Wednesday 13 April 2011

NATO Using Depleted Uranium in Libya

According to an article on RT (video below) NATO is using depleted Uranium munitions in Libya.
NATO denies that. However, one US specialist, who was interviewed, dismisses their denial saying that some of the weapons platforms being used only use depleted uranium munitions. Moroever, he states, the pictures of the tanks and other equipment, that have been hit, bear clear signs of being hit by depleted Uranium munitions. When it explodes, it does so at very high temperatures, which melt 4 inch thick armour plating like butter, that enables the munitions to cleanly penetrate the armour leaving a distinctive single entry point.

It is not just the radioactivity of depleted Uranium that is the problem with it.
The real problem is that, when it explodes at these very high temperatures, it turns into a fine powder. The powder then disperses into the air to be breathed in, or else it settles into the ground, finding its way into water courses, and the water table, and consequently being ingested. As a heavy metal, it is very toxic, causing cancers and other health problems, such as birth defects. Once again, as with other instances of imperialist intervention, it appears that the consequence will be not just large numbers of civilian casualties in the short term, but a long term legacy of death, destruction and misery, long after anyone is thinking about why the intervention occurred in the first place.

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