Simple as that. How can you say otherwise?
Depleted uranium is "The byproduct of [nuclear] enrichment...Military uses include defensive armor plating and armor-piercing projectiles." (Wikipedia, Depleted Uranium)
I've got to be honest, I had no idea as to the scale and timeframe of DU usage in combat. It apparently dates as far back as the late 1970s, when there was a need for high-density ordnance materials. There are possible alternatives, such as tungsten; however, DU is used because it is cheaper and a convenient solution to part of the nuclear waste storage problem.
I suppose it is the Agent Orange of our time.
I warn you, the video includes effects of DU that ain't pretty.
Ironic, don't you think, that the only uranium in Iraq was used by us? No WMDs...unless you are upholding Freedom and Democracy.
Use of DU is against every law and convention relating to warfare. The most imoprtant thing is the damage done to babies. According to the Wikipedia article, Gulf War Veterans are 50% more likely to give birth to/father a deformed child.
Right now, the use of DU is putting brave soldiers, and the health of their future children at stake, not to mention countless indigenous civilians, in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are exposed to a cancer-causing, gene-pool muddling toxin only in the name of governments' convenience.
There is an organisation called International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons. The name says it all, and I couldn't agree more.
As a former vet of that war,served 8 months there and did a good bit of the clean up, who was a NBC specialist, I gotta disagree with you on this one. Yes, the revised version of the Hague Treaty does ban the use of it, as it does hollow tip bullets. Thankfully, American never signed it, yet we still don't use hollow tips,which we should.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, DU rounds are very effective,but have gotten a bad reputation due to misunderstanding and a failure on our part to properly clean up the battlefield.
DU only gives off Alpha radiation,has a very short half-life, yet will penetrate any armored vehicle in production today.
As to video clip, I have seen it before, it is pure propaganda by an anti-war group. Persian Gulf Syndrome is a myth and fallacy.
Okay then, thanks for your insight and your service.
ReplyDeleteIs there still not a problem with dust inhalation, for example? I read about Iraqi doctors reporting massive increases in deformities which allegedly originated from DU contamination.
If DU contaminates the soil, and potentially the water as some are saying it may in Kosovo, is it not an environmental and public health hazard?