Newsflash: Both superpowers nuked their own people

[WordWhiz]

Yesterday, the top story on cnn.com was about the horrors of Russian nuclear testing in present-day Kazakhstan during the Cold War. It's still available here.

Commenting on the many deaths, deformities, and suicides caused by such testing, the article concludes: "[N]owhere else, I suppose, are so many Cold War injustices still being felt."

Shockingly (not really), the fact that the same thing happened in the good old U.S. of A is not mentioned at all, even though a major newspaper just conducted the first compilation of government records on the topic to determine how many innocent Americans were killed or injured by their own government in its insane acquisition of over 70,000 nuclear weapons. I found the story, from the Rocky Mountain News via a link on lewrockwell.com

The highlights:

"The U.S. nuclear weapons program has sickened 36,500 Americans and killed more than 4,000."

"Many more of the 36,500 likely also have died of the deadly diseases triggered by their work. But in most of the compensation programs, the government does not track deaths or cause of death, so the true number who gave their lives to support the nuclear bomb program probably will never be known.

Some were contaminated through accident or ignorance. But government documents have revealed that officials at times risked the health of civilians, soldiers and workers because they believed national security demanded it."

"Well into the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of American troops were placed within a few miles of nuclear tests to determine their ability to march and fight shortly after a blast. The Atomic Energy Commission barred them from being closer than 7 miles, but the military cut that by more than half."

A recap:

For decades, two superpowers spent billions of dollars building enough bombs to destroy the world hundreds of times over, in the process killing and sickening thousands of their own citizens. Despite the similarity of these crimes to those committed by a certain recently executed middle Eastern ruler ("He gassed his own people!"), no one will face even a single day in jail, much less be publicly hanged like they so richly deserve. Russian atrocities top cnn.com; American atrocities make the "Local" section of the Rocky Mountain News. God bless America!

[morphball]

John Wayne filmed a movie close to where the USA conducted above ground tests. He and a very high percentage of that film crew died of cancer. There was a documentary on it.

[Taso]

Source stating that the United States' government intentionally poisoned Americans (with nuclear power)?

[NewTeaBag]

Before everyone gets their ignant panties in a twist, nuclear power (for energy generation) and Nuclear weapons (and their testing) are 2 different animals.

[PLOlover]

it's common knowledge milk was contaminated with strontium-90 in the 50's and 60's due to open air nuclear testing.

and of course the acceptable safe level of strontium-90 is zero.