The United States has used depleted uranium (DU) weapons since the Gulf War in 1990, especially in Iraq. In Fallujah, DU weapons were used aggressively in 2004, destroying homes and infrastructure and killing thousands of civilians. Since then, birth defects, mental retardation, and rare cancers have drastically increased, indicating radiation exposure. However, the Pentagon denies and conceals evidence of DU's toxic effects. It refuses to release research on civilian casualties, keeping the world ignorant of Fallujah's suffering from DU exposure. Private scientists consider DU weapons a crime against humanity, but Fallujah lacks resources to clean up radioactive waste or treat health complications. As long as the US prevents research, occupied countries will remain in turmoil.

1. Ally Fuller
Global Militarism & Unending Wars
Assignment #4
3/20/15
Depleted Uranium Weapons
The United States Military and its allies have been implementing the use of
Depleted Uranium (DU) weaponry since the Gulf War in 1990. These weapons have been
especially utilized in the Iraq war: Fallujah being the focal point for the fiercest fighting
during occupation. Following the failure of the first U.S. led siege of the city in 2004,
Fallujah and its people were reputed as anti-American extremists especially by U.S.
mainstream media. Months later the U.S. military launched an aggressive siege on
Fallujah destroying 36,000 homes, 60 schools, hundreds of mosques and a near 6,000
civilians. (Goodman) Unfortunately, the suffering didn’t end there. Since the attack, there
has been a drastic increase in birth defects, mental retardation, and rare cancers within the
city: a tell tale sign of radiation exposure. The Pentagon releasing misleading information
while also concealing and denying oppositional research supports the continuous
employment of these toxic DU weapons.
The strategic language used to describe these tragedies as a by-product of war, not
unlike Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is the main reason why the U.S. military continuously
gets away with committing what are essentially war crimes. From a Western point of
view, the use of WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction) by “non-Westerners” is cause for
combative military intervention, yet when Western militaries make use of weapons just
as insidious it’s painted as unfortunate but necessary for the greater good. Where the rest
of the world uses Fallujah as an example of the horrors of U.S. occupations, the West
considers it a victory in crippling the leading forces of terrorism. (Huffingtonpost)

2. In addition to the manipulation of language, occupying forces have restricted the
research and analysis of DU weapons on human health and environment. If it weren’t for
advocacy groups bringing attention to the problem of Gulf War Syndrome (health
complications of Gulf War veterans caused by exposure to DU weapons), Iraqi
researches would’ve never been able to launch an investigation into the radiation levels
of highly contaminated sites to avoid. To this day, the Pentagon is still claiming that these
health issues are caused by “hydrocarbon smoke of oil fires in southern Iraq.” (Harvard)
The U.S.’s refusal to release any legitimate research related to post-occupation civilian
casualties essentially keeps the Western world oblivious to Fallujah’s suffering.
The “shoot first and ask questions later” strategy implemented by our military
effectively eliminates any thought or discussion of the long-term repercussions of using
these DU weapons. In 2003, when confronted with the problem of DU shells in Iraq,
Colonel James Naughton of U.S. Army Material Command responded, “They want it to
go away because we kicked the crap out of them;” this being an excellent example of
how the discussion surrounding our use of toxic weapons as being glorified by our
government. (Huffingtonpost)
The intentional use of DU weapons by the U.S. military is widely considered to
be a crime against humanity by private scientists and researchers who’ve taken it upon
themselves to research their health effects. In Fallujah, the question is no longer who is to
blame, but how can we fix this. The city doesn’t have the resources to properly clean up
the radioactive waste and hospitals lack funding to combat the unique health
complications resulting from radiation exposure. As long as the U.S. administration

3. continues to conceal and prevent research government research of DU in warfare, Iraq
and many other countries previously occupied by our military will remain in turmoil.

4. Works Cited
Dr. Souan N. Al-Azzawi. “Depleted Uranium Radioactive Contamination in Iraq:
An Overview. Harvard.edu. Accessed March 20, 2015.
<http://users.physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/soundscience/Al-Azzawi.pdf>
Goodman, Amy. “Ten Years Later, U.S. Has Left Iraq with Mass Displacement &
Epidemic of Birth Defects, Cancers.” Democracynow.org. Accessed March 20, 2015.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/20/ten_years_later_us_has_left
“U.S. Depleted Uranium as Malicious as Syrian Chemical Weapons.”
Huffingtonpost.com. August 29, 2013. Accessed March 20, 2015.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-considine/us-depleted-uranium-as-
ma_b_3812888.html