<p>“I am baffled. I don’t understand how post #281 talking about the 1990 Gulf War was trangressed to post #283 talking about the 2003 Iraq war.”</p>
<p>The reason that W. Bush et al were so confident to start the second Gulf War even before finding the so-called “smoking gun”, was the older stockpile of WMD already supplied to Iraq by the US and other countries. WMD used to refer to nuclear weapons and it was conveniently extended to biological and chemical weapons here so that they can use the WMD excuse.</p>
<p>“Wow! Did the US supply weapons to Sudanese government to kill people in Darfur now?”</p>
<p>So it was okay for the US to supply WMD, when Iraq was a hitman for the US in the war against Iran and it suddenly became a crime when Iraq was no longer “obedient”? Give me a break. 
Let’s see how some US weapons excel in killing civilians and even jeapardizing our own soldiers.</p>
<p>“DU is implicated in respiratory and kidney problems, rashes and, longer-term, bone cancer, as well as damaged reproductive and neurological systems. Iraqi civilians – many more than the 100,000 who died in the conflict or as a result of the war – also suffer from a range of similar health problems. Families of soldiers should be very worried. A huge amount of ordnance has already been unleashed in Iraq, and there is no way of knowing how many thousands of tons of depleted uranium will find “permanent storage” in the rubble of Iraq, its soil and the bodies of its people and U.S. occupying forces.” [Uranium Warheads May Leave Both Sides a Legacy of Death for Decades By Susanna Hecht - March 30, 2003]
[Uranium</a> Warheads May Leave Both Sides a Legacy of Death for Decades - Los Angeles Times](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/la-oe-hecht30mar30,0,6100057.story]Uranium”>Uranium Warheads May Leave Both Sides a Legacy of Death for Decades)</p>
<p>“The Persian Gulf war was the first major use of DU in combat… Although warnings were issued to refrain from DU use the U.S. Marines fired DU munitions on three separate occasions during 1995 and 1996 while conducting operations in Okinawa and then did not tell the Japanese Government for some time. During 1995 the U.S. military also fired approximately 10000 rounds of DU munitions during battle in Serbia. Recently U.S. forces fired over 31000 rounds of 30 mm DU munitions during 100 missions into Kosovo or inner Serbia. DU munitions have been fired on ranges in Indiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, Maryland, and this past year on Vieques in Puerto Rico. The incident in Puerto Rico involved the deliberate use of DU in preparation for combat in Kosovo. Although DU use is prohibited except during combat, the Navy fired at least 258 rounds in Vieques. Navy personnel have reported that the Navy has been firing DU into Vieques for years but this was the first time they were caught.” [Depleted Uranium: Uses and Hazards By Doug Rokke - January 21, 2001]
[Depleted</a> Uranium: Uses and Hazards, by Doug Rokke, 2001](<a href=“http://www.ratical.org/radiation/DUuse+hazard.html]Depleted”>Depleted Uranium: Uses and Hazards, by Doug Rokke, 2001)</p>
<p>“2003 Iraq ----- The US and UK used nearly 13,000 cluster munitions containing an estimated 1.8 to 2 million submunitions in the three weeks of major combat. 2001- 2002 Afghanistan ----- The US dropped 1,228 cluster bombs containing 248,056 submunitions. 1999 Yugoslavia (including Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo) ----- The US, UK, and Netherlands dropped 1,765 cluster bombs containing 295,000 submunitions…” [Timeline of Cluster Munition Use By Human Rights Watch - May 2008]
<a href=“http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/arms/Timeline_Cluster_Use_05.08.pdf[/url]”>http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/arms/Timeline_Cluster_Use_05.08.pdf</a></p>
<p>“Cluster bombs have killed and injured thousands of civilians during the last 40 years and continue to do so today. They cause widespread harm on impact and yet remain dangerous, killing and injuring civilians long after a conflict has ended. One third of all recorded cluster munitions casualties are children. 60% of cluster bomb casualties are injured while undertaking their normal activities… Air-dropped or ground-launched, they cause two major humanitarian problems and risks to civilians. First, their widespread dispersal means they cannot distinguish between military targets and civilians so the humanitarian impact can be extreme, especially when the weapon is used in or near populated areas. Many submunitions fail to detonate on impact and become de facto antipersonnel mines killing and maiming people long after the conflict has ended. These duds are more lethal than antipersonnel mines; incidents involving submunition duds are much more likely to cause death than injury…” [Cluster Munition Coalition]
[Cluster</a> Munition Coalition - The Problem](<a href=“404 | CMC”>404 | CMC)</p>
<p>“If I were in charge I would not send our troops to Iraq regardless whether Iraq had WMD or not. I would spend my effort to stop China from manipulating the world. China is the force behind North Korea, Iraq, Iran, and Darfur.”</p>
<p>If you were in charge, I hope you would spend the effort to clean up the mess our own country left behind, before pointing your fingers at others. :-)</p>