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Frank L. Hoffman Interviewed: Peacemaking
Comments by Stephen Augustine (2) - 21 Feb 2003

Additionally, in regards to this topic, I would like to forward an email I received from a local group called "All My Relations" here in the Pacific Northwest..

Peace,

Stephen

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At a time when much intense focus is being placed upon the price of war in human terms, there is little mention of the ecological cost and effect upon animals, plants and the Earth. Please find below a piece which will provide some perspective. Not mentioned below are the effects of reused nuclear waste, euphemistically referred to as "depleted uranium", in weaponry; nor what the ecological consequences of the continued war and re-invasion of Iraq will be, especially if chemical, biological or explosive nuclear weapons are used. For that matter the Iraqi government has, since 1968, carried out its own ecologically catastrophic, war-related policies. Please join with All My Relations in seeking nonviolence and peace on behalf of the Earth and all beings.

Thank you
We are all related. We are family. We are one.

EcoAlert from American P.I.E.
Public Information On the Environment
December 4, 2002

The atrocities of war perpetrated on humankind are well known. Less recognized, and also profoundly saddening, are the consequences to Earth itself. While prospects for a Winter war in Iraq sway precariously in the winds of Washington, the country of Iraq girds itself for yet another conflict, causing loss of precious human lives and collateral damage - ecological havoc - which will extend loss of life into future generations.

The environment is a casualty of war. This has been so for thousands of years but mightily exacerbated with the sophisticated and highly destructive explosives available over the past century.

Scientists are beginning to examine the ecological consequences of war. For example, during the Viet Nam war, 26 million craters, covering an area of 171,000 hectares, were produced by bombing in Indo-China. This represents a total displacement of no less than 2.6 billion cubic meters of earth. When a heavy bomb goes off, it creates temperatures of approximately 3.000 degrees Celsius; this annihilates all flora and fauna and also destroys the lower layers of soil, which can take centuries to regenerate.

The ability of warring humans to unleash explosive power was evident in the Balkans after the NATO air campaign. The damage in Yugoslavia, identified in a 1999 UN field assessment, included chemical contamination when oil, mercury and nitric acid spilled into the Danube. At a destroyed industrial complex near Belgrade, airborne measurements of vinyl chloride were thousands of times greater than safe levels.

United Nations specialists have recently been looking inside Afghanistan to assess the environmental devastation caused by intensive bombing. The hail of bombs has blasted Afghanistan�s few remaining forests, polluted watercourses, scattered migratory birds, and decimated populations of wildlife species. The ravages of Afghanistan�s ecology, suffering collateral damage, will find Mother Earth slowly restoring herself to environmental health.

The devastation wrought upon the Mideast during Desert Storm was catastrophic for Iraq and Kuwait. Extensive bombing of Iraq (a total of 222,599 bombs of various types were deployed by the U.S. during Desert Storm) created extensive soil damage, particularly in the fragile desert near the border with Saudi Arabia. Kuwait became an environmental disaster, with serious degradation of air and water resources. Huge lakes of oil destroyed birds and animals and their habitats. Millions of barrels of oil spilled into the Persian Gulf threatening its ecosystem and wildlife.

Speak out for Earth and for all the life it nourishes...and sustains.

American P.I.E.
Public Information on the Environment
P.O. Box 676
Northfield, MN 55057-0676
Telephone: 1-800-320-APIE(2743); fax 507-645-5724
E-mail: [email protected]  
EcoAlert subscribe/unsubscribe at our website: http://www.AmericanPIE.org

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