As first reported by FiftyCrows in June 2003

by photographer JB Russell

See the entire Documentary PhotoEssay

Depleted Uranium (DU) is the by-product of the enrichment process which also produces uranium that is used in nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs. It is very dense, 1.7 times denser than lead. This makes it attractive to the Military as an armor-piercing weapon.

DU munitions activate kinetically and partially vaporize on impact, creating radioactive dust which is propelled into the air around the target site. This dust is poisonous and radioactive. Both the US and the UK acknowledge that the dust can be dangerous if it is inhaled, though they say the danger is short-lived, localized, and much more likely to lead to chemical poisoning than to irradiation.

However, many medical experts, leading scientists, thousands of veterans from the Gulf and Kosovo wars, and those in the war-torn areas believe otherwise.

During the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S. Military dropped over 500,000 pounds of depleted uranium weapons on the Iraqi people.

The Pentagon continues to deny that DU poses any threat.

Photographer J.B. Russell went to Iraq in search of evidence.