Every few weeks some commentary on uranium toxicity involving complete ignorance of what a radiological toxin is, surfaces on the internet.
It is pure nonsense. Uranium is a common naturally occurring element, about as common as tin. There are 3 to 4 billion tons of uranium in seawater alone.
It is not as if the scientific community has not taken the risk of uranium tank shells seriously, but irrespective of science, you will have a subset of people who know nothing of science running around claiming that the problem with the war in Iraq is uranium shells and radioactivity,
irrespective of what the scientific literature reports. Some will go so far as interpret the Iraq war as a "nuclear war" showing that they not only have are lacking the remotest fucking clue about what radiation is and is not, but they also have no fucking clue what nuclear war is and is not.
Depleted uranium has been used in heavy armor for tanks as well as in kinetic energy ammunition. The great density of uranium confers DU munitions with better armor-piercing capabilities. On impact, the uranium fragments into many tiny particles that can then ignite. These fragments, whether caused by the impact and subsequent explosion, by damage to armor on vehicles, or by vehicles and munitions damaged by fire, can form a particulate dust that can be inhaled or contaminate wounds.449,450
The role of DU in the development of illnesses in veterans of the Persian Gulf conflict has recently
been discounted, as the soldiers most directly in contact with dust, namely those in or near explosions of DU ordinance or armored vehicles or others who treated or rescued the wounded, do not exhibit any increase in the symptoms expected in those with more direct exposure.449,450 Depleted uranium has 40% less specific activity than naturally occurring uranium, but as a heavy metal, it is still chemically toxic.450 Thus, it follows that the kidney should be the first organ directly affected by poisoning with uranium, and yet these soldiers were not found to have suffered any impairment of renal function.449 Studies seeking to establish a connection between uranium exposure and bone cancers are inconclusive. 449 The potential for kidney damage or increased bone cancer is still being followed in these patients, and chelating ligands could be useful in reducing the potential effects of uranium in wounds.
Now get this right: Tank shells are meant to kill people. Tank shells do not protect people. They do not save people. They are tank shells. They are
weapons. The war is not wrong because uranium is used in war, any more than commercial aircraft are wrong because uranium is used in commercial aircraft. War is wrong because it is war. Tank shells are wrong whether they are made from uranium, steel, or hardened green melted plastic army men from the 1950's. They are wrong because they are meant to
kill.
The last thing we need in the antiwar movement is for people to be able to point to us and say we are full of shit. In fact though, the uranium game is full of shit. I say this every time this dumb stuff surfaces, carrying on about depleted uranium does not enhance our credibility; it diminishes it. If we want to focus on uranium stupidity, it is best to focus on the forged Niger uranium documents, which like the tank shell hysteria, relied on public mysticism about all things radioactive. I, like Elbaradei, knew that the Bush-Cheney nonsense about Saddam Hussein in Africa was nonsense, because I understand chemistry and physics.