I was thinking about this yesterday. Liberals believe that the land where that war is fought is Ukrainian land, right? And for sure, they should know something about how terrible the effects of depleted uranium and cluster munitions are, on civilians, long after the fighting is over? (Though I vaguely remember an article from the BBC or similar media outlet saying depleted uranium is actually not that bad, because of course that’s the line these ghouls push.) So, even in the fantasy world where liberals’ dream of Ukraine winning this war and taking back all the territory succeeds, the people of the country that liberals claim to support so much would STILL suffer from all the effects of those munitions.
Basically all I have seen from liberals on the matter is “But it’s important that Ukraine wins!! We have no other kinds of weapons to send!”. If the latter sentence is true, that’s just an admission of defeat coming soon. If it’s not true, they’re just making the land unlivable for the sake of a temporary strategic advantage. Truly, western liberals, are willing to fight this conflict until their proxy country is entirely destroyed. All while sitting in the comfort of their own home, treating this war as just more entertainment for themselves, knowing it’s not them blown to pieces by cluster munitions.
they should know something about how terrible the effects of depleted uranium and cluster munitions are,
I think in many cases, they don’t. Alternatively, they are so far removed from the conflict that it’s just a competition they need to “win”. I doubt the cost of human life is something that they even really comprehend.
I think it is as simple as “The movie ends when the bad guys are defeated.” Movies don’t show the horrible aftermath of a war, they just show a “victory” so they don’t actually have any analysis of this, because they don’t really think about it at all. I think it ties into the “war as entertainment” thing you mentioned.
There’s a reason so much of the propaganda around this war talks about Harry Potters, Voldemorts and Darth Vaders. It’s because they are trying to fictionalise reality so their audience disassociates from the actual damage. The US has had a hard time selling ongoing conflicts to the public since Vietnam, as most people are horrified by death and destruction. But by making it “like the movies” it makes people disconnect, it makes them treat losses like the random extras in a movie, so no matter how much lasting suffering the war causes it doesn’t matter, because it never matters in the movies.
DU ammo is not as bad as the post makes out, or indeed, nowhere near a nuclear escalation the way Russia was saying. DU is almost entirely U-238, which has a half-life of 4.4 billion years and who’s decay mode is only alpha particles that do not penetrate human skin. It is still highly toxic as a heavy metal and will kill you if you ingest it (heavy metal poisoning). Alpha particles are still dangerous when ingested and thus beneath your skin already, but heavy metal poisoning would probably get you first. I think it is doubtful that the amount of DU ammunition is even remotely large enough to seriously cause ecological damage, as it is so dilute from the large geographical area. Other chemical releases from warfare are also very bad, but again, dilute enough in this case (e.g. not ridiculous like Vietnam and Laos) that the ecological damage is limited.
Radioactive materials are more dangerous when the half-life is shorter, because a short half-life means they release more particles and decay faster. This is part of why Iodine-131 is such a concern, because beta particles do penetrate human skin, and it is highly radioactive with a half-life of just over 8 days. It also gets absorbed easily by your thyroid, which is part of the reason why potassium iodide is added to salt as it prevents this absorption. Obviously gamma radiation and X-rays are still much worse, because they are very difficult to stop and will go right through you, but U-238 is never going to generate those on its own.
I am also a comrade, but I don’t think that DU rounds in Ukraine is such a big deal. If you have any evidence to the contrary I’d love to hear it.
Tell that to the Iraqi children born with birth defects because of the DU rounds left there by the US 30 years ago. The worry isn’t “It will make the whole country uninhabitable” but “It will cause additional cancers and birth defects in the population living there.”
I was thinking about this yesterday. Liberals believe that the land where that war is fought is Ukrainian land, right? And for sure, they should know something about how terrible the effects of depleted uranium and cluster munitions are, on civilians, long after the fighting is over? (Though I vaguely remember an article from the BBC or similar media outlet saying depleted uranium is actually not that bad, because of course that’s the line these ghouls push.) So, even in the fantasy world where liberals’ dream of Ukraine winning this war and taking back all the territory succeeds, the people of the country that liberals claim to support so much would STILL suffer from all the effects of those munitions.
Basically all I have seen from liberals on the matter is “But it’s important that Ukraine wins!! We have no other kinds of weapons to send!”. If the latter sentence is true, that’s just an admission of defeat coming soon. If it’s not true, they’re just making the land unlivable for the sake of a temporary strategic advantage. Truly, western liberals, are willing to fight this conflict until their proxy country is entirely destroyed. All while sitting in the comfort of their own home, treating this war as just more entertainment for themselves, knowing it’s not them blown to pieces by cluster munitions.
I think in many cases, they don’t. Alternatively, they are so far removed from the conflict that it’s just a competition they need to “win”. I doubt the cost of human life is something that they even really comprehend.
I think it is as simple as “The movie ends when the bad guys are defeated.” Movies don’t show the horrible aftermath of a war, they just show a “victory” so they don’t actually have any analysis of this, because they don’t really think about it at all. I think it ties into the “war as entertainment” thing you mentioned.
There’s a reason so much of the propaganda around this war talks about Harry Potters, Voldemorts and Darth Vaders. It’s because they are trying to fictionalise reality so their audience disassociates from the actual damage. The US has had a hard time selling ongoing conflicts to the public since Vietnam, as most people are horrified by death and destruction. But by making it “like the movies” it makes people disconnect, it makes them treat losses like the random extras in a movie, so no matter how much lasting suffering the war causes it doesn’t matter, because it never matters in the movies.
DU ammo is not as bad as the post makes out, or indeed, nowhere near a nuclear escalation the way Russia was saying. DU is almost entirely U-238, which has a half-life of 4.4 billion years and who’s decay mode is only alpha particles that do not penetrate human skin. It is still highly toxic as a heavy metal and will kill you if you ingest it (heavy metal poisoning). Alpha particles are still dangerous when ingested and thus beneath your skin already, but heavy metal poisoning would probably get you first. I think it is doubtful that the amount of DU ammunition is even remotely large enough to seriously cause ecological damage, as it is so dilute from the large geographical area. Other chemical releases from warfare are also very bad, but again, dilute enough in this case (e.g. not ridiculous like Vietnam and Laos) that the ecological damage is limited.
Radioactive materials are more dangerous when the half-life is shorter, because a short half-life means they release more particles and decay faster. This is part of why Iodine-131 is such a concern, because beta particles do penetrate human skin, and it is highly radioactive with a half-life of just over 8 days. It also gets absorbed easily by your thyroid, which is part of the reason why potassium iodide is added to salt as it prevents this absorption. Obviously gamma radiation and X-rays are still much worse, because they are very difficult to stop and will go right through you, but U-238 is never going to generate those on its own.
I am also a comrade, but I don’t think that DU rounds in Ukraine is such a big deal. If you have any evidence to the contrary I’d love to hear it.
Tell that to the Iraqi children born with birth defects because of the DU rounds left there by the US 30 years ago. The worry isn’t “It will make the whole country uninhabitable” but “It will cause additional cancers and birth defects in the population living there.”
I agree with this.