people who have been starved by UN sanctions and deformed by depleted uranium since 1991 will greet them as saviours.
Point 1: Who has been diverting funds from the UN Oil-for-Food program into building palaces and missiles?
Point 2: Q: Who made public the biggest study on DU and its effects on Iraqis? A: Saddam
Q: What happened when the W.H.O. offered to come to Iraq and investigate/confirm? A: Saddam said "fvck no"
Linkage for DU and its ill effects, ripped from a previous post of mine:
link
"DoD conducted over 34 experiments designed to measure the amount of DU that may be inhaled. This includes DU munitions hitting a variety of armored vehicles as well as fires involving depleted uranium munitions. What we have consistently found is that levels may exceed peacetime safety standards only if you are in, on or near - less than 50 meters - a vehicle at the time it is hit by a DU munition.
"Almost as soon as the round hits and the dust has settled, the standards on the outside of the vehicle will rapidly fall to levels that are a lot lower than the safety standards," he said.
Considering the part in bold, I would have to say that the effects of it after it is dispersed by wind, water, etc, are neglible. So, since the only people that could really be effected are the guys within 50 meters of impact, and considering that the armor on a T-72 (the best tank the Iraqis have in quantity) is almost always going to be ineffective against US fired DU rounds, the only people at risk are the guys outside the tanks, but within 50 meters, NOT "soldiers using the weapons... and civilians, leading to birth defects in children". The targets that get hit by DU usually dont have to worry about the long term effects of DU. Only the guys around the targets.
EDIT:
link #2
link #3
Second, some of the opposition is the result of a successful Iraqi disinformation campaign claiming that exposure to DU had caused thousands of cancers and birth defects to innocent civilians. When the WHO offered to investigate the claims, Iraqi officials flatly refused the offer
Link #4
A 2001 WHO study found that DU's hazards are "likely to be very small." A RAND Corporation study in 1999 and another 2001 project funded by the European Parliament concurred.