Fallujah babies: Under a new kind of siege.

[Hashim1968]

Doctors and residents blame US weapons for catastrophic levels of birth defects in Fallujah's newborns.Dahr Jamail Last Modified: 06 Jan 2012 11:25

Congenital abnormalities have mushroomed in the wake of devastating US sieges in Fallujah in 2004 [EPA]Fallujah, Iraq - While the US military has formally withdrawn from Iraq, doctors and residents of Fallujah are blaming weapons like depleted uranium and white phosphorous used during two devastating US attacks on Fallujah in 2004 for what are being described as "catastrophic" levels of birth defects and abnormalities.

Dr Samira Alani, a paediatric specialist at Fallujah General Hospital, has taken a personal interest in investigating an explosion of congenital abnormalities that have mushroomed in the wake of the US sieges since 2005.

US invasion leaves lasting Iraq scars"We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine," Alani told Al Jazeera at her office in the hospital, while showing countless photos of shocking birth defects.

As of December 21, Alani, who has worked at the hospital since 1997, told Al Jazeera she had personally logged 677 cases of birth defects since October 2009. Just eight days later when Al Jazeera visited the city on December 29, that number had already risen to 699.

"There are not even medical terms to describe some of these conditions because we've never seen them until now," she said. "So when I describe it all I can do is describe the physical defects, but I'm unable to provide a medical term."

'Incompatible with life'

Most of these babies in Fallujah die within 20 to 30 minutes after being born, but not all.

Four-year-old Abdul Jaleel Mohammed was born in October 2007. His clinical diagnosis includes dilation of two heart ventricles, and a growth on his lower back that doctors have not been able to remove.

Four-year-old Abdul Jaleel Mohammed has birth defects and health problems that his family blames on depleted uranium exposure from the 2004 US military attacks on Fallujah [Dahr Jamail/Al Jazeera]Abdul has trouble controlling his muscles, struggles to walk, cannot control his bladder, and weakens easily. Doctors told his father, Mohamed Jaleel Abdul Rahim, that his son has severe nervous system problems, and could develop fluid build-up in his brain as he ages, which could prove fatal.

"This is the first instance of something like this in all our family," Rahim told Al Jazeera. "We lived in an area that was heavily bombed by the Americans in 2004, and a missile landed right in front of our home. What else could cause these health problems besides this?"

Dr Alani told Al Jazeera that in the vast majority of cases she has documented, the family had no prior history of congenital abnormalities.

Alani showed Al Jazeera hundreds of photos of babies born with cleft palates, elongated heads, a baby born with one eye in the centre of its face, overgrown limbs, short limbs, and malformed ears, noses and spines.

She told Al Jazeera of cases of "thanatophoric dysplasia", an abnormality in bones and the thoracic cage that "render the newborn incompatible with life".

Rahim said many of his relatives that have had babies after 2004 are having problems as well.

"One of them was born and looks like a fish," Rahim said. "I also personally know of at least three other families who live near us who have these problems also."

For now, the family is worried how Abdul will fare in school when he is enrolled next year. Maloud Ahmed Jassim, Abdul's grandfather, added, "We've seen so many miscarriages happen, and we don't know why."

"The growth on his back is so sensitive and painful for him," Rahim said. "What will happen in school?"

Jassim is angered by a lack of thorough investigations into the health crisis.

"Why is the government not investigating this," he asked. "Western media seem interested, but neither our local media nor the government are. Why not?"

In April 2011, Iraqi lawmakers debated whether the US attacks on the city constituted genocide. Resolutions that called for international prosecution, however, went nowhere.

Scientific proof

Alani, along with Dr Christopher Busby, a British scientist and activist who has carried out research into the risks of radioactive pollution, collected hair samples from 25 parents of families with children who have birth defects and sent them to a laboratory in Germany for analysis.

Alani and Busby, along with other doctors and researchers, published a study in September 2011 from data obtained by analysing the hair samples, as well as soil and water samples from the city.

Mercury, Uranium, Bizmuth and other trace elements were found.

The report's conclusion states:

"Whilst caution must be exercised about ruling out other possibilities, because none of the elements found in excess are reported to cause congenital diseases and cancer except Uranium, these findings suggest the enriched Uranium exposure is either a primary cause or related to the cause of the congenital anomaly and cancer increases. Questions are thus raised about the characteristics and composition of weapons now being deployed in modern battlefields."

"As doctors, we know Mercury, Uranium and Bismuth can contribute to the development of congenital abnormalities, and we think it could be related to the use of prohibited weapons by the Americans during these battles," Alani said.

"Findings suggest the enriched Uranium exposure is either a primary cause or related to the cause of the congenital anomaly and cancer increases," says a recent scientific report on the incidence of birth defects in Fallujah [Dr Samira Alani]"I made this link to a coroner's inquest in the West Midlands into the death of a Gulf War One veteran... and a coroner's jury accepted my evidence," he told Al Jazeera.

"It's been found by a coroner's court that cancer was caused by an exposure to depleted uranium," Busby added, "In the last 10 years, research has emerged that has made it quite clear that uranium is one of the most dangerous substances known to man, certainly in the form that it takes when used in these wars."

In July 2010, Busby released a study that showed a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in Fallujah since the 2004 attacks. The report also showed the sex ratio had declined from normal to 86 boys to 100 girls, together with a spread of diseases indicative of genetic damage similar to but of far greater incidence than Hiroshima.

Dr Alani visited Japan recently, where she met with Japanese doctors who study birth defect rates they believe related to radiation from the US nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

She was told birth defect incidence rates there are between 1-2 per cent. Alani's log of cases of birth defects amounts to a rate of 14.7 per cent of all babies born in Fallujah, more than 14 times the rate in the affected areas of Japan.

A contaminated country?

In Babil Province in southern Iraq, the head of the Babil Cancer Centre, Dr Sharif al-Alwachi, said cancer rates have been escalating at alarming rates since 2003, for which he blames the use of depleted uranium weapons by US forces during and following the 2003 invasion.

"The environment could be contaminated by chemical weapons and depleted uranium from the aftermath of the war on Iraq," Dr Alwachi told Al Jazeera. "The air, soil and water are all polluted by these weapons, and as they come into contact with human beings they become poisonous. This is new to our region, and people are suffering here."

The US and UK militaries have sent mixed signals about the effects of depleted uranium, but Iraqi doctors like Alwachi and Alani, and along with researchers, blame the increasing cancer and birth defect rates on the weapon.

Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of Uranium in Iraq, has been researching the effects of depleted uranium on Iraqis since 1991. He told Al Jazeera he personally measured radiation levels in the city of Kerbala, as well as in Basra, and his Geiger counter was "screaming" because "the indicator went beyond the range".

Alani explained that she is the only doctor in Fallujah registering cases of congenital abnormalities.

Dr Samira Alani, who has been working as a pediatrician at Fallujah General Hospital since 1997, has registered 699 cases of birth defects in Fallujah babies since late 2009 [Dahr Jamail/Al Jazeera]"We have no system to register all of them, so we have so many cases we are missing," she said. "Just yesterday a colleague told me of a newborn with thanatophoric dysplasia and she did not register it. I think I only know of 40-50 per cent of the cases because so many families have their babies at home and we never know of these, and other clinics are not registering them either."

The hospital where Alani does her work was constructed in the Dhubadh district of Fallujah in 2008. According to Alani, the district was bombed heavily during the November 2004 siege.

"There is also a primary school that was built nearby, and from that school alone three teachers developed breast cancer, and now two of them are dead," Alani said. "We get so many cases from this area, right where the hospital is."

Even with a vast amount of anecdotal evidence, the exact cause of the health crisis in Fallujah is currently inconclusive without an in-depth, comprehensive study, which has yet to be carried out.

But despite lack of governmental support, and very little support from outside Iraq, Alani is determined to continue her work.

"I will not leave this subject", she told Al Jazeera. "I will not stop."

http://www.aljazeera...6394859797.html

Edited January 8, 2012 by Hashim1968

[zigmeister]

Good post. The horror of war wages on the newborn.....how could it not be contaminated?

[fnbplanet]

Well, if Aljazeera says it's America's fault, then it MUST be true.

The U.S. didn't need nuclear weapons to bust up that regime. "Scientific proof" offered isn't proving WHO put those chemicals there. Maybe that's where the WMD was stored for awhile.

Well, if Aljazeera says it's America's fault, then it MUST be true.

[unirod]

What has this got to do with our investment? I care about babies like anyone here in our forum. But does this article even need our attention?

[zigmeister]

That's a bit harsh unirod.

[smee2]

What has this got to do with our investment? I care about babies like anyone here in our forum. But does this article even need our attention?

Does this article even need our attention?

Wow, does it ever!!!!

First of all, let me say that this forum was built to be here as a sounding board for dinar investors. But a lot of persons with very strong feelings and a need to vent them at every opportunity, use this forum to bash politicians, constantly. Others try to put every blessed thing into a religious context and then hang it lopsidded or swinging in circles depending on what brand of Christianity they are professing There are some who take any crack-pot conspiracy theory thet cab find and expound on it in these threads. Sometimes it is a combination of two, or even all three! And dare anyone say it doesn't belong here? I have tried and I got tromped on pretty hard by my "fellow" forum members. So, I have eased up and tried to be a little less militent and a little more apt to just click and carry on.

But when you ask if this article is relevant I almost want to sneak into your house with a baseball bat start swinging at the first pair of balls I find, provided they are yours. No real threat there, just implied, just getting that little bit off my angered soul.

*sigh* Well, let me try again. I have erased back to this point several times. All I want to say is a book full. I have to find a shorter way to make a point ...

Is this important? Yes.

To You? Yes.

Why? Leaving out all the speachmaking ... it is as simple as this ... you are a human being (I am assuming here) and the unborn children, just born children, toddlers who are too sick to toddle, youngsters who will never grow to be much older, adults who are suddenly dropping like flies because of cancer in unbelievable numbers ... they are all human beings too.

If you are so wrapped up in your "Investment" that you cannot give a little time, or space, or concern, for the babies and families who are suffering because one bunch of countries wants the black goopy stuff lying under the sand in the country where the children are dying ... if you cannot or will not allow whoever is concerned to post, to find and read, and comment and stimulate conversation about this ... you are NOT the human I previously assumed you were.

I don't even have the words to try to shame you into a truly human reaction.

But hey, if you are so sure this is the wrong place for this type of post, then get on your high horse and go after the proselytizing Christians and Obama Bashers who have adopted this as their site. This article has, at the very least, reference to Iraq.

Some people ...

[RVInvestor]

Well, if Aljazeera says it's America's fault, then it MUST be true.

The U.S. didn't need nuclear weapons to bust up that regime. "Scientific proof" offered isn't proving WHO put those chemicals there. Maybe that's where the WMD was stored for awhile.

Well, if Aljazeera says it's America's fault, then it MUST be true.

Keep in kind the chemical agents used in current warfare, which the US does partake in, does cause birth defects. It's collateral damage, but it is a very sad sight. New borns, toddlers, etc have no say in this, and it is quite disturbing to see. Pray for the innocent. Peace and blessings to all.

Edited January 8, 2012 by RVInvestor

[smee2]

Keep in kind the chemical agents used in current warfare, which the US does partake in, does cause birth defects. It's collateral damage, but it is a very sad sight. New borns, toddlers, etc have no say in this, and it is quite disturbing to see. Pray for the innocent. Peace and blessings to all.

Now THAT is the kind of response I would expect from a real human being. AH ... ahem ... RVInvestor, you wouldn't like to take a little trip over to wherever Unirod hangs (head down, wings folded, dark closet somewhere) and give him a wee talk about what human beings are and what we stand for and in case he is of the he gender let him know that those of his gender don't have to be nasty to be real men?

I am relieved to read your post ... I thought maybe I was alone in my feeling sorry for the children or war ... war is, in itself, a terrible thing. But sometimes what the children, some of them not even born yet, have to go through is worse.

Thanks

smee2

[easyrider]

Unfortunately these are the aftermaths of war its a sad reality and i doubt the powers to be give two sh**s about these babies. Its very sad and i pray they can live a peaceful life but who the heck knows anymore.

[littlefeet]

Well, if Aljazeera says it's America's fault, then it MUST be true.

The U.S. didn't need nuclear weapons to bust up that regime. "Scientific proof" offered isn't proving WHO put those chemicals there. Maybe that's where the WMD was stored for awhile.

Well, if Aljazeera says it's America's fault, then it MUST be true.

Could be.........hid the WMD's right in the middle of town while the US and Allies were out in the desert looking for them

[unirod]

Does this article even need our attention?

Wow, does it ever!!!!

First of all, let me say that this forum was built to be here as a sounding board for dinar investors. But a lot of persons with very strong feelings and a need to vent them at every opportunity, use this forum to bash politicians, constantly. Others try to put every blessed thing into a religious context and then hang it lopsidded or swinging in circles depending on what brand of Christianity they are professing There are some who take any crack-pot conspiracy theory thet cab find and expound on it in these threads. Sometimes it is a combination of two, or even all three! And dare anyone say it doesn't belong here? I have tried and I got tromped on pretty hard by my "fellow" forum members. So, I have eased up and tried to be a little less militent and a little more apt to just click and carry on.

But when you ask if this article is relevant I almost want to sneak into your house with a baseball bat start swinging at the first pair of balls I find, provided they are yours. No real threat there, just implied, just getting that little bit off my angered soul.

*sigh* Well, let me try again. I have erased back to this point several times. All I want to say is a book full. I have to find a shorter way to make a point ...

Is this important? Yes.

To You? Yes.

Why? Leaving out all the speachmaking ... it is as simple as this ... you are a human being (I am assuming here) and the unborn children, just born children, toddlers who are too sick to toddle, youngsters who will never grow to be much older, adults who are suddenly dropping like flies because of cancer in unbelievable numbers ... they are all human beings too.

If you are so wrapped up in your "Investment" that you cannot give a little time, or space, or concern, for the babies and families who are suffering because one bunch of countries wants the black goopy stuff lying under the sand in the country where the children are dying ... if you cannot or will not allow whoever is concerned to post, to find and read, and comment and stimulate conversation about this ... you are NOT the human I previously assumed you were.

I don't even have the words to try to shame you into a truly human reaction.

But hey, if you are so sure this is the wrong place for this type of post, then get on your high horse and go after the proselytizing Christians and Obama Bashers who have adopted this as their site. This article has, at the very least, reference to Iraq.

Some people ...

Smee and forum members,

First I would like to apologize for seeming inhuman. This was not my intention at all in my comment. You should have read that I do care about babies like anyone here in this forum. I did not realize that this forum was started as a sounding board for such a wide range of interests including humanitarian. It is very disturbing to myself and family how the innocent always pay the price for mankinds wicked acts toward each other. And unfortunatly crimes toward the innocent are a direct result of mans insatiable greed. As I have only been a member with you not quite a year now I hope that you may be a little more reasonable with your assumptions that I am not human because of poorly chosen words. I would like you to know that I just attended memorial services for my barely 15 year old cousin, who had a three year battle with Ewings Sarcoma ( bone cancer). She was very special to myself and family as you can immagine. And we are all still feeling devistated. So I am not so wrapped up in this investment that I haven't been forced into making room in my life for such tragedy. No I'm not on any kind of high horse, and this forum has been a real distraction from the grief myself and family is going through. Maybe my reaction in poorly chosen words was part of the outworking of grief and the anger inside that I feel for what is so unfair to someone in my life, that was so young. An article like this one reminded me of that. Again please accept my apologies to everyone......

[fastarnie]

Smee and forum members,

First I would like to apologize for seeming inhuman. This was not my intention at all in my comment. You should have read that I do care about babies like anyone here in this forum. I did not realize that this forum was started as a sounding board for such a wide range of interests including humanitarian. It is very disturbing to myself and family how the innocent always pay the price for mankinds wicked acts toward each other. And unfortunatly crimes toward the innocent are a direct result of mans insatiable greed. As I have only been a member with you not quite a year now I hope that you may be a little more reasonable with your assumptions that I am not human because of poorly chosen words. I would like you to know that I just attended memorial services for my barely 15 year old cousin, who had a three year battle with Ewings Sarcoma ( bone cancer). She was very special to myself and family as you can immagine. And we are all still feeling devistated. So I am not so wrapped up in this investment that I haven't been forced into making room in my life for such tragedy. No I'm not on any kind of high horse, and this forum has been a real distraction from the grief myself and family is going through. Maybe my reaction in poorly chosen words was part of the outworking of grief and the anger inside that I feel for what is so unfair to someone in my life, that was so young. An article like this one reminded me of that. Again please accept my apologies to everyone......

First, sorry about your loss. Second, thanks for addressing the issue of apologies, and third I gave you two pluses because you are going to take a big hit on that first post.

[RVInvestor]

Now THAT is the kind of response I would expect from a real human being. AH ... ahem ... RVInvestor, you wouldn't like to take a little trip over to wherever Unirod hangs (head down, wings folded, dark closet somewhere) and give him a wee talk about what human beings are and what we stand for and in case he is of the he gender let him know that those of his gender don't have to be nasty to be real men?

I am relieved to read your post ... I thought maybe I was alone in my feeling sorry for the children or war ... war is, in itself, a terrible thing. But sometimes what the children, some of them not even born yet, have to go through is worse.

Thanks

smee2

Smee2 thanks. I don't need praise, its what I believe and I am expressing my opinions towards humanity. I'm glad we see eye to eye on this. Unirod, thanks for clarifying. Your good in my books and you have my regard for your loss. War, indeed, has its dark side. I applaud the humanitarian efforts in place to assist this affected in war aftermaths.

[tyron]

COLLATERAL DAMAGE! Look at us casually using that despicable phrase that war-loving psychopaths have given us to mask their unforgivable acts of mass murdering the totally innocent.

[Stryker365]

Now THAT is the kind of response I would expect from a real human being. AH ... ahem ... RVInvestor, you wouldn't like to take a little trip over to wherever Unirod hangs (head down, wings folded, dark closet somewhere) and give him a wee talk about what human beings are and what we stand for and in case he is of the he gender let him know that those of his gender don't have to be nasty to be real men?

I am relieved to read your post ... I thought maybe I was alone in my feeling sorry for the children or war ... war is, in itself, a terrible thing. But sometimes what the children, some of them not even born yet, have to go through is worse.

Thanks

smee2

One bashing was enough in my books, the first one was hard enough. Neg me all you want.....

[yota691]

Thursday, Dec 29 2011 3PM 8°F 6PM 12°F 5-Day Forecast

Iraq shells 'contained blister agent'

Comments (0)

A cache of 36 shells buried in the Iraqi desert have been uncovered, and preliminary tests by British experts showed they contained a liquid blister agent.

The 120mm mortar shells are thought to be left over from the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran, which ended in 1988, said US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt.

The shells were found by Danish engineering troops and Icelandic de-miners near Al Quarnah, north of the city of Basra where Denmark's 410 troops are based, the Danish Army Operational Command said.

The shells were wrapped in plastic but had been damaged, and they appeared to have been buried for at least 10 years, the Danish statement said.

It said British experts did a preliminary test and said the shells contained "blister gas", but did not elaborate.

Before the war, the US alleged Iraq still had stockpiles of mustard gas, a World War I-era blister agent that is stored in liquid form. The chemical burns skin, eyes and the lungs.

US intelligence officials also claimed Iraq had sarin, cyclosarin and VX, which are deadly nerve agents.

"We're doing some preliminary tests to ensure that if they do contain any kind of blister agent that we can dispose of them properly," Kimmitt said.

The Danish military emphasised that the tests were not definitive.

Initial tests by field troops are designed to favour a positive reading, erring on the side of caution to protect soldiers. More sophisticated tests are often necessary.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1hvkEZd8b

[smee2]

Smee and forum members,

First I would like to apologize for seeming inhuman. This was not my intention at all in my comment. You should have read that I do care about babies like anyone here in this forum. I did not realize that this forum was started as a sounding board for such a wide range of interests including humanitarian. It is very disturbing to myself and family how the innocent always pay the price for mankinds wicked acts toward each other. And unfortunatly crimes toward the innocent are a direct result of mans insatiable greed. As I have only been a member with you not quite a year now I hope that you may be a little more reasonable with your assumptions that I am not human because of poorly chosen words. I would like you to know that I just attended memorial services for my barely 15 year old cousin, who had a three year battle with Ewings Sarcoma ( bone cancer). She was very special to myself and family as you can immagine. And we are all still feeling devistated. So I am not so wrapped up in this investment that I haven't been forced into making room in my life for such tragedy. No I'm not on any kind of high horse, and this forum has been a real distraction from the grief myself and family is going through. Maybe my reaction in poorly chosen words was part of the outworking of grief and the anger inside that I feel for what is so unfair to someone in my life, that was so young. An article like this one reminded me of that. Again please accept my apologies to everyone......

I hope you will accept an opology from me too. I tend to react rather than respond, And I tend to react too quickly, without giving enough thought or perhaps givine another person the opportunity to explain. You hit a very soft spot with me ... as this whole thing has done to you too it appears. Perhaps we hvae learned something from all this ... I have.

Sorry about your young cousin ... with me it was a very young great neice who never lived long enough to really know what the world was all about yet. It would appear we are both grieving and were both touched in a very tender place by the original article.

smee2

[Stryker365]

You know yota I took this article as just another way to blame the US, believe me I feel as human as the next person when it comes to this story but Saddam used enough chemical's on his own people to last several generations, IMO

[yota691]

You know yota I took this article as just another way to blame the US, believe me I feel as human as the next person when it comes to this story but Saddam used enough chemical's on his own people to last several generations, IMO

That why i brought it up. Responsibility is just not USA. War is bad. But these Dictators could careless about Human rights, it all about control. Even in the USA

[Lenape]

I hope you will accept an opology from me too. I tend to react rather than respond, And I tend to react too quickly, without giving enough thought or perhaps givine another person the opportunity to explain. You hit a very soft spot with me ... as this whole thing has done to you too it appears. Perhaps we hvae learned something from all this ... I have.

Sorry about your young cousin ... with me it was a very young great neice who never lived long enough to really know what the world was all about yet. It would appear we are both grieving and were both touched in a very tender place by the original article.

smee2

+1 smee, understood. Have a wonderful day

[unirod]

I hope you will accept an opology from me too. I tend to react rather than respond, And I tend to react too quickly, without giving enough thought or perhaps givine another person the opportunity to explain. You hit a very soft spot with me ... as this whole thing has done to you too it appears. Perhaps we hvae learned something from all this ... I have.

Sorry about your young cousin ... with me it was a very young great neice who never lived long enough to really know what the world was all about yet. It would appear we are both grieving and were both touched in a very tender place by the original article.

smee2

Thanks Smee for your understanding. And of course I accept your apology. Their are many who have the same sensitivities that you and I do, to the issues of suffering and death. I like you hope that in some way our investment can be used to help the aleviation of suffering. Money is a temporary solution for sure. But if used correctly recipients can have a chance to live productive lives even in a world full of injustices and suffering. God Bless.....

[Stryker365]

I hope you will accept an opology from me too. I tend to react rather than respond, And I tend to react too quickly, without giving enough thought or perhaps givine another person the opportunity to explain. You hit a very soft spot with me ... as this whole thing has done to you too it appears. Perhaps we hvae learned something from all this ... I have.

Sorry about your young cousin ... with me it was a very young great neice who never lived long enough to really know what the world was all about yet. It would appear we are both grieving and were both touched in a very tender place by the original article.

smee2

Thanks smee2 and unirod, we all are having life challenges on top of watching this dinar theater play out, God Bless!

Thanks Smee for your understanding. And of course I accept your apology. Their are many who have the same sensitivities that you and I do, to the issues of suffering and death. I like you hope that in some way our investment can be used to help the aleviation of suffering. Money is a temporary solution for sure. But if used correctly recipients can have a chance to live productive lives even in a world full of injustices and suffering. God Bless.....

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

That why i brought it up. Responsibility is just not USA. War is bad. But these Dictators could careless about Human rights, it all about control. Even in the USA

***///

Americans are not the kind of people to EVER wish this on anyone.

Quite the contrary, we have done more to ease suffering around the world than anyone else.

Don't know if I could prove it, but I've witnessed it AND been a part of it.

We even help the animals in these countries AND our own enemies.

Please don't blame this all on us.

Please.