U.S. Depleted Uranium as Malicious as Syrian Chemical Weapons

[decocker 7,198]

By this time you have likely heard of the atrocity that recently took place in which over 1,000 Syrian civilians reportedly died at the hands of a chemical weapon attack. Seeing the video and images of dead or helpless Syrian civilians struggling for life reminds me of another terrible weapon of war -- depleted uranium.

It is no secret that the U.S., with the assistance of other governments, used depleted uranium in the Gulf and Iraq War. A simple Google search of this topic can produce dozens and dozens of credible reports or stories to confirm these war crimes. For example, an important report on Harvard University's website discusses the fallout of depleted uranium contamination in Iraq. Dr. Souad N. Al-Azzawi, who authored the report after the Gulf War, wrote that:

"Depleted Uranium (DU) weaponry has been used against Iraq for the first time in the history of recent wars. The magnitude of the complications and damage related to the use of such radioactive and toxic weapons on the environment and the human population mostly results from the intended concealment, denial and misleading information released by the Pentagon about the quantities, characteristics and the area's in Iraq, in which these weapons have been used."

Similarly, as Democracy Now! reported in an interview with Al Jazeera reporter Dahr Jamail, "the U.S. invasion of Iraq has left behind a legacy of cancer and birth defects suspected of being caused by the U.S. military's extensive use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus." Democracy Now! wrote:

"Noting the birth defects in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, Jamail says: 'They're extremely hard to bear witness to. But it's something that we all need to pay attention to ... What this has generated is, from 2004 up to this day, we are seeing a rate of congenital malformations in the city of Fallujah that has surpassed even that in the wake of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that nuclear bombs were d' pped on at the end of World War II.'"

Moreover, Robert Koehler, a HuffPost blogger, has written extensively about the U.S. government's use of depleted uranium in Iraq. The following passage from Koehler's blog "The Suffering of Fallujah" gives us an idea of the immense impact that depleted uranium has had on Iraqi civilians:

"Thus last November, a group of British and Iraqi doctors petitioned the U.N. to investigate the alarming rise in birth defects at Fallujah's hospitals. 'Young women in Fallujah,' they wrote ... are terrified of having children because of the increasing number of babies born grotesquely deformed, with no heads, two heads, a single eye in their foreheads, scaly bodies or missing limbs. In addition, young children in Fallujah are now experiencing hideous cancers and leukemias.'"

Koehler continues:

"The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health has just published an epidemiological study,

"Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005-2009,"

which has found, among much else, that Fallujah is experiencing higher rates of cancer, leukemia and infant mortality than Hiroshima and Nagasaki did in 1945."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-considine/us-depleted-uranium-as-ma_b_3812888.html

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Direct contact of depleted uranium metal with the skin, even for several weeks, is unlikely to

produce radiation-induced erythema (superficial inflammation of the skin) or other short-term effects.

Follow-up studies of veterans with embedded fragments in the tissue have shown detectable

concentrations of depleted uranium in the urine, but without apparent adverse health consequences.

The radiation dose experienced by military personnel within an armoured vehicle is very unlikely to

exceed the average annual external dose from natural background radiation from all sources.

http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/pub_meet/en/WHA54report.pdf

[Ban Hammer 13,398]

"Depleted Uranium (DU) weaponry has been used against Iraq for the first time in the history of recent wars.

i guess someone forgot about desert storm?

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

Only military use of depleted uranium is likely to have any significant impact on environmental

concentrations of the isotope. Measurements of depleted uranium at sites where depleted uranium

munitions were used indicate only localized contamination (within a few tens of metres of the impact

site) at the ground surface. However, where the extent and type of contamination are such that there is

a reasonable possibility of significant quantities of depleted uranium entering the water supply and

food chain, food and ground water should be monitored and appropriate measures taken as for any

heavy metal pollution. The WHO guidelines for drinking-water quality, 2 μg/l for uranium, would

apply to depleted uranium.

http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/pub_meet/en/WHA54report.pdf

[DaveE 178]

i guess someone forgot about desert storm?

Or Bosnia - or anywhere else the A-10 has ever been used in combat. Bottom line is that we have been using it since the 70's.

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.researchgate.net/publication/230785663_Dispersion_of_PGU-14_ammunition_during_air_strikes_by_combat_aircrafts_A-10_near_urban_areas/file/79e415045c898615ac.pdf&sa=U&ei=1M0oUrmwHOru2QXS24DwBg&ved=0CA8QFjAD&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNH-LFEy1IIZ9-Ezzs28JSoBI2swCA

Edited September 5, 2013 by DaveE

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

The main civilian use of Depleted Uranium is as shielding against radiation..

For many decades (up to the year 2000 before it was totally no longer in use) it was used in coloring fake teeth/crowns. If there is any long term effects to exposure there should be some correlation to find there.

The studies so far that have been done have not found much but emphasize on "potential harm". They may be right, lets go to the old dental records and lets see if there is at least correlation.

Edited September 5, 2013 by OnMyWayID

[Sousuke 1,214]

Also I believe depleted uranium is slowly being replace by tungsten in many applications.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-considine/us-depleted-uranium-as-ma_b_3812888.html

You know progressives

Throw any words together that might contain. Nuclear,environment,Climate, warming,cancer,toxic and you have mass hysteria.Facts are unimportant.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Also I believe depleted uranium is slowly being replace by tungsten in many applications.

My wedding ring is Tungsten Carbide... During a visit in Colombia it was passed around the table and they were all very impressed with the weight and feel - I like to bang it against things and show my wife that the ring is impossible to scratch and have broken more than one glass object accidentally. I also heard when they first came out that if you were in an accident where the ring needed to go they would have to cut off your finger since there were no tools able to cut through at the time. Probably just propaganda from the gold and silver industrial complex.

So anyway I told them it was Tungsten Carbide which none of them knew because that is not the "thing" there yet - they still do gold.. But they assumed it was very expensive. My brother in-law leaned over and whispered "How much was it?" and I said "50 dollars on eBay but I had to order 2 of them because the first one was too big.. luckily they gave me a full refund."

He laughed and told everybody at the table what we had paid..After hearing the price half the table thought "this is the greatest thing ever! I hope it catches on here!" while the other half went from thinking it was an awesome ring to thinking it was garbage. Any guesses as to the makeup of each group?

Anyway in the last UN vote I read that Japan voted for making DU illegal ... Russia abstained, China didn't show up to vote, and the US voted yes.

China has 2,000 tons stockpiled, Japan has 10,000 tons stockpiled, Russia has 460,000 tons stockpiled, the US has 480,000 tons stockpiled...

I don't remember how the UK or France voted but the UK has (i think) around 20,000 tones stockpiled while France has close to 200,000 tons stockpiled.

[GandD 5,966]

My wedding ring is Tungsten Carbide... During a visit in Colombia it was passed around the table and they were all very impressed with the weight and feel - I like to bang it against things and show my wife that the ring is impossible to scratch and have broken more than one glass object accidentally. I also heard when they first came out that if you were in an accident where the ring needed to go they would have to cut off your finger since there were no tools able to cut through at the time. Probably just propaganda from the gold and silver industrial complex.

So anyway I told them it was Tungsten Carbide which none of them knew because that is not the "thing" there yet - they still do gold.. But they assumed it was very expensive. My brother in-law leaned over and whispered "How much was it?" and I said "50 dollars on eBay but I had to order 2 of them because the first one was too big.. luckily they gave me a full refund."

He laughed and told everybody at the table what we had paid..After hearing the price half the table thought "this is the greatest thing ever! I hope it catches on here!" while the other half went from thinking it was an awesome ring to thinking it was garbage. Any guesses as to the makeup of each group?

Anyway in the last UN vote I read that Japan voted for making DU illegal ... Russia abstained, China didn't show up to vote, and the US voted yes.

China has 2,000 tons stockpiled, Japan has 10,000 tons stockpiled, Russia has 460,000 tons stockpiled, the US has 480,000 tons stockpiled...

I don't remember how the UK or France voted but the UK has (i think) around 20,000 tones stockpiled while France has close to 200,000 tons stockpiled.

I ordered a couple tungsten rings. They were pretty cool but I eventually settled on titanium for the weight. Same price too. It does scratch a bit though......

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Titanium is nice, light weight and they can make then thinner.. though you won't be building any muscle lifting your left hand during the day. Some of the guys I work with have this porcelain-tungsten/titanium combination for a black glassy/gloss look. I might have gone that route had I seen it first.

[decocker 7,198]

You know progressives

Throw any words together that might contain. Nuclear,environment,Climate, warming,cancer,toxic and you have mass hysteria.Facts are unimportant.

is that all you got? come on..

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

is that all you got? come on..

Sorry honey I can't play today

I am still drained from yesterday