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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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November 13th,
2009 - Huge Rise in Birth Defects in Falluja 1st news article from the
Guardian |
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Huge Rise in Birth Defects
in Falluja Iraqi former battle zone sees abnormal clusters of infant tumours and
deformities By Martin Chulov The Guardian November 13, 2009 Doctors in Iraq's
war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many
chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be
linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting. The extraordinary rise in
birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in
Falluja's over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed
clinical records of all babies born. Neurologists and
obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian say the rise in birth
defects - which include a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple
tumours, and others with nervous system problems - are unprecedented and at
present unexplainable. A group of Iraqi and British
officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal
Majeed a-Sammarai, and the British doctors David Halpin and Chris Burns-Cox,
have petitioned the UN general assembly to ask that an independent committee
fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over
decades of war - including the six years since Saddam Hussein was ousted. "We are seeing a very
significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Falluja
general hospital's director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais.
"Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of
deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased
dramatically." The rise in frequency is
stark - from two admissions a fortnight a year ago to two a day now.
"Most are in the head and spinal cord, but there are also many
deficiencies in lower limbs," he said. "There is also a very marked
increase in the number of cases of less than two years [old] with brain
tumours. This is now a focus area of multiple tumours." After several years of
speculation and anecdotal evidence, a picture of a highly disturbing
phenomenon in one of Iraq's most battered areas has now taken shape.
Previously all miscarried babies, including those with birth defects or
infants who were not given ongoing care, were not listed as abnormal cases. The Guardian asked a
paediatrician, Samira Abdul Ghani, to keep precise records over a three-week
period. Her records reveal that 37 babies with anomalies, many of them neural
tube defects, were born during that period at Falluja general hospital alone. Dr Bassam Allah, the head of
the hospital's children's ward, this week urged international experts to take
soil samples across Falluja and for scientists to mount an investigation into
the causes of so many ailments, most of which he said had been
"acquired" by mothers before or during pregnancy. Other health officials are
also starting to focus on possible reasons, chief among them potential
chemical or radiation poisonings. Abnormal clusters of infant tumours have also
been repeatedly cited in Basra and Najaf - areas that have in the past also
been intense battle zones where modern munitions have been heavily used. Falluja's frontline doctors
are reluctant to draw a direct link with the fighting. They instead cite
multiple factors that could be contributors. "These include air
pollution, radiation, chemicals, drug use during pregnancy, malnutrition, or
the psychological status of the mother," said Dr Qais. "We simply
don't have the answers yet." The anomalies are evident
all through Falluja's newly opened general hospital and in centres for
disabled people across the city. On 2 November alone, there were four cases of
neuro-tube defects in the neo-natal ward and several more were in the
intensive care ward and an outpatient clinic. Falluja was the scene of the
only two setpiece battles that followed the US-led invasion. Twice in 2004,
US marines and infantry units were engaged in heavy fighting with Sunni
militia groups who had aligned with former Ba'athists and Iraqi army
elements. The first battle was fought
to find those responsible for the deaths of four Blackwater private security
contractors working for the US. The city was bombarded heavily by American
artillery and fighter jets. Controversial weaponry was used, including white
phosphorus, which the US government admitted deploying. Statistics on infant tumours
are not considered as reliable as new data about nervous system anomalies,
which are usually evident immediately after birth. Dr Abdul Wahid Salah, a
neurosurgeon, said: "With neuro-tube defects, their heads are often
larger than normal, they can have deficiencies in hearts and eyes and their
lower limbs are often listless. There has been no orderly registration here
in the period after the war and we have suffered from that. But [in relation
to the rise in tumours] I can say with certainty that we have noticed a sharp
rise in malignancy of the blood and this is not a congenital anomaly - it is
an acquired disease." Despite fully funding the
construction of the new hospital, a well-equipped facility that opened in
August, Iraq's health ministry remains largely disfunctional and unable to
co-ordinate a response to the city's pressing needs. The government's lack of
capacity has led Falluja officials, who have historically been wary of
foreign intervention, to ask for help from the international community.
"Even in the scientific field, there has been a reluctance to reach out
to the exterior countries," said Dr Salah. "But we have passed that
point now. I am doing multiple surgeries every day. I have one assistant and
I am obliged to do everything myself." Additional reporting: Enas
Ibrahim. External link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects Doctors and parents tell of huge growth in abnormalities in children
of city that saw some of the fiercest fighting - and largest quantities of
munitions of the Iraq war By Martin Chulov The Guardian November 13, 2009 Zainab Abdul Latif moves
wearily between her three children, wiping their foreheads and propping them
up in their wheelchairs. "Every day, they need intensive care," the
29-year-old Falluja mother says. Neither her two sons, Amar, 5, and Moustafa,
3, or daughter, Mariam, 6, can walk or use their limbs. They speak two words
- "mama, baba" - between them. All are in nappies. Zainab is one of many faces
of Falluja's postwar years, overwhelmed by a workload that she has no means
to change. "They cannot eat, or drink by themselves and every day I have
to take Mariam to the hospital. She is very sensitive to flu and regularly
gets diarrhoea and other ailments. The doctors have told me they are mentally
retarded and have nerve paralysis. They say it is congenital. I really can't
take care of them like this and I need help." One of few people she can
turn to is Dr Bassem Allah, the senior obstetrician who is chief custodian of
Falluja's newborns. During medical school he had to search Iraq for case
studies of an infant with a birth defect. "It was almost impossible
during the 80s," he says. "Now, every day in my clinic or elsewhere
in the hospital, there are large numbers of congenital abnormalities or cases
of chronic tumours." He pauses, his thoughts
seemingly interrupted by the gravity of his words, then slowly continues.
"Now, believe me, it's like we are treating patients immediately after
Hiroshima." Across Falluja, neonatal
wards and centres for disabled people are facing such an influx of infants or
children aged under five with chronic deformities that they are fast running
out of space and staff to help. After two years of anecdotal reports
suggesting a spike in birth defects, more precise data is painting a picture
of a deeply disturbing phenomenon. The Guardian asked Dr Samira
Abdul Ghani, a specialist at Falluja general hospital, to compile data from
all the newborns she supervised over the three weeks from 11 October. She
reported 37 cases of serious deformities, many of them neural tube defects
[birth defects of the brain and spinal column including spina bifida and
anencephaly], with accompanying heart problems. A sharp rise in the number of
infant tumours is also being chronicled by hospital staff but, because tumours
usually materialise months or years after birth, doctors are reluctant to
quantify their research. "There is ... a very
marked increase in the number of paediatric cases of less than two years with
brain tumours," said the hospital director, Dr Ayman Qais. "This is
now a focus area of multiple tumours. We are seeing a very significant
increase in central nervous system anomalies, especially neural tube
defects." Before 2003, he had been
seeing sporadic deformities in babies. Now the frequency had increased
dramatically. Most were in the head and spinal cord, but many were in lower
limbs. At Falluja General, doctors
who care for newborns are dealing with phenomena none can explain. The city was the site of the
two most savage and prolonged battles in Iraq during the past six years. The
potentially toxic residue of precision munitions that rained down on the city
for up to two months in 2004 has left many medical professionals questioning
the long-term impact of modern weaponry, although few are willing, so far, to
directly blame the war. Doctors point to many
factors that could contribute to the birth defects: malnutrition, the
psychological status of the parents, drug use, chemicals or radiation. Even
preliminary treatment for the most common defect requires life-threatening
surgery - a price too high for many parents. Evidence is on display
throughout Falluja's new general hospital and at centres for disabled people
across the city. On 2 November, there were four cases of neural tube defects
in the neonatal ward. Several more were in intensive care and an out-patient
clinic. "Many more fathers and
mothers are refusing ongoing hospital admissions and, until recently, we did
not record their children as having been born with defects," said Qais.
"I tell parents after each diagnosis that they will need a shunt
procedure, which will most likely lead to chronic swelling in the head and
the need for surgery in the skull or brain, so the majority of parents are
not taking this option." Falluja's obstetricians said
the significant rise in diagnoses of congenital defects was not explained by
improving healthcare in the city. "We used to diagnose all such patients
before the war," said Qais. "They were registered here and then
sent to Baghdad for treatment, but we knew the health base of the
newborn." The story in Falluja is
playing out away from the clinical calm of hospital wards. In homes across
the city, the care needs of children with debilitating injuries are faced by
families with no access to social welfare and little support outside their
inner-sanctum. Not far from Zainab's house,
Um Omar is mourning the death three months ago of her three-year old
daughter, Fatima, who was born with a second mass that protruded from her
neck. She was known as the girl with two heads. Allah, who treated Fatima,
said that there was no chance of saving her life in Iraq. "The second
'head' was actually a tumour that contained part of the hydrocephalus and
part of the brain. To save her needed highly specialised equipment that we do
not have here." Her mother still grieves for
Fatima. "I'm sad about the death of my baby despite all the hardship she
faced," she said. "She was blind, she couldn't eat, she had no
oesophagus and never walked or spoke. She was my last child. All the rest were
born before the war. All four children were
registered by the Falluja Handicapped Organisation, a rudimentary facility
with little funding or means to provide other than moral support to the
increasing numbers of families flowing through its doors. The director, Hussain
Matroud, said there were 300 children on his books. Many thousands more
remained in the community, with their parents and carers refusing help. Some
patients being treated for congenital defects at the centre for people with
disabilities were clearly born before the start of the war, but the vast
majority of children on the register were aged six, or younger. "Most of the children
have brain injuries and nearly all are under eight years," he said.
"There were very few before the war. We are in constant contact with
NGOs in America, India and Britain, who try to help with treatment. But all
we can really do for now is compile their names and the extent of their
conditions." Mohammed and Rana Majid have
a daughter, Zahra, who was born four years ago. She has been diagnosed with
developmental disabilities stemming back to the pregnancy. The parents
complained to the American military and received a compensation form to fill
out. They have done so, but received no reply. Several other families have
lodged claims with the US military, but without a scientific case are
unlikely to get far. Allah believes science has to start playing a role in
explaining what has happened to the city and its young. "The numbers of
abnormalities we are seeing is horrific and no one has yet concluded
why," said Allah. "There is not yet any science to tell us why. No
one has come here to take soil samples, or make examinations. I think the
Iraqi government does not want it proven that the Americans used forbidden
weapons here. If there is scientific proof that the war was responsible for
so many deformities, there will likely be problems for officials here." Back story US troops entered Falluja
shortly after invading Iraq in March 2003, but it was the bloody assault some
19 months later that would become synonymous with the city. Operation
VigilantResolve, in April 2004, was a response to the killing of four US
private military contractors employed by Blackwater (now XE). On 8 November
2004 10,000 US troops and 2,000 Iraqi soldiers embarked on Operation Phantom
Fury. The US military called the
fighting "some of the heaviest urban combat marines have been involved
in since Hue City in Vietnam in 1968". The US claimed to have
killed 2,000 people, mainly insurgents, but produced no figures for
civilians. Western media were kept out but accounts emerged of indiscriminate
killing. Iraqi medical officials and
NGOs put the civilian toll at up to 6,000. Falluja's compensation
commissioner said 36,000 out of 50,000 homes were destroyed, with 60 schools
and 65 mosques and shrines. At least 200,000 civilians became refugees. Additional reporting: Enas
Ibrahim External link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-children-birth-defects |