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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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June 12th,
2008 - ‘Special Weapons’ Have a Fallout on Babies |
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‘Special Weapons’ Have a
Fallout on Babies By Ali al-Fadhily & Dahr Jamail Inter Press Service June 12, 2008 Fallujah - Babies born in
Fallujah are showing illnesses and deformities on a scale never seen before,
doctors and residents say. The new cases, and the
number of deaths among children, have risen after "special
weaponry" was used in the two massive bombing campaigns in Fallujah in
2004. After denying it at first,
the Pentagon admitted in November 2005 that white phosphorous, a restricted
incendiary weapon, was used a year earlier in Fallujah. In addition, depleted
uranium (DU) munitions, which contain low-level radioactive waste, were used
heavily in Fallujah. The Pentagon admits to having used 1,200 tonnes of DU in
Iraq thus far. Many doctors believe DU to
be the cause of a severe increase in the incidence of cancer in Iraq, as well
as among U.S. veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War and through the
current occupation. "We saw all the colours
of the rainbow coming out of the exploding American shells and
missiles," Ali Sarhan, a 50-year-old teacher who lived through the two
U.S. sieges of 2004 told IPS. "I saw bodies that turned into bones and
coal right after they were exposed to bombs that we learned later to be
phosphorus. "The most worrying is
that many of our women have suffered loss of their babies, and some had
babies born with deformations." "I had two children who
had brain damage from birth," 28-year-old Hayfa' Shukur told IPS.
"My husband has been detained by the Americans since November 2004 and
so I had to take the children around by myself to hospitals and private
clinics. They died. I spent all our savings and borrowed a considerable
amount of money." Shukur said doctors told her
that it was use of the restricted weapons that caused her children's brain
damage and subsequent deaths, "but none of them had the courage to give
me a written report." "Many babies were born
with major congenital malformations," a paediatric doctor, speaking on
condition of anonymity, told IPS. "These infants include many with heart
defects, cleft lip or palate, Down's syndrome, and limb defects." The doctor added, "I
can say all kinds of problems related to toxic pollution took place in
Fallujah after the November 2004 massacre." Many doctors speak of
similar cases and a similar pattern. The indications remain anecdotal, in the
absence of either a study, or any available official records. The Fallujah General
Hospital administration was unwilling to give any statistics on deformed
babies, but one doctor volunteered to speak on condition of anonymity - for
fear of reprisals if seen to be critical of the administration. "Maternal exposure to
toxins and radioactive material can lead to miscarriage and frequent
abortions, still birth, and congenital malformation," the doctor told
IPS. There have been many such cases, and the government "did not move
to contain the damage, or present any assistance to the hospital whatsoever. "These cases need
intensive international efforts that provide the highest and most recent
technologies that we will not have here in a hundred years," he added. The International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed concern Mar. 31 about the lack of medical
supplies in hospitals in Baghdad and Basra. "Hospitals have used up
stocks of vital medical items, and require further supplies to cope with the
influx of wounded patients. Access to water remains a matter of concern in
certain areas," the ICRC said in a statement. A senior Iraqi health
ministry official was quoted as saying Feb. 26 that the health sector is
under "great pressure", with scores of doctors killed, an exodus of
medical personnel, poor medical infrastructure, and shortage of medicines. "We are experiencing a
big shortage of everything," said the official, "We don't have
enough specialist doctors and medicines, and most of the medical equipment is
outdated. "We used to get many
spinal and head injures, but were unable to do anything as we didn't have
enough specialists and medicines," he added. "Intravenous fluid,
which is a simple thing, is not available all the time." He said no new
hospitals had been built since 1986. Iraqi Health Minister Salih
al-Hassnawi highlighted the shortage of medicines at a press conference in
Arbil in the Kurdistan region in the north Feb. 22. "The Iraqi Health
Ministry is suffering from an acute shortage of medicines...We have decided
to import medicines immediately to meet the needs." He said the 2008 health
budget meant that total expenditure on medicines, medical equipment and
ambulances would amount to an average of 22 dollars per citizen. But this is too late for the
unknown number of babies and their families who bore the consequences of the
earlier devastation. And it is too little to cover the special needs of
babies who survived with deformations. External link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42762 |