Environmental Effects of U.S./NATO War in Yugoslavia

[Richard Hugus <rhugus@cape.com>]

Kosovo's Y2K problem
 
      At about this time next year, the NATO humanitarian action will have
produced the first defective births in Kosovo.
 
      As of now, there is more radioactive residue from the depleted
uranium ammunition and ordnance used by NATO planes than was left over
from the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
 
      This highly toxic metal is spread over fields throughout Yugoslavia
and will enter the food supply--first the crops and vegetables and then
the livestock--and remain in the food chain for decades to come. It is
highly unlikely that NATO will supply safe "Ready to Eat" meals to
expectant mothers in Kosovo for that long.
 
      After the Petrohemija chemical factory was bombed, huge quantities
of toxic chlorine and ethylene dichloride were released into the air.
Afraid of an even worse ecological disaster, Petrohemija staff issued a
press release asking NATO to stop bombing them until they could dispose of
the most toxic and carcinogenic chemicals safely.
 
      NATO not only ignored this plea, but two days later deliberately
bombed the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)
plants in Pancevo. VCM is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is
extremely carcinogenic. Increased atmospheric concentrations, 10,000 times
above the permitted limits, were measured after the bombing.
 
      In addition, huge quantities of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide,
and the acid gas, hydrogen chloride, were released into the atmosphere.
 
      The latest entry on NATO's humanitarian target list is the Vinca
Nuclear Research Institute. Its reactors have not been used for 15 years,
but a significant amount of Uranium-235 enriched and unused fuel is still
in its interior. Highly radioactive material for everyday activities is
also located in several research laboratories.
 
      If these sites are hit--and given NATO's humanitarian track record
there is no reason to believe otherwise--a tragedy on a scale of Chernobyl
can be expected in all of the Central Europe.
 
      At about this time next year, with your accounts long safe from the
computer millenium bug, you will be sipping your morning coffee and
rallying behind some other NATO humanitarian bombing action that is being
broadcast live on CNN. And long forgotten, the people of Kosovo will be
facing their own millenium problem.
 
                   Branislav Andjeli
              webmaster@beograd.com