Fallujah similar to Hiroshima: medical report

[antiestablishmentarian]

According to this article over on indymedia, the cancer rate in Fallujah following the use of depleted uranium by US forces during the 2004 assault on the town has reached levels similar to that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the dropping of the atomic bombs there. Liam Fox, the UK defence secretary confirmed that Uk imperialist forces used 1.9 metric tonnes of depleted uranium during the war and up to 2,000 tonnes may have been used in all.

The assault on Fallujah, a city located 43 miles west of Baghdad, was one of the most horrific war crimes of our time. After the population resisted the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq -- a war of neo-colonial plunder launched on the basis of lies -- Washington determined to make an example of the largely Sunni city. This is called “exemplary” or “collective” punishment and is, according to the laws of war, illegal.

The new public health study of the city now all but proves what has long been suspected: that a high proportion of the weaponry used in the assault contained depleted uranium, a radioactive substance used in shells to increase their effectiveness.

In a study of 711 houses and 4,843 individuals carried out in January and February 2010, authors Chris Busby, Malak Hamdan, Entesar Ariabi and a team of researchers found that the cancer rate had increased fourfold since before the U.S. attack five years ago, and that the forms of cancer in Fallujah are similar to those found among the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors, who were exposed to intense fallout radiation.

In Fallujah the rate of leukemia is 38 times higher, the childhood cancer rate is 12 times higher, and breast cancer is 10 times more common than in populations in Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait. Heightened levels of adult lymphoma and brain tumors were also reported. At 80 deaths out of every 1,000 births, the infant mortality rate in Fallujah is more than five times higher than in Egypt and Jordan, and eight times higher than in Kuwait.

Strikingly, after 2005 the proportion of girls born in Fallujah has increased sharply. In normal populations, 1050 boys are born for every 1000 girls. But among those born in Fallujah in the four years after the US assault, the ratio was reduced to 860 boys for every 1000 female births. This alteration is similar to gender ratios found in Hiroshima after the U.S. atomic attack of 1945.

The most likely reason for the change in the sex ratio, according to the researchers, is the impact of a major mutagenic event -- likely the use of depleted uranium in U.S. weapons. While boys have one X-chromosome, girls have a redundant X-chromosome and can therefore absorb the loss of one chromosome through genetic damage.

“This is an extraordinary and alarming result,” said Busby, a professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Ulster and director of scientific research for Green Audit, an independent environmental research group. “To produce an effect like this, some very major mutagenic exposure must have occurred in 2004 when the attacks happened. We need urgently to find out what the agent was. Although many suspect uranium, we cannot be certain without further research and independent analysis of samples from the area.”



http://www.indymedia.ie/article/97283

[Cáthasaigh]

Most people only consider the 'Sabot' rounds fired from the main gun of M1 Abrams tanks when talking about DU but these munitions aren't even the major source. The majority of the DU comes from 25-30mm automatic cannon shells fired from apaches, bradleys and A10 warthogs. These rounds are designed for 'tank busting' purposes but are regularly fired at people and buildings. The 'Apache Kills' youtube clip is a perfect example. Heavy calibre, saturation firing of DU rounds is a method of terror and genocide. I've seen it happen and the results of it.

[Lapsedmethodist]

According to this article over on indymedia, the cancer rate in Fallujah following the use of depleted uranium by US forces during the 2004 assault on the town has reached levels similar to that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the dropping of the atomic bombs there. Liam Fox, the UK defence secretary confirmed that Uk imperialist forces used 1.9 metric tonnes of depleted uranium during the war and up to 2,000 tonnes may have been used in all.



http://www.indymedia.ie/article/97283

Except the article omits to say that residents were given a week to evacuate and that about 270,000 did.

[Cáthasaigh]

Except the article omits to say that residents were given a week to evacuate and that about 270,000 did.

The provos used to phone in bomb warnings too; did that make it alright?

[antiestablishmentarian]

Except the article omits to say that residents were given a week to evacuate and that about 270,000 did.

While the US forces did not allow the withdrawal of any male between the age of 15 and 45 during that 'evacuation'. Moreover, the article is about the aftermath of the assault and not the assault itself.

[C. Flower]

Except the article omits to say that residents were given a week to evacuate and that about 270,000 did.

Are you defending this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10721562

It's little children who are suffering.

[Graham]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10721562


Jesus, what the ******* is wrong with people?

[Summerday Sands]

Are you defending this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10721562

It's little children who are suffering.

Thats so sad. And to think there are right wingers in America who think the Iraqi's should pay the U.S. for their "liberation":(::mad:
YouTube- Hannity: Iraq Should "Pay Us Back For Their Liberation"

[Lapsedmethodist]

Are you defending this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10721562

It's little children who are suffering.

No I'm not defending anything. It's just important to point out that the post which rambles on about imperialism yada yada is irrelevant. 270,000 people left. The hard core stayed. The point is to get uranium ammo banned, not to waffle on about oil and imperialism.

[Lapsedmethodist]

The provos used to phone in bomb warnings too; did that make it alright?

the Provos used to sometimes phone in bomb warnings and sometimes they didn't and sometimes they walked people into the path of the bomb. What the Provos did has nothing to do with Iraq.

[C. Flower]

No I'm not defending anything. It's just important to point out that the post which rambles on about imperialism yada yada is irrelevant. 270,000 people left. The hard core stayed. The point is to get uranium ammo banned, not to waffle on about oil and imperialism.

No, the point isn't to get "kinder" arms. The point is to stop these invasions.

Ireland appears to have helped to nod through more sanctions against Iran yesterday. That's just another step towards war. Imperialism is precisely the problem.

[Lapsedmethodist]

No, the point isn't to get "kinder" arms. The point is to stop these invasions.

Ireland appears to have helped to nod through more sanctions against Iran yesterday. That's just another step towards war. Imperialism is precisely the problem.

Saddam Hussain gassed his own people. He had them mown down and bulldozed into pits. He launched a war against Iran that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. He tried to get his hands on nuclear and biological weapons and would have used them.
The "crime " here is not the invasion of Iraq but the fact that western governments can't go to their populations and get a mandate to remove maniacs like Saddam but have to revert to subterfuge.
A secondary "crime " is the weak-kneed European Union which cannot get its act together militarily so that removing Saddam is left to America which is both isolated and isolationist and knows little or nothing about other countries or cultures.
A third " crime " is British delusion about their "special relationship " with America and the nervousness in their approach to it. An example of this is the fact that Blair knew that there as no plan in place for after the invasion yet failed to pull out.
Removing the likes of Saddam has nothing at all to do with "imperialism " except in the minds of the truely demented.

[Sidewinder]

I'm going to have to come up with some sort of pithy snappy catchphrase for when the agents of confusion and apathy start their thread-spoiling ways. It'll cut down on a lot of typing that I find myself increasingly too weary to bother with.

[C. Flower]

...
The "crime " here is not the invasion of Iraq but the fact that western governments can't go to their populations and get a mandate to remove maniacs like Saddam but have to revert to subterfuge. ..

Removing the likes of Saddam has nothing at all to do with "imperialism " except in the minds of the truely demented.

Would you care to give a list of the "maniacs" whom "western governments" should be mandated to "remove" and the method by which the removal should take place ?

[ModestMouse]

Saddam Hussain gassed his own people. He had them mown down and bulldozed into pits. He launched a war against Iran that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. He tried to get his hands on nuclear and biological weapons and would have used them.
The "crime " here is not the invasion of Iraq but the fact that western governments can't go to their populations and get a mandate to remove maniacs like Saddam but have to revert to subterfuge.
A secondary "crime " is the weak-kneed European Union which cannot get its act together militarily so that removing Saddam is left to America which is both isolated and isolationist and knows little or nothing about other countries or cultures.
A third " crime " is British delusion about their "special relationship " with America and the nervousness in their approach to it. An example of this is the fact that Blair knew that there as no plan in place for after the invasion yet failed to pull out.
Removing the likes of Saddam has nothing at all to do with "imperialism " except in the minds of the truely demented.

Nice rant but personally I believe that the Iraqi people have the right to determine their own future and remove their own despots.

If they prefer to put up with them, like we do with our corrupt governments, then that's their own problem.

[Cáthasaigh]

Saddam Hussain gassed his own people. He had them mown down and bulldozed into pits.

Who was it provided him with the chemical munitions, weather data and training; mainly so that they could monitor the field testing by satellite?



He launched a war against Iran that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.


Sorry who was it who encouraged him down this path?



He tried to get his hands on nuclear and biological weapons and would have used them.

He had bioweapons by the tonne in 1992 but never used them against those who provided him with the equipment and precursors.



The "crime " here is not the invasion of Iraq but the fact that western governments can't go to their populations and get a mandate to remove maniacs like Saddam but have to revert to subterfuge.

Maybe if they had consulted their populations prior to enabling and emboldening maniacs like Saddam in the first place there would be less chance of such scenarios arising.



A secondary "crime " is the weak-kneed European Union which cannot get its act together militarily so that removing Saddam is left to America which is both isolated and isolationist and knows little or nothing about other countries or cultures.

Yeah they have the largest intelligence agency and diplomatic corps in the world but they know so little. What manner of boke inducing apologism is this?



A third " crime " is British delusion about their "special relationship " with America and the nervousness in their approach to it. An example of this is the fact that Blair knew that there as no plan in place for after the invasion yet failed to pull out.

Would the fact that he knew he was engaging in an illegal attack that would have been grounds for war crimes conviction under the terms of Nuremburg not have been a greater crime?



Removing the likes of Saddam has nothing at all to do with "imperialism " except in the minds of the truely demented.

Your hole; the creation, manipulation and elimination of Saddam was classic imperialist strategy aimed at promoting instability and retarding development in a strategically vital region.

[antiestablishmentarian]

Saddam Hussain gassed his own people. He had them mown down and bulldozed into pits. He launched a war against Iran that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. He tried to get his hands on nuclear and biological weapons and would have used them.
The "crime " here is not the invasion of Iraq but the fact that western governments can't go to their populations and get a mandate to remove maniacs like Saddam but have to revert to subterfuge.
A secondary "crime " is the weak-kneed European Union which cannot get its act together militarily so that removing Saddam is left to America which is both isolated and isolationist and knows little or nothing about other countries or cultures.
A third " crime " is British delusion about their "special relationship " with America and the nervousness in their approach to it. An example of this is the fact that Blair knew that there as no plan in place for after the invasion yet failed to pull out.
Removing the likes of Saddam has nothing at all to do with "imperialism " except in the minds of the truely demented.

Saddam Hussein committed all of his most gruesome crimes with arms and aid he received from the US: he was backed by the US in the war against Iran lest you forget. They didn't invade to remove him for his violations of human rights despite assertions to that effect after the WMD lie was exposed for what it was, and their hypocrisy can be shown by a continued support for the Karimov dictatorship in Uzbekistan which is renowned for boiling dissidents alive among other things. It was a war purely for profit and the interest of the imperial powers in the Middle East in the face of a resurgent Russia and Iran.