Words not weapons

David Emerson (BDN letter, Aug. 22) questions the facts laid out in my husband’s letter (George Ostensen, BDN, Aug. 3) about the true costs of the nuclear arms race and about the crimes of the Aegis Destroyer, made at Bath Iron Works. He used 1.3 billion as the number of people maimed, sickened or killed by the development, production and use of nuclear weapons.

When typing his letter, I attributed these casualties to the U.S. nuclear weapons programs; however, 1.3 billion is actually the number of people worldwide affected by the nuclear weapons programs of all countries: United States, China, France, Great Britain, U.S.S.R., India, Pakistan, South Africa and Israel. Of course, 1.3 billion is an estimate, but it is an educated estimate put together by Dr. Rosalie Bertell who has extensively researched the effects of nuclear weapons sites on the populations downwind. There are more than 100 such sites in the United States and thousands worldwide. Above-ground testing, which has taken place over decades, is the most obvious source of contamination, but nuclear poison has touched nearly everyone on the planet to some degree and has contributed to today’s cancer epidemic.

As far as the crimes against humanity for which the Aegis is responsible, the list is long and horrifying. Weapons of mass destruction are illegal under international law. Aegis Destroyers launch cruise missiles into populated areas, and those who give the orders know full well that collateral damage (killing and injuring of innocent people) risks are high. Rather than being peacekeepers we are terrorizing people, and we have no right to kill civilians for any rationale our government provides.

The evidence is mounting linking depleted uranium (DU) to increased cancer rates, heavy metals poisoning and birth defects for U.S. and NATO soldiers and civilians in Iraq, Bosnia and Vieques, Puerto Rico, where DU-tipped weapons have been used. This week, the World Health Organization is in Iraq studying the long-term effects of DU on the Iraqi people.

Gunboat diplomacy is wrong. Building Aegis warships with even more sophisticated weapons systems is not only immoral but contrary to the spirit of the treaties civilized nations accept as the bedrock of peace with justice. It is time to reject violence as a response to the troubles in our world and to find ways to use words instead of weapons.

Maureen Kehoe Ostensen

Belfast