Joanna
Jurriaan Bendien wrote:
(this article describes how the forces of imperialism literally poison people to death, which over time may make official war casualty rates look like chickenfeed - and I am not talking tobacco. The poisoning would also affect American and British soldiers stationed in Iraq - JB).
(...) "American forces admit to using over 300 tonnes of depleted uranium weapons in 1991. The actual figure is closer to 800. "This has caused a health crisis that has affected almost a third of a million people. As if that was not enough, America went on and used 200 tonnes more in Baghdad alone this April. I don't know about other parts of Iraq, it will take me years to document that." Hardan is particularly angry because he says there is no need for this type of weapon - US conventional weapons are quite capable of destroying tanks and buildings. "In Basra, it took us two years to obtain conclusive proof of what DU does, but we now know what to look for and the results are terrifying."
Leukaemia has already become the most common type of cancer in Iraq among all age groups, but is most prevalent in the under-15s. [In Basra, the overall incidence rate of all cancerous malignancies for persons below 15 years of age only was about 4 per 100, 000 children in 1990, about 7 per 100, 000 children in 1997 about 10 per 100, 000 children in 1999 - JB]. It has increased way above the percentage of population growth in every single province of Iraq without exception. Women as young as 35 are developing breast cancer. Sterility amongst men has increased ten-fold. But by far the most devastating effect is on unborn children. Nothing can prepare anyone for the sight of hundreds of preserved foetuses - barely human in appearance. (...) Not only are there 200 tonnes of uranium lying around in Baghdad, the containers which carried the ammunition were discarded. For months afterwards, many used them to carry water - others used them to sell milk publicly.
After his experience in Basra, Hardan says that within the next two years he expects to see significant rises in congenital cataracts, anopthalmia, microphthalmia, corneal opacities and coloboma of the iris - and that's just in people's eyes. Add this to foetal deformities, sterility in both sexes, an increase in miscarriages and premature births, congenital malformations, additional abnormal organs, hydrocephaly, anencephaly and delayed growth. "I had hoped the lessons of using DU would have been learnt - especially as it is affecting American and British troops stationed in Iraq as we speak, they are not immune to its effects either."
If the experience of Basra is played out in the rest of the country, Iraq is looking at an increase of over 300% in all types of cancer over the next decade. (...) "I'm fed up of delegations coming and weeping as I show them children dying before their eyes. I want action and not emotion. The crime has been committed and documented - but we must act now to save our children's future."
Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E8C356F9-E89F-4CD3-88B5-BBBDF9E085C1. htm
PS - my first sister died of leukemia in 1964, when I was 5 years old, and it wasn't a funny joke to me.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera has conducted a poll (to which 17399 responses were received) as follows:
Is the war on terror a showdown between the West and Islam? (48% yes, 43% no, 8% unsure) Will anti-Iraq occupation sentiment in the US increase, as occupation gets more costly? (84% yes, 12% no, 4% unsure) Should the US prevent other countries from pursuing nuclear technology? (37% yes, 55% no, 8% unsure) Are Bin Laden and al-Qaida now a 'spent force'? (31% yes, 52% no, 17% unsure) Should the US withdraw from Iraq and let the UN take the lead role? (72% yes, 24% no, 4% unsure)
