Metal of Dishonor-Depleted Uranium: How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons [Paperback]

John Catalinotto (Editor), Sara Flounders (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0965691608 | ISBN-13: 978-0965691604 | Edition: 2nd

The drastic health and environmental consequences of a new generation of radioactive weapons, Depleted Uranium (DU), currently being used in U.S.-waged wars are discussed in these essays. This "new kind of nuclear war" is examined alongside the effects on Vietnam and Gulf war veterans and the indigenous people on whose land these weapons are being tested. Among the issues covered are the collaborative military and media cover-up of DU, the government's denial of DU's toxic effects, uranium development on Native American land, nuclear testing on the Marshall Islands, and radioactive residue in the Middle East. Contributors include Ramsey Clark, Pat Broudy, and Helen Caldicott. Official government documents on DU and its effects and charts illustrating where DU is tested and stored in the United States are included for further examination.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In May, 1997, the International Action Center published a book of essays and lectures on depleted uranium: the contamination of the planet by the United States military. In addition to exposing the deadly duplicity of the Department of Defense, the book documents the genocide of Native Americans and Iraqis by military radiation, the connection between depleted uranium and Gulf War Syndrome, the underestimated dangers from low-level radiation, the legal ramifications of DU Production and Use, and the growing movement against DU

About the Author

John Catalinotto is a journalist, lecturer at City University of New York, and former organizer of the American Serviceman's Union in the late 1960s. Sara Flounders is a co-coordinator of the International Action Center (IAC). They are both organizers of the Depleted Uranium Education Project of the IAC.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: International Action Center; 2nd edition (January 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965691608
• ISBN-13: 978-0965691604
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,626,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars required reading for people searching for the facts, December 25, 1999

By 

James Rosenthal - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metal of Dishonor-Depleted Uranium: How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons (Paperback)

Another excellent book by Clark. Ask yourself if the our government has ever lied to us or ever kept the facts from us...and you'll see why metal of dishonor isnt promoted by our political intelligensia, its a book for people who have consciousness, not some so called patriots whose tribalistic nationalism refuses to acknowledge that the US committed crimes against humanity in the Middle East and beyond.

14 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Nuclear Waste, March 5, 2006

By 

Al - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metal of Dishonor-Depleted Uranium: How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons (Paperback)

Some reviewers have attacked this book as representing the far left and antiwar perspective. I think this consideration is beside the point. I consider myself in both categories, but find this book to be a dismal collection of unscientific and fully erroneous essays. A couple of the essay authors take a more cautious perspective; they raise questions that must be addressed and point out irresponsibility and dishonesty within the Department of Defense. These contributors, however, are in the minority. The majority of the contributing essays are based on rumors (found to be false) and some essays fall into the category of the bizarre. If you are interested in gaining a better insight into the depleted uranium issue, check out some of the serious scientific studies (e.g., the study by the Royal Society).

Because this book can be held up as an example of antiwar stupidity, it does a great disservice to those of us who are trying to end the war in Iraq and hold the current administration accountable for war crimes and their attack on our civil liberties.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shameful Writing by Former Attorney General Ramsay Clark, December 22, 2008

By 

R. Helbig "rhelbig" (Richmond, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Metal of Dishonor-Depleted Uranium: How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons (Paperback)

This book distorts the truth from the title through the end. The reviewer who claims that Cheney had anything to do with depleted uranium is just venting their frustration with a war gone horribly wrong in Iraq. DU has two purposes, to kill tanks and to protect tanks. The kinetic energy penetrator, a small diameter metal rod made of DU alloyed with Titanium, was developed because nothing that the US had in the 60's would penetrate the armor of the modern Soviet tank and thousands of these tanks were poised on the border expected to begin World War III. The Army developed the DU penetrator and the Air Force developed the A-10 close support aircraft tank killer to fire the 30mm penetrator. Before the Gulf War, the A-10 production line was shut down and the airplanes were being retired to the bone yard; then it was used against Saddam's thousands of tanks and it worked as advertised. The DU penetrator did penetrate modern armor and did kill tanks. There is one large group of people who should be in this discussion; the US tank crews who are still alive today because they had a one-shot, one-kill DU projectile and because many of them had "heavy armor", DU clad in steel armor plate. These two advances brought American and UK tank crews home. Do any of you readers know any of them? Why do they not speak out about the "magic bullet" that saved their lives? It is time that they did instead of letting a bunch of anti-depleted uranium crusaders mix politics with pseudoscience and dominate the debate. If you would like to learn about depleted uranium, Uranium 238, the most common isotope of naturally occuring uranium, go to the website depletedcraniumdotcom or go to the Yahoo Group DUStory. If you write me at DUStorydashowneratyahoogroupsdotcom, I will write back to you.