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US bomb planes refuelling in East Anglia, England
FinsburyParkCarrots
Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/newmarket/2006/07/31/b93b99ea-004f-4bda-8cd6-9ac583f3533a.lpf
'Bomb planes' refuel here
AMERICAN planes carrying bombs to Israel stopped to refuel at a Mid-Anglian airbase.
MPs and campaigners have reacted with fury - particularly after yesterday (Sunday, 30 July)'s air strike in South Lebanon which killed 37 children.
The controversial US flights, originally destined for a stopover at the civilian airport in Prestwick, near Glasgow, touched down at RAF Mildenhall to refuel and for the crews to rest on Saturday evening before flying out yesterday (Sunday, 30 July).
Peace protesters gathered outside the base holding placards that screamed: "Stop murderous cargo flights."
They claimed the switch was "deceitful" and believe the planes were carrying hightech bombs to be used in the conflict - although officials will only confirm the planes were carrying 'hazardous material'.
Peter Lanyon, former co-ordinator of the Suffolk branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said: "We are horrified and condemn entirely the weapons transports to the Middle East, this will only add to the worsening humanitarian crisis.
"And we certainly wouldn't expect our Prime Minister to be so weak-kneed to allow it. In view of the row that there is around Prestwick, this is deceitful to just shift it down here."
He said he believed the chartered Atlas cargo planes were carrying munitions and added: "I think they are bunker-buster missiles but it is the UK's involvement that we really object to. We are all guilty for every child and woman who is damaged in Lebanon as a result."
David Howarth, Cambridge Liberal Democrat MP, slammed the use of RAF Mildenhall and called on the Government to stop the country being "used and abused" by the Americans.
He said: "It is extremely worrying because there is a war going on that we are trying to stop. It is a serious matter and the Government should not be allowing the country to be used and abused by the Bush administration.
"Who knows what kind of damage the 'hazardous cargo' is going to cause to Lebanon? Britain should not be used as a jumping-off point for a war and I condemn this use of RAF Mildenhall."
Richard Spring, MP for West Suffolk, whose constituency includes RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath - used by the Americans when they bombed Libya in the 1980s - said material had been transported in and out of the bases for years.
Mr Spring, who was the Conservative spokesman on the Middle East for several years, believed the arrangement should continue but called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Jim Paice, MP for South East Cambridgeshire, said: "As far as I am concerned Mildenhall is a US base and if they already have the necessary permission to land, then that is that.
"Given what is going on at the moment, I would say that I do not believe the US should be supplying Israel with weapons, and to me this demonstrates how pathetically weak-willed Tony Blair is in trying to address this situation."
Coun John Hipkin, a former mayor of Cambridge and active peace campaigner, said there was strong opinion in the city against perpetuating the war and assisting Israel. He said: "We should be being very clear that we do not give assistance to the side which is acting mercilessly and aggressively."
A spokesman for RAF Mildenhall confirmed two Atlas cargo flights had landed but said it was for "crew rest and to refuel". He would not comment on the contents of the plane.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has blasted the US for using Britain as a staging post. US President George W Bush apologised to Tony Blair over the Prestwick incident, but only for the fact that proper procedures had not been followed.
31 July 2006
'Bomb planes' refuel here
AMERICAN planes carrying bombs to Israel stopped to refuel at a Mid-Anglian airbase.
MPs and campaigners have reacted with fury - particularly after yesterday (Sunday, 30 July)'s air strike in South Lebanon which killed 37 children.
The controversial US flights, originally destined for a stopover at the civilian airport in Prestwick, near Glasgow, touched down at RAF Mildenhall to refuel and for the crews to rest on Saturday evening before flying out yesterday (Sunday, 30 July).
Peace protesters gathered outside the base holding placards that screamed: "Stop murderous cargo flights."
They claimed the switch was "deceitful" and believe the planes were carrying hightech bombs to be used in the conflict - although officials will only confirm the planes were carrying 'hazardous material'.
Peter Lanyon, former co-ordinator of the Suffolk branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said: "We are horrified and condemn entirely the weapons transports to the Middle East, this will only add to the worsening humanitarian crisis.
"And we certainly wouldn't expect our Prime Minister to be so weak-kneed to allow it. In view of the row that there is around Prestwick, this is deceitful to just shift it down here."
He said he believed the chartered Atlas cargo planes were carrying munitions and added: "I think they are bunker-buster missiles but it is the UK's involvement that we really object to. We are all guilty for every child and woman who is damaged in Lebanon as a result."
David Howarth, Cambridge Liberal Democrat MP, slammed the use of RAF Mildenhall and called on the Government to stop the country being "used and abused" by the Americans.
He said: "It is extremely worrying because there is a war going on that we are trying to stop. It is a serious matter and the Government should not be allowing the country to be used and abused by the Bush administration.
"Who knows what kind of damage the 'hazardous cargo' is going to cause to Lebanon? Britain should not be used as a jumping-off point for a war and I condemn this use of RAF Mildenhall."
Richard Spring, MP for West Suffolk, whose constituency includes RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath - used by the Americans when they bombed Libya in the 1980s - said material had been transported in and out of the bases for years.
Mr Spring, who was the Conservative spokesman on the Middle East for several years, believed the arrangement should continue but called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Jim Paice, MP for South East Cambridgeshire, said: "As far as I am concerned Mildenhall is a US base and if they already have the necessary permission to land, then that is that.
"Given what is going on at the moment, I would say that I do not believe the US should be supplying Israel with weapons, and to me this demonstrates how pathetically weak-willed Tony Blair is in trying to address this situation."
Coun John Hipkin, a former mayor of Cambridge and active peace campaigner, said there was strong opinion in the city against perpetuating the war and assisting Israel. He said: "We should be being very clear that we do not give assistance to the side which is acting mercilessly and aggressively."
A spokesman for RAF Mildenhall confirmed two Atlas cargo flights had landed but said it was for "crew rest and to refuel". He would not comment on the contents of the plane.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has blasted the US for using Britain as a staging post. US President George W Bush apologised to Tony Blair over the Prestwick incident, but only for the fact that proper procedures had not been followed.
31 July 2006
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Interesting........
www.amnesty.org.uk
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't hear a major uproar over this!!!
hhhmmm. OUTSTANDING point!!
Seriously, though.
People just ignore me whenever I mention that these weapons will probably lead to FEWER civilian casualties in Lebanon. Laser-guided bombs can be put right through the window of a specific building ... I mean, yes, it would be better if the violence just stopped, period. But assuming that this war continues, more modern weapons are actually a good thing, believe it or not.
www.amnesty.org.uk
Thanks. I'm glad somebody got the point of the thread.
And thank you for ignoring everyone else's points. What were you expecting? Sorry, my cheerleader outfit is at the cleaners'.
It's not that people are "appeasing" Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, by calling for an end to this refuelling business. No-one of sound mind really questions Israel's sovereign right to defend itself proportionately and in accordance with international law. People just want a ceasefire, now that those laws have so tragically been broken. That's all. And they want Blair to acknowledge the will of the people, rather than allow Bush to ignore protocol, about use of of US bases on UK soil.
no i think people would rather that Israel didnt continue to use bombs of any kind, and therefore not kill any more civilians than they have already!
Aren't they shipping 100 GBU-28s? They are bigger bombs, 5,000 lbs U-238 "bunker busters". It's the US's radioactive waste from uranium enrichment. See uranium ore has about 5% U-235 which is needed for nuclear fuel, the rest is U-238 which they make into bombs to drop on the arabs.
I already said that. However, its not looking too likely.
And yes Ahnimus, bunker-buster bombs. For use on military targets. Laser-guided. You're making them sound like friggin' nukes, which is ridiculous.
They aren't Nuclear Bombs, but they contain the same elements. A radioactive substance, so while the initial damage is not as great as that of an A-Bomb the lasting affects are horrible.
I'm not able to view this video now, but should show the devestation of the initial hit from a GBU-28.
Howstuffworks.com gives a nice presentation on how the GBU-28 works with U-238, depleted uranium.
It also explains quite extensively how nuclear radiation works
U-238 is a radioactive metal that produces alpha and beta particles. In its solid form, it is not particularly dangerous because its half-life is 4.5 billion years, meaning that the atomic decay is very slow. Depleted uranium is used, for example, in boats and airplanes as ballast. The three properties that make depleted uranium useful in penetrating weapons are its:
Density - Depleted uranium is 1.7 times heavier than lead, and 2.4 times heavier than steel.
Hardness - If you look at a Web site like WebElements.com, you can see that the Brinell hardness of U-238 is 2,400, which is just shy of tungsten at 2,570. Iron is 490. Depleted uranium alloyed with a small amount of titanium is even harder.
Incendiary properties - Depleted uranium burns. It is something like magnesium in this regard. If you heat uranium up in an oxygen environment (normal air), it will ignite and burn with an extremely intense flame. Once inside the target, burning uranium is another part of the bomb's destructive power.
These three properties make depleted uranium an obvious choice when creating advanced bunker-busting bombs. With depleted uranium, it is possible to create extremely heavy, strong and narrow bombs that have tremendous penetrating force.
The problem with depleted uranium is the fact that it is radioactive. The United States uses tons on depleted uranium on the battlefield. At the end of the conflict, this leaves tons of radioactive material in the environment. For example, Time magazine: Balkan Dust Storm reports:
NATO aircraft rained more than 30,000 DU shells on Kosovo during the 11-week air campaign… About 10 tons of the debris were scattered across Kosovo.
Perhaps 300 tons of DU weapons were used in the first Gulf war. When it burns, DU forms a uranium-oxide smoke that is easily inhaled and that settles on the ground miles from the point of use. Once inhaled or ingested, depleted-uranium smoke can do a great deal of damage to the human body because of its radioactivity. See How Nuclear Radiation Works for details.