(Natural News) During the first three weeks of the 2003 Iraq conflict, the U.S. military committed egregious war crimes using radioactive weapons. Even though the Pentagon pledged to never use this technology again, military command went ahead anyway in the 2003 Iraq conflict, deploying missiles loaded with depleted uranium (DU). More than 2,000 tons of this toxic radioactive waste rained down on the Iraqi people. The radioactive repercussions of DU will continue to plague the Iraqi people for many years to come. The lingering health effects have already begun to take a toll on the health of U.S. soldiers. Cancer-causing DU has been measured in soldiers’ urine, but the Department of Defense asserts that it’s safe.

CENTCOM unveils DU also used deceptively in Syria

According to a new disclosure from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the same horrifying DU-laced weapons were used in the November 2015 air raids in the Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah provinces in eastern Syria. This disclosure contradicts a March 2015 statement issued from U.S. Central Command, which stated, “U.S. and coalition aircraft have not been and will not be using depleted uranium munitions in Iraq or Syria during Operation Inherent Resolve.”

Apparently the military lied. According to CENTCOM spokesman Major Josh Jacques, in November 2015, 5,265 armor-piercing DU rounds were shot out of an A-10 ground attack aircraft to take out 350 oil tanker convoys owned by the Islamic State. The damages of this radioactive material do not stop when an enemy combatant is killed. The repercussions are experienced for many years to come and even return to U.S. soil.

DU plagues innocent people, including thousands in the U.S. military

DU is a nefarious weapon, a byproduct of enriched uranium that has a half-life in the millions of years. It’s used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons and as fuel for nuclear reactors. This material, exclusive to the U.S. and U.K., is used in missiles to effectively pierce a target’s armor plating. Smaller shells contain about 300 grams of DU and bunker-busting missiles can contain up to 7 tons. Over the course of the two Iraq conflicts, the U.S. indiscriminately unleashed tens of thousands of tons of DU hell onto the Iraqi people. This will significantly pollute the ground and water of these lands for many years to come. Enriched uranium is a highly toxic substance, whether inhaled or ingested. It is directly linked to birth defects, infertility, and all sorts of cancer.

The repercussions of DU not only plague innocent Iraqis, but they come home to the U.S. as well. A large percentage of soldiers who returned from the Gulf War were exposed to DU aerosols that blasted into the air after hitting high impact targets. A new DU detection method pioneered by Professor Randall R. Parrish found DU still in the bodies of Gulf War veterans 20 years after exposure. Tens of thousands of potential cancer cases of American troops are linked to DU exposure in Iraq. This fact has been stealthily covered up by the Veteran’s Administration, which has barred medical journals from retrieving cancer statistics within the VA registry. This is not how the U.S. shines as an example for the rest of the world. This is not true National Defense. This is not how the U.S. should treat its veterans.

Sources include:

TheFreeThoughtProject.com

HuffingtonPost.com

NBCNews.com