obviously making it up as they went along, but we agreed that the pictures definitely were obscene - and argued that this was precisely why the public had a right to know about them.
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Orang Orang Seen In Action Against DU IN Berlin

On Thursday, 29th of May the Uran Utan has been seen in pretty wild action in front of the dependency of Lockheed Martin in the Europa House close to the Brandenburger Tor. It has been reported that he was throwing around flyers of the AntiNuclearPlenary Berlin as part of the International Action Day against DU-Ammunition.
Being really daring we managed to get one from the radiating ape:

YOU (which is the meaning of DU in german)

You [DU] do not know what you [DU] can do about you [DU] ?
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Science for Peace in Toronto showed the video Invisible War in support of the International Action Against DU weapons.
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We, a Japanese group, Anti-Radiation-Exposure Campaign of Kansai, based on Osaka, also took participate in the International Day of Action Against DU. On 25th May, we had an educational meeting on DU, and the recent nuclear and military policy of US. There we discussed about the protest notes to the governments of US, UK and also Japan on the issue of the War in Iraq including DU. On 29th, we went to the local embassy of US in Osaka
to appeal against the DU and submit the protest note to them.
****
International Physicians Against Nuclear war in Greece held a Press conference and there was response from a few major daily
newspapers of Athens (Eleftherotypia) and from one radio station Athens 984. They all focus in the use of DU in the Greek
army.

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The Campaign Against Depleted Uranium, Bridge 5 Mill, 22a Beswick Street,
Ancoats, Manchester, M4 7HR Tel./Fax.: +44 (0)161 273 8293
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