A few days ago, the list of the new round of military aid to Ukraine published by the US Department of Defense showed that this round of military aid to Ukraine included depleted uranium bombs for the first time for the use of abrams tanks that the US had previously aided Ukraine. This move by the United States has caused widespread controversy and criticism in the international community. Studies have shown that depleted uranium is radioactive, and long-term exposure will have a serious impact on human health and the environment. The United States dropped depleted uranium bombs in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and other places, which led to a sharp increase in the number of local people suffering from tumors and other diseases.
For a long time, American military actions in the world not only directly caused huge humanitarian disasters, but also caused long-term damage to the local environment, leaving behind a large number of toxic and harmful substances, which were serious "criminal acts" both for people’s health and the natural environment.
"This can be said to be the worst place on earth."
According to a recent report on the website of Scientific American, the open-air garbage burning pits set up by the US military near bases in many parts of the world have become pollution sources that damage the local environment. Especially in Afghanistan and other places, the toxic substances produced by these garbage burning pits increase the risk of local people suffering from diseases such as cancer and create many environmental pollution problems.
According to a report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in 2014, these burning pits are used to burn all kinds of wastes ranging from food waste to paints, metals, plastics and medical supplies, and sometimes they are also used to burn military materials such as ammunition, resulting in toxic smoke containing "particulate matter, lead, mercury, dioxin and irritating gases". These toxic fumes may do harm to the environment and human body. People inhale these pollutants, which will have a negative impact on the human system and lead to asthma and other diseases.
In a memorandum, the US Air Force described the scene of a garbage burning pit at a US military base in Iraq. "This can be said to be the worst place on earth. These burning pits burn day and night seven days a week, and most of the waste burned in the pits is toxic." In the joint base of Ballard in Iraq alone, the burning pit burns more than 200 tons of garbage every day. A soldier described the smoke in the burning pit as "as thick as the fog in San Francisco".
A paper from the University of California, Davis pointed out that these garbage burning pits are "the toxic legacy of war". After environmental sampling of the nearby air and soil, it was confirmed that there are several harmful compounds that cause inflammation and body tissue damage. The American Public Health Association pointed out in a statement that Afghan citizens "don’t walk away like the US military, facing the risk of being exposed to pollutants from burning pits every day and have to bear the environmental consequences brought by the war".
"The US military has never released information about base pollution to the public."
The US military bases in Japan, South Korea and other places also frequently exposed environmental pollution scandals. The website of the American Stars and Stripes recently reported that a high concentration of toxic compounds — — Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl compounds (PFAS), which can cause serious health problems. Current research shows that exposure to high concentrations of PFAS may lead to cancer, thyroid disease, liver injury and other major diseases.
It is reported that many overseas bases of the US military use foam fire extinguishing agents containing PFAS to put out accidents such as aircraft fire. This substance can enter the human body and food chain through water, soil, air and other ways, causing potential harm to human health. A survey conducted by former tianhao II, an associate professor of environmental hygiene at Kyoto University in Japan, found that the PFAS concentration in two apartments near Sagami military supply depot in Kanagawa Prefecture of the US military stationed in Japan exceeded the standard. At the same time, a survey released by a citizen group in Okinawa in February this year showed that among the 387 residents who lived around the US military base in Okinawa and participated in the blood test, 155 people’s blood PFAS exceeded the standard, accounting for about 40%.
According to the Japan-US Status Agreement, without the permission of the US military stationed in Japan, Japan cannot enter the US military base for internal investigation, which makes it difficult to find out the environmental pollution problem of the US military base, let alone completely solve it. The US military often responds by "not explaining", "not admitting" and "not apologizing". According to an internal report of the US Marine Corps, during the period from 2002 to 2016, there were at least 270 environmental pollution incidents at three US military bases in Okinawa, Japan, and only six of them were notified to the Japanese government.
These accidents polluted the local land and waterways, but almost none of them were made public. British journalist Jon Mitchell pointed out in his book Poisoning the Pacific Ocean: The U.S. military secretly dumped plutonium, chemical weapons and agent orange that "the U.S. military has never released information about base pollution to the public". Some water sources in Okinawa are seriously polluted by PFAS. "Okinawa people are angry and afraid."
In South Korea, the US military base in South Korea also exposed environmental pollution problems. According to the agreement reached between South Korea and the United States in 2020, the US military returned the Longshan base in Seoul to the South Korean side, which was converted into a national park by the South Korean side, and the US military moved to the Pyeongtaek base. According to the Korea Broadcasting Corporation, South Korea’s Ministry of Environment plans to return the area at the US military base in Longshan to detect a large number of pollutants such as oil and heavy metals. Among them, dioxin in soil exceeded the standard by 34.8 times and arsenic exceeded the standard by 39.9 times. In May this year, the "Longshan Children’s Courtyard", which was rebuilt in some areas of Longshan Base, was officially opened to the public. According to the Korean National Daily, many parents are worried about the children’s park built on the "poison nest" where the school plans to organize football matches and other activities. A parent said, "Do schools want children to play on polluted land?"
Many problems arising from the overseas bases of the US military endanger the whole world.
According to data released by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Governance, an American think tank, the United States has 750 military bases in 80 overseas countries and regions, almost three times the number of American embassies, consulates and missions abroad, and the annual operating cost may be as high as $55 billion. According to Al Jazeera, among these overseas bases, there are about 400 large bases with more than 200 military personnel.
The British "Eye of the Middle East" news network said that the US military bases are all over the world, and the US military consumes more energy than any other institution in the world, and it also produces more greenhouse gases than many countries. According to the data released by the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs of Brown University in 2019, since the "war on terror" in 2001, the US military has produced 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases, which is "one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world".
The US investigation website "intercepted" the report that the US military footprint caused direct damage to the Afghan environment. The US military released toxic pollutants into the air, which made Afghan civilians sick. The environmental damage caused by the US military in Iraq is even more serious. The war not only led to a sharp increase in carbon dioxide emissions, but also the use of depleted uranium ammunition by the US military led to an increase in the incidence of cancer among local people and serious birth defects among children. "Simply put, the American war policy has poisoned the earth." "Intercept" website reporter Murtaza Hussain said. Some American media pointed out that "the US military is one of the biggest polluters in human history, but its role in causing climate change is often ignored by researchers".
David wain, an American writer, pointed out in his book "American Overseas Military Bases: How They Harm the World" that the number of American overseas military bases ranks first in the world and is still expanding in different forms. The overseas bases of the US military have intensified geopolitical tensions, and have also spawned many problems such as violent crimes, environmental pollution, trampling on sovereignty, and destroying the economy, which have harmed the world beyond imagination.
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