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October 29, 2006

Israel's Use of Enriched Uranium Weaponry in Lebanon

It seems that during the recent 33-day war between Israel and Lebanon, Israel used both enriched and depleted uranium weapons. Two soil samples showed "elevated radiation signatures," which scientists attributed to either a "novel small experimental nuclear fission device or other experimental weapon (eg, a thermobaric weapon) based on the high temperature of a uranium oxidation flash ...[or it] was a bunker-busting conventional uranium penetrator weapon employing enriched uranium rather than depleted uranium."

Reporters asked Israeili Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev whether the IDF had been using uranium-based weapons in Lebanon. The answer: "Israel does not use any weaponry which is not authorized by international law or international conventions." Unfortunately, the weapons in question had not yet been invented when the Geneva Convention rules were written and are not, therefore, "not authorized." Is it, then, a stretch to assume they were used, particularly when a radioactive signature was left behind?

Posted by Becky at October 29, 2006 12:03 PM