Afghans to probe whether U.S. used depleted uranium

[proud2BlibKansan]

http://nawaaye-afghanistan.net/spip.php?article6366

Reuters - Kabul, Apr 19, 2008
By Tan Ee Lyn

The Afghan government plans to investigate whether the United States used depleted uranium during its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and if it might be linked to malformed babies born afterwards.

Parts of Afghanistan, particularly the mountainous region of Tora Bora in the east — the suspected hideout of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden — came under heavy U.S. bombing in late 2001 when the Taliban regime was ousted.

Depleted uranium is a heavy metal used in some weapons that can pierce armour. It has small levels of radioactivity associated with it.

Cases of malformed babies delivered in the heavily bombed Afghan areas have come to light, Faizullah Kakar, Afghan deputy public health minister for technical affairs said on Saturday, citing an unnamed U.S. expert.

more . . .

[Longtooth]

1. Don't think they really need to "investigate" the use of depleted uranium

shells. It is widely known that US tanks use them as their main weapon. It is going to a bit more difficult to link the problems to THEIR specific use though. There may very well be a lot of other reasons for the problems.

[dougolat]

2. 10 years after the first gulf war,

southern Iraq had areas of excessive birth defects and cancers that correlated with DU use. The investigation and documentation was derailed by the current war, but if the chaos ever settles down, the much more extensive use of DU in Operation Iraqi Liberation and Afghanistan, along with the Balkan use and the U.S. military exposure, just might become a big issue - just another reason to keep things stirred up, don't you think?

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. War crimes

I am just adding this to my list.

[MiniMe]

4. So is the whole invasion of Iraq partly a cover for Daddy's use

of DU? :tinfoilhat: Gotta go brush off the tinfoil hat