On Monday, March 20th, 2023, The British Defense Ministry confirmed it would provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing DEPLETED URANIUM. (DU).
Russia’s response was prompt and in earnest:
“They (the UK) have already lost their bearings in terms of their actions and how these actions undermine strategic stability around the world.”
Sergei Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister)
Russia said that DEPLETED URANIUM munitions would escalate conflict
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned that Moscow would - "..respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a 'nuclear component.'"
A White House Official had this to say:
“Russia also has depleted uranium munitions, and just doesn't want Ukraine to have them, too.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-depleted-uranium-weapons-1.6788364
Please read that again:
This White House ‘official’ acknowledged that Russia HAS depleted Uranium weapons, but.. ‘doesn’t want Ukraine to have them’.
Translation -
Russia is NOT using their DU weapons.. just like they are not using their supply of nuclear weapons.. and does not want to be forced to.
BACKGROUND
WHAT IS DEPLETED URAINIUM?
Depleted uranium (DU) is a chemotoxic and radiotoxic heavy metal - classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a group I carcinogen. DU is the byproduct of enriching Uranium for nuclear energy reactors and nuclear weapons. Due to its unique armor piercing characteristics, DU weapon is highly effective against tanks: Coupled with the fact that it is denser even than lead, DU rounds sharpen themselves and ignite on impact, making them able to bore through the steel shell of tanks. At which point the explosive DU round ignites to over 2,000 degrees Farenheit, causing the vehicle’s fuel tank to explode - destroying the tank.
The US military deployed DU weapons during the first Gulf War in Iraq in 1991 and in the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
What’s it got to do with Ukraine?
The UK announced last week, that they intend to introduce depleted Uranium weapons to the battlefield in Ukraine.
(In 2006, many nations and the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons sought a ban on the production and military use of depleted uranium weapons. France and the UK rejected any ban).
WHY IS RUSSIA ‘UP IN ARMS’ ABOUT THE USE OF DU IN UKRAINE?
The use of DU in warfare has the most horrific consequences of all weapons, leaving the dead better off than the living - even generations following the end of combat. In Ukraine, Russia has been waging a war of ‘limited means’, maintaining the hope of bringing the conflict to a peaceful resolution - and restoring the relationship they had with their Slavic brethren - the Ukrainians. The insertion of depleted Uranium into Ukraine, even were Russia to not respond in kind - would devastate Ukraine to render it, like Iraq - unable to recover - and Ukrainian babies, like Iraqi babies, suffering an astronomical incidence of horrific birth defects. Russia does not want this for anyone - even for an enemy. What about the US?
HISTORY OF DU USE
Depleted Uranium warfare was first seen during Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf, in 1991 by the American and British militaries.
The Pentagon estimates that 320 tons of depleted uranium were fired by US and UK units in Iraq. The residual radioactive material left behind in Iraq has held devastating consequences for that nation.
So why has it not been ‘cleaned up?’
Depleted uranium cannot be eliminated. Once it is in the air, soil and water, it is forever - The half-life of the radioactivity of DU is - 4.5 BILLION years1.
In Iraq, and Afghanistan, the US military attempted to eliminate the war detritus, chemicals, medical waste, and leftover DU - using burn pits - gaping holes in the ground into which servicemen threw tons of trash and chemicals daily - igniting them with jet fuel - sending daily plumes of dangerous toxic smoke into the air.
Burning highly toxic chemicals, however, does not eliminate them, as the unfortunate residents of East Palestine, Ohio have recently learned, but heightens their harmful effects. Burn pits failed to eliminate the effects of depleted uranium, instead making matters worse by releasing dioxin2 into the air, soil, and water, affecting everyone in its path - Iraqi or American3.
‘Depleted uranium (DU) is a burgeoning environmental pollutant that is introduced into the environment by military activity’.
“While depleted uranium is less radioactive than natural uranium, it still retains all the chemical toxicity associated with the original element.
In large doses the kidney is the target organ for the acute chemical toxicity of this metal, producing potentially lethal tubular necrosis. However, a chronic low dose exposure to depleted uranium may not produce a clear and defined set of symptoms, [making it more difficult to diagnose].
Chronic low-dose exposure to depleted uranium alters the appearance of milestones in developing organisms. Adult animals exposed to depleted uranium during development display altered behaviors, and a variety of alterations to brain chemistry, even after cessation of depleted uranium exposure .”4
HOW DO PEOPLE CONTRACT THE EFFECTS OF DEPLETED URANIUM?
On impact with a hard target - (e.g.. an armored tank), weaponized uranium generates a cloud of uranium oxide particles, through a property known as pyrophoricity. Exposure to the weaponized uranium is through ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, and embedded fragments (shrapnel).
“In 2003-2004, the USA extensively used DU munitions in strikes on targets in Iraqi cities: Amarah, Baghdad, Basra, Karbala, Fallujah. The resulting radioactive fallout in Fallujah alone was “worse than what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Igor Kirillov
“This city is still called the second Chernobyl.” Kirillov stressed.
“Exposure to uranium oxides via inhalation or ingestion has been shown to induce carcinogenic and teratogenic effects in non-human in vivo animal studies.
After absorption, uranium oxides are metabolised to uranyl ions that readily bond with other molecules, including proteins and bioligands, and are transported throughout the body via systemic circulation. Most uranium that is absorbed is excreted in urine within 24 hours, but that which remains is stored in the bones, the kidneys and the liver.” 5
Uranium is also capable of crossing the blood–brain barrier and the placental barrier.
DEPLETED URANIUM IS FOREVER
DU projectiles fired from an aircraft may miss their intended target - and be buried in the ground, and inside of buildings. The physical state of these ammunitions will vary , ranging from small fragments to whole intact penetrators. Individuals, who might find and handle these ammunitions could be exposed to external radiation emitted by DU.
With time, chemical weathering will cause the metallic DU of penetrators in the ground to corrode and disperse in the soil. The DU in the soil will be in an oxidized, soluble chemical form and migrate to surface and groundwater from where it will eventually be incorporated into the food chain, which then can be consumed.”
“Once absorbed, uranium has been shown to increase the presence of reactive oxygen species, break DNA strands and alter gene expression leading to adverse clinical effects. Chronic exposure scenarios put local populations at greater risk to adverse health effects than veteran populations.
SOLDIERS ON BOTH SIDES DO NOT ESCAPE
After the Gulf War, thousands of veterans began to voice their newly emerging chronic health problems. ‘The Gulf War syndrome’ or ‘Gulf War illness’ were coined to describe this new illness affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
Approximately 250,000 of the 697,000 veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War are afflicted with enduring chronic multi-symptom illness, a condition with serious consequences.
Veterans reported: neurological problems, chronic skin rashes, respiratory problems, chronic flu-like symptoms including severe body aches, immune system disorders, severe fatigue, joint pain, gynecological infection, bleeding gums and lesions, and unexplained rapid weight loss.
Hundreds of thousands of veterans were examined and told that they suffered from an illness that was not yet able to be diagnosed.
The military has still not agreed to fund studies to finally prove that veterans who were exposed to DU have health related issues.
WHAT MAKES DU SO HARMFUL.
After the deployment of depleted uranium munition, the radioactive effects of depleted uranium remain entered the environment by the dust released during the deployment of such weapons or by fragments of munition deeply buried in the soil, or by its pyrophoric effects. In the Gulf War - the sand would pick up the radiotoxic effect of DU, and distribute it widely in the deserts routine sand storms.
A 2005 study by Iraqi scientists of the DU weapons used in Iraq during the US-led invasion demonstrated that the radioactive remnants in the environment caused abnormal developments of children, such as organ damage and deformities of limbs.
ARE DEPLETED URAINIUM WEAPONS AGAINST INTERNATIONAL LAW?
‘Depleted uranium munitions are not explicitly covered by existing arms control treaties, such as the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III) of the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980, the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 or the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1992.’
Insofar, the law of arms control does not apply to depleted uranium munition and therefore other legal regimes have to be taken into consideration, most notably humanitarian law.
Humanitarian Law
“According to Article 35 para 2 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, means and methods of warfare are prohibited which cause superfluous injuries or unnecessary suffering.”
Arguably, depleted uranium munitions - increasing the probability of suffering from cancer and other diseases and leading to the contamination of air, soil and water, does lead to unnecessary suffering. However, Article 35 para 2 AP I is still being disputed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross named a few weapons, which have been cited by states as those causing superfluous injuries or unnecessary suffering, such as incendiary weapons, and biological and chemical weapons. These weapons are prohibited by several arms control treaties, such as the Protocol III, the Biological and the Chemical Weapons Convention.” Depleted uranium munitions however, falls outside the scope of these treaties.”
This is remarkable seeing as DU IS a chemical weapon and DOES cause unnecessary suffering and superfluous injuries.
The only reason this writer can imagine that depleted uranium weapons have not yet been banned, is their favored use by the United States and Great Britain, which powerful states have regularly voted against any ban.
Iraq reported a sharp increase in the incidence of child leukemia and genetic malformation among babies born. Iraqi doctors attributed these malformations to the long-term effects of DU.
A medical survey in the BBC was conducted and published in July 2010, which stated that, “In Iraq increases in cancer and birth defects are alarmingly high” - The “infant mortality [2009 /2010] has reached 13.6%”.
In Kosovo, the number of patients suffering from malignant diseases has increased 200% since 1998.
Contamination results have also been growing in Afghanistan and Iraq.
IN SUMMARY
The US invaded a sovereign nation (Iraq) in 2003 on the false premise that they 'had' weapons of mass destruction (they didn't). Whereupon the US and UK - EMPLOYED weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - 'depleted uranium' missiles.
The USA employed THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND Depleted Uranium Missiles in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, during the ‘Gulf War’, that we started. The end result has been the killing and maiming of millions of Iraqi civilians of all ages, which devastating carnage is ongoing.
During three months of bombing Serbia in 1999, NATO dropped 15 tons of depleted uranium. Serbia became number one country in Europe regarding cancer diseases
In Iraq today - new parents don't ask their doctor 'is it a boy?' or.. 'It is a girl?" They ask - 'Is it normal?'
One woman asked ‘will my next baby be normal? The doctor could not answer
UKRAINE
But now the UK is planning on repeating the DU atrocity in a new place. UKRAINE.
Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia have suffered the unending effects of our the use of DU in their nations. The next sacrifice is slated to be Ukraine and Russia.
The United Kingdom is willing to use Depleted Uranium, as their own countrymen will not be affected. Just the expendable ‘Slavs’ will.
That the use of this weapon of mass destruction is not yet banned on Earth, has everything to do with London and Washington veto power and lobbying. It is the largest and best financed military’s that love this most evil of all hand held weapons.
But will Russia sit by and wait for us to do this to their troops?
Captain Joyce Riley addressed the topic of depleted uranium in her documentary “Beyond Treason”. (Link below)
“The extremely powerful film presents comprehensive documentation from United States Government archives of a massive cover-up, including military and civilian experimentation, dating back over 60 years. As ailing Gulf War Heroes from all 27 coalition countries slowly die of "unknown causes," they wait for answers from their respective governments, but no satisfying or even credible answers have come forth from the military establishment.”
From the documentary - during a question answer period, a member of the audience told the panel - ‘THIS IS NOT BIRTH DEFECT, IT’S INHUMANE FAR BEYOND THE DEFINITION OF A BIRTH DEFECT”
From the first Gulf War the VA has determined that 250,000 troops are now permanently disabled, 15,000 troops are dead and over 425,000 troops are ill and slowly dying from what the Department of Defense still calls a "mystery disease."
Records point to negligence and even culpability on the part of the U.S. Department of Defense and their "disposable army" mentality.
The use of Depleted Uranium charges in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Syria by the USA represents the most egregious of US war crimes of all times - matching in evil - if not scope - the crimes of the Nazis in WWII. Will the crime be repeated in Ukraine? VJCB
What are the possible consequences of the introduction of such weaponry in Ukraine?
Besides the devastating effects on the Ukrainian people, and their land;
besides the devastating effects on the indigenous Russian population of Ukraine;
besides the devastating effects on the soldiers on each side of the conflict;
Remains the blatant invitation to Russia, to reply to the weaponized uranium with their own nuclear weapons.
This answer is already on the table.
The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has stated that Russian Nuclear weapons will be placed in Belarus in answer to any introduction of DU weapons by the British military to Kiev.
Moscow blasted the move as a sign of “absolute recklessness, irresponsibility and impunity” on the part of London and Washington.
The incredibly insouciant US dismissed Russia’s concerns by calling depleted uranium shells a “commonplace type of munition that has been in use for decades.”
This ‘commonplace munition’ remark - is deeply disturbing rhetoric on the part of the United States, callously downplaying the ongoing depth of destruction and devastation - both civilian and military - in all of the nations that have suffered our use of DU to date.
Such astonishing insouciance of the USA was on display all the more blatantly in the White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby’s comment last week.. “If Russia is concerned about the welfare of their tanks and soldiers … they could just take them across the border back into Russia.”
Yes.. and the US could pull their nuclear missile sites out of Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, and Britain, along with our other international missile sites encircling Russia since the 1950s.. rather than playing a cat and mouse game to see who will push the red button first.
One thing is abundantly clear - This is not about ‘helping Ukraine’.
If the U.S. Department of Defense maintains a "disposable army" mentality for our own troops - what concern do you imagine they could possibly have for Ukraine, or the Ukrainian people.
In fact, the UK & US’s eagerness to insert DU’s into the war - are all the evidence we need of the true intention of these countries to destroy Ukraine, and to drag the whole world into a nuclear war. VJCBingham
The Russian Defense Ministry then warned that their [DU’s] use could trigger nothing short of a radioactive disaster in Ukraine, citing the aftermath of the use of such munitions by NATO in Iraq. (Gospanews.net)
“This will end badly for London.” Sergei Lavrov
It will end badly for everyone. VJCBingham
The half life of a radioactive isotope is that point when it has diminished to 1/2 of its original radiotoxicity.
Dioxin is Agent Orange - the chemical that devastated the land and people of Vietnam, during that war, and made an entire generation of US servicemen gravely ill. The DU, and Dioxin released into the environment in Iraq has left a legacy of sickness and death, and sterility. For those Iraqis who manage to have children, the results are even more grave..
Each base in Iraq and Afghanistan, no matter how small, had a pit where contractors or service members burned everything from human waste to Styrofoam plates to old computers, to unexploded ordnance (DU included). Experts say troops—and contractors, foreign nationals, and journalists—were exposed to the same contaminants as the first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
NIH - The toxicity of depleted uranium’ by Wayne Briner · 2010
NIH - 'Weaponised uranium and adverse health outcomes in Iraq: a systematic review’ Shelby Surdyk, Moustapha Itani, Mais Al-Lobaidy, et al.
Unimaginable pain… God have mercy … CHURCH OF JESUS wake up!!!
Тревожный
I thought I had already plumbed the depths of the evil perpetrated by the west. Also, I thought that the more recent atrocities were more severe in nature. Apparently, I was wrong. Though not ‘scared’ as such, this is disturbing. There seems to be no end.
Our only hope is in the Lord.