Invisible War: Depleted Uranium and the politics of radiation
SBS, April 3, 8.30pm
REVIEW BY JIM GREEN
Invisible War, produced by the French company Canal Plus and released in February last year, investigates the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions by UN and NATO forces — in particular the US — in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991, Bosnia in 1995, and Serbia and Kosova in 1999.
DU is a cheap and plentiful by-product of nuclear power and weapons programs (not just weapons programs as this documentary states). It is used because it pierces armour like no other metal can. About 270 tonnes were used in the Gulf War, and a total of about 20 tonnes in the Balkan wars in 1995 and 1999. That much is on the record, the rest of the story remains hidden by NATO/UN/US secrecy and obfuscation.
Invisible War skilfully tackles the complicated debates concerning the health effects of DU (both radiological effects and heavy metal toxicity). It gives plenty of time to the "official" voices who trot out the usual furphies, which are neatly debunked by DU experts including ex-US army whistle blowers.
The political manoeuvring is also exposed. Secret military reports warning of the health risks of DU are revealed, the Clinton administration's failure to act on a 1993 US Congress directive to research the health effects of DU is reported and the demonisation, sacking and jailing of honest scientists is exposed. Compliant scientists have been feted and funded.
A strength of the documentary is its linking of the personal and the political. We see US army tops in protective clothing in Iraq while rank-and-file army personnel remain unprotected; many soon became sick. NATO spin-doctors squirm when asked about their (non-existent) plans to clean up DU contamination in Serbia and Kosova in 1999. We see a US Gulf War veteran visit Iraq in 1998 and meet Iraqis with the same symptoms as hers.
Another US veteran of the Gulf War, who suffered from embedded DU fragments, describes going to the Veterans Administration complaining of pain in his left kidney. Incredibly, his right kidney was tested ("standard procedure") but not his left one. The VA refused his request for independent testing of a tumour biopsy, and to add insult to injury he has been diagnosed with "post-traumatic stress disorder" (read: trouble-maker) by the VA.
With US veterans subjected to such treatment, it comes as no surprise that the US (and NATO and the UN) have shown even less concern about the impact of DU in Iraq and the Balkans. The documentary exposes the combined impact of the Gulf War and subsequent economic sanctions in Iraq. It is gut-churning stuff.
Invisible War also looks at the promotion of DU by 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ of the arms industry. Again, we see the personal meeting the political, in this case the underwhelming response of hawkers at a global arms bazaar when asked about their involvement in DU trade.
The documentary considers the complicity of the capitalist media. For example, the CNN media empire sent a reporter to a 1998 conference in Iraq on the effects of DU, but no reports were carried on CNN. (Ironically, CNN founder Ted Turner pledged in January to donate US$250 million over five years to fund efforts to curb the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. CNN could have made a significant contribution to the DU debate at a cost of roughly $0.)
There is one significant flaw with Invisible War. Prior to the Gulf War, opinion polls found that scare-mongering over Iraq's nuclear capabilities would be a public relations winner for the US government. The Iraqi regime has used this psychology in reverse. The message from the Iraqi regime — at the 1998 conference for example — is that DU is largely or completely responsible for the diseases arising from toxins used or released during the 1991 war.
This hypothesis is unlikely. Iraqis and US/UN military personnel have suffered not only from DU but also exposure to dozens of other toxins: insecticides, pesticides, untested vaccines, toxins from burning oil refineries, chemical agents and so on.
The exclusive focus on DU — uncritically accepted in Invisible War — not only deflects attention from the myriad of toxins which have poisoned people and the environment, but more importantly, it deflects attention from the politics of imperialism in the Middle East and the Balkans.
The documentary concludes with a former US army captain saying, "If you can't clean it up, don't use it". Fair enough, but stopping the use of DU would not be much of a victory unless linked to a broader struggle against imperialist militarism.