"Deadly, made in US - evidence exists, Serbs helped find it"

"Deadly, made in US - evidence exists, Serbs helped find it"

The book, "Deadly Dust - Made in the USA: Uranium Weapons Contaminating the World," gives a detailed account of how the US has contaminated vast territories using depleted uranium (DU) ammunition and the cover-up strategy of the military, industry and governments, as well as those in the media and politics, Sputnik writes.

In an interview, Wagner said that the uranium in question is produced from nuclear industry's waste.

"If, for example, you want to produce a ton of natural uranium fuel rods for nuclear power plants, you get about eight tons of depleted uranium. It is a source of alpha radiation - radioactive and, moreover, very poisonous. It needs to be stored somewhere, and it is not very cheap," he said.

However, "about 30-40 years ago, military scientists made a discovery: uranium is almost twice as dense as lead. If you turn depleted uranium into a projectile and give it proper acceleration, then within a fraction of a second it will pierce through tank armor, concrete or cement," Wagner continued.

"This, of course, was an important discovery. Furthermore, when a shell hits an armored tank the impact produces dust caused by the detonation and the subsequent release of heat energy causes it to ignite and it explodes at a temperature of 3,000 to 5,000 degrees — incinerating the tank's interior and destroying it," the German author explained.

After its use depleted uranium, a source of alpha radiation, "burns down to nano-particles that are a hundred times smaller than a red blood cell," he said, adding:

"This way, I would say, a sort of metallic gas forms that people can inhale, and which is released in the atmosphere and can be carried anywhere by wind. People who inhale it are at risk for developing cancer."

Asked in what wars depleted uranium ammunition has been used so far, Wagner replied:

"It was actively used during the first Gulf war in 1991 against Iraq. The military has admitted that about 320 tons were used. Then in the second war in Iraq in 2003 over 2,000 tons were used. In between, it was used during the war in Kosovo, in Yugoslavia (1999), and in Bosnia in 1995, and after 2001 in Afghanistan, where it still used today."

Asked which country uses weapons that utilize the ammunition, Wagner said they were being developed in several countries at the same time.

"In Germany, they were also working on these weapons, as, of course, in Russia. However, it was used and on such a large scale, only by the US. They were reckless and they did not pay attention to any possible side effects — just as it was back when the first atomic bombs were used. That's why I called the book: 'Deadly Dust - Made in the USA'."

As for how he managed to prove the use of depleted uranium, the German author said the Serbs, among others, helped:

"For example, the Serbs gave us maps where they showed the locations where depleted uranium was used."

Sputnik noted that the film "Deadly Dust" is linked to the book, but is no longer distributed.

"My exposes which I sent to WDR, as well as to the ZDF channels were rejected," Wagner said. "Then I contacted an editor at WDR, for which I always made good films and with which I always had good relations with, because these films had doubled or tripled their ratings, and asked him: 'What's going on here?' And after some hesitation he said: 'Yes, Frieder Wagner, someone must tell you this. WDR considers you a difficult person. And most importantly, the topics you suggest are especially hard. Right now I've got nothing more to tell you.' And that when I understood everything. It was in 2005."

Considering all the facts, the use of uranium ammunition should be considered a war crime, he said.

"Now in Kosovo (sic), a whole group of lawyers is working on a lawsuit against NATO, because after the war they unleashed, people were injured, fell ill and died. The morbidity rate has increased by 20 to 30 percent, and there are more effected each year. So there will be an attempt to file a lawsuit," Wagner said.

He also recalled that out of the approximately 2,000 Italian soldiers stationed in Iraq and Kosovo, 109 later developed cancer and died. 16 families, filed lawsuits and won their cases, Wagner said.