Consequences of War
and Militarism
Martin Donohoe
Outline

The history and epidemiology of war

Nuclear weapons

Chemical weapons

Biological weapons
Outline



Economic and environmental
consequences of militarism and war
Health consequences of militarism and
war
Contemporary conflicts


Afghanistan, Iraq, “War on terror”
Solutions
History of War

Violent conflict ubiquitous in the animal
kingdom:



Interspecies conflict – food, territory
Intraspecies conflict – food, territory, mates
(usually not directly fatal)
Violence among non-human primates


Gorilla infanticide
Chimps vs. Bonobos
Origins of War


Foragers vs. Agriculturalists
Agriculture





Hierarchical society
Private property
Money
Subjugation of women
Infectious/chronic diseases
Origins of War

Violence Today
 Link with poverty, oppression,
fueled by desire for wealth/power
 Familial vs. Societal
 Gun culture
 Media Violence
Militarism


The deliberate extension of military objectives
and rationale into shaping the culture, politics
and economics of civilian life so that war and the
preparation for war is normalized, and the
development and maintenance of strong military
institutions is prioritized
An excessive reliance on military power and the
threat of force in pursuing policy goals in
international relations
Militarism

Positively correlated with:





Conservatism
Nationalism
Religiosity
Patriotism
Authoritarianism
Militarism


Negatively correlated with:
 Respect for civil liberties
 Tolerance of dissent
 Democratic principles
 Sympathy and welfare toward the troubled and poor
 Foreign aid for poorer nations
Subverts other societal interests (health, environment,
education, social programs)
History of war

10,000 yrs ago – agriculture




Stable populations, division of labor, warrior
class
3500 yrs ago – bronze weapons and
armor
2200 yrs ago – iron
1900 yrs ago – widespread use of horses
History of war


Ninth Century China - bombs developed
Thirteenth Century China – rockets


Forgotten until the 19th Century
1783 – Balloon


Montgolfier brothers
Prussian general JCG Heyne – used for
bombing
History of War



1803-1814 (Napoleonic Wars): English General
Henry Shrapnel fills cannonballs with bullets and
exploding charges to increase killing capacity
1903 – Wright brothers/Kitty Hawk – airplane
20th Century – nuclear submarines, predator and
other drones, weaponization of Arctic/space
History of War


Belief that each new invention would
eliminate warfare
Instead, increased casualties, killing
at a distance
Epidemiology of Warfare

Deaths in war:





17th
18th
19th
20th
Century
Century
Century
Century
=
=
=
=
19/million population
19/million population
11/million population
183/million population
Increasing casualties to civilians

85-90% in 20th Century (vs. 10% late 19th
Century)
War Deaths, 1945-2010
Contemporary War Deaths
Worldwide Violence (2013)

526,000 killed by armed violence/yr





396,000 intentional homicides
55,000 direct conflict deaths
54,000 unintentional homicides
21,000 killed during legal interventions
7.9 violent deaths/100,000 persons/yr
Gun Violence


U.S. death toll for all wars from the
Revolutionary War to Afghanistan: 1.2
million (Congressional Research Service)
Number killed by firearms since 1968
(suicides, homicides, and accidental
shootings): 1.4 million (CDC)

More than from all wars in the nation’s history
combined (1.2 million)
Gun Violence


Americans own 300 million guns (#1 in
world in privately owned firearms)
33,000 deaths/yr due to firearm-related
violence, suicides, and accidents (highest
among industrialized countries)


Plus 80,000 injuries
Direct + indirect societal costs = $230
billion/yr
Legacies of Colonial Exploitation

Christopher Columbus’ log entry upon
meeting the Arawaks of the Bahamas:
“They…brought us…many…things…They
willingly traded everything they
owned…They do not bear arms…They
would make fine servants…With fifty men
we could subjugate them all and make
them do whatever we want.”
Legacies of Colonial Exploitation

Winston Churchill (speaking in favor of
RAF’s “experimental” bombing of Iraqis in
1920s, which killed 9,000 people with 97
tons of bombs):
“I am strongly in favor of using poisoned
gas against uncivilized tribes to spread a
lively terror…against recalcitrant Arabs as
an experiment”
Legacies of Colonial Exploitation

Cecil Rhodes (Rhodesia, Rhodes Scholarship,
DeBeers Mining Company):
“We must find new lands from which we can
easily obtain raw materials and at the same time
exploit the cheap slave labour that is available
from the natives of the colonies. The colonies
would also provide a dumping ground for the
surplus goods produced in our factories.”
Contemporary Wars




250 wars in the 20th Century
Incidence of war rising since 1950
Most conflicts within poor states
Over 30 separate civil wars currently
underway
 Most involve U.S.-supplied weapons
War Deaths






Revolutionary War: 25,000
Civil War: 625,000
World War I: 17 million
World War II: 60 million
Korean War: 2.9 million
Vietnam War: 3.8 million
War Deaths




Iran-Iraq War: 700,000
Soviet War in Afghanistan: 1.5 million
Second Congo War: 3.8 million
Second Sudanese Civil War: 1.9 million
War Deaths (as of 12/1/12)


Second Iraq War:
 4,485 U.S. soldiers
 17,000 Iraqi military
 Estimates of civilian deaths range from 150,000
violent deaths to 1 million deaths
U.S. Afghan War:
 Over 2,000 U.S. soldiers; 1,200 coalition forces
 Estimated 20,000 civilians
Contemporary Wars

72 million lives lost in 20th Century
wars, another 52 million through
genocides

190 million deaths in 20th Century directly or
indirectly related to war
Contemporary Wars


72 million lives lost in 20th Century wars,
another 52 million through genocides
WW II: first war with more battle deaths
than deaths from other causes, such as
accidents, disease, and infections
Vietnam War



US dropped the equivalent of one 500 lb. bomb
on every person in Vietnam
Vietnam War: 1.5 to 3 million Vietnamese
casualties; 58,000 American
 More US soldiers died of suicide after Vietnam
than died in combat during the war.
Gulf War I: U.S. planted one land mine for every
Iraqi citizen
Child Soldiers

Use of child soldiers by 19 countries
 Despite 2008 Child Soldiers
Prevention Act, U.S. still provides
aid to some of these
Child Soldiers


U.S. JROTC:
 Total enrollment: 560,000
 “Youth development program” per Pentagon
 “One of the best recruiting devices we could have” –
Defense Secretary William Cohen, 2000)
 Costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars
Military recruiters have access to students
 Students, parents must actively opt out
Wars Promoted Through
Militarism
Military buildups
 Exceptionalism
 Imperialism
 Glorification of war
 Unrealistic expectations

Consequences of War



Deaths, injuries, physical and
psychological sequelae
Collapse of health care system affecting
those with acute and chronic illnesses
Famine
Consequences of War


51 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide
 16.7 million refugees (50% are children under
18)
 33 million internally displaced persons
 1.2 million asylum seekers
86% of world’s refugees are hosted by
developing countries
Consequences of War

Environmental degradation

Augments global warming, which Pentagon calls an
immediate national security threat

Increasing poverty and debt

All lead to recurrent cycles of violence
Atomic Weapons - History



Hiroshima, August 6, 1945
 “The day that humanity started taking its final
exam” – Buckminster Fuller
 15 kiloton bomb, 140,000 deaths
Nagasaki, August 9, 1945
 22 kiloton bomb, 70,000 casualties
Hydrogen bomb exploded at Bikini Atoll (1,000
times stronger than Hiroshima weapon) - 1954
The Hiroshima Bomb
Atomic Explosion
Atomic Weapons – Other Victims


Hundreds of thousands of hibakusha –
atomic bomb survivors
1054 U.S. nuclear tests since 1940s, 331
in atmosphere
Atomic Weapons – Other Victims


80,000 cancers (15,000 fatal) in US
citizens as a result of fallout from
atmospheric testing
 NCI/CDC
Thousands of illnesses and deaths, higher
CA risk in 600,000 former employees
- DOE
Atomic Weapons Today


Approximately 17,300 nuclear weapons in at
least 9 countries
 Down from over 71,000 at height of Cold War
4,300 active U.S./Russian warheads today
 1,800 on hair-trigger alert
 Several thousand megatons (100,000
Hiroshimas)
Atomic Weapons Today

Vastly redundant arsenal


150-200 weapons adequate to destroy all
major urban centers in Russia
U.S. planning to spend $250 billion on
new nuclear weapons and delivery
systems over the next few decades
Atomic Weapons Today
Accidental intermediate-sized launch of
weapons from a single Russian submarine
would immediately kill 6.8 million
Americans in 8 cities
Nuclear Weapons – Oops!



Pentagon: 32 nuclear weapons accidents
since 1950
GAO: 233
Since 1950, 10 nuclear weapons lost and
never recovered

All laying on seabed, potentially leaking
radioactivity
Effects of a Nuclear Explosion

Immediate:

Vaporized by thermal radiation

Crushed by blast wave

Burned and suffocated by firestorm
Effects of a Nuclear Explosion

Intermediate:





Suffering, painful deaths
Health care personnel/resources overwhelmed
Famine
Refugees
Devastated transportation infrastructure
Effects of a Nuclear Explosion

Late effects:



Cancer
Psychological trauma (PTSD, anxiety,
depression)
nuclear winter (mass starvation due to
disruption of agricultural, transportation,
industrial and health care systems)
Effects of a 20 megaton nuclear
explosion

Ground zero - 2 miles:


Within 1/100 second fireball hotter than sun;
everything vaporized
2 - 4 miles:


25 psi pressures; 650 mph winds
Buildings ripped apart and leveled
Effects of a 20 megaton nuclear
explosion

4 - 10 miles:



7 – 10 psi; 200 mph winds
Sheet metal melts; concrete buildings heavily
damaged (all others leveled)
16 miles:


100 mph winds, firestorm, T = 1400° C
100% mortality
Effects of a 20 megaton nuclear
explosion

21 miles:



29 miles:


2 psi; 100 mph winds
Shattered glass, flying debri
3° burns over all exposed skin
40 miles:

Retinal burns blind all who witness explosion
Effects of a 20 megaton nuclear
explosion over Boston (1998 study)

Death toll:

1,000,000 within minutes

1,800,000 survivors:
1,100,000 fatally injured
 500,000 with major injuries
 200,000 without injuries

Types of Injuries






Burns
Blindings
Deafenings
PTX
Fxs
Shrapnel wounds
Radiation Sickness



Very high dose: cerebral edema, N/V/D,
speech and gait difficulties, convulsions,
coma, death within 1-2 days
Medium doses: N/V/D → resolves →
recurrent hematemesis, bloody D →
majority die
Low doses: BM failure, infections,
bleeding, sores, ± death
Effects on health professionals

70% killed or fatally wounded

15% injured

< 1000 survive
Effects on health care system




Most major hospitals destroyed
EMS system debilitated
No X-ray machines, electricity, water,
antibiotics or other meds, blood/plasma,
bandages
2000 burn unit beds in US (100 per major
city) – essentially destroyed
Effects on Health Care System

1500 patients/doctor

10 min/pt

4 hours sleep/noc

2 weeks to see all injured
Ultimate Outcomes

Boston (pop. 2.8 million in 1998)

> 2.5 million dead after one month

More than 6x as many Americans as died in
WW II
Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

Supported by:






APHA
AMA
ACP
IPPNW
PSR
Global political and military leaders
Health hazards of the Nuclear Cycle



Ecosystem degradation: e.g., Marshall Islands
Uranium mining: 5-fold increase in lung cancer
Depleted uranium:
 increased stillbirths, birth defects, childhood
leukemias, other cancers in Southern Iraq
 Possible increase in lung CA in U.S. soldiers
(data sparse)
Nuclear Waste



67,000 metric tons of nuclear wasted in US
 Most stored in overcrowded cooling pools
1/3 Americans live within 50 miles of nuclear
waste
On-site storage:
 118 commercial reactors
 10 weapons plants
 37 research reactors
Nuclear Waste Disposal:
Hanford, WA



Site of plutonium production for first atom
bomb (and most of U.S. nuclear arsenal)
Decommissioned at end of Cold War (1971)
More than 210 million liters of radioactive and
chemical waste stored in 177 deteriorating
underground storage tanks at Hanford, WA
 60 have leaked on site
 Potential risks to nearby Columbia River
Nuclear Waste Disposal:
Hanford, WA
Plan = vitrification and underground
storage
 Most complex and costly environmental
restoration ever attempted (current
price tag $12.3 billion and increasing;
finish date 2019?)
 Site plagued by leaks, cost overruns,
underfunding

Nuclear Waste Disposal

Skull Valley, Goshute Indian Reservation,
Utah




Private fuel storage consortium
Temporary storage of 44,000 tons of highlevel nuclear waste
Bribes to tribes; environmental injustice
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, New Mexico

Defense Dept. waste
Nuclear Waste Disposal – Yucca
Mountain



On DOE land claimed by
Western Shoshone Nation
under the Ruby Valley
Treaty of 1863
100 miles from Las Vegas
Near aquifer and
earthquake fault
Nuclear Waste Disposal – Yucca
Mountain





Est. 100,000 shipments of 70,000 – 120,000
tons of waste over 25 yrs
Coming within ½ mile of 50 million Americans
Est. 200-350 accidents
Nuclear roulette
After $9 billion spent, plan cancelled (2010) –
other options being considered
Nuclear Waste Disposal

DOE has proposed recycling radioactive
scrap metal into consumers goods and
health care devices

E.g., silverware, pots and pans, eyeglasses,
braces, pacemakers, artificial joints
Nuclear Waste


111,000 cubic yards of radioactive debris from
detonation of 67 nuclear bombs (= 1.6
Hiroshimas) over Marshall Islands between
1946 and 1958) stored in unlined pit under Runit
Dome
 Contents at risk of leaking into ocean as sea
levels rise due to global warming
Displaced islanders not adequately compensated
Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear Power Plants



100 plants operating in US
 Aging, equipment failures (8
from 3/00-4/01 → shutdowns)
 2011: 40 failed basic fire
safety standards; 12 have not
fully implemented terrorism
prevention requirements
441 plants worldwide (in 31
countries, generate 17% of
planet’s electricity)
60 plants in Russia
 ? Condition, safety
Nuclear Power


Supply of uranium for fission to run out by
2050
Alternate sources:



MOX (mixed oxide) fuel (reprocessed spent
fuel – plutonium and uranium)
Breeder reactors – make more fuel
(plutonium) than they consume
Fission – currently impractical
Nuclear Power Plant Accidents


Three Mile Island (1979)
 50,000 to 100,000 excess deaths
Chernobyl, USSR, 1986 - nuclear power plant explosion
 200 times the radiation of Hiroshima + Nagasaki
 25-100 died immediately, up to 1,000 injured acutely,
NCI estimates 10-75K thyroid cancers (other
estimates much lower)
 Some estimates as high as almost 1 million deaths

NY Acad Sci, 2010
Chernobyl




Higher risk of neural tube defects and
childhood leukemia among those living
near nuclear power plants
Anxiety a major problem
Ukraine still spends 6% of its GDP each
year on Chernobyl-related matters
$2.1 billion structure will seal off reactor
for 100 yrs.
Nuclear Accidents: Fukushima



2nd largest nuclear power plant disaster
after Chernobyl
50 early casualties
Reactor built by GE (also responsible for
Indian Point plant, 40 miles from NYC)
Nuclear Accidents: Fukushima



GE has built 91 nuclear power plants in 11
countries, including 23 plants at 11 sites in U.S.
Full, long term costs and consequences still
unknown
Yet in 2012, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
allows Southern Company to build and operate 2
new nuclear power plants in Georgia
Nuclear Power Plants

For every US plant that has its license
renewed, 12 additional cancer deaths
(NRC)
 Plus any deaths from accidents, nonroutine releases, high level waste and
spent fuel
Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power industry receives billions of
dollars in taxpayer subsidies



Since 1948, federal government has spent $95 billion
on nuclear R and D (4 times the amount spent on
solar wind geothermal biomass, biofuels, and
hydropower combined)
Nuclear power non-viable compared to green power
without subsidies
Nuclear industry’s liability coverage supported by
federal government through 2025(Price Anderson
Act)
Nuclear Power Plants


Prior to London Convention(1972, revised
1993), which prohibits dumping of
radioactive waste at sea, U.S. considered
dumping decommissioned nuclear reactors
into the world’s oceans
Precautionary principle
Nuclear Power Plants/
Nuclear Waste



Many plants close to major population
centers
40,000 metric tons of spent fuel at 110
reactor sites in U.S.
Target for terrorists
Nuclear Terrorism

Attack on nuclear power plant or other nuclear
installation


47% of nuclear plants failed to repel mock terrorist
attacks conducted by the NRC in the 1990s
“Axles of Evil”


600 employees, $250 million, weekly shipments of
nuclear material along major US highways
Potential for accidents, terrorist attacks
Nuclear Terrorism

Dirty bomb
 Potential tens to hundreds of thousands
of deaths, billions of dollars of damage,
chaos
 Numerous radiation sources left over
from Cold War in post-Soviet countries
Nuclear Terrorism



Collapse of Soviet Union –15,000 nuclear
warheads and enough highly-enriched uranium
and plutonium to make 60,000 more
More than 90% of Russia’s fissile materials are
located in 171 buildings, only 11 of which have
been fully secured
175 cases of nuclear trafficking from 1993 –
2001 (NRC)
Nuclear Terrorism



Reports of weapons missing from Soviet
arsenal
Non-proliferation efforts, including the DOE’s
Nuclear Cities Initiative, get a fraction of 1%
of the defense budget, further cuts planned
The Nth Country experiment (1964): 3
science post-docs with no nuclear know-how
designed a working atom bomb
Nuclear Accidents



Pentagon: Over 550 mistakes,
malfunctions, and false alarms as of 2012
8 nuclear submarines at bottom of sea
leaking uranium and plutonium
11 nuclear weapons lost (most on bottom
of ocean)
Chemical Weapons



428 BC – Athenians and Spartans burned wax,
pitch and sulfur
DaVinci – arsenic and sulfur shells
WW I



Italians vs. Ethiopians
Japanese vs. Chinese
Germans vs. Allies


Fritz Haber – chlorine gas
91,000 deaths and 1.3 million injuries
Chemical Weapons


Egypt vs. South Yemen (1963-7)
Agent Orange (contains carcinogenic, feto-toxic
dioxin)




Defoliant herbicide
Manufacturer Dow Chemical
Six lbs per person dumped by US on South Vietnam
(1/10 area of South Vietnam)
1 million victims (birth defects, cancers, etc.)
Chemical Weapons


Iran/Iraq War (1980s): sarin, nerve gas,
mustard gas
Gulf War (versus Kurds, ? Others)
Gulf War Syndrome





Real per Congressionally-mandated scientific
panel, 2008
30-60% of vets affected per VA study
Symptoms: Memory loss, lack of concentration,
neuropathic pain, depression, rashes, sleep
disturbances, GI distress, muscle and joint pain
Linked to cholinergic abnormalities, genetic
susceptibility, exposure to pyridostigmine
Brain damage noted on fMRI
Chemical Weapons




1995 Tokyo subway attack by Aum Shrinko cult
using sarin
 12 dead, 5000 injured or incapacitated
1994-5: U.S. in Bosnia and 2004-5: U.S. vs
Iraqis (depleted uranium)
2004-5: U.S. vs Iraqis and 2008-9: Israel vs
Palestinians (white phosphorus)
2012 Libya (mustard gas) and Syria (sarin)
Types of Chemical Weapons

Nerve gasses / paralytics



E.g., sarin, VX
S/S: paralysis (incl. resp. muscles), headache,
dizziness, N/V
Rx: ± gas masks, pretreatment with
pyridostigmine, decontamination, antidotes
(atropine, pralidoxime, diazepam,
tropicamide)
Types of Chemical Weapons

Blistering agents:



E.g., sulphur mustard
S/S: burns, blindness, pulmonary toxicity, BM
suppression, N/V/D
Rx: decontamination, analgesia, pulmonary
and eye care
Types of Chemical Weapons

Pulmonary toxicants



E.g., chlorine, phosgene
S/S: pneumonitis, laryngeal spasm,
pulmonary edema, ARDS
Rx: O2, bronchodilators, corticosteroids,
?ibuprofen, ?acetylcysteine
Chemical Weapons:
Vietnam and Napalm
Chemical Weapons:
Vietnam and Napalm
Chemical Weapons:
Vietnam and Napalm
Chemical Weapons



1972 Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention
prohibits development, production, and
stockpiling
US and Russia still have significant stockpiles
 US has destroyed 90% (= 30,500 tons), plans
to complete job by 2017
480 US chemical facilities each put 100,000 or
more Americans at risk of poison gas disaster
Other Chemical Weapons:
Tear gas

Use in civil and political unrest

Causes eye, skin and pulmonary toxicity, N/V,
photophobia and headache, trauma due to blast

Rx: wash skin, flush eyes, IVF, humidified O2,
bronchodilators prn, ±prophylactic antibiotics
Other Chemical Weapons:
Pepper Spray





Derived from cayenne peppers (contains
10-15% oleoresin capsicum)
1.5-2 million Scoville unit heat rating
Jalapeño pepper = 2500-5000 Scoville
units
Habañero pepper (world’s hottest) =
300,000 Scoville units
Use in civil and political unrest
Other Chemical Weapons






Calmatives: mind-altering or sleepinducing weapons (benzo-, SSRI-, and
anesthetic derivatives)
Cramp-inducing agents
Stink bombs (“?Race specific?”)
Colored smoke as an obscurant
Crowd control vs use in warfare
US pilot amphetamine use
Biological Weapons - History




Sixth Century BC: Assyrians poison wells
with rye ergot
300 BC: Greeks pollute wells
Later: Romans and Persians, Classical,
Medieval and Renaissance periods, US
Civil War (General Johnson at Vicksburg)
14th Century: Tatars catapulting plagueinfested corpses
Biological Weapons - History


Koch’s postulates: anthrax – first linkage
of a specific disease with a specific
pathogen
Louis Pasteur: anthrax and cholera
vaccines
Biological Weapons - History


Sir Jeffrey Amherst (French and Indian
Wars - smallpox): “You would do well to
try to inoculate the Indians, by means of
blankets, … to extirpate this execrable
race”
WW I: Cholera, plague, glanders, anthrax
Biological Weapons – WW II




Unit 731, Manchuria, Shiro Ishii
British “Operation Vegetarian” (anthrax cakes /
Germany)
US military personnel received typhoid,
smallpox, yellow fever and tetanus vaccines
Those who refused subject to court martial
 c.f., Gulf War – pyridostigmine, botulism
vaccine
Biological Weapons – WW II

Unlicensed yellow fever vaccine contaminated
with hepatitis B

330,000 infections

51,000 cases of symptomatic hep B

Long term outcomes good
Biological Weapons Post WWII





Swerdlosk
Zimbabwe
Okinawa, Utah, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, etc.
1977 H1N1 flu epidemic (likely due to lab
accident releasing 1957 strain, NEJM)
False alarms
Biological Weapons Today


17 countries possess (+ Al Qaeda?)
US role in supplying other nations:

e.g., 1985-1989: US companies sold to Iraq:


Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum,
Histoplasma capsulatum, Brucella melitensis,
Clostsridium perfringens, Clostridium tetani, and E.
coli
Despite evidence of use of chemical weapons
against Kurds
Biological Weapons Today



1972 Biological Weapons Protocol: signed
by 158 nations
Lacks adequate enforcement mechanisms
US has rejected enforcement (wary of
foreign inspectors discovering military
secrets and/or trade secrets of
biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies)
Biological Weapons - Agents
Anthrax
Brucellosis
Cholera
Glanders
Pneumonic plague
Tularemia
Q Fever
Smallpox
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (e.g., Ebola)
Botulism
Staph enterotoxin B
Ricin
Mycxotoxins
Biological Weapons Today


Over 1,000 labs in the U.S., operated by over
300 government, university, and private
organizations, registered with USDA/CDC
More than 200 incidents of loss or accidental
release of bioweapons reported each year
 Likely more
 Details cloaked in secrecy
Biological Weapons Today

1999: FBI – “at least once a day a
politician, school, abortion clinic, or other
controversial person or institution receives
an envelope from a dissident containing a
powder and a note announcing a lethal
dose of anthrax”
Biological Weapons Today



Genetic weapons – targeted at specific
ethnic groups
Synbio (synthetic biology)
Publication of details re creation of novel,
dangerous agents
Biological Weapons Today

Use, along with chemical weapons, in
“The Drug War”:




Fusarium oxysporum fungus to eradicate coca
pants in Columbia; Fusarium oxysporum and
Pleaspora papaveracea fungus to eradicate
opium poppies in Central Asia
? Marijuana
Food crops also destroyed
US, UN Drug Control Program, others
Biological Weapons Today

Quarantine Issues:



Quarantine versus Isolation
National versus foreign outbreaks / border
control
Adverse consequences – increased risk of
disease transmission in quarantined
population, violence, mistrust of government,
ethnic bias
Smallpox



DNA virus; decimated native American
populations; eradicated by WHO vaccination
campaign in 1972; genome sequenced in 1992;
recreation of virus in lab possible in 2002
?Only remaining viral stocks at CDCP and in
Siberia?
WHO Executive Board recommended retaining
stores
Smallpox



Incubation period 7-17 days (avg. = 12)
Spread by droplet infection; highly
contagious
Symptoms: abrupt onset of F/HA/myalgias
→ non-specific erythematous rash (most
prominent on face and extremities,
simultaneous; varicella – most prominent
on trunk, successive waves) → MSOF →
death
Smallpox



Dx: clinical, EM of vesicular fluid
Rx: isolation, post-exposure vaccination,
supportive care, ?antivirals
30 % fatality rate
Smallpox
Smallpox Vaccination




Vaccinia
US ended in 1972
Waning (?negligible) immunity
Effects: local reaction. Lymphadenopathy
Smallpox Vaccination



Side effects: postvaccinial encephalitis
(1/300,000), progressive vaccinia; eczema
vaccinatum, generalized vaccinia
Vaccinia immune globulin may modulate
New vaccine (Imvamune) may be safe for
those with atopic dermatitis
Smallpox Vaccination


Current recommendation: isolation and
vaccination / VIG for close contacts
Vaccination of all US citizens not feasible:





Inadequate supplies
Several hundred deaths
? Diversion of resources from usual childhood
vaccines
? vaccinate health professionals, public
servants
Infectivity, disability, workman’s comp issues
Anthrax

Bacillus anthracis, aerobic, G+, sporeforming rod

Zoonosis

Invisible and odorless when aerosolized
Anthrax


1979: accidental release at Swerdlosk
(USSR): 250 cases, 100 deaths, town
abandoned due to contamination
1997: Aum Shrinko cult attempted aerosol
dispersal – unsuccessful
Anthrax


Est. 50kg release over urban center of 5
million people would sicken 250K and kill
100K
100 kg release would have the same # of
casualties as a hydrogen bomb explosion
Cutaneous Anthrax



2000 cases/yr worldwide
Due to exposure to infected animals /
animal products
Epidemic in Zimbabwe, 1989-1995:
10,000 cases
Cutaneous Anthrax





Incubation period 1-10 days (avg. = 5)
Pruritic macule or papule day 1
Round ulcer day 2
Black eschar follows; resolves over 1-2
weeks
Painful lymphadenopathy
Cutaneous Anthrax



Antibiotic Rx (doxy, cipro, pcn) decreases
likelihood of systemic disease
Fatality rate 20% without antibiotics; rare
with antibiotics
Following 9/11: 11 cases
Cutaneous Anthrax - Ulcer
Cutaneous Anthrax - Eschar
Gastrointestinal Anthrax




From ingestion of poorly cooked, infected
meat
Oropharyngeal ulcers – LAN – edema –
sepsis
Terminal ileal / cecal lesion - N/V/bloody
D/acute abdomen/ascites/sepsis
Rx: Abx (doxy, cipro, pcn), supportive
care
Inhalational Anthrax

Stage I:

begins 2-43 days post-exposure

F/dyspnea/cough/HA/V/Ch/weakness/AP/CP

Lasts a few hours to a few days
Inhalational Anthrax

Stage II:





F/dyspnea/diaphoresis/shock
CXR with widened mediastinum due to
lymphadenopathy
±pleural effusions
50% develop hemorrhagic meningitis –
meningismus, delirium and obtundation
Rapid progression to cyanosis, hypotension
and death
Inhalational Anthrax
Widened Mediastinum
Inhalational Anthrax
Inhalational Anthrax


Dx: blood cultures, XR/CT, post-mortem;
serology not helpful
Case fatality rate approx. 50%
Anthrax


Post-exposure prophylaxis: ciprofloxacin and
doxycycline for 60 days
Rx:
 Combinations of antibiotics (ciprofloxacin,
linezolid, meropenem, clindamycin);
monoclonal antibody antitoxins
(raxibacumab); Anthrasil (anthrax immune
globulin)
 Drain effusions
 Supportive care
Anthrax Vaccine




3 or 4 dose series
US armed service members
Side effects: HA 0.4%, local rxn 3.6%,
mild systemic SEs in 1%
Manufacturer = Bioport

Contract to produce 4.6 million doses for the
DOD
Anthrax Vaccine

Pre/post exposure vaccination

Improved vaccine under development


Testing considered unethical
?Groups to vaccinate?

Antibody testing may help guide
Anthrax – The Band
Non-lethal weapons


High-power microwaves (crammed into
cruise missiles, discharge a huge energy
pulse to damage electronics)
Soft bombs

E.g., carbon fiber showers to short circuit
electrical power grids (used in former
Yugoslavia and in Gulf War I)
“Non-lethal” Weapons Proposed
and Under Development

Acoustic weapons




Acoustic bullets
Curdler unit – shrieks, clangs
Infrasound – penetrates most buildings and
vehicles, causes nausea, diarrhea,
disorientation, internal organ damage and
even death
“Squawk box” – intolerable ultrasound pulses
“Non-lethal” Weapons Proposed
and Under Development

Optical weapons


Photic driver – ultrasound plus stroboscopic
infrared flasher to penetrate closed eyelids
and cause seizures
Psycho-correction devices – send subliminal
visual and aural messages
“Non-lethal” Weapons Proposed
and Under Development

Barrier Weapons:



Obscurants:


Slick coatings – slippery like ice
Sticky foam (used by US in Somalia)
Colored smoke – felt to cause more psychological
panic than white smoke
Markers:



Fluorescent powder visible under UV light
Sponge grenades impregnated with infrared dye
To mark targets
“Non-lethal” Weapons Proposed
and Under Development

Riot Control


Invisible tear gas
Electrical:


Police or soldier’s jacket which jolts anyone
who touches it
Cattle prods (malicious and accidental use by
civilians)
“Non-lethal” Weapons Proposed
and Under Development

Biotechnical:





Biodegrading microbes (to destroy fuel)
Genetic code alterations (to create less-than-lethal
but long-term disablements, perhaps for generations,
thereby creating a societal burden)
Neuro-implants for behavior modification
Project Agile (1996) – race-specific stink bombs
Pheromones (to impair human and animal
reproduction; mark individuals for assaults by killer
bees, other animals or pests)
“Non-lethal” Weapons Proposed
and Under Development

Holograms:




God/gods/other religious figures or symbols
Soldier forces
Death, dead comrades
Others
Other WMDs


Small arms
 90% of the 300,000 yearly deaths from
violent conflict
• Land mines
• 110 million planted since 1960 in 70 countries
• 24,000 deaths/yr (est.), tens of thousands more
disabled
Cluster bombs
American Weapons Gone AWOL

Iraq – U.S. supplied Saddam Hussein,
arms ultimately used against U.S. in Iraq
Wars; 30% of weapons given to Iraqi
forces between 2004 and 2007 never
accounted for; more recently, U.S.supplied weaons finding their way to ISIS
and Iranian-backed Shiite militias
American Weapons Gone AWOL


Afghanistan – U.S. armed anti-Soviet
soldiers, weapons ultimately ended up
with Taliban; 40% of those recently given
to Afghan army and police can’t be traced
Libya – guns sent from Qatar as part of
U.S.-approved deal (2011) now with
Islamic militants
American Weapons Gone AWOL


Somalia – almost ½ of arms supplied to
Uganda and Burundi to fight al-Shabaab
sold off by underpaid troops, ended up
with Somali militants
Yemen – U.S. lost track of $500 million
worth of small arms and other gear it sent
to Yemeni government before 2015
collapse
High Tech Warfare

Internet viruses, worms, etc. designed to
disable water and power systems, air
traffic control, communications, etc.




E.g., Stuxnet computer worm – Iranian
nuclear facilities
Robotic armies
Nanotech weapons
Other weapons of the future (?present?)
Health Care System Preparedness
for Weapons of Mass Destruction



Congressional panel estimates > 50%
chance of terrorist act involving WMDs by
2013
ERs/hospital systems inadequately
prepared
Funds low
Health Care System Preparedness
for Weapons of Mass Destruction



US public health / emergency care system
already in disarray
80% of states facing budget cuts or
holdbacks
Medicaid over budget in 23 states
Costs of Militarization



US: over ½ of discretionary tax dollars
spent on the military
Increased spending on nuclear weapons
Inadequate spending to prevent the
spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear
weapons
Discretionary Federal Spending (2013)
World Military Spending (2012)
Missile Defense Shield
The Militarization of Space

Star Wars program proceeding, despite:




Astronomical cost – est. $100 billion
Strong opposition by scientific community
Spectacular failures in 2/4 tests, despite
highly structured conditions
Abandonment of ABM Treaty by Bush
administration
Missile Defense Shield
The Militarization of Space




“Shield” or very porous umbrella
Easily overwhelmed and fooled by
inexpensive decoys
No protection against internal accidents or
terrorists bringing weapon onto US soil or
“dirty bomb”
Proposed use of moon for spy
observatories and weapons
Dwight Eisenhower
“The problem in defense spending is to
figure out how far you should go without
destroying from within that which you are
trying to protect from without”
Meanwhile...
Social Injustices Abound





49 million Americans lack health insurance
25% of US children live in poverty
Homelessness, public educational system a
shambles, increasing jail populations, AIDS, etc.
Mass extinction, global warming
2.5 billion people worldwide live in abject
poverty (earn less than $500 per year, lack
access to clean drinking water)
Environmental Consequences of
Militarization

World’s single largest polluter

8% of global air pollution

2-11% of raw material use

Almost all high and low level radioactive waste
The US Military


Owns an amount of land equal to North Korea or
Kentucky (25 million acres)
Much of it polluted


Cleanup cost estimates in the hundreds of billions
2000 abandoned firing ranges


E.g., Kahoolawe
60 people killed by unexploded ordnance since WWII
Health Costs of Militarization



3 hours of world arms spending = annual
WHO budget
½ day of world arms spending =
immunization for all the world’s children
3 days of US arms spending = amount
spent on health, education and welfare
programs for US children in one year
Health Costs of Militarization


3 weeks of world arms spending =
primary health care for all in poor
countries, including safe drinking water
and full immunizations
Brain drain: 2/3 of US scientists work in
military-industrial complex (similar in
Russia during cold war; much work has
widespread applicability)
Military Spending and Jobs

$1 billion in military spending generates
11,200 jobs




15,1000 in consumer goods production
16,800 in green energy development
17,200 in health care
26,700 in education
Skewed Priorities


The world spends $1.8 trillion/year on
military goods and services
For 25% of this, we could:





Eliminate starvation and malnutrition
Provide shelter for all
Eliminate illiteracy
Provide clean and safe water
Prevent soil erosion
Skewed Priorities





Prevent global warming
Stop deforestation
Aid all refugees
Retire developing nations’ debt
Provide clean, safe energy (through efficiency
and renewables)
Skewed Priorities





Prevent acid rain
Fix the ozone hole
Stabilize world population
Provide basic universal health care and AIDS
control
Eliminate nuclear weapons and land mines
We’re Number One




U.S.
#17
#26
#37
#1 in military spending
in education
in infant mortality
in life expectancy and overall health
DOD Announcement
(September, 2011)
“Pentagon Lacks Funding to
Fix Public Schools on
Military Bases”
Dwight Eisenhower
“Every gun that is made, every rocket
fired, signifies in the final sense a
theft from those who hunger and are
not fed, those who are cold and not
clothed”
Dwight Eisenhower
“This world is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers,
the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its
children. This is not a way of life at all, in
any true sense. Under the cloud of
threatening war, it is humanity hanging
from a cross of iron.”
Martin Luther King
“A nation that continues year after
year to spend more money on
military defense than on programs of
social uplift is approaching spiritual
death.”
Worldwide Economic Impact of
Violence


$10 trillion/yr
 1% of global GDP
$1,350/U.S. citizen
Military Spending
US: ½ of discretionary tax dollars
spent on the military
 US military budget represents 34% of
total world military budget ($1.7
trillion in 2011)
 Iraq/Afghanistan Wars likely to cost
$4-5 trillion

World Military Spending (2012)
($1.8 trillion in 2012; U.S. 34% of total)
Military Spending


The U.S. will spend over $1 trillion on
national security in 2015 (more than 50%
of its average through the Cold War and
the Vietnam War)
Does not include > $80 billion/yr for
interest on military-related share of
national debt
U.S. National Security Spending
(2015, est.)



$580 billion for Pentagon’s baseline
budget pls “overseas contingency” funds
$20 billion to Dept. of Energy for nuclear
weapons
Nearly $200 billion for military pensions,
VA costs, and other expenses
War and Peace


World military budget
 230X what the UN spends on peacekeeping
US:
 Largest arms supplier
 $66 billion in annual sales (2011) = ¾ of global
market
 Russia second with $5 billion in annual sales
 Profits at top 5 defense firms up 450% since 2002
 Greatest debtor to U.N. (including U.N. peacekeeping
fund)
Arms Exports
Arms Imports
Top Recipients of U.S. Military
Aid







Israel
Egypt
Iraq
Pakistan
Jordan
Columbia
Somalia
Costs of Wars (2010 dollars,
inflation-adjusted)





American Revolution: $2.4 billion
War of 1812: $1.6 billion
Mexican War: $2.4 billion
Civil War (both sides): $79.8 billion
Spanish American War: $9 billion
Costs of Wars (2010 dollars,
inflation-adjusted)






World War I: $334 billion
World War II: $4.1 trillion
Korean War: $341 billion
Vietnam War: $738 billion
Gulf War I: $102 billion
Iraq/Afghanistan Wars likely to cost $4-5
trillion
Economic Cost of War, U.S.
US Foreign Aid


US ranks 21st in the world in foreign aid as
a percentage of GDP (0.16%, versus UN
recommended 0.07%)
Foreign Aid:




1/3 military
1/3 economic
1/3 food and development
US world’s second largest arms exporter
Major Defense Contractors







Lockheed Martin Corp.
Northrop Grumman Corp.
Boeing Corp.
Raytheon Corp.
General Dynamics Corp.
KBR, Inc.
Large lobbying contingent; donate large
amounts each election cycle
September 11, 2001
World Trade Center Bombing




3300 fatalities - foreign nationals
outnumbered Americans
Over 18,000 people suffering health
problems linked to attack and rescue
Multiple toxins in air and rubble
Zadroga Act (2010) provides funds for
monitoring, treatment, and victim
compensation
World Trade Center Bombing

Environmental health consequences
unknown:




300-400 tons asbestos
130,000 gallons of transformer oil
contaminated with PCBS
Lead, sulfuric acid, silicon
Fine dust particles
September 11, 2001


Pentagon: 286
casualties
Pennsylvania:
approximately 100
casualties
The War on Terror
(The War on Afghanistan, Iraq, and ?)

“May last 50 or more years” – Cheney
Afghanistan:



Ruled by repressive
human-(women’s-)rights-abusing Taliban, then
corrupt quasi-democratic kleptocracy
Potential transit route for oil and gas pipeline
from Central Asia
Strategic importance in Middle East
Afghanistan

Population = 27 million

Life expectancy = 46 years

Literacy rate = 32%

Avg. annual income = $280
Afghanistan




Negligible infrastructure secondary to
decades of civil war
1 of every 230 persons is a land mine
amputee
Infant mortality = 146/1000
50% of children malnourished; 33% are
orphans
Afghanistan/Iraq Parallels




10 years of sanctions, bombings resulting
in 500,000 to 1,000,000 deaths (per UN)
UN Devt. Index 126/174
Infant mortality rates jumped from
65/1000 (pre-Gulf War I) to 103/1000
(2003)
Life expectancy decreased from 62 to 56
Afghanistan/Iraq Parallels



Literacy decreased from 89% to 57%
Infrastructure devastated, environment
degraded
Rebuilding post-war?
What goes around comes around



1980s: CIA arms Afghan rebels with hundreds of
Stinger missiles
Late 2002: Terrorists using a similar Russianmade version of Stinger almost bring down
Israeli passenger airline over Kenya
CIA trying to buy back, but most unaccounted
for


Can shoot down a plane at up 6000-8000 feet
24 diverted to Iran
Before Gulf War I

US sells weapons to Iraq/Hussein



Including components to produce WMDs
Rumsfeld visits Baghdad to promote US
weapons sales
US minimally perturbed when Hussein
gasses 4000 Kurds, torpedoes US naval
vessel
Gulf War I

105,000 military and 110,000 civilian deaths
(almost all Iraqis)



2/3 of US casualties from “friendly fire”
Cost $61 billion ($82 billion in 2003 dollars)


Over 2.25 million refugees
US pays only 1/6 of cost (most from Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Germany and Japan)
Environmental devastation

$48 billion in claims to UN
Kuwaiti Oil Fires
War Deaths (as of 6/14)


Second Iraq War:
 4,486 U.S. soldiers
 17,000 Iraqi military
 Estimates of civilian deaths range from 150,000
violent deaths to 1 million deaths
U.S. Afghan War:
 Over 2,000 U.S. soldiers; 1,200 coalition forces
 Estimated 20,000 civilians
Gulf War II

Financial cost of war: $4-5 trillion (est.)




Includes fighting, rebuilding, veterans’ health care,
economic losses, etc.
Global travel industry expected to lose over
$500 billion
Distraction from North Korea, other threats
Shock and awe battle plan: targeting
infrastructure explicitly prohibited by the Geneva
Conventions
Gulf War II - Iraq

96% of of the $9.1 billion allocated to the
Development Fund for Iraq unaccounted for


Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction,
2010
Ongoing audit of another $53 billion fund
ongoing, but has already uncovered numerous
instances of waste, fraud, and abuse (total for
Iraq and Afghanisatan between $31 billion and
$60 billion as of 2011)
Gulf War II - Iraq






WMDs found by U.S. troops
 Ones U.S. had sold to Iraq
Major health consequences among U.S. soldiers
dismantling
Kept secret by Bush administration
Veterans unable to file health claims
Not all disposed of – some now in ISIL-controlled
territory
Exposed by media, 2014
Contemporary Wars

Casualties among soldiers, civilians
continue
 More US soldiers have committed
suicide than have died in Afghan War
 More military contractors killed than US
soldiers
Contemporary Wars

Casualties among soldiers, civilians continue
 Veteran health care needs massive (TBI in 1020% of U.S. soldiers, psychiatric disorders,
etc.)
 26% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are
uninsured and not part of the VA health
care system
 Young veterans: ½ believe war in Afghanistan
was not worth fighting; 60% for Iraq War
Contemporary Wars




Libya, Syria
Coming Soon: Iran? Ukraine? ISIL? South
China Sea?
Privatization of war and national security
enterprises
Plans for militarization of the U.S./Mexico
border
George W Bush’s Military Record


February, 1968: States desire to be pilot;
scores in 25th percentile in pilot aptitude
section of Air Force officers test.
May, 1968: Enlists in Texas Air National
Guard; jumps list with assistance of Texas
House Speaker; pledges two years of
active duty and four years of reserve duty
George W Bush’s Military Record

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
June, 1968: Student deferment expires
September, 1968: Pulls inactive duty to
serve on Florida Senator’s re-election
campaign
November, 1968: Re-activated
George W Bush’s Military Record



November, 1970: Promoted to First
Lieutenant, rejected by UT Law School
Spring, 1970: Hired by Texas agricultural
importer to shuttle plants to/from Florida
June, 1970: Joins Guard’s “Champagne
Unit,” flying with sons of Texas’ elite
George W Bush’s Military Record

May, 1972: Transfers to Alabama Guard
unit so he can work on Senator Blount’s
re-election campaign


His commanding officer states he never
showed up for duty
Grounded for missing a mandatory
physical
George W Bush’s Military Record



Returns to Houston but never reports for
Guard duty
December, 1972: DUI arrest
October, 1973: Air National Guard relieves
him from commitment 8 months early,
allowing him to attend Harvard Business
School
US Nuclear Weapons Policies
Under GW Bush





Nuclear Posture Review – expands scope of use
of nuclear weapons, including first-strike against
non-nuclear states
Withdrawal from ABM Treaty
Boycotted Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty Conference
Budgeted money to resume nuclear testing and
development
Possible use of nuclear-powered predator drones
U.S. Nuclear Policy Under Obama
U.S. retains first strike option against
nuclear states
 START treaty signed by Obama, Putin
 Awaiting Senate approval
 Will limit US and Russia to 1,550
long-range warheads (still overkill)

Phillip Berrigan
“Nuclear weapons are the scourge of the
earth; to mine for them, manufacture
them, deploy them, use them, is a curse
against God, the human family, and the
earth itself.”
Disturbing Trends:
The “Patriot Act”




Passed with minimal debate, most
Congresspersons acknowledge not reading
Increased governmental and corporate secrecy –
polluters subject to decreased public scrutiny
Erosion of civil liberties – deportations, accused
held without charge/access to legal counsel
70,000 individuals on government’s list of
suspected terrorists
National Defense Authorization Act




Signed by President Obama in 2012
Grants Pentagon right to: kidnap,
indefinitely detain, torture, and kill
foreigners and US citizens
No right of trial / legal representation
First explicit piece of legislation to repeal
Bill of Rights
Disturbing Trends:
The Homeland Security Agency

The HSA absorbs two dozen agencies,
170,000 employees, $38 billion budget



TIPS program (citizen spying program)
Total Information Awareness System
(Poindexter)
Paranoia: alert levels, duct tape and
plastic sheeting
Special Interest Provisions in the
Homeland Security Law



Vaccine liability protection (incl. existing
thimersol lawsuits) – Eli Lilly
US corporations setting up offshore business
fronts to avoid paying taxes allowed to contract
with HSD
US government prohibited from publicly
releasing information related to “vulnerabilities”
– incl. safety of nuclear reactors, environmental
toxins, etc
Special Interest Provisions in the
Homeland Security Law

Immunity from liability for manufacturers of
anti-terrorism products and technologies



Army investigations show 60-90% of soldiers’ CBW
protective gear malfunctions
Liability protection for airport screening
companies
Secret advisory meetings with industry
permitted, even if meeting not related to
national security

C.f. Cheney’s Energy Commission
Disturbing Trends:
Censorship and Propaganda



US blacks out names of corporations which sold
weapons to Iraq on UN inspectors’ reports
Covering of Picasso’s Guernica for news
conferences outside UN Security Council
Armed Services Edition books for soldiers:


WW II – the Classics to popular fiction
Gulf War II – Henry V, Art of War, War Letters,
Profiles of American Military Heroes
Disturbing Trends:
Censorship and Propaganda



“No Child Left Behind” Education Act contains
amendment requiring that all public schools
allow recruiters in their buildings and provide
military with contact numbers and addresses for
all students
 Parents can opt out
CIA resumes recruiting on college campuses
21st Century McCarthyism
 Wikileaks, NSA, torture, etc.
Disturbing Trends
Hate crimes, intolerance
 Media jingoism
 Army to ignore FDA safety standards
in experiments on soldiers (legacy of
20th Century crimes)

Disturbing Trends



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

NSA spying
War gear utilized by police departments
Co-optation of academia
Use of private military subcontractors
Drone attacks (1/4 killed are non-combatants)
Suspension of habeus corpus
Poor access to VA services for vets, providers
pressured not to diagnose PTSD
Disturbing Trends

Budget surplus/deficit:




Cities and states facing huge budget shortfall



2000: surplus = $5.6 trillion
2003: deficit = $2.1 trillion
2011: deficit = $1.3 trillion
Bush: “States are on their own.”
Obama: Financial meltdown
Meanwhile, profits at America’s top 5 defense
firms up 450% since 2002
George W. Bush
August 5, 2004
 “Our
enemies are innovative and
resourceful, and so are we. They
never stop thinking about new
ways to harm our country and our
people, and neither do we."
James Madison
“The fetters imposed on liberty at home
have ever been forged out of the weapons
provided for defense against real,
pretended, or imaginary dangers from
abroad.”
Samuel Johnson
“Patriotism is the last refuge
of a scoundrel”
Just War Theory




The cause must be just
A lawful authority must decide to resort to
force
The intention of the war must be in accord
with international law
The use of force must be a last resort
Just War Theory



The probability of success should be high
The cost-benefit ratio must be high
The means used must conform with
international humanitarian law
Ignored Alternatives to War in Iraq




Border monitoring in Jordan, Syria and
Turkey
Advanced X-ray scanning technology and
an electronic pass system at borders
Sanctions assistance missions to enforce
military sanctions
Political assurances and economic
incentives to neighboring states
Ignored Alternatives to War in Iraq



Improve cargo monitoring at port of
Azqaba, Jordan (high-volume port for seagoing cargo to Iraq)
Create a green list of approved oil
companies to purchase Iraqi oil – i.e.,
those not providing kickbacks to Hussein
Require audited financial reports from oil
purchasers to enforce above
Ignored Alternatives to War in Iraq



Control or shut down the Syria-Iraq pipeline
Expose and penalize arms embargo violations
Justice in Palestine


Israel = most UN Security Council Violations
Economic and humanitarian assistance to poor
Muslim countries – build alliances, good will


Middle Eastern Marshall Plan
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (c.f. South
Africa, El Salvador)
The US: Rogue Nation




•
History: Native Americans, slavery, current
excesses, disparities and injustices
Co-opting Nazi and Japanese WWII scientists
Minimum 277 troop deployments by the US in its
225+ year history
Over 1,000 bases worldwide today (737 in 69
other countries)
54 countries helped facilitate CIA’s secret
detention, rendition, and interrogation program
The US: Rogue Nation

Since the end of WWII, the US has
bombed:
 China, Korea, Indonesia, Cuba,
Guatemala, Congo, Peru, Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia, Nicaragua, El Salvador,
Grenada, Libya, Panama, Afghanistan,
Sudan, Yugoslavia, and Iraq
The US: Rogue Nation



Conservative estimate = 8 million killed
The U.S. occupies and/or controls
between 700 nad 800 military bases
worldwide (in 63 countries)
US invasions/bombings often largely at
behest of corporate interests; military
policy designed to promote economic
policies
The US: Rogue Nation


In 2011, the US spent about $2,240 per US citizen on
defense
 vs. a few dollars per capita on peacekeeping efforts
Over 1,000 bases worldwide today (737 in other 69
other countries)
 54 countries helped facilitate CIA’s secret detention,
rendition, and interrogation program
 Guantanamo Bay
The US: Rogue Nation


Continued funding of the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation
 Formerly the School of the Americas
 Over 60,000 graduates, including many of the
worst human rights abusers in Latin America
(e.g., Manuel Noriega, Omar Torrijos, and the
assassins of Archbishop Oscar Romero)
 School of the Americas Watch, arrests
Sham vaccination program in Pakistan
International NonCooperation/Isolationism

Failure to sign or approve:




Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change
Convention on the Prohibition of AntiPersonnel Land Mines
Convention on Cluster Munitions
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
International NonCooperation/Isolationism

Failure to sign or approve:
 Convention on the Rights of the Child
 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women
 Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
 Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons
 UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons
International NonCooperation/Isolationism

Failure to sign or approve:


Protocol 1, Article 55 of the Geneva Conventions,
which bans methods or means of warfare which are
intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread,
long-term and severe damage to the natural
environment
The Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
(designed to control dumping of hazardous wastes
from the industrialized world in developing countries)
The US: Rogue Nation



Domestic Spying (e.g., NSA)
Torture (80-100 nations worldwide)
Death Penalty:
 US executes more of its citizens than any
other country except China, Iraq, Saudi
Arabia, and Iran
 Until recently, the US was the only country to
execute both juveniles and the mentally ill
The US: Rogue Nation



Failure to follow World Court Decisions
Failure to recognize International Criminal
Court
Largest debtor to the UN (only 40% of
dues paid)
International WIN/Gallup Poll,
2014

Which country is the greatest threat to
peace?

U.S. – 24%
Pakistan – 8%
China – 6%
Afghanistan – 5%

66,000 surveyed worldwide



Solutions

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
Physician activism (PSR, IPPNW,
etc.)
Increased education: public,
medical and public health students
Tolerance and appreciation of
diversity
Social justice, environmental
preservation, etc.
Eliminate or limit military recruiting
in public schools
Assist victims of war (PHR, MSF,
etc.)
Treaties
Thomas Jefferson
“Nothing can keep (government) right but
(the people’s) vigilant and distrustful
superintendence”
Harvey Cushing
“A physician is obligated to consider more
than a diseased organ, more even than
the whole man. He must view the man in
his world.”
Rudolph Virchow
“Doctors are natural attorneys for
the poor … If medicine is to really
accomplish its great task, it must
intervene in political and social
life…”
The role of the doctor in society

World Health Organization:
 “The role of physicians and other
health professionals in the
preservation and promotion of
peace is the most significant factor
for the attainment of health for all.”
Pastor Niemoller
“First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak
up, for I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists, and I did not
speak up, for I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did
not speak up, for I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left
to speak up for me.”
Reference
The Role of Public Health in the Prevention
of War:
Rationale and Competencies
Am J Public Health 2014;104:e34–e47.
Available at
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.
2105/AJPH.2013.301778
Contact Information
Public Health and Social Justice
Website
http://www.phsj.org
martindonohoe@phsj.org