more Rokke-DU....

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B2E2DF9B-1E0C-43F4-BBF6-074C1367E27C.

htm

Washington's secret nuclear war

By Shaheen Chughtai 

Al Jazeera Tuesday 14 September 2004



The US has dropped tonnes of depleted uranium on Iraq



Illegal weapons of mass destruction have not only been found in Iraq but

have been used against Iraqis and have even killed US troops.



But Washington and its allies have tried to cover up this outrage because

the chief culprit is the US itself, argue American and other experts trying

to expose what they say is a war crime. 



The WMD in question is depleted uranium (DU). A radioactive by-product of

uranium enrichment, DU is used in ammunition such as tank shells and "bunker

busting" missiles because its density makes it ideal for piercing armour.



Thousands of DU shells and bombs have been used in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan

and - both during the 1990-91 Gulf war and the ongoing conflict - in Iraq.



"They're using it now, they're using it in Falluja, Baghdad is chock-a-block

with DU - it's all over the place," says Major Doug Rokke, director of the

US army's DU project in 1994-95.



Scientists say even a tiny particle can have disastrous results once

ingested, including various cancers and degenerative diseases, paralysis,

birth deformities and death.



And as tiny DU particles are blown across the Middle East and beyond like a

radioactive poison gas, the long-term implications for the world are deeply

disturbing.



DU has a "half-life" of 4.5 billion years, meaning it takes that long for

just half of its atoms to decay. 



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