Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading/listening to media reports about what is alleged to be a sudden sharp increase in the level of birth defects being detected in the town of Fallujah. Local doctors and townspeople are apparently claiming that the cause can be traced to the use of D.U. rounds and white phosphorous by U.S. troops during the battle against Sunni??? insurgents. The medical staff quoted are quick to state that they have no direct proof that this is this is the case but still insist it is the most likely cause.
Firstly, although I am not a military professional , if I put myself in the mind of the company/battalion commanders involved I can think of probably a dozen different weapon types I would prefer to use first instead of D.U. or W.P. especially in the "house to house" style tactical situations reported at the time of the battle.
e.g. Off the top of my head I can see medium and heavy machine guns, man portable missiles, vehicle mounted auto cannon/missiles , bulldozers and demolition charges etc as well as various GPS munitions as being far more useful practical for breaching walls and roadblocks. So my questions are:
Does anyone know if D.U rounds were used in any quantity in Fallujah?
Was W.P. used much? (And is it even carcinogenic?)
If the answers to the above are know then I suspect any spike in birth defects is far more likely to be attributed to contamination from Saddam era waste dumps or other causes and the locals however unfortunate their positions have simply latched onto the U.S. troops as a potential source of financial compensation for their plight.
Firstly, although I am not a military professional , if I put myself in the mind of the company/battalion commanders involved I can think of probably a dozen different weapon types I would prefer to use first instead of D.U. or W.P. especially in the "house to house" style tactical situations reported at the time of the battle.
e.g. Off the top of my head I can see medium and heavy machine guns, man portable missiles, vehicle mounted auto cannon/missiles , bulldozers and demolition charges etc as well as various GPS munitions as being far more useful practical for breaching walls and roadblocks. So my questions are:
Does anyone know if D.U rounds were used in any quantity in Fallujah?
Was W.P. used much? (And is it even carcinogenic?)
If the answers to the above are know then I suspect any spike in birth defects is far more likely to be attributed to contamination from Saddam era waste dumps or other causes and the locals however unfortunate their positions have simply latched onto the U.S. troops as a potential source of financial compensation for their plight.
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