A special investigation by Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez of the New York Daily News has found four of nine soldiers of the 442nd Military Police Company of the New York Army National Guard returning from Iraq tested positive for depleted uranium contamination. They are the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict.

http://www.democracynow.org/article..../04/05/1356248

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www.yardymoney.com

Birth defects galore, turning nuclear waste into weapons. 45 billion years till the half-life on that stuff goes away. I think they made a wise decision when they decided to screw everything up.

http://www.ericblumrich.com/pl_lo.html

Don't follow this link if you have a weak stomach for Reality.

4.5 billion year half-life didn't mean to scare yah like that. heh

4.5 billion year half-life didn't mean to scare yah like that. heh

Here are some non-graphic examples of the same subject.

http://www.web-light.nl/VISIE/extremedeformities.html

http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/VISIE/iraq.html

http://home.sprynet.com/~gyrene/baby.htm

http://www.geocities.com/iraqinfo/in...cles4/ddd.html

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/...ws/7617846.htm

http://www.war-times.org/pdf/Women%20Leaflet.pdf

http://news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/2...004172718.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_p...um/2669919.stm

need more links?

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I think though as far as the U.S. solders coming home contaminated I think that they were contaminated by there own army, because the U.S. uses depleted uranium on some of the bombs. It's put at the tips of the bombs to enable them to penetrate the enemy’s tanks. The problem is that when it explodes it powderizes and contaminates the ground, water, and air. Its also illegal but then again that never stops them from doing what they wanted.

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But honestly I feel more empathetic with those that have to live in our nuclear waste lands that we have created, Under Bush senior Clinton and Bush Jr. I know that when the DU rounds hit their targets they have an aerosol affect that spreads the nuclear waste that we were trying to get rid of in the early 90'sand late 80's when we began to dismantle many of our out dated ICBM's. I don't understand my government thats for sure. I really don't think we have done much good in our effort to bring peace into this world, though most assuredly we have done some harm. Millions of birth defects overseas can attest to that. Oh well I'm glad we found a dump for our nuclear waste...(Sarcasm)

You can find the spending on-going Chemical weapons programs in the new budgets under DSWA Department of special weapons. Though it seemingly doesn't exist unless you are looking for a press release about destroying mustard gas and nerve agents that we are 15 years behind schedule on. The actual budget and justifications are classified so we can only speculate.

If DU posed a serious risk, I would be the first one to condemn it's use. I have had lymphoma three times following exposure to dioxin in Vietnam, and would not be amused by similar risks to current soldiers. However, while the sites listed in previous posts contain much sensation and innuendo, we see nothing substantial about realistic health risks. Janes is widely recognized as reliable authority on weapons.
http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jd...0112_1_n.shtml

While I am no expert, I have been peripherally involved in the manufacture of DU since the early 1980's. It is used in a variety of applications, including weapons, due to it's very high specific gravity (density), which considerably greater than that of tungsten carbide.

Because of it's pyrophoric properties (it burns when small pieces or dust is ignited), it's a pain in the ass to machine, as it creates a virtual firestorm while being cut, and it actually destroyed the first generation of turning machines applied to it. However, the radiation is very low, so low that a piece of copy paper will block it effectively, something I have had the chance to see with my own eyes.

The primary risk is heavy metal toxicity from breathing the dust, not radiation. As the kidneys filter out the heavy metals in our bodies, the incidence of kidney distress would be an early symptom. Simply hosing down the salvaged armor vehicles described in the first article prior to moving them would have gotten rid of most of the dust. Better yet, filling them with concrete and burying them where they are is by far the best defense against future toxic exposure.

There exists a long history of workers engaged in the manufacturing process with DU, and I am not aware of any issues surrounding worker health. The primary safety equipment used is cutting fluids in the machines to wash the dust away and paper dust masks for the workers. While nothing is impossible, in today's OSHA regulated manufacturing environment, it's not likely that serious undocumented risks exist on a process that is now over 20yrs old.

oc

Thanks OC-very informative.

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The depleted uranium issue, this is a tough one.

1. It ultimately saves lives, the armor and rounds provided from DU makes for a very dense material no doubt and has probably saved more soldiers as a result than it has made sick. I know some buddies in artillery and have heard from those that ride in tanks, they for the most part are aware and accept the risk for the greater protection. Germans actually have a Tungsten stesl mixture that is just as strong as DU as far as armor goes, but doesnt have the penetration factor on warheads and costs a considerable amount more.

2. However when we wage war on a nation we have the responsibilty to clean up after ourselves, I know myself and OC as well have had to police call our area after a firing excerise, war should be no different. But I know that we left tons of the stuff behind for kids to play in and that is wrong, wrong and wrong over and again. We know the dangers of the powder it leaves behind and should have done our best to clean it up once the conflict was over.

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