The Aftermath of Iraq Invasion: The Loss of Human Values (Graphic Images)

The United States may finish dropping bombs on Iraq, but Iraqi bodies will be dealing with the consequences for generations to come in the form of birth defects, mysterious illnesses and skyrocketing cancer rates.

Al Jazeera’s Dahr Jamail reports that contamination from U.S. weapons, particularly Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, has led to an Iraqi health crisis of epic proportions. “Children being born with two heads, children born with only one eye, multiple tumours, disfiguring facial and body deformities, and complex nervous system problems,” are just some of the congenital birth defects being linked to military-related pollution.

In certain Iraqi cities, the health consequences are significantly worse than those seen in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of WWII.

Instead, the international community, including the nation most responsible for the health crisis, is mostly ignoring the problem.

To make matters worse, Iraq’s healthcare system, which was once the envy of the region, is virtually nonexistent due to the mass exodus of Iraq’s medical doctors since 2003. According to recent estimates, there are currently fewer than 100 psychiatrists and 20,0000 physicians serving a population of 31 million Iraqis.

Details of the above findings by Raina Khalek have been given as: "Iraqi Birth Defects worse than Hiroshima."

The America and its allied aggression on Iraq land, Iraq children along with the rest of the population have been subjected to grave human rights violations, caused by the war which started in 2003. Despited the UN convention on the rights of the child (CRC), where there is great emphasis for the need to protect children rights to life and physical, mental. moral and spiritual development in a safe environment. Perhaps the world "super powers" who invaded Iraq acknowledged these provisions and conventions on children's wellbeing, only applicable to their home countries. As for the Muslim nations and others, these provisions should not be considered in any circumstances. Indiscriminate bombardment that will destroy the land, killing and inflicting harm to innocent children in the name of fighting "Terrorism or War on Terror", should have been giving considerable thought before embarking on such mission.

One of the most serious ill-effects of bombarding Iraq soil has been the metal contamination and the epidemic of congenital Birth defects in Iraq cities. constant occurrence of birth defects from 2003 to date, was reported by hospitals in Iraq. It is a proven fact that exposure to chemicals can harm human reproduction. Ancient Romans were aware that lead (Pb) poisoning can cause miscarriage and infertility (Gilfillan 1965; Retief and cillier 2006).

Today it is well established that human pregnancy and fetal development are susceptible to parents environmental exposure to chemical, biological and physical agent (Mattison 2010).

Pregnant mothers and their growing fetuses are especially vulnerable to exposure to pollutants. Air and water pollution, to expose to toxic metal and volatile organics, which have been linked to adverse pregnancy and developmental outcomes.

Following the Iraqi bombardment, severe contamination of water, soil and air has affected the well-being of the country's citizens. Metal contamination of the public after the war has caused unusual number of congenital birth defects as witnessed by hospitals in Iraq. Based on these reports, it has raised a serious humanitarian concern to any right thinking individual. These current events all over Iraq continue to emphasize the great danger threatening are inflicted areas all over the world. Let the problem of pollution attract world attention, let us weigh the ecological impact on the delicate balance of nature.

If Fallujah is the Iraqi Hiroshima, then Basra is its Nagasaki.

According to a study published in the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, a professional journal based in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg, there was a sevenfold increase in the number of birth defects in Basra between 1994 and 2003.

According to the Heidelberg study, the concentration of lead in the milk teeth of sick children from Basra was almost three times as high as comparable values in areas where there was no fighting.

In addition, never before has such a high rate of neural tube defects (“open back”) been recorded in babies as in Basra, and the rate continues to rise. According to the study, the number of hydrocephalus (“water on the brain”) cases among new-borns is six times as high in Basra as it is in the United States.

This isn’t isolated to Fallujah and Basra. The overall Iraqi cancer rate has also skyrocketed:

Official Iraqi government statistics show that, prior to the outbreak of the First Gulf War in 1991, the rate of cancer cases in Iraq was 40 out of 100,000 people. By 1995, it had increased to 800 out of 100,000 people, and, by 2005, it had doubled to at least 1,600 out of 100,000 people. Current estimates show the increasing trend continuing.

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