Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
The United States recently ended its formal military occupation of Iraq and removed most of its combat troops after more than 8 years and thousands of troops and civilian deaths and injuries. Our troops did their job under difficult situations, but the havoc that our invasion and occupation of Iraq created will remain for generations. When we look at the impact of Shock and Awe and the constant barrage of bullets and bombs, it is a wonder that even more civilians were not killed. Most estimates put the Iraqi civilian deaths over 100,000 and more than a million people displaced from their homes. However, the repeated use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus weapons in particular, may be the cause of Iraqi infants and children being born with horrific abnormalities in alarming numbers.
“Dr Samira Alani, a paediatric specialist at Fallujah General Hospital, has taken a personal interest in investigating an explosion of congenital abnormalities that have mushroomed in the wake of the US sieges since 2005. “We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine,” Alani told Al Jazeera at her office in the hospital, while showing countless photos of shocking birth defects. As of December 21, Alani, who has worked at the hospital since 1997, told Al Jazeera she had personally logged 677 cases of birth defects since October 2009. Just eight days later when Al Jazeera visited the city on December 29, that number had already risen to 699. ‘ “There are not even medical terms to describe some of these conditions because we’ve never seen them until now,” she said. “So when I describe it all I can do is describe the physical defects, but I’m unable to provide a medical term.” ‘ Reader Supported News When I read the linked article I was shocked and saddened by the human toll that is still being felt by Iraqi parents.
A British scientist, Dr. Christoper Busby has studied the huge increase in birth defects in Fallujah and his results are scary. “The report’s conclusion states:
“Whilst caution must be exercised about ruling out other possibilities, because none of the elements found in excess are reported to cause congenital diseases and cancer except Uranium, these findings suggest the enriched Uranium exposure is either a primary cause or related to the cause of the congenital anomaly and cancer increases. Questions are thus raised about the characteristics and composition of weapons now being deployed in modern battlefields.”
“As doctors, we know Mercury, Uranium and Bismuth can contribute to the development of congenital abnormalities, and we think it could be related to the use of prohibited weapons by the Americans during these battles,” Alani said. “I made this link to a coroner’s inquest in the West Midlands into the death of a Gulf War One veteran… and a coroner’s jury accepted my evidence,” he told Al Jazeera. “It’s been found by a coroner’s court that cancer was caused by an exposure to depleted uranium,” Busby added, “In the last 10 years, research has emerged that has made it quite clear that uranium is one of the most dangerous substances known to man, certainly in the form that it takes when used in these wars.” In July 2010, Busby released a study that showed a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in Fallujah since the 2004 attacks. The report also showed the sex ratio had declined from normal to 86 boys to 100 girls, together with a spread of diseases indicative of genetic damage similar to but of far greater incidence than Hiroshima. Dr Alani visited Japan recently, where she met with Japanese doctors who study birth defect rates they believe related to radiation from the US nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She was told birth defect incidence rates there are between 1-2 per cent. Alani’s log of cases of birth defects amounts to a rate of 14.7 per cent of all babies born in Fallujah, more than 14 times the rate in the affected areas of Japan.” Reader Supported News
That last statistic is beyond shocking. The rate of birth defects in Fallujah is 14 times the rate after our nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II! We have debated for years about why we invaded Iraq in 2003 and the alleged lies that led us into that invasion. We have discussed the huge sacrifice that our military and its families have suffered during this war, but for some reason the media just doesn’t want to talk about the human carnage that our political decision to invade Iraq has brought to the Iraqis themselves.
What should the United State be doing to alleviate the pain and suffering that we have caused? Shouldn’t we be doing medical studies to determine what can be done, if anything, to reduce these horrific birth defects?
This should not be a partisan issue. I realize that not everyone agrees with me that we went to Iraq on intentionally false and misleading intelligence. However, I would hope that everyone who sees these pictures and reads these statistics will understand that the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus weapons is dangerous and immoral and should not be continued.
How many babies have to die over these next few years before we understand the lasting damage that we have caused? Since it seems to be our use of these weapons that have caused this ongoing epidemic of birth defects, shouldn’t the United States be doing something to stem the tide? What do you think the United States and its allies should be doing?
Additional source: AlJazeera
Thank you Raff,
We shouldn’t let it be forgotten that Bush/Cheney were war criminals. Our corporate media aided, abetted and then tried to bury these crimes and are accomplices.
You are probably right OS. But I can hope, can’t I? 🙂
Wgward,
Did you forget who attacked who?
We shouldn’t be doing anything there, ever again. There is no there, there, anymore.
How about the havoc here in the good old USA: 4484 of our blood killed, 33186 of our blood wounded, trillions of our treasury wasted, a Country in debt and near depression, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
I personally think that if the American people ever knew what it is like to live through a war on our land, they may be more empathetic towards people WE have bombed and harmed. Especially when we went to war under a cloud of lies.
rafflaw sez: “5thgradechief, I like your idea. The media should notice the problem then.”
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raff and 5thgrade chief, I notice the HuffPo is still enamored of starlet nipples and the MSM is all worried about who snubbed who in the Republican debates. And Chaz Bono is saving money for penis surgery. Don’t hold your breath waiting on anything substantive.
Right now, the Saints are leading the Lions in the second half.
Hey, they aint ‘Merikins & they aint white – who gives a rats ass? Long as I don’t have to watch ’em die it aint my problem.
And we wonder why so much of the world hates are rotten guts.
Did you know there was a healthy and vibrant Christian community in Iraq before the illegal invasion? But, since they were tarred with the brush of “Crusader” by our clumsy blundering they have been killed, or driven out now just another group of homeless refugees.
Raff,
Excellent post. Too many have been forgotten or brushed aside to live with the life-altering effects of living in a war zone.
What kind of war would it be if we didn’t leave toxic chemicals, unexploded ordinance of various natures, burn victims, genetic mutations,and a burning resentment for all that we have “done for them” and all; that we represent?
Then we are shocked when they strike out at us. We say, “Why? What did we ever do but help them?”
But somewhere; deep inside; we must know that these people didn’t do this because we sent them food and medical supplies; or because we sent doctors to help them get better care. I mean; really?
“Ooooh I am so pissed off Achmed. Those damned Americans saved my daughter’s life and now they are saying she may even walk again.”
“Those dirty Bastards. I heard from Abdul that they are giving out free food over in the next village”.
“No Achmed; say it is not so. Why; just let them try that kind of oppression here. We will…………..what will we do Achmed?”
“Ooooo; I know Wasir. Let us form a multi-billion dollar terroist organization; then blow up Americans all over the world and live as fugitives from the world for the rest of our very brief lives”
“Yes of course Achmed. Why did I not see it before. We will teach these Americans to be kind to us.”
Bron,
The British scientist in this article did caution against making a definitive diagnosis, but the results are hard to ignore.
5thgradechief,
I like your idea. The media should notice the problem then.
OS,
Amazing video!
Want to know what happens when a bullet or cannon round hits a solid target? This video of a number of shots hitting various density targets illustrates the phenomenon of spalliation into an aerosol. These are not even DU rounds, just ordinary bullets at one million frames per second.
Now imagine a super dense slug only slightly smaller than a can of hair spray traveling at three times the speed of sound hitting tank armor.
Maybe OT, maybe not.
Steve Clemons endorses the return of Don Rumsfeld.
Besides inside DC titillation I am pretty shocked.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/obama-should-call-rumsfeld-to-work-on-defense-strategy-and-cuts/251028/
Nice strawman there, Bron. If Saddam used poison gas, I would fully expect health problems of all kinds to follow. That is not the only reason for health problems.
If I scatter DU, mercury, lead and other heavy metal aerosols all over the windblown landscape, there too can you expect health problems. DU is a particularly toxic metal, more so than a number of others used in weaponry. Also, it is not all that radioactive, so that is not believed to be the culprit. It is the toxicity of the metal itself. The areas affected may be due to wind patterns downwind from tank battles; I don’t know, but I hope epidemiologists will take meteorology into account when analyzing data.
The article references the area of West Midlands as having these contaminated items. None of this story about uranium contamination has been brought home to the American people. Perhaps they should ship some of this american made product should be shipped to Midland, Texas where folks who cut brush can get acquainted with it.
from the article posted by Yogi:
“A series of screening risk assessments for other contaminants — such as volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals from the oil lakes and marine oil spills; and depleted uranium — indicated that population exposures to these compounds were unlikely to lead to appreciable risks to public health.”
rafflaw:
It is quite possible depleted uranium is the problem but there could be other reasons for the birth defects. The Kurds saw an increase in birth defects and cancer after Saddam used poison gas in Halabja.
I think it is a bit premature to say depleted uranium is the culprit.
From what I can find, the birth defects are isolated to 3 cities in Iraq.
Maybe you can start your investigation here:
Harvard Scientists Report Public Health Impact of 1990 Iraq Invasion of Kuwait: Higher Rates of Mortality Evident Among Kuwaiti Civilians Who Remained in Kuwait During Occupation
For immediate release: June 29, 2005
Boston, MA– Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) made public today the findings of Phase I of their investigation of the public health impacts on Kuwaiti Nationals of Iraq’s 1990 invasion and seven-month occupation of Kuwait.
Three years ago HSPH was retained by Kuwait to determine whether there were substantial public health impacts of Iraq’s 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait and, if so, to — (i) estimate the magnitude of such impacts, (ii) assess their causes, and (iii) determine whether cost-effective approaches of medical screening could be designed to facilitate early detection and treatment of affected individuals. The entire project is being conducted, funded and monitored under the auspices of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), which was set up to resolve claims against Iraq.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/archives/2005-releases/press06292005.html
Need more be said? When you are the devil and dance with the same, do you expect a different result?
I might add; wind does not care where it blows or what it carries in its currents. American troops and civilian workers are just as likely to be exposed as the Iraqis or Afghans. There is one big difference. No American babies or children are on the battlefield. The Iraqis and Afghans have no choice; that is where they live.
The purpose of the war was to disable Iraq. That has been done. There has been no rebuilding except for the obscenely large embassy. Iraq is now a very poor colony with the US controlling its natural resources. The effect of the DU and the phosphorous was known before the invasion. Nothing will be done until the number of babies with horrific birth defects born to US military personnel climbs to a level where they can no longer be ignored.
What should be done?
1. Those giving the orders for the war crimes should be arrested and tried for their crimes. With appropriate punishment it will be easier to
2. Remove the war crime munitions from our arsenal.
3. I can’t begin to contemplate how to redress the wrongs we have done.
There was widespread use of depleted uranium rounds in Iraq, used most notably by the 30mm cannon in the A-10 Warthog. Depleted uranium is about 68% more dense than lead (19.1 g/cm^3 to be exact). That makes it a deadlier round as an anti-armor weapon. Another use is armor plating, effective due to its density and hardness.
The main health concerns are due to the fact that it is known to be toxic to kidneys, brain, heart and liver. It is only weakly radioactive, so radioactivity is not the real problem, contrary to popular belief. Upon impact with a target, such as a tank or even a concrete bunker, a phenomenon called spalliation takes place. Spalling refers to the flaking off of a metal from a larger piece of the metal; that is, the large piece of metal turns to flakes so fine they are essentially fine dust.
In the case of a shell traveling between two and three thousand feet per second, when it hits a target, the fine metal dust becomes an aerosol, whether the DU is the shell or the armor plating that it hits. That can spread over a wide area. Wind can pick it up and blow it for miles where it can be inhaled or otherwise contaminated by anything with which it comes into contact. Breathing it is the worst for the simple reason that it is a toxic metal. A number of non-radioactive metals are toxic, including mercury, lead and several others. Unfortunately, on a battlefield, there is a plethora of heavy metals that are known to be toxic.