If it slimes the US, it must be true

Gavin Atkins suggests several strong reasons to doubt this latest Guardian report (republished by The Age) purporting to reveal US atrocities in Iraq, this time involving the Left's much-favored bogey of depleted uranium:

A study examining the causes of a dramatic spike in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Falluja has for the first time concluded that genetic damage could have been caused by weaponry used in US assaults that took place six years ago.

The research, which will be published next week, confirms earlier estimates revealed by the Guardian of a major, unexplained rise in cancers and chronic neural-tube, cardiac and skeletal defects in newborns. The authors found that malformations are close to 11 times higher than normal rates, and rose to unprecedented levels in the first half of this year – a period that had not been surveyed in earlier reports…

The findings are likely to prompt further speculation that the defects were caused by depleted uranium rounds, which were heavily used in two large battles in the city in April and November 2004. The rounds, which contain ionising radiation, are a core component of the armouries of numerous militaries and militias.

Their effects have long been called into question, with some scientists claiming they leave behind a toxic residue, caused when the round – either from an assault rifle or artillery piece – bursts through its target.

Good work by Atkins in pointing out that DU is not fired by rifles, that the battle for Falluja did not require much (if any) DU anti-tank ordnance, and that the prime source of the health claims has a spectacular history of anti-US ranting.  Then there's the past failures to implicate DU as a serious health risk - unless fired into your body in the form of a tank round.

But such quality fact-checking is yet to match the very high standards set by Atkins himself only the other day in fact-checking the nonsense published by the ABC's Unleashed about the US's alleged brutal treatment of WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning.

Why is the Leftist media so gullible when reporting any wild claim of US wickedness?

(No comments during holiday break.)