Judi Lynn

Back when it happened - I was told DU was no more dangerous than other type of weapon grade metal who was used in iraq - in fact some claimed DU was far Superior to the other metals used - because it was used just against targets who had military use - and that all questing about Depleted Uranium as a form of poison was a lie - in fact it was rather healthy for the ones who was hit by it - or that the dust from the exploding shells was just harmless and of no consequence at all

I guess my sceptism was right on target - as I was under all of it what happened in iraq in 2003 and later on (In 1991 I was still in grade school - and have to be honest not the same interest in this things at all - I was more worried about making good grades, and had also to little information about this things at all - Internet was a few years in the future for me at least )

I wonder - if Iraq was ever to be stable again - will UK and the US pay for the removal and the cleanup, not to say the medical cost for the thousands who have been harmed by Depleted Uranium over the years ? After all they was responsible for putting people at risk - as DU do is poison..

Diclotican

Before going into the facts, just consider this from a logical standpoint. If a given group was making up stuff all those years ago... and they come out with yet another "report" today saying the same thing... you really can't take that as evidence that their nonsense has thus been proven correct. Take any nonsense conspiracy theory and you'll continue to see "reports" from true believers for decades... but that doesn't make the nonsense more reasonable.

As for the science... it's pretty straightforward. Natural uranium is incredibly common... it's all around you. If you have homes in your neighborhood with radon... that's because there's uranium in the ground that they sit on.

Depleted uranium is less radioactive than the natural stuff (which is why it's "depleted&quot . It would be very difficult to get a significant dose from DU. Yes... it's a "poison" since it's a heavy metal... but so is lead. You could inhale a dangerous amount of it if you were in an enclosed space (like a tank) that was struck with a DU round that spalled (inhaling a significant amount before it settled) - but if that were the case, they someone was shooting at you (presumably intending to kill you).

The truth hasn't changed in the decades since this debate began... DU is incredibly dangerous in really only one way... when it's traveling at high velocity.

Depleted Uranium rounds were overkill and not needed to defeat the armor the Iraqi army tanks, which were not top of the line. Tanks which were mostly abandoned from the start anyway.

Such an abuse of power.