September 24, 2004 - "ICH"
"It is especially forbidden to employ poison or poisoned weapons, to kill treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army, to employ arms, projectiles or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering." – The Hague Convention IV, Article 23.
The American use of "depleted" uranium (DU) munitions to attack Iraq in the 1991 and 2003 wars has unleashed a toxic disaster that is much more dangerous and deadly than the crimes committed on Vietnam by the use of Agent Orange. Each round fired by U.S. tanks represents 10 pounds of solid uranium-238, which catches fire immediately. On impact, it leaves a plume of radioactive dust to travel where the wind blows. The radioactive dust, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, is inhaled and absorbed into the gastro-intestinal tract. It contaminates air, water and soil. It eventually passes into vegetables, fruits, plants and livestock. Hospitals throughout Iraq have reported as much as 10-fold increase in overall cancer rates and birth defects over the last ten years.
According to the Pentagon’s own report, the US-UK dropped 320 tonnes of DU on Iraq in 1991. Greenpeace puts the figure at an estimate of 800 tones. More that 100,000 DU shells dropped on the city of Basra and its surroundings. The Pentagon and the UN estimate that and Britain "used 1,100 to 2,200 tons of armour-piercing shells made of DU during attacks on Iraq in March and April 2003 - far more than the 320-800 tons used in the 1991 Gulf War," reported the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on August 04, 2004.
In 2003 US War on Iraq, the US Army used its DU weapons mainly to attack the urban centres, rather than the desert battlefields as in 1991. All Iraqi cities have been attacked and exposed to DU radiation, with southern cities the most affected. US war on Iraq has not stopped since January 1991. It is a period of children massacres, devastation and destruction. It continues today.
Despite the US military’s attempts to bulldoze the surrounding topsoil, the Geiger-counter reading on the remaining piles of radioactive DU dust registered at hundreds of times the average. And a DU dart from a 120 mm tank shell emitted radiation over 1,000 times normal, noted Scott Peterson of The Christian Science Monitor. Mr Peterson saw children playing on top of a burnt-out tank near a vegetable stand on the outskirts of Baghdad, a tank that had been destroyed by armour-piercing shells coated with depleted uranium. Wearing his mask and protective clothing, he pointed his Geiger counter toward the tank. It registered 1,000 times the normal background radiation.
The families who survived the tragic decade of sanctions, even the children who recently survived the bombing of Baghdad, may not survive the radiated aftermath of military profligacy. There are very few warnings for the people, particularly children to see.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico warned on March 1, 1991 of the impact on the environment by depleted uranium and suggested that they may "become politically unacceptable". There is increasing scientific evidence to substantiate claims that radioactivity and chemical toxicity of DU could cause more damage to human cells than is assumed.
A study by The World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2001, which was blocked from publication until recently, shows that the widespread use of DU in Iraq "pose[s] a unique health hazard to the civilian population". This study was deliberately suppressed, according to Dr. Keith Baverstock, the main author of the study.
The study, which has now been published on the Internet (see notes), shows that Iraq's arid climate meant tiny particles of DU were likely to be blown around and inhaled by civilians for many years to come. It warned that, when inside the body, their radiation and toxicity could trigger the growth of malignant tumours. A recent study by Coen and colleagues noted that DU undermines the stability of the body’s genetic system, and is linked to cancers and possibly other illnesses.
According to the Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC), a private non-profit organisation in Canada and the US, the toxic and radiological effects of uranium contamination may weaken the immune system. They may also cause acute respiratory conditions like pneumonia, flu-like symptoms and severe coughs, renal or gastrointestinal illnesses.
Dr. Asaf Durakovic, director of UMRC, explains that the initial symptoms will be mostly neurological, showing up as headaches, weakness, dizziness and muscle fatigue. The long-term effects are cancers and other radiation-related illnesses, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, joint and muscle pain, rashes, neurological and/or nerve damage, mood disturbances, infections, lung and kidney damage, vision problems, autoimmune deficiencies and severe skin conditions. It also increases miscarriages, maternal mortality and genetic birth defects.
The US Army training manual states that, "anyone who comes within 25 meters of any DU-contaminated equipment or terrain [must] wear respiratory and skin protection", and notes further that "contamination will make food and water unsafe for consumption". Furthermore, a report by the US Army warned that public knowledge of the health and environmental effects of depleted uranium could lead to efforts to ban DU munitions, reported Larry Johnson of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on November 12, 2002.
Several studies by Iraqi scientists have pointed out the link between DU exposure and cancer in Iraq. According to one study by Dr Alim Abdul-Hamid's of Al-Mustanseriya Medical College in Baghdad, "malignancies and leukaemia among children under the age of 15 have more than tripled since 1990. Whereas in 1990 young children accounted for only 13 per cent of cancer cases, today over 56 per cent of all cancer in Iraq occurs among children under the age of 5". He noted, that it "isn't just direct exposure of the children to the radiation still present in the environment; it's also the cumulative exposure of their parents over time". This cumulative exposure does permanent damage to parental genes, damage that is then passed on to their children.
Iraq's National Ministry of Health organized two international conferences to present data on the relationship between the high incidence of cancer and the use of DU weapons. It produced detailed epidemiological reports and statistical studies. These data showed a six-fold increase in breast cancer, a five-fold increase in lung cancer and a 16-fold increase in ovarian cancer. Iraqi scientists were barred from presenting seminars outside Iraq.
Birth defects have increased dramatically in southern Iraq -- in 1989 there were 11 per 100,000 births; in 2001 there were 116 per 100,000 births. Cancer has also increased dramatically in southern Iraq. In 1988, 34 people died of cancer; in 1998, 450 died of cancer; in 2001 there were 603 cancer deaths, reported the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on November 12, 2002.
Environmental biologist and Iraq’s foremost scientist, Dr Huda Ammash reported alarming rise of birth deformations and cancer cases in the country. In several publications on toxic pollution and the hazards of DU, Dr Ammash, writes, "Iraqi death rates have increased significantly, with cancer representing a significant cause of mortality, especially in the south among children".
Dr. Ammash has been openly critical of the dire consequences of DU contamination and of the UN embargo, and actively involved with foreign delegations coming to witness the impact of US war. Dr Ammash was arrested and imprisoned by USA forces in May 2003. Despite her being innocent of any wrongdoing, she is still in US custody in Baghdad. It is a deliberate effort to destroy connections between Iraq's rising health crisis and the effects of nuclear warfare.
I live in Australia, a Western society, and I have yet to hear from any scientist in the Western world protesting against the imprisonment, and unfair treatment of a fellow scientist by the Occupation forces of US tyranny. I have seen a "democratically" elected prime minister mislead and deceit the people of Australia to wage war of aggression on Iraq for no other reason than himself being obsequious to US power.
It should be borne in mind that the impacts on Iraq’s environment caused by the first US War in 1991 has been studied at least to a certain extent. However, because of US Occupation of Iraq, the impacts and the atrocities of the second US war in 2003 remain secret. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has not been allowed to carry out an environmental assessment of DU contamination in Iraq. The US prefers to keep its atrocities hidden from the public. As Bertrand Russell said "It is the nature of imperialism that citizens of the imperial power are always among the last to know and care about circumstances in the colonies."
At the same time, it is argued that because uranium is also ubiquitous in the natural environment, natural exposure can be used as a "benchmark" for exposures such as that to DU after its military use. However, this is not necessarily the case; "Both the chemical form and the route of entry into the body may have a critical influence on toxicity," noted Dr. Keith Baverstock, who is now at the University of Kuopio in Finland.
The US government denies that DU weapons can cause sickness. Washington refuses to acknowledge DU use anywhere or that it poses any danger. To acknowledge radiation poisoning would immediately raise demands for a cleanup and compensations. The US has no plans to remove the debris left over from depleted uranium weapons it is using in Iraq. The US says no cleanup is needed, because research shows DU has no long-term effects. There is enough evidence to support abolishing the used of DU. The Second Watergate Law states: "Don't believe anything until it's been officially denied".
Exposure to DU by US soldiers is also documented and many war Veterans are suffering for DU related illnesses. In March 2003, sick veterans from Canada, the US, the UK and Iraq sent urine samples to be tested for DU to highly respected Professor Hari Sharma, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, in Canada. The results were astonishing. All were positive, and some had readings of over 100 times the 'safe’ limit in their bodies. The use of depleted uranium is a war crime. The Geneva Protocol of 1925 explicitly prohibits "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gasses, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices".
The impact of DU on the flora and fauna has endangered the existence of many species; especially rare trees of Acacia gerrardi are threatened. Furthermore, to inflict more damage on the Iraqi people, the US introduced the Latin American screwworm, Chrysomya bezziana, which decimated Iraq’s livestock and killed many people as well. The small parasite, which was unknown to Iraq until 1996, has found a favourable environment in Iraq. 'These Latin American parasites are now to be found in Iraq should provoke a few questions about the probability of biological warfare’, quoted Felicity Arbuthnot in New Internationalist Magazine.
In addition to the atrocities inflicted on Iraq by the use of DU, and other deadly weapons, the Occupation forces have systematically destroyed the natural and urban environment. They have razed trees and other greenery. Tanks rumble through the streets and over pavements, spreading clouds of dust, bursting water mains and filling the sewers with rubble. Gardens are set on fire and houses are demolished. Then there is the noise pollution caused by the deafening sound of low-flying aircraft.
The current state of the road to Baghdad international airport illustrates the extent of the devastation. Whereas this road was once bordered by kilometres of trees and parkland, today it is a barren desert patrolled by American tanks and armoured vehicles. The same applies to the Baghdad- Jordan highway. "It is difficult to perceive any logistic purpose for such gratuitous vandalism beyond the humiliation of the Iraqi people," writes Mr. Aziz Jabir Shayal, director of the Baghdad Centre for Human Rights.
Nothing has escaped the US atrocities in Iraq. The destruction of the Buddha’s status by the Taliban regime was met with an outcry in the US, Britain and others of the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq, reported the Guardian of London. Yet the Occupation forces have destroyed the ancient cities of Babylon, Ur, and the holy city of Najaf, and ransacked Iraq’s cultural heritage atrocities that hardly make it to the mainstream media.
According to the WHO figures prior to the 1990 US war, the Iraqi people had 92% access to high quality free health care in some of the finest hospitals in the Middle East, 93% access to clean water, high nutritional status and a free education system described as unique by UNESCO, since of standard such that a child born into abject poverty could leave graduate school as a doctor, engineer or architect.
The unprovoked US attacks with cluster bombs on Iraqi cities such as Kut, Samarra, Hillah, Sumawah, Fallujah, Baghdad and Kufa have caused several massacres of women and children, destroying the infrastructure, and civil society. Thousands of people have been killed and many more thousands injured, adding to the tens of thousands of civilians killed by US invasion and occupation of Iraq. The London-based Medact, the British affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) reveals that up to 55,000 Iraqi civilians died in the bombing of 2003 alone. The charity organisation concluded that the war’s continuing impact – particularly the failure of occupation authorities to ensure security – has resulted in a further deterioration of Iraq’s infrastructure and the Iraqi population's health status. Western media are happy to propagate the death of 1000 US soldiers since the invasion, while ignoring the large number of Iraqis death.
Western liberals or "power intellectuals" who "opposed" the war and now adopted the argument of "moral responsibility" remain silence in the face of continuing US atrocities in Iraq. Where are those defenders of morality and human rights? Why is no one condemning America’s terrorism in Iraq, and particularly in Najaf and Kufa? They are ready to attack Sayyid Muqtada Al-Sadr for his resistance to this fascist Occupation. Portraying the Iraqi people as violent "insurgents" and dehumanising the Iraqi people is part of a deep Western racism in order to rationalise and legitimise the repression and colonial occupation.
Western liberals are ready to make big "difference" between John Kerry and George Bush, but failed to distinguish between the Occupation and the resistance in Iraq. I have to admit, with the exception of few fair-minded and courageous people, I still have yet to hear the voices of those courageous men and women protesting against continuing atrocities in Iraq.
As I see it, a resistance leader has to be accepted by Western liberals and intellectuals first, before his own people accept him. The American commentator, Juan Cole has already accused Sayyid Muqtada of being like General Franco of Spain. Very few have dared to say anything about Iyad Allawi. He seems to be acceptable to Westerns despite him being rejected by the vast majority of the Iraqi people. Sayyid Muqtada Al-Sadr is a thirty years old Iraqi citizen, who courageously opposed the foreign occupation of his country without taking orders from outsiders.
Many years ago French Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said to his fellow-countrymen during the French atrocities in Algeria: "It is not right, my fellow-countrymen, you who know very well all the crimes committed in our name. It's not at all right that you do not breathe a word about them to anyone, not even to your own soul, for fear of having to stand in judgment of yourself. I am willing to believe that at the beginning you did not realize what was happening; later, you doubted whether such things could be true; but now you know, and still you hold your tongues."
Iraqis have always stood up to invasions and imperial atrocities, and have always prevailed. The Iraqi people cannot wait for the so-called "anti-war movement" to emerge from its hibernation. Iraqis know they have nothing to depend on but their own resources those the Coalition haven’t destroyed or usurped.
Professor Hassan Nafaa of Cairo University writes, "I was always confident in the ability of the Iraqi people to mount a resistance against the US occupation. Nevertheless, I had never imagined that their movement would build up momentum and gather strength at the pace we have seen. Within a very short space of time, the Iraqi resistance has been able to expose the ugly face of America. It has proven to the world that the US came to Iraq not as a liberator but as an invader, not as a provider but as an avaricious taker. Contrary to its claim, it is now abundantly clear that the US came to Iraq to stay, and to exert its control directly over the affairs of that country, or through its handpicked agents". Many people around the world share this comment.
The US Occupation forces see all Iraqis as potential "terrorists" regularly shooting and killing innocent civilians demonstrating for peace, or simply for expressing displeasure at their presence in Iraqi streets. On Sunday, September 12, 2004, US helicopters fired on a crowd of unarmed innocent civilians in Baghdad killing more than 13 Iraqis, including children and an Arab journalist, and injuring dozens others.
"Terrorism" is the brainchild of the Western powers. It is the West and Western interests that have pushed terrorism to the forefront, not the terrorists. The West used terrorism as a tool for war and colonial control. Just take a look at what happening in Iraq. Junaid Alam, co-editor of Left Hook journal called the 'war on terror’ "an absolute fraud". I would add that all America’s wars are fraud.
It is absurd to label the Iraqi resistance as "terrorists" and "insurgents". Iraqis have a legitimate right to resist US occupation and to fight for liberation against this new colonial tyranny. Occupations are very ugly and unbearable, so some forms of resistance against occupation can be unsightly. Iraqi resistance is a legitimate liberation movement fighting on the front line against colonial tyranny. The US "messianic mission" is one of injustice and terrorism, masked in the "moral responsibility" of Western hypocrisy to serve its own interests.
Iraq is not a free country. It is occupied by violent and outlawed foreign forces. A true antiwar movement that support the Iraqi national liberation resistance against the tyranny of Western imperialism must demand the full withdrawal of the US occupying forces from Iraq. The US government should be made accountable to pay full reparations to the Iraqi people. Finally, the US authorities are obliged to cleanup the toxic, radioactive waste in the interests of all the people in the world, not just the Iraqi people who are the victims of this atrocity.
Ghali Hassan lives in Perth Western Australia: He can be reached at e-mail: G.Hassan@exchange.curtin.edu.au
Further readings:
[1] Felicity Arbuthnot (1999). Poisoned legacy, New Internationalist, issue 316, September http://www.newint.org/issue316/poisoned.htm.
[2] Laka Foundation Report (1999). Depleted Uranium: A post-war disaster for environment and health. http://www.ratical.org/radiation/dhap/dhap99.pdf
[3] K. Baverstock, C. Motherstill & M. Thorne (2001). Radiological toxicity of DU. http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/DU-Radiological-Toxicity-WHO5n
ov01.htm
[4] Natasha Coen, Carmel Mothersill, Munira Kadhim and E. G.Wright. (2001). Heavy metals of relevance to human health induce genomic instability The Journal of Pathology, 195(3).
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/85011734
/PDFSTART
[5] The Medact Report (2003). Continuing Collateral Damage: The Health and Environmental Costs of War on Iraq. London, UK.
http://www.mapw.org.au/iraq/2003/ippnwiraq/MedactIPPNW-Conti
nuingCollateralDamage.pdf
[6] Wandsworth Stop-the-War Coalition (2003). Depleted Uranium - Silent Genocide.
http://www.wandsworthstopwar.org.uk/du/index.htm
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article6960.htm
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