The Biden administration will for the first time send controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, according to a document seen by Reuters and separately confirmed by two U.S. officials.

The use of depleted uranium munitions has been fiercely debated, with opponents like the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons saying there are dangerous health risks from ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust, including cancers and birth defects.

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
    368·
    2 years ago

    I’m sure Ukrainian soldiers on the front line are worried about cancer and birth defects.

    • flipht@kbin.social
      3117·
      2 years ago

      It’s not about them. It’s the children who find the spent ammo later.

      This crap is the reason that there are birth defects spikes anywhere the US military operates.

      • kitonthenet@kbin.social
        232·
        2 years ago

        Ok but the alternatives are not environmentally conscious either, finally the people who’s land it is should be the ones making choices about the conditions of that land

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
              85·
              2 years ago

              That’s a really convenient narrative based on the fallacy of homogenizing Ukraine. Let’s take a look at a few slides from this lecture that Mearsheimer gave back in 2015 to get a bit of background on the subject. Mearsheimer is certainly not pro Russian in any sense, and a proponent of US global hegemony. First, here’s the demographic breakdown of Ukraine:

              here’s how the election in 2004 went:

              this is the 2010 election:

              As we can clearly see from the voting patterns in both elections, the country is divided exactly across the current line of conflict. Furthermore, a survey conducted in 2015 further shows that there is a sharp division between people of eastern and western Ukraine on which economic bloc they would rather belong to:

              Maybe learn a bit about the subject first.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
              87·
              2 years ago

              Russia is obviously not going to withdraw, and you or me asking Russia to withdraw isn’t going to make it happen. However, people living in western countries do have at least some influence on their own regimes. Of course, the reason western regimes can keep the proxy war going is precisely because a lot of scumbags are cheering it on right now.

                • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
                  47·
                  2 years ago

                  People of Donbas whom the Ukrainian regime was abusing for the past eight years asked Russia for help to defend their lives and home. The atrocities the Ukrainian regime was committing were even covered by CNN in 2014 https://twitter.com/paulius60/status/1611148483859255296

                  Meanwhile, the west is not helping Ukraine, it’s prolonging the war which results in more people dying without changing the outcome. This war could’ve been over last March when Russia and Ukraine almost signed a deal, but UK and US decided to torpedo it. If that’s your idea of helping Ukraine then you need to get your head checked.

          • FireMyth@lemmy.one
            47·
            2 years ago

            Lol the people of ukraine are fighting against a war of aggression from Russia. That’s it.

        • CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world
          96·
          2 years ago

          The alternative bring tungsten? It’s very stable so anything besides eating a spent rod isn’t going to have effects. If it’s in the air it’ll just be inert. Even if it gets in your lungs it’ll be like any other dust. DU on the other hand would keep emitting radiation internally.

      • cooljacob204@kbin.social
        206·
        2 years ago

        The amount of Ukrainians dying right now will pale in comparison to those effected by the munitions.

        The controversy around depleted uranium rounds is way overblown.

        Even in Iraq the evidence is super inconclusive. And yes birth defects rose however the entire country basically collapsed for years and nothing clearly indicates it was the DU used.

        Don’t get me wrong, it’s nasty stuff. But this is war, more people are getting killed by bombs then any DU related cancer can cause.

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
        141·
        2 years ago

        This makes sense.

        I imagine there’s a lot more reasons for birth defect spikes post US mil ops in addition to this. The military isn’t exactly an environmentally conscious operation. ☠️

        • flipht@kbin.social
          107·
          2 years ago

          Sure, burn pits and other crap will help.

          But this kind of ammo, kids will find and hang on to. They bring it home, add it to their collection of other cool shit they’ve scavenged…and then their brothers and sisters are born with malformed limbs, mishaped heads, etc.

          There have been a lot of stories written about it over the years. The one I read was specifically about Iraq I believe, but it was a while ago.

      • fosforus@sopuli.xyz
        46·
        2 years ago

        We have to remember that Russia caused this war, however. So they also caused the depleted uranium being a possible health risk for future ukrainian children.

    • bouh@lemmy.world
      83·
      2 years ago

      You will get cancer sooner by staying in the sun on a beach or anywhere.

    • pelikan@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      Yes, Ukrainian soldiers on front line are worried about cancer and birth defects. They are rational human beings who hope to return to their homes and live long lives and grow healthy children, not some subhumans with only intent to kill, kill, kill, as you wish to think.

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
        13·
        2 years ago

        I don’t know how rational this is. Given how many soldiers have died so far, if I were a Ukrainian sent to fight on the front line, I wouldn’t expect to be coming back. Rather I’d hope that I contribute to the defeat of the enemy, so that my children or my comrades children don’t grow up under Russian rule. I’m not in their shoes of course. There’s no universal motivation so maybe what you say is more prevalent. That said, this war might not end without soldiers doing a lot more killing so “kill, kill, kill” might be an appropriate viewpoint.

    • teddy_m@lemmy.ml
      1319·
      2 years ago

      Everyone should worry. Depleted uranium will contaminate large crop production areas and later these grains will be sold all around the world. Everybody will eat some.

        • teddy_m@lemmy.ml
          52·
          2 years ago

          Depleted means that the radioactive isotope is lower in concentration. It still is somehow radioactive (it’s almost fine if not ingested) and still remains a heavy and toxic metal.

            • krolden@lemmy.ml
              53·
              2 years ago

              When they explode, they spread radioactive dust into the surrounding area. If that area is ever farmed it can contaminate the crops and cause cancer to anyone breathing in the dust

          • bouh@lemmy.world
            44·
            2 years ago

            Banana is somehow radioactive too you know. Or granit. Anciant Greece monument often are above the radiation levels allowed in a nuclear power plant.

            Also, while you talk about it, lead is far far more toxic than depleted uranium. Many metals are toxic actually, that’s why your government monitor water meant for consumption.

        • slice1@lemmy.ml
          14·
          2 years ago

          Are you denser then Uranium? Why do you think there is an issue with waste from nuclear power plants? Hint: it is radioactive!