[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

Agent Orange wasn't a chemical weapon as such, it was a chemical used to defoliate & destroy plants & brush, denying the NVA & Vietcong the cover they required to move men equipment & supplies. The fact that it caused birth defects & illness to the combatants & non combatants, friend & foe alike was due to the American government remaining tight lipped about the side effects so no one would baulk at its use.

Depleted Uranium is another beast entirely, its use is as a hardened metal to give punch to armour piercing munitions. Its deployment isn't with the intention of it being a "nuclear weapon", but the penetration it provides. Unfortunately, residue & dust are inevitable after impact & explosion, raising the background levels of radiation at the point of impact & battle field areas.

I thought Tungsten Carbide was used in armour piercing weapons, its supposed to be the next hardest thing to diamonds, so why use depleted Uranium if its not for the side effects.