Both the
2003 Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War have not only had a impact on
troops, but also on Iraqi civilians. The effects of the recent war
are unknown presently and can only be speculated. But there is evidence
from the Gulf War in 1991 and later attacks in 1998 that the conflict
has affected Iraqi civilian health. According to the website Where
are the statistics on the Iraqi health disaster?, only 4 out
of 368 articles about the Gulf War related health problems were
about the Iraqi people.
The Iraqis
have been exposed to Depleted Uranium and chemical warfare such
as insecticides and pesticides. Dr. Rosalie Bertell was quoted in
the web article Iraq
children killed by radioactive Depleted Uranium particles Iraqi
cancers offer clues to Gulf War Syndrome uranium residue a prime
suspect saying, "When those shells hit tanks and reached
temperatures above 500 degrees Celsius [932 degrees Fahrenheit],
Depleted Uranium became an aerosol, and it was highly breathable
and could travel great distances from the source." Not only
the weapons are affecting the people, but also old machinery. According
to Larry Johnson author of "Iraqi
Cancers, Birth Defects Blamed on U.S. Depleted Uranium",
there are old, rusted tanks and military machinery that are emitting
radiation. These military machines were bombed with Depleted Uranium
by the US while the Iraqi forces were retreating.
Source:
http://hillconnections.org/ja/iraqi0mr.htm
Another
source of short and long term health problems, are the burning oil
fields. At the end of the first Gulf War more than 700 Kuwaiti oil
wells were set on fire by Saddam Hussein; in 2003 he instead set
trenches of oil on fire near Iraqi cities to block laser-guided
missiles from reaching their targets. According to the ScoutNews,
LLC who quoted a biology professor from the University of Essex,
Ian Colbeck, "Being in Baghdad just now must be like living
in a bus garage, with all the engines running at full throttle...
I think there will be between a thousand and 5,000 extra deaths
over time from the effects of the fires."
Since the
Gulf War in 1991 there has been an noticeable increase in cancer
and leukemia among Iraqi children. There has been an increase in
miscarriages and babies born with birth defects. The website Iraq
children killed by radioactive Depleted Uranium particles points
out, the chances of a Iraqi couple to miscarriage is 3.2 times higher
if the father was a soldier.
Johnson
states, at the Teaching Hospital in Basra there was a dramatic increase
in birth defects from 1989 to 2001, which had the doctors comparing
the occurence to the aftereffects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the
end of World War II.
Pictures
of these deformities such as the one below can be viewed at Extreme
Deformities.
According
to the website
Iraqi cancers, birth defects blamed on U.S. Depleted Uranium,
the amount of cancer caused deaths has dramatically increased. Below
is a table show the increases form different years.
Year |
Deaths
Caused By Cancer |
1988 |
34
Iraqis |
1998 |
450
Iraqis |
2001 |
603
Iraqis |
Although
the wars are fairly recent and there has not been many in-depth
studies, about the war related affects on Iraqi civilians. The future
for Iraq's citizens from post-war health problems looks grim. Hopefully,
in the future there will be further studies to narrow the sources
of the Iraqi suffering and the Iraqis will receive resources to
battle the aftermath of Saddam Hussein and his regime.
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