Reply #44: DU is a WMD, and its use is illegal [View All]

[dfong63]

Military men only follow orders

DU is classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, its use is illegal. military men are not required to follow illegal orders. remember Nuremberg? i strongly doubt that Clinton explicitly ordered Clark to use DU. but if he did, then Clark could have, and should have, referred Clinton to the relevant sections of international law.

sunday herald: US use of DU illegal
``...
BRITISH and American coalition forces are using depleted uranium (DU) shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction. ...

According to a August 2002 report by the UN subcommission, laws which are breached by the use of DU shells include: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Charter of the United Nations; the Genocide Convention; the Convention Against Torture; the four Geneva Conventions of 1949; the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980; and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which expressly forbid employing 'poison or poisoned weapons' and 'arms, projectiles or materials calculated to cause unnecessary suffering'. All of these laws are designed to spare civilians from unwarranted suffering in armed conflicts.
...''

it only takes common sense to see that DU does fall under the common definitions of WMD, including the one used by the UN. it also only takes common sense to see that it is an inhumane weapon. can you imagine if the evil communists had invented DU during the cold war, and used it in any of the little skirmishes with the US that developed? or agent orange? you can bet your booties that the US govt would brand them illegal in a flash.