Divided country
stealthy invasion by radiation
Beginning March 24, 1999, NATO forces bombed
Yugoslavia for 78 days. The American air
force also fired DU tank penetrators. First
in the Gulf War in 1991, then in Bosnia in
1995, this was the third time these radioactive
weapons have been used in actual combat.
Criticism of the use of DU munitions began
during the bombing, but it was not until
February of this year that NATO formally
admitted, in a letter to UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan, that "we used about 31,000
30mm rounds." Visiting the still divided
area, I learned that DU was also used in
southern Serbia, which was not included in
the area of use announced by NATO. Many are
concerned about the impact of DU on the environment
and health, but Albanian residents in Kosovo
are utterly unaware of the DU in the ground
near their homes.
Story and photos by Akira Tashiro
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