On Tue, 11 Mar 2003 10:27:39 -0600, Denys Beauchemin <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>The Republic Thunderbolt II A-10 (AKA Warthog) is indeed a formidable
ground attack aircraft.  The plane is built around the
>seven-barrel GAU 8/A 30mm Avenger cannon, which fires a .94 lbs (.49kg)
round made up of depleted uranium.  The Warthog carries a
>full load of 1,174 rounds and a variety of ordnance on up to 11 hard
points under the wings and fuselage.  The primary weapon of the
>A-10 however, is the AGM-65 Maverick missile because of its accuracy,
effectiveness and the fact it can be fired from a longer
>distance than the Avenger gun.
>
>The use of depleted uranium in the core of a projectile has raised some
controversy ever since its debut.  At first, the Soviets
>accused the US of fielding atomic weapons in the A-10 but the
radioactivity of the DU round is really negligible.  The reason DU is
>used in such rounds is a question of mass.  DU is extremely dense (2.5
times greater than steel) and can thus concentrate a lot of
>mass on a single hard point inside the projectile.  This dense core can
defeat most armor.
>
>The M-1 Abrams main battle tank also uses DU in two ways.  1- The 120mm
smoothbore round it fires also as a DU core.  It is much
>bigger than the one in the 30mm round of the A-10.  2- The armor of the M-
1 Abrams tank is made up of DU encased in steel.
>
>http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/faq_17apr.htm
>
>I do not know where Guy got his figure of 10,000 but I suspect it is
inconsistent with reality.  Whilst we have all heard of Gulf
>War syndrome or disease, it has nothing to do with DU. On the other hand
it is much more likely that such a syndrome may be
>associated with exposure to undetected bio- or chemical weapons used by
Saddam.
>
>BTW, the British Challenger II main battle tank also fires a 120mm round
with a core of DU.
>
>Denys
>

Denys,
don't you think that the US and all other nations would have done anything
and everything to detect such bio-chemical weapons used by iraq in gulf war
1? I thought the US military is so advanced.
sometimes the truth could also be obvious. I wrote "could"

How many were send to the nuclear test-site in the early days and
politicians and high ranking officers knew of the danger?
Maybe agent orange was harmless as well and the north vietnamese used an
undetected chemical.
Get real.
The percentage of US republican politicians being crooks is as high as the
percentage of any other politician and in any other country.
They might try to hide it better but same thing.
History shows in the long run.

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