Phalanx-like system to protect soldiers against mortars

LA Maximus
That's not what depleted means silly man. Depleted means reduced, in number or quantity, not removed. DU is U235 that's been used, it's still radioactive for about another 50k years or so. Don't lecture me on the english language, mkay? I think you should genuflect and apologize for putting the entire human race at risk with your ignorance.

Nygdan
Why haven't they used tungsten? I'll tell you why, because they need to get rid of all the radioactive waste uranium lying around. Other countries are getting the idea too.

It's radiological warfare, poisoning a population for millenia to come. It's not war, it's genocide.

For the same reason you don't dump oil down the sewer grate or take a dump in your neighbor's living room, you don't spread radioactive material across population centers.

It's bad form, to say the least.

Look, I'm restraining myself from flying off the handle here. I think you, Nygdan, are a pragmatist, and I can respect that to a degree, but this is a stalemate despite the presence of evidence - I think you have an established position, and seem unwilling to modify it. There are at least two relevant studies on inhaled DU, there are several on related birth defects, there are dozens of precautionary statements made by the military specialists who aren't nearly so cold blooded as the planners, there are case studies up the wazoo, there are testimonials, there are health advisories from nations who don't have large, dirty, radioactive stockpiles to dispose of. This situation is very, very clear to me. It's similarly clear to others on ATS. It's not clear to many, for reasons I don't fully understand.

The one group who would put you all in your place is the soldiers who suffer with persistent, debilitating ailments after returning from the Gulf, and their wives, who have seen to many dead children and horrible, horrible, mutations, to be able to muster the reserved attitude I've tried to maintain. I would seriously advise you against speaking your mind on this issue in person, unless you know the background of those listening. Saying DU is harmless is 'fighting words' to a family that's lost children and their livelyhood and their health, and eventually their life to it.

Y'all know my feelings. The thread knows my feelings. The world knows my feelings.

And the pictures speak for themselves.

DU is cheaper than tungsten. Another reason is that, while it creates a toxic cloud, the fact that DU burns makes it more effective as a weapon.