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Hall, S., & Shaw, C. (1999, July 3). Troops 'may face gulf syndrome'. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved September 18, 2011, fromhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/jul/03/balkans.armstrade
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/jul/03/balkans.armstradeThis particular news article focused on the effects the bombings in Kosovo may have. The article spoke about illegal use of Uranium and related the effects it could potentially have to those of the Gulf War. The matter was interesting however the article is relatively old and whether or not the effects were comparable to the Gulf War ones in reality, is unclear. The most effective part of the article however, was the fact that this is not an environmental issue to Kosovo alone. Rather, it is larger than that and could potentially affect all of the Balkans.
Balise Wiki
This article is about the usage of depleted uranium (DU) by NATO in Kosovo during the bombing period in the war of 1999, which has put to risk the environment and the people in Kosovo as well as the entire Balkan region and other regions of Europe. What results as a major concern in this article, are the effects on the people who live near the bombed chemical factories and polluted rivers.
Kosovo stands as the 13th biodiversity resource in the world. Yet, the UN agency that had gone to Kosovo, alleged that NATO air strikes have had a disastrous impact to Kosovo's environment by influencing the agriculture, industries, employment, essential services, land, air, rivers, lakes and underground waters as well as the food chain and public health.
Nevertheless, in 1999, environmentalists had warned that KFOR troops and civilians may be prone to the effects of using depleted Uranium such as the Gulf War Syndrome, or other diseases. Also the United Nations Human Rights Tribunal had made a call upon states in 1996, to restrain the production of mass destruction weapons containing depleted uranium.
As mentioned in the article, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) depleted uranium contains both chemical and radiological toxicity which mostly affect kidneys and the lungs. At higher dosage DU effects may also lead to the risk of lung cancer and kidney damage. Although the issue was put to discussion, the author points out that the issues concerning the bombing and its effects still remain unquestioned by the mainstream.
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14. The sites visited by the UNEP mission represent some 12% of all sites attacked using DU ammunition during the Kosovo conflict. Based on the mission’s findings, it is possible to make certain extrapolations for other DU-affected sites in Kosovo, but also for sites in Serbia (about 10% of sites targeted with DU) and Montenegro (amounting to approximately 2% of sites targeted with DU), where there are similar circumstances and environmental conditions, and which had been targeted by DU ammunition during the same conflict. However, further work would be needed to confirm the validity of such extrapolation.
Graph of findings:
United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat. (1999). The Kosovo Conflict, Consequences for the Environment & Human Settlements. Retrieved October 9, 2012, from http://www.grid.unep.ch/btf/final/finalreport.pdf
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*Mario , B. (2000). The risks of depleted uranium contamination post-conflict: unep assessments. Retrieved from [http://unidir.org/pdf/articles/pdf-art2760.pdf*
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“Uranium 238 in the soil, plants and sporadically even in urine of certain individuals, from the
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