NATO Using Nuclear Weapons in Libya (leader, parties, education, government)

[Mathguy]

Most of the DU used in Iraq would have likely originated from M1 tank AP rounds, Apache helicopter anti-tank rounds and then A10's and AC130's.

I am highly skeptical that they'd be putting DU rounds in F18's etc. on any sort of regular usage basis so I find that to be doubtful as ground attack options would be more bomb oriented. (THose planes were bombing airfields, bridges, performing CAP operations or hunting mobile sites....none of which one would be carrying DU rounds for.)

I guess I just keep wandering back to my earlier post and oil fires carry well known carginogens and other toxins in the smoke so I view DU as the molehill next to the mountain of toxic contaminants spread across the area during the war.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by AONE

That is outright ignorant. I could care less who uses this material. It should be banned and war crimes are a potential when used., I don't care if it is W or Obama. I will gladly escort either to the plane for the Hague.

DU is dangerous to our forces it causes a great deal of pain and suffering and then starts a whole cover up from the military so they won't admit why such young people are dying. They are provided this ammunition without knowledge of the danger then everyone is baffled when they erupt with nasty illnesses and the military discharges them after they spend all their time in the hospitals.

I think we need to eradicate this material from our stock piles. If our officials use it they need to be brought up on crimes against humanity.

This is my leftist position.

Why do you blame DU vs. other contaminants like the oil fires? I personally feel that while DU is bad (and we can all generally agree on it) that there is a certain segment that honed in on DU as the one and only culprit for various reasons including political attacks. (Nothing like being able to scream that we should drag Bush and Chaney to the Hague for warcrimes.)

The origin of many DU claims make me at least partially skeptical as to the extent which they contributed.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Actually the Tomcat (F-14) was decommissioned in late 2006.

Thanks and I stand corrected. Grumman F-14 Tomcat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was under the impression that it had been pretty well replaced by the F-18 E and F models quite a bit earlier. I'm biased, I like the Tomcat, it was a great, and very versital fighter. I think more could have been done with it, especially in ground attack modes.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

Thanks and I stand corrected. Grumman F-14 Tomcat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was under the impression that it had been pretty well replaced by the F-18 E and F models quite a bit earlier. I'm biased, I like the Tomcat, it was a great, and very versital fighter. I think more could have been done with it, especially in ground attack modes.

Good fighter but not as easy to modify to the attack role as the F-4.

Also, the Tomcat was always somewhat of a maintenance nightmare and got more and more expensive to keep in the air. And, contrary to what was seen in Top Gun, was kind of a hard airplane to fly. It was heavy and the landing speed was really fast with a lot less margin for error than even the Phantom (which had some interesting low speed handling characteristics when coming into the blunt end) or especially the Hornet.

[70Ford]

Several Obama haters here were clamoring for him to do something. Why can't Obama haters make up their damn minds.

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by 70Ford

Several Obama haters here were clamoring for him to do something. Why can't Obama haters make up their damn minds.

Which 'Obama haters' would that be???

[slackjaw]

The "Surveying and Collecting Specimens and Laboratory Measuring Group" are the scientists who found this evidence? They are so well known the first three pages of google hits on the name of their group is this very article.

More evidence from "Stop the War Coalition" imagine that.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by 70Ford

Several Obama haters here were clamoring for him to do something. Why can't Obama haters make up their damn minds.

Um....this has been going on for 8 years.

[Frank_Carbonni]

Originally Posted by jwm1964

Depleted Uranium?
I've never heard of this before reading this article.
Is it a violation of the Geneva Convention to use DU?

No for two reasons:

1) The Geneva Convention relates to treatment of civilians and POWs. The treaty that refers to how weapons can be deployed in war is the Hague Convention.

2) Depleted Uranium is mildly radioactive (hence the "depleted") and although it is indeed a poisonous metal, not any more so than lead or other heavy metals and actually less so than tungsten (the other metal frequently used in the same capacity as DU).

[ted08721]

Depleted Uranium (DU) is a toxic, radioactive heavy metal that is the waste byproduct of the uranium enrichment process when producing nuclear weapons and uranium for nuclear reactors. Because this radioactive waste is plentiful and 1.7 times more dense than lead, the United States government uses DU in munitions/ammunition which are extremely effective at piercing armored vehicles. However, every round of DU ammunition leaves a residue of DU dust on everything it hits, contaminating the surrounding area with toxic waste that has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, the age of our solar system, and turns every battlefield and firing range into a toxic waste site that poisons everyone in such areas. DU dust can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through scratches in the skin. DU is linked to DNA damage, cancer, birth defects, and multiple other health problems. The United Nations classifies Depleted Uranium ammunitions as illegal Weapons of Mass Destruction because of their long-term impact on the land over which they are used and the long-term health problems they cause when people are exposed to them.