Friday, April 08, 2005

DU Death Toll Tops 11,000

"The 'malady [from DU] that thousands of our military have suffered and died from has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. . . . The terrible truth is now being revealed,' Bernklau said." (Via CP.)

I have to wonder if these "Support Our Troops" savants I see on a daily basis can even spell "depleted uranium." Have any of them campaigned against the military use of nuclear waste in Iraq -- which kills our own personnel as well as the brown-skinned people we're busy "liberating"?

If everyone with a yellow ribbon on his/her car would rally against the use of DU -- vocally and meaningfully -- thousands of lives might be saved. And maybe the true magnitude of the devastation we're inflicting might see the light of day. Of course, ultimately, "Supporting Our Troops" isn't about compassion at all, so I'm not holding my breath.
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Support Our Troops" doesn't mean support for our troops. It's code for "I voted for Bush."

12:33 AM
Mac said...

You got that right.

12:58 AM
Mac said...

"Just so you know, Depleted Uranium is NOT nuclear waste"

Depleted uranium is exactly and precisely nuclear waste by very definition.

"Why would you think that the military would want to intentionally harm their members??"

I never said they did and I don't think they do. DU makes great armor-piercing weapons. The problem is that a fraction of the stuff aerosolizes on impact, and soldiers inadvertantly inhale it.

The Pentagon seems to be willing to ignore the risk because of the tactical benefits -- a sort of Faustian pact.

"By the way I was an Aviation Ordinance Marine, handled 10s of thousands of rounds of DU. No ill effects......"

Yet.

Ever *breathe* the stuff?

1:57 PM
Mac said...

"by calling DU nuclear waste"

It's not a matter of "calling" it nuclear waste; its *is* nuclear waste.

And while you are correct that its level of radioactivity is small compared to deadlier types of waste -- like the kind we bury in barrels in the ocean, where they can crack open when a tsunami hits -- it's still quite dangerous stuff.

Frankly, I find your need to apologize for the military's wanton use of DU at all costs a bit weird.

10:00 PM

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