Stupid "depleted uranium" rumors based on...nothing

Anti-Israel idiots are having a field day with the accusation that Israel bombed Syria with depleted uranium munitions. The Jerusalem Post did Israel no favors by quoting the original source of the report, the notoriously unreliable Russia Today,  without comment, and the JPost imprimatur allowed the rumor to worm its way to Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian.

So how did this rumor start? From Russia Today:

Israel used "a new type of weapon", a senior official at the Syrian military facility that came under attack from the Israeli Air Force told RT.

“When the explosion happened it felt like an earthquake,” said the source, who was present near the attack site on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday morning.

“Then a giant golden mushroom of fire appeared. This tells us that Israel used depleted uranium shells.”

Yes, this unnamed "senior official" said that based on the shape and color of the explosion, it must have been
depleted uranium!

He is clearly trying to say that DU, being somewhat radioactive, would have the same signature mushroom cloud as atomic weapons.

This is, of course, entirely nonsense. DU is not an explosive. It is used by the military only because it is dense and hard so it is ideal for munitions that need to penetrate deeply (like bunker busters or armor-penetrating shells.) It does not affect the explosion caused.

The color of the explosions comes simply from the stuff being blown up; in the case of the biggest fireball seen on video, it is probably showing that engine fuel was part of the explosion.

From the RT article, we see absolutely zero evidence that DU was used. It is the idle speculation (or accusation) of an anonymous "official" who apparently doesn't know anything about the chemistry behind explosions.

Publishing and republishing this information without context is irresponsible journalism on everyone's part.

(h/ t JE)