Word: uranium
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...conflict that could further strain relations between Europe and the U.S. in a Western alliance whose members are pulling in opposite directions on a number of fronts. NATO and European Union officials are meeting Tuesday to discuss the mounting controversy over the alliance's extensive use of depleted-uranium shells in Kosovo...
Criticisms of NATO's use of depleted-uranium weapons in Kosovo could be easily dismissed by the Pentagon when they came from environmentalists, peace activists and Belgrade. But when the complaints come from their European NATO partners, the generals in Washington may find the issue more troubling. Italy called Wednesday for a full inquiry into the alliance's use of depleted-uranium tipped weapons in the Kosovo campaign after a sixth Italian soldier died of cancer following deployment in the Kosovo peacekeeping mission. Italy's concerns have already been echoed by France, Spain, Portugal and Finland, who have all begun...
...during the Gulf War that Western armies first began firing uranium-tipped weapons, which are prized for their armor-piercing abilities. Since then, a number of veterans suffering unexplained symptoms have suggested there may be a link between their illnesses and the use of depleted-uranium ordnance. Depleted uranium is not radioactive, and speculation over its potential health effects focus on its toxicity as a heavy metal. It is precisely its weight - 1.7 times that of lead - that allows depleted-uranium shells to pass through all sorts of armored surfaces that might stop steel, brass or copper, and makes...
...Pentagon hasn't been dodging the issue. It has commissioned exhaustive studies, backed up by research by such respected independent bodies as the Institute of Medicine, that have been unable to sustain a causal link between exposure to depleted uranium and various ailments suffered by U.S. personnel who served in the Gulf. After all, from a political point of view, the Pentagon would prefer to resolve the issue, since the military gets blamed as long as the mystery remains. Judging by their response to Gulf War Syndrome, it's safe to assume that the U.S. military won't deny that...
...long as NATO remains prepared to do curb the guerrillas, but that may put Western troops on a collision course with the Albanian nationalists. There's plenty of room for more fighting inside Kosovo and elsewhere in the region, and the furor in NATO over the use of depleted-uranium weapons in the Balkans may signal growing discord in the alliance...