Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility Angela Crowley-Koch, Chapter Director 503-274-2720
Prepared by Catherine Thomasson, MD www.OregonPSR.org or www.PSR.org
Health Effects of War:
1 . Deaths : 8.5 million dead in WWI, 57 million in WWII, 110 million killed in all wars in 20 th century.
Over 100,000 civilians have died from the violence since the “end” of the 2003 Iraq War.
(Lancet 2004)
Proportion of civilian deaths increasing:
From Casualties of Conflict. Upsulla University, Sweden 1991, cited in State of the
WWI
WWII:
14%
Worlds Children, C. Bellamy. 1996 New York: Oxford University Press.
67%
1980s: 75%
1990’s: 90%
2. Injuries: During the Vietnam War, the US dropped the equivalent of nearly one 500 lb. bomb on every person in the country
(Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI)
. Increased use of chemical weapons: White phosphorus and now defoliants on plants in Columbia.
Decreased military loss of life from injury over the 20 th century due to improved medical attention and nutrition. In Iraq, the dead to wounded ration of US soldiers is about 1:10, with twice as many casualties surviving than in the 20 th century.
3. Children per UNICEF during 1990-2000 from State of the Worlds’ Children
** 1 million orphans in the world due to war. ** 4-5 million handicapped or disabled.
** 2 million killed ** 12 million left homeless.
** Over 25,000 dead children due to combat and bombing in Iraq 2003-2004
** Children are ½ of the world’s refugees at 25 million.
Unicef 2004
** Over 380,000 children as young as 7 recruited into armies.
ICRC 2003
** >500,000 children under 5 died from the Gulf War and sanctions
4. Psychological Effects: a. Soldiers do unthinkable acts, including killing, that affects them for life. b. Grief from loss of family, friends, and home. c. 1991 study of Iraqi children showed 62% worried they may not live to be adults. d. 97% of Afghan children have witnessed a violent death of someone they knew e. More US soldiers died of suicide or trauma-related violence after the Vietnam War than in it.
Eisenhart, “Flower of the Dragon: An Example of Applied Humanistic Psychology,”
Journal of Humanistic Psychology , Vol. 17,
No. 1, Winter 1977, pp. 3-24 f. “Children in refugee camps often start expressing hatred for other groups.”
Clausen, MD from IPPNW. g. One in six US soldiers returning from Iraq are showing signs of post traumatic stress disorder.
5. Infrastructure and Economic Damage: Geneva Convention Article 54: “It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove, or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water and supplies.” a.
Ex: Serbia 1999—NATO bombing destroyed 66 bridges, 78 factories, 200 schools, 147 health facilities.
b.
Ex. Iraq: All electricity plants destroyed or shutdown in 1991. All water treatment plants in
Iraq require electricity so no clean water. Severe infectious diseases resultant. 10% of urban and 53% of rural Iraq still had no clean water access at beginning of 2003 war.
c.
Starvation: Sanctions in Iraq led to 5000 dying monthly. Many from starvation and infectious disease. 1.2 million died in Iraq from 1991 to 1997 because of infrastructure and economic damage from the war compared to about 50,000 civilians during the 1991 war. d.
Gellman, Barton. (1991). Allied Air War Struck Broadly in Iraq: Officials Acknowledge
Strategy Went Beyond Purely Military Targets. Washington Post , 23 June p. A1.
6. Environmental Damages of War a.
Chemical pollution ex: Vietnam.
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1. 19,000.000 gallons of herbicide sprayed in Vietnam. Majority was Agent Orange containing dioxin. Source:
Levy, War and Public Health (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997)
2. In 1984, 52,000 US soldiers settled for $180 million with the chemical’s manufacturers.
100,000 more claims since.
3. Illness from Agent Orange: Hodgkin's disease, Multiple myeloma, acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, respiratory cancers, soft-tissue sarcoma, increase birth defects in their children.
Persistent increased birth defect rates in Vietnam for 3-4 generations b.
High and Low level radioactive waste . Military greatest producer of radioactive waste through nuclear weapons production and now the use of depleted uranium. c.
Depleted Uranium . Uranium that has had higher radioactive isotopes extracted. Very heavy metal, burns on impact. Still has some radioactivity. Aerosolized on impact. Concerns over lung and oral cancers, leukemia but not adequately studied. Bosnian battlefields considered toxic waste sites in Europe. No effective international recourse for cleanup costs but Saddam
Hussein had to pay restitution for pollution to Kuwait for fires in the oil fields. d. Gulf War Syndrome-Causes unclear

183,000 Gulf War Vets have claimed disability from all causes

25% compared with 10% of Vietnam Vets

VA pays $1 Billion for Gulf War Vet Health Care) d.
Air pollution:
1.
Oil fires, fires in cities and forested areas from incendiary strikes.
2.
Strikes on factories with release of chemicals e. Damage to land : bomb craters, impact on deserts, loss of habitat for animals, etc
7. Refugees

20-40 million worldwide with up to 26 million internally displaced.

3-5 million Afghan refugees- no adequate food, water or crop production 700,000 out of 800,000
Palestinians displaced in creation of Israel in 1948. 98% of Palestinians in Gaza Strip are refugees,
37% in West Bank, and 50% of all people in Jordan.
8. Nuclear Issues- including the nuclear waste
 Current Nuclear Posture Review calls for allowing “pre-emptive strikes” including with nuclear weapons for countries perceived to be threatening.

Missile Defense system made the US withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
 $5,481,100,000,000 spent since 1940 on nuclear weapons in the US
Military Total: $591.1 billion/yr
Cold War military spending totaled $16
Trillion=all the wealth of the U.S., except the land.
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In Oregon, President Bush’s
budget proposal for fiscal
year 2006 includes cuts of
$155.3 million for discretionary grants to state and local governments, including:

$20.0 million for community and economic development;

$2.9 million for lowincome home energy assistance; and

$4.4 million for the
Clean Water State
Revolving Fund
In Oregon, programs for No Child Left Behind Act would remain under-funded by $124.4 mil.
Oregonian cost of military:

$156.5 million for the proposed increase in military spending; and

$1.7 billion for what Congress has so far allocated for the Iraq War. (www.ips-us.org)
A portion of the US military budget could make a big difference in solving the world’s problems:
¼ of our Military Budget could: Over 10 years the military increase ($40 bil.) spent
Eliminate Starvation and Malnutrition ($19 billion) each year could fund:
Provide Shelter ($21 billion)
*Removal of landmines ($2 billion)
Provide Clean, Safe Water ($10 billion) *Elimination of nuclear weapons ($7 billion)
Provide Health Care and AIDS Control ($21 billion) *Retiring Developing Nations Debt ($30 billion)
Refugee Relief ($5 billion)
* OR Doubled the amount of aid the first world
Eliminate Illiteracy ($5 billion)
Build Democracy ($3 billion)
Stabilize Population (10.5 billion) gives to the Third annually ($40 billion) www.worldgame.org
War on Terrorism
Unilateralism
**Preemptive War
**Undermines the UN
**Rejection of international treaties
Counter proliferation of WMD
Use of military to counter the spread of WMD
U.S. now out of Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Violating Non-Proliferation Treaty
Continue to implement Missile Defense “Star
Wars”
Military Buildup
SMART Security
Strengthen UN and international institutions
**Support the Rule of Law- no preemption
**Ratify the International Criminal Court and other
UN and international treaties
Stop the spread of WMD
Renounce first use of nuclear weapons
Increase funding for securing and de-mobilizing
nuclear weapons
Strengthen Biological & Chemical weapons treaties.
Change budget priorities to reflect real security needs
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A. Preemptive war —Invasion of a country without being attacked or attacking without the imminent semblance of attack. Iraq invasion was illegal per Kofi Annan, 2004 UN
1. Invasion of Iraq was done in the face of overwhelming international opposition without UN authorization or technically Security Council approval, which is a third method of legitimately invading another country (required under the UN charter which by being ratified is part of US law). In the more remote past and even for 1991 Gulf
War, Security Council approval was obtained.
2. US administration asserts the right to do so in the future.
Problems with Pre-emptive war :
1. Costs unknown--$4 billion per month for occupation of Iraq
2. Casualties both US military >1500 and Iraqi civilian >100,000 continue to mount
3. Duration and size of military commitment is daunting. In spite of turnover of government authority to Iraq on
June 30 , 2004, we’ve increased military presence with 130,000 U.S. and primarily British personnel for at least 5 years or longer. No declared withdrawal time or plan
4. Errors can be made such as the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
5. This refusal to follow international law, undermines the U.S. moral authority and increases the likelihood of other nations doing the same, i.e. Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Israel.
6. “Threat of terrorism has not been reduced,” according to CIA Sept.2004 CIA Report
“By 51 percent to 14 percent, Americans believe the threat of terrorism has increased rather than decreased since the invasion of Iraq, according to an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released [July 1, 2004]. Thirty-four percent said the threat remained the same.” Dana Milbank, “Cheney, Bush Tout Gains in Terror War,” Washington Post
July 2, 2004.
Example of Afghanistan: The Taliban offered to negotiate extradition of Bin Laden if provided with evidence and a neutral location and court for his trial. If adequate evidence had been brought against Bin
Laden it would have reduced anger and suspicion in Arab world. Refusal to extradite by Afghanistan would have provided a more legitimate premise to attack Afghanistan militarily under international law. Treating
Bin Laden as criminal rather than warrior would reduce his stature. The Taliban had no court to turn to deliver Bin Laden and the US was impatient with the process with other motives to take control of
Afghanistan.
B. Undermines the UN
1. U.S. has failed to keep up with dues for 15 years. (They paid up at the time of 9/11 but are holding up again.)
According to Global Policy Forum, “As of December 31, 2004, members arrears to the Regular Budget topped $357 million, of which the United States alone owed $241 million (68% of the regular budget).” (www.globalpolicy.org)
2. U.S. failed to ratify treaties to: Convention for the Suppression Slavery
Ban Anti-Personnel Land Mines (not signed)
Biological Weapons Treaty Update
International Criminal Court (not signed)
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Kyoto Convention to Reduce Global Warming
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Withdrawal from ABM treaty
Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
against women
Small Arms Treaty
C. Loss of Good Will and International Cooperation:
Gen Joseph Hoar (Ret) & Col. Richard Klass (Ret.) “Our unilateralism embittered our allies and undercut the UN. The U.S. cannot defeat terrorism or successfully conclude the Iraqi campaign without them.
SMART solution-- Multilateralism:
A. Support the United Nations l. Ratify and support the above treaties to address global problems.
2. Increase funding for humanitarian programs
3. Ratify and support the International Criminal Court www.hrw.org/campaigns/icc/
This signed by 139 nations by 2000 deadline, ratified by 94 as if May 2004 and is functional at the
Hague, Netherlands. Catching trying war criminals such as Mr. Bin Laden in a court of law would reduce the stature of these “warriors” in the same way as Slobodan Milosevic.
4. Obey International law reject preemptive war.
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B. Support International Law
International police action since Sept 11, 2001: Apprehended 3,000 terrorist suspects by legal means with over 100 countries involved. 250 terrorist-linked groups have been identified.
$144 million in assets have been frozen with 170 countries involved, 2/3 of which are overseas.
C. Improve Foreign Aid record
1. Roughly 1/2 the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day.
www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp
2. 1.5 billion have no clean water or health care
3. US ranks 21 st in the world in foreign aid as a percentage of GDP (Now .1% down from 0.17%, versus
UN recommended 0.7%). 1/3 of the aid is military, 1/3 is “economic” mostly money to purchase from American corporations and 1/3 purely economic or humanitarian aid. 25% of all our foreign aid goes to Israel.
4. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen
WAR ON TERRORISM: Counter Proliferation
Controversy has surrounded this policy because nuclear weapons are included in the resources available to US commanders for use against enemy Nuclear, Biological and Chemical weapon targets.
The adaptation of nuclear use doctrines during the 1990s (under Bush-I and Clinton) for this purpose is a key concern for us all. http://www.counterproliferation.org/policy/index.html
A. Under Bush-I : T hen-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney issued a top-secret "Nuclear Weapons Employment
Policy." This policy required that the military plan nuclear operations against potential proliferators. In response, the
United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) began developing targeting scenarios for military strikes against command and control facilities and nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons facilities in "rogue nations"
(including Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea).
B. Under Clinton:
1. U.S. Defense Counterproliferation Initiative (Defense CPI) in December 1993
2. 1996 Defense Counterproliferation Implementation enumerates Pentagon policy to become more aggressive in countering proliferation of WMD. Clinton’s emphasis was more on diplomatic resources but increased reliance placed on the use of technical, military and intelligence expertise to counter WMD including the use of smaller nuclear weapons as a concept.
3. By 1996, JP 3-12.1 Doctrine for Joint Theater Nuclear Operations had been agreed, which expanded doctrine to include "non-state actors" as legitimate targets for nuclear weapons.
C. Under the Current Administration there is increased reliance on pre-emptive strikes, development of new nuclear weapons & use of “bunker busters” both conventional and potentially nuclear. This will require nuclear testing that will cause all the prior nuclear weapons treaties to unravel. http://www.comw.org/qdr/ Defense Strategy Review page http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/index.cfm Heritage Foundation., think tank for current administration. Quote on front of website by Rush Limbaugh, “Some of the finest conservative minds in America do their work in the Heritage Foundation.”
Fallout of Counterproliferation: BAD PRECEDENT: a. “Russia has announced it will consider the restricted use of small nuclear weapons to deal with regional conflicts and international terrorism in the future.” ABC News Oct 3, 2003 b. Other nations have stated they will use nuclear weapons including Israel, Britain, Pakistan and India. c. China has plans to increase its nuclear arsenal. d. Korea sees only safety in nuclear weapons as a deterrent to the U.S.
Fallout of Counterproliferation: UNDERMINES CURRENT NON-PROLIFERATION TREATIES a. 1970-Non-proliferation treaty (NPT), Article 6, states that all signatories need to work towards disarmament and reduction of nuclear arsenals. This is part of U.S. law b. Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) of 1972 Bush withdrew in Dec. 2001 .
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c. We have walked out of new biological weapons discussions primarily because the U.S. does not want its own labs to be examined at the lobbying of major corporations working on these issues.
SMART solution: Stop the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction
1.
Set a Good Example a. Renounce first use of WMD’s. b. Stop development of new nuclear weapons
2.
Support Non-Proliferation
Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)
Recommit to the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
Enhance on-site inspections to enforce bans on biological and chemical weapons rather than give in to our
pharmaceutical and chemical corporations requests not to. (Rigorous inspections work!)
3.
Secure Existing Weapons
Increase funding for the Nunn-Lugar plan to secure nuclear weapons in Russia and other nations.
2004 Budget request is for only one half recommended levels.
Take all U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert.
Accelerate safe destruction of U.S. chemical and biological weapons
WAR ON TERRORISM: Military buildup
**Diverts resources from real security needs. According to the Council on Foreign Relations Aug, 2003, “Nearly two years after 9/11, the United States is drastically under funding local emergency responders and remains dangerously unprepared to handle a catastrophic attack on American soil, particularly one involving biological, radiological, nuclear or high-impact conventional weapons.”
We spend $12,000 a second on the Military-Do we really need it?
SMART Alternatives: Change Budget Priories to Reflect Real Security Needs
1. Eliminate old Cold War priorities: such as F-22’s fighters.
2. Eliminate Missile Defense System (Star Wars) to get back to ABM treaty compliance. No
protect us from box-cutters and smuggled nuclear arms. (Canada has voted to not to support)
3. Invest in first responders.( $1.3 billion in cuts from law enforcement grants to states Budget 2005
4. Invest in Peace and Development. The world spends $1 trillion a year on defense and only $50
billion on development.
5. Invest in renewable energy to reduce our dependence on Middle East oil.
Smart Alternatives: End Cycles of Violence
Address legitimate grievances of race, social and religious freedom through peaceful means .
1. “The American invasion of Iraq is used as a recruitment tool by Al-Qaeda” reported a
senior American counter intelligence official. NYT 3/16/03. Perpetuating war in the
Middle East makes us less safe not more.
2. Address legitimate grievances of oppressed people from whom terrorists usually arise a. South Africa: Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the CIA in the mid-1980’s. What ended the “terrorism of the African National Congress was not violent suppression of the country’s black majority but the negotiated settlement to end apartheid and create an inclusive democracy. Those imposing apartheid were tried in tribunals.
In the Middle East:
** Nearly all 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies (no Iraqis)
** These regimes are corrupt and offer no democratic opportunity for change
** Our military, economic and diplomatic support undermines political change.
Websites: www.commondreams.org excellent access to news sources www.psr.org national site for PSR. Check on their “Security” section for updates on WMD, “Counterproliferation”
Preemptive war, and many other issues. www.cesr.org excellent site on Iraq situation.; www.nationalpriorities.com budget analysis http://www.ips-dc.org/index.htm Institute for Policy Studies. Foreign policy and multilateralism. Main author:
Phyllis Bennis.
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