Call for retaliation - Page 8

On our tax dollars, radioactive depleted uranium shells and ammunition have allegedly been used by the IDF against the Gazan people. Official studies indicate that DU "poses little health risk". Of course they do.. this material is provided to weapons manufacturers free, a very cost effective way of disposing of hazardous waste whilst providing the most effective armor piercing rounds. More independent studies (ie those undertaken outside of the military and arms industry) suggest links between DU rounds and cancer . Another interesting aspect of this subject discussed here.. DU rounds are for armor piercing, as in taking out enemy tanks and other vehicles and defense installations. Hamas does not have the type of military hardware that DU rounds are designed to penetrate anyway... I wonder how long is it going to take before newborn babies in Gaza start exhibiting the appalling deformities as seen in children in Southern Iraq (especially in and around Basra), and in Afghanistan? I do find it hard to reconcile that these images are a result of eating too much hummus and olives in their diets.

It looks as if the Israeli effort to "wipe out Hamas" killed 95 combatants. They did, however, succeed in destroying large parts of the civilian infrastructure of Gaza, while at the same time killing at least 1,300 civilians and wounding at least 6,000. That isactually better than standard fare for Israeli combatant:civilian ratio in recent conflicts.

Perhaps Obama might have something sensible and balanced to say about all this, as of tomorrow. I have my doubts.

Oh god here we go again. The whole DU lie. Ignorance abounds on the internet.

[the chorus]Linky? Linky? Prove to those of us that have little more than a high school education that DU is not dangerous.[/the chorus]

Arabs: Israel ammo in Gaza had depleted uranium


Depleted uranium is often found in bullets and tank shells due to its high density. It has been a problem in Iraq for more than a while due to the United States' use of depleted uranium in it's own tank shells. It is not a huge surprise.

How many more linkies would you like? I gave two from current science, with rather different possible conclusions. In other words, it is a disputed subject.

C'mon now. Just because the Pentagon says that its "safe" means absolutely nothing. There is peer reviewed science on both sides of the issue here. Anyway, even if it is safe and free from causing ill effects, the Pentagon has a very poor track record regarding honesty, openness and accountability. It kinda goes with the territory. It was only a few months ago (for example) that the existence of Gulf War Syndrome was officially acknowledged, despite the glaring evidence that 10s of thousand of service people are suffering, in many cases to the point of severe debilitation, from something contracted during that war. (I am not saying here that DU is *the* cause of Gulf War Syndrome - it *may* be a contributing factor however. One day, maybe we will know. Just maybe.. I hold little hope of course).

[general rant] And yes, it is very tempting for many to ignore the fact that politics, influence, and the motivation (need?) to maintain status quo tend to trample scientific integrity and impartiality, especially in the areas of protecting vested interests, or regarding inquiry and investigations into criminal activities of corrupt officials. We all know it, we can't be so naive; none of us here were "born yesterday". If one's only defense of evil and corruption is by joining the legions of cowards and weasels by sheltering under an "accountability haven" of "conspiracy theorists accusations" in the hope of maintaining a degree of comfortability, then all constructive conversation ceases... (and the framework for human civilized conduct gets bent way out of shape).

Nothing is about to suddenly change, because we're talking about human nature here.. thats all. We all qualify in that area. Really.[/general rant]

I read a communist "Modus Operandi" manual once, it was a lengthy tome - one of the things they recommended was character assassination by repeatedly claiming the target was mentally infirm.

Apparently, everyone is afraid of and fears mental illness, therefore the quickest way to divert attention from their 'message' was for a mass call of mental illness.

Its heartening to know that communism is alive and well in the land of freedom and integrity, the US of A

Bush and Cheney absolutely do not need any character assassination. They committed character seppuku through the outright lack of morals and judgment with regard to their policy decisions and lies.

Seems Tony Benn kicks 18 types of arse before his first cup of tea.

He seems to be a fascinating, complicated man, not always right, but he seems to have been right more than he's been wrong.




Oh, and if you missed it support DEC's Gazan relief by donating here.

Actually it's not disputed. Unless you're a dead ender of some kind.

Take the word of the Health Physicist Society. Unless you think an organization of scientists are in the pocket of the pentegon.

Linky


But of course I know politics of trumpeting DU as type of genocidal poison is too tempting for the left.

Carry on.

From the pdf you linkied...



DU or not, these are weapons from the start. They kill. But carry on defending genocide, which many of you righties do.

At the least, if they're "liberals" according to Coulter.

The BBC is funded by the UK taxpayers, and under the relevant UK laws, political, religious and ideological impartiality is written into their charter. I have followed the BBC versions of the Israel-Gaza fiasco (in addition to the embarassing MEMRI filtered/fabricated versions dished out by the US press), and guess what... that BBC has come down firmly on the side of the Israelis every time... not quite as blatant as in the US corporate media, but noticeably so nonetheless. Media from all over the rest of the world has been much more even-handed.

I have read the BBC output a lot, especially since the Bush Administration took office.In that period the BBC has taken a consistently one-sided position, falling in lockstep with neoconservative policy makers from the US/UK governments on a number of high profile occasions, to the point of grossly misleading readers/viewers/listeners. Such incidents include the Blair government's fabricated "45 minute launch capability" BS re. Iraq's alleged WMDs, the 7/7 attacks of 2005, the police murder of Jean Charles de Menezes, the death of bioweapons scientist David Kelly, the suspension of free speech in the vicinity of the UK Parliament, underreporting attendance at antiwar rallies... the list goes on and on. And the one man who was a moderating influence n the BBC, the hugely popular director general Greg "Cut the Crap" Dyke was fired because he didn't toe the Blush-Blair line regarding the fabrications and lies about Iraqi WMDs as promoted by the Blair administration.

The BBC deserves to be shut down, as of now. They have become a clone of the (Sovietized) US Corporate Media Weasel Brigade, promoting corruption and lies by officialdom. And to add insult to injury, the hapless British public are funding them.

In regard to the DU debate, I'm not defending Israel's use of them in the recent conflict, but even if they had been the newer tungsten based rounds that the US has been moving to, they would be hazardous as well:


Embedded Weapons-Grade Tungsten Alloy Shrapnel Rapidly Induces Metastatic High-Grade Rhabdomyosarcomas in F344 Rats

So the toxicity of DU isn't the debate, it's whether they should have been necessary to use in the first place against an enemy with no armored vehicles.

White phosphorus used as a weapon in residential areas, tanks, jets and helicopters used against a guerillia-force equipped with machineguns, mortars, mines and rocketproppelled grenades, uranium-depleted ammunition against militants with no armour...

there are two reasons for this obvious abuse of power:

1. Israel's government wanted to shock the Gazans, so that they disown Hamas. Collective punishment after the siege didn't achieve that.

2. Israel's government wanted to prevent casualties among israeli soldiers at all cost.

Nightcrawler

Hmmm, not even animals were safe.

Israeli troops shot and killed zoo animals


Is there anything over there that Israel hasn't shot, bombed, or utterly fucked up?

Well, you have to understand Israel's army and government: It's all the fault of Hamas, they were hiding behind women, children and... uhh, lions, too, these cowards!



Nightcrawler

Its probably not been reported yet in the US - I know you have to kill atleast 1000 Palestinians before it makes a column on the 23rd page, but Isreal is back in Palestine - only this time they bought the bulldozers...and it wasn't to clean out the lions den.

Woooops.

Hamas Booby Trapped School and Zoo 11 Jan. 2009


The animals must have been jews. Well the pigs and dogs at least .... right?

Hmmm...... a You Tube video from the IDF's PR department. Not really feeling it.

Do you feel the Hamas PR department?

Hamas children show teaches: Jews are murderers

You lefties should find a better hero than Hamas.

Yes. That's right. Because "we lefties" object to the actions of the Israeli government, we must make Hamas our "heroes."

Scott. This situation is not black and white and dissent and objection are permissible. It is possible to sympathise with both Israel and Palestine and your utter luck of empathy of the 1,000 people killed in the last month is shocking to me.

They're not people. They're terrorists. And if they're not terrorists, then they're potential terrorists. And if they're not potential terrorists then they're terrorist sympathizers. In any case, they're Palestinian, so who cares?

Who cares, indeed.

As Hassan says, not being entirely down with what is after all overt IDF propaganda doesn't really require me to get behind overt Hamas propaganda or declare them heroes.

Honestly, I don't even see how it makes me a "lefty."

Is the requirement that I reflexively support anything Israel does or says or be branded a Hamas worshipping fool?

I'm asking.

Oh I feel bad for the people that are kept hostage by the far left supported Hamas criminal terrorist organization. Maybe we can retreat to some "defensive tunnels" and talk it over.