This continued denial raises suspicions of a massive, prolonged and determined cover-up as more and more firm proof is discovered and NATO's answer is always the same. Depleted Uranium is cheap to obtain, since it is a residue from the nuclear power industry. The problem is that radioactive particles are released into the ground, the water supply and the air and these particles do not simple disappear.
Radioactive material takes many years to lose concentration.
However, on closer examination, the symptoms are identical to those of radiation sickness. Furthermore, the incidence of cancer and congenital malformation in babies has risen meteorically in the Gulf region since the war, as have also cases of leukaemia in children and still-born babies in Iraq. DU was also used in Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995 and in Kosovo last year. The Italian Defence Ministry has admitted two deaths among Italian soldiers stationed in the Balkans in DU areas, one through leukaemia and one through a tumour. However, the Italian media claim that there were four deaths, while there are 12 more cases of leukaemia or tumours among Italian soldiers stationed in areas where DU was used.