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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsToxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima'
The shocking rates of infant mortality and cancer in Iraqi city raise new questions about battle
Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study.Iraqi doctors in Fallujah have complained since 2005 of being overwhelmed by the number of babies with serious birth defects, ranging from a girl born with two heads to paralysis of the lower limbs. They said they were also seeing far more cancers than they did before the battle for Fallujah between US troops and insurgents.
Their claims have been supported by a survey showing a four-fold increase in all cancers and a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in under-14s. Infant mortality in the city is more than four times higher than in neighbouring Jordan and eight times higher than in Kuwait.Dr Chris Busby, a visiting professor at the University of Ulster and one of the authors of the survey of 4,800 individuals in Fallujah, said it is difficult to pin down the exact cause of the cancers and birth defects. He added that "to produce an effect like this, some very major mutagenic exposure must have occurred in 2004 when the attacks happened".
US Marines first besieged and bombarded Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, in April 2004 after four employees of the American security company Blackwater were killed and their bodies burned. After an eight-month stand-off, the Marines stormed the city in November using artillery and aerial bombing against rebel positions. US forces later admitted that they had employed white phosphorus as well as other munitions.
In the assault US commanders largely treated Fallujah as a free-fire zone to try to reduce casualties among their own troops. British officers were appalled by the lack of concern for civilian casualties. "During preparatory operations in the November 2004 Fallujah clearance operation, on one night over 40 155mm artillery rounds were fired into a small sector of the city," recalled Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, a British commander serving with the American forces in Baghdad.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/toxic-legacy-of-us-assault-on-fallujah-worse-than-hiroshima-2034065.html
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Oh, I suppose you'd rather have Saddam in power, gassing his own people and assembling weapons of mass destruction, and coordinating with al-Qaeda, and plotting to grow wings and drop bombs on the U.S. from a zeppelin?
These are crimes against humanity, and if we still had a shred of national honor, we'd be building hospitals and research facilities in Iraq, and sending these people billions of dollars annually as partial reparations.
saras
(6,670 posts)...it's not like it's a surprise in the sense of unexpected, it's just that no one bothers to do, organize, and publicize the research. And as soon as I say 'no one' undoubtedly someone will remind me of some charity working on this issue since 1918 or so.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)I would guess the people would think long and hard about taking Saddam back if they were presented with teh option. It was a much more modern country under Saddam. Women were involved in the economy, had good jobs, they could drive, and didn't have to wear the traditional Muslim garb. About 400,000-1,000,00 morewould be alive today. Alqueda was not there, Saddam hated them, and last but not least we supported Saddam, even supplying the helicopters he used to gas the Kurds.
Funny how the USA will support when tyrants play nice with us and turn on those who don't do our bidding. I believe the US have killed several hundred thousand more than Saddam ever thought about.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)ronnie624
(5,764 posts)But I'm certain the poster you responded to was being sarcastic.
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Who do they think they are?
Oh well, I'm sure it will all be OK. I mean, it's not like they are going to become terrorists or anything...
malaise
(268,640 posts)which was used in Fallujah.
One day they'll pay for their war crimes.
ronnie624
(5,764 posts)They'll be her soon, to tell us that DU couldn't possibly be the cause; that uranium miners don't suffer the same ill effects. But miners aren't breathing nano particles that are small enough to pass through the cell wall, becoming lodged and irradiating delicate cellular machinery.
From the article:
"Dr Busby says that while he cannot identify the type of armaments used by the Marines, the extent of genetic damage suffered by inhabitants suggests the use of uranium in some form."
malaise
(268,640 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)malaise
(268,640 posts)Gregorian
(23,867 posts)The stories of depleted Uranium came out in 2003 or even earlier. We knew.
polly7
(20,582 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)locally can I find anything to feel good about. Depression seems to discribe my mood always.
Rex
(65,616 posts)I forget.
Gregorian
(23,867 posts)A fake boost in economy, funded by dead people in a country far out of our sight. The result of which also affected American citizens in a way that deprives us of improvements to our own economy. Poorer schools, roads, health care.
canuckledragger
(1,635 posts)for the oil, for Halliburton & military contracts & so Bush the younger could act like a tough guy.
Did I miss anything?
Bigmack
(8,020 posts)What kind of people use weapons that poison the children - born and unborn - of their "enemies"?
What kind of people use weapons that poison their own troops?
Gulf War Syndrome is alive and well... wait... no, that's not true. Gulf War Syndrome people - Americans and Iraqis - are sick and dead.
I don't believe in god.... but I believe in Karma.
This country is without shame, without soul....
jwirr
(39,215 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)but the short answer is yes.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)To be exact, but yes.
And I can tell you right now one of the excuses...but they volunteered!
jwirr
(39,215 posts)Vietnam and Korea...
http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/spina_bifida.asp
DU exposure...
http://uranium-news.com/2011/01/08/us-troops-suffer-cancers-children-with-birth-defects-from-depleted-uranium/
Anecdotes...
http://www.city-data.com/forum/military-life-issues/514097-children-returning-soldiers-being-born-birth.html
More...
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9712/08/briefs/gulf.war.birth.defect/
jwirr
(39,215 posts)those chemicals. I guess we have the answer to "When will they ever learn?"
Bigmack
(8,020 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)drokhole
(1,230 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)I say this is unforgivable and that there are two people directly responsible for this: GW Bush and Dick Cheney. May the rot in hell forever.
Do we use these "war" substances for any domestic uses and who make the profit off of them - who manufactured them?
newspeak
(4,847 posts)it was a while ago, but didn't she expose some type of chemical that was used on fallujah? The massacre happened, I believe, after little boots was voted in for second term. I knew they were going to do something horrendously cruel after being voted in for second term.
The fish rots from the head down-we had a sociopathic greedy administration catapulted by a corporate media, some with ties to the defense industry. And, as a nation, we've become a cruel, corporate owned tool. General smedley butler was right, our military serves to protect any business interest at the expense of our people and the people we bomb. What a great protection racket.
And the big joke, (which I believe was a reason after the "they could attack us at any time" and "they have ties to AQ" is we're liberating them.
MichaelMcGuire
(1,684 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)I personally feel that the fate of our "Armed Private Contractors" that were killed by the citizens of Fallujah
was an appropriate fate for ALL Mercenaries.