Perhaps the US Embassy should investigate this!
In support of Bruce Hubbard
Regards, Gill
Iraq's real WMD crime Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.7 billion years... that means thousands upon thousands of
Iraqi children will suffer. Article By Lawrence Smallman on Al-Jazeera.
Thursday 30 October 2003 Aljazeera
(Editor’s caution the following two links are images that will disturb.)
Photo: Depleted uranium has caused severe deformities in babies
Photo: Many affected foetuses are so deformed they cannot survive
There are weapons of mass destruction all over Iraq and they were used this year.
Iraqi children continue to find them every day.
They have ruined the lives of just under 300,000 people during the last decade - and numbers will increase.
The reason is simple.
Two hundred tonnes of radioactive material were fired by invading US forces into buildings, homes, streets and gardens
all over Baghdad. The material in question is depleted uranium (DU).
Left over after natural uranium has been enriched, DU is 1.7 times denser than lead - effective in penetrating armoured
objects such as tanks.
After a DU-coated shell strikes, it goes straight through before exploding into a burning vapour which turns to dust.
"Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.7 billion years that means thousands upon thousands of Iraqi children will
suffer for tens of thousands of years to come. This is what I call terrorism," says Dr Ahmad Hardan.
As a special scientific advisor to the World Health Organisation, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health,
Dr Hardan is the man who documented the effects of depleted uranium in Iraq between 1991 and 2002.
But this year's invasion and occupation has doubled his workload.
Terrible history repeated "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" - Dr Ahmad Hardan, scientific
advisor to the World Health Organisation "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. 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.
Barely human 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. There is no doubt that DU is to blame.
"All children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic
back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have
produced ample evidence to show that DU has disastrous consequences.
" 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. It is already
too late to reverse the effects. 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 to this foetal deformities, sterility in both sexes, an increase in miscarriages and premature births, congenital
malformations, additional abnormal organs, hydrocephaly, anencephaly and delayed growth.
Soaring cancer rates "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.
The signs are already here in Baghdad - the effects are starting to be seen. Every form of cancer has jumped up at
least 10% with the exception of bone tumours and skin cancer, which have only reason 2.6% and 9.3% respectively.
Another tragic outcome is the delayed growth of children.
Skeletal age comparisons between boys from southern Iraq and boys from Michigan show Iraqi males are 26 months behind
in their development by the time they are 12-years-old, and girls are almost half a year behind.
"The effects of ionising radiation on growth and development are especially significant in the prenatal child", adds Dr
Hardan.
"Embryonic development is especially affected.
" Action needed Those who have seen the effects of DU hope the US and its allies will never use these weapons again but
it seems no such decision is likely in the foreseeable future.
"A world famous German cancer specialist agreed to come, only to be told later that he would not be given permission to
enter Iraq" Dr Ahmad Hardan, scientific advisor to the World Health Organisation "I arranged for a delegation from
Japan's Hiroshima hospital to come and share their expertise in the radiological related diseases we are likely to face
over time,” says Hardan.
“The delegation told me the Americans had objected and they had decided not to come.
"Similarly, a world famous German cancer specialist agreed to come, only to be told later that he would not be given
permission to enter Iraq.
" Secondly, Hardan believes, the authorities need to produce precise information about what was used and where, and
there needs to be a clean-up operation and centres for specialist cancer treatment and radiation-related illnesses. Iraq
only has two hospitals that specialize in DU-related illnesses, one in Basra and one in Mawsil this needs to change and
soon.
"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."
-- Gill Jackson