POLICE STATE / MILITARY - LOOKING GLASS NEWS | |
Divine Strike in the Bible Belt |
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by John Blair Counter Punch Entered into the database on Friday, August 18th, 2006 @ 13:25:55 MST |
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Will They Bomb Bedford? More than two tons of cyanide compounds, 1,535 pounds of phosgene gas, the
primary chemical in "mustard gas" chemical weapons, 1,318 pounds of
methylene chloride, a human carcinogen, 2,387 pounds of carbon tetrachloride,
another carcinogen and 1,650 pounds of chlorine, a poison, will be released
from the giant explosion being suggested by the United States Department of
Defense for southern Indiana in 2007 in southern Indiana Bizarrely named "Divine Strake," the explosion is meant to
mimic a nuclear bomb dropped on underground nuclear weapons facilities in Iran.
While no nuclear material will be used in this weapons test, the huge amount
of explosive material is nevertheless a deadly stew that could have devastating
impacts on people's health in surrounding communities for years to come. A limestone quarry owned by the giant highway builder, the Rogers Company in
Lawrence County, near Spring Mill State Park and close to numerous populated
areas is suggested as a possible site for the massive 1,400,000 pound explosion
by DOD personnel, who have been stymied from setting the device off at the Nevada
Test Site by outraged regional citizens. When the test was postponed after proposed dates of June 2 and June 23 were
met with severe opposition, DOD indicated that other sites were being considered.
The original site was once the primary test zone for America's nuclear arsenal
in northeast Nevada, some thirty miles from any populated area. Southern Indiana
and another site at White Sands, NM were given as possible alternative sites
to reporters who queried DOD officials what might happen since the test had
been effectively stopped in Nevada. Lawrence Country, where DOD has suggested the test be done has a population
of 45,922 according the US Census Bureau and is home to both Bedford and Mitchell.
Bedford is considered the 'Limestone Capitol of the World" because of the
high quality building stone that lies beneath the surface of the region. It is the limestone that is attracting the DOD. In fact, they have already
set off two, 3,000 pound explosives there as part of the Divine Strake experiment.
Those tests were conducted in 2004 and 2005 without any sort of local notice
or input. Apparently, DOD was hoping to keep this a secret as well since several
recent reports indicate that there are no state or local officials who have
been informed as to the blast's possibility. DOD theorizes that the limestone embedded in the earth in Lawrence County is
similar to what would be experienced if a nuclear "bunker busting"
bomb was dropped on the underground nuclear facilities in Iran. Such a nuclear weapon cannot be tested under the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that
America proposed and signed nearly fifty years ago. So DOD is seeking to use
the next best thing, Divine Strake. 1.4 million pounds of mostly ammonium nitrate,
the same as used by bomber, Terry McVeigh to blow up the federal building in
Oklahoma City a decade ago is a mere substitute for the nukes that Rumsfeld
and Bush are raring to use on Iran. Already there is concern that this is just a cheap trick to get around the
Test Ban Treaty since it use would be ostensibly designed to test a similar
nuclear weapon. But Bush seems to care little for our treaty commitments. Earlier this year
he signed an agreement with India that allows India to secure nuclear material
from the US although they have refused to sign the international Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty, something that looks like an illegal act according to some legal scholars. Although word of Divine Strake in Indiana only arrived a couple of days ago,
activists listserves have been abuzz with discussion and organization. One activist
even indicated that such a plan would come to pass "only over (his) dead
body." Others have been in contact with activists in the West, seeking input on how
they have successfully opposed the test there. It has been suggested that those
against the test gather commitments from all candidates for office in the upcoming
election to oppose such a test. It is being postured as a win-win for politicians
since it is clear that "DOD's proposal reeks of insanity. Dr. Strangelove
stuff!" Mitchell, Indiana the nearest community to the site was Virgil "Gus"
Grissom's hometown. Grissom was the second American after Alan Shepard, Jr.
to go into space. Grissom later died in NASA's first fatal accident when he
and two others were killed in a fire during a test of Apollo 1 in January 1967.
Grissom's legacy is certainly threatened by the same federal government that
made him an American hero. It is threatened because instead of Mitchell being known as Gus Grissom's home,
it could well become "the big hole" in the ground that was made by
man's quest to spread democracy to the middle east. Toxic Chemicals Galore The Revised Environmental Assessment released in May was the project's undoing
in Nevada. People in the region were up in arms when it was revealed that the
Divine Strake blast would create a "mushroom cloud" rising more than
10,000 feet into the sky. The prospect of such an event shook locals who were
forced in the 1950s to endure a whole series of atmospheric and underground
nuclear explosions, leaving much of the Nevada desert unfit for much of anything,
especially life of all sorts. In this case, area citizens united to oppose the bomb because they fear the
detonation will unleash radioactive material that permeates the test site both
on the surface and underground. But their concerns were even greater when it
was revealed that large amounts of toxic chemicals would be blown into the Nevada
sky to fall wherever the wind blew. Opponents in Indiana also fear the release of things like phosgene, chlorine
and methylene chloride which each could have immediate and long term health
consequences for those who may be unfortunate enough to breathe them in from
ambient air affected by the explosion. This is not the first time that DOD has made Indiana countryside a quagmire
of dangerous chemistry. For years, DOD operated the Jefferson Proving Grounds
about 60 miles east of Mitchell. There, they left a "no-mans land"
of depleted uranium and other "unexploded ordnance" which has left
an otherwise beautiful region unfit for much of anything. Also, the Army is proposing to burn 327 lead and PCB contaminated buildings
at the Indiana Army Ammunition Depot, some sixty miles southeast of Mitchell
because it the least expensive method of demolition. Several buildings were
burned in 2004 until citizen opponents, led by Valley Watch protested and temporarily
stopped the burn. If Hoosier opponents of Divine Strake succeed, they will get a fairly quick
determination from the Defense Department that the high population area around
the proposed Indiana site is unsuitable for such a scheme, In the meantime, regional opponents are exasperated as to how such an insane
plan could even be proposed, in Indiana or anywhere. John Blair is president of the environment health advocacy
group, Valley Watch and earned a Pulitzer Prize for news Photography in 1978.
He can be reached at: Ecoserve1@aol.com _________________________ Read from Looking Glass News |