Naomi Klein Rep.Guardian
April3rd2004 : There is one
piece of this country, though, that the US government is
happy to cede to the people of Iraq: the hospitals. On
March 27 Bremer announced that he had withdrawn the
senior US advisers from Iraq's health ministry, making it
the first sector toachieve "full authority" in
the US occupation.
PLEASE
READ UPDATE END OF THIS ARTICLE
THE AMERICAN WAR CRIME THAT SURPASSED ALL ELSE : THE USE
OF DEPLETED URANIUM IN WEAPONS..
CHANGING FACE OF IRAQ
By Lawrence Smallman in
Baghdad
.http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B93DF501-832A-423B-9E33-5F4325676A46.htm
Wednesday 17 March 2004, 13:03 Makka Time, 10:03 GMT
Depleted uranium has
a half life of 4.7 billion years
There are weapons of mass destruction all over Iraq and
they were used this past 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 adviser 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.
"This has caused a
health crisis that has affected almost a third of a
million people."
Dr Ahmad Hardan,
scientific adviser to the
World Health Organisation
But the war 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. As if that was not
enough, America went on and used 200 tonnes more in
Baghdad alone (last) 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-15 category. 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 among men has increased tenfold.
Barely human
Depleted uranium has caused
severe deformities in
babies
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 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 is
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.
"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 adviser to the
World Health Organisation
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 more than
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 risen 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.
Many affected foetuses are
so
deformed they cannot
survive
"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."
Moreover, 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 specialise in DU-related
illnesses, one in Basra and one in Mosul - 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."
Dr Ahmad Hardan,
scientific adviser to the
World Health Organisation
..UPDATE
U.S. Soldiers Contaminated With
Depleted Uranium Speak Out
Broadcast Exclusive for
Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/05/1356248
A special investigation by
Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez of the New York
Daily News has found four of nine soldiers of the
442nd Military Police Company of the New York Army
National Guard returning from Iraq tested positive for
depleted uranium contamination. They are the first
confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from
the current Iraq conflict.
After
repeatedly being denied testing for depleted uranium from
Army doctors, the soldiers contacted The News who
paid to have them tested as part of their investigation.
Testing
for uranium isotopes in 24 hours' worth of urine samples
can cost as much as $1,000 each.
In
a Democracy Now! broadcast exclusive, three of the
contaminated soldiers speak out.
Army
officials at FortDix and Walter Reed Army Medical
Center are now rushing to test all returning members of
the 442nd. More than a dozen members are back in the U.S.
but the rest of the company, mostly comprised of New York
City cops, firefighters and correction officers, is not
due to return from Iraq until later this month.
After
learning of The
News' investigation,
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) blasted Pentagon officials
yesterday for not properly screening soldiers returning
from Iraq .
Clinton,
a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she
will write to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld demanding
answers and soon will introduce legislation to require
health screenings for all returning troops.
Depleted
Uranium is considered to be the most effective anti-tank
weapon ever devised. It is made from nuclear waste left
over from the making nuclear weapons and fuel. The public
first became aware the U military was using DU
weapons during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. But it had
been used as far back as the 1973 Yom Kippur war in
Israel.
Amid
growing controversy in Europe and Japan, the
European Parliament called last year for a moratorium on
its use.
- Sgt. Herbert
Reed, assistant deputy warden at
Rikers Island with 442nd military police company
of New York Army National Guard. He did not test
positive for depleted uranium, but has uranium
236, a uranium isotope not found in nature.
- Sgt. Agustin
Matos, was
deployed in Iraq with the 442nd Military Police.
He is among the first confirmed cases of inhaled
depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq
conflict.
- Sgt. Hector
Vega, among the first confirmed cases
of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the
current Iraq conflict.
- Dr. Asaf
Durakovic, colonel in army reserves
who served in first Gulf War. He is one of the
first doctors to discover unusual radiation
levels in Gulf War veterans. He has since become
a leading critic of the use of depleted uranium
in warfare. He tested the nine men at the request
of the Daily News.
- Leonard Dietz,
retired physicist from Knolls Atomic Laboratory
in upstate New York. Pioneered the technology to
isolate uranium isotopes.
Read
Juan Gonzalez' Exclusive Reports in the New
YorkDaily News
International News report
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