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|NEXT STORY »

Iraqi War Zone Sees Big Spike in Birth Defects

Fallujah reports unusually high rate of abnormalities

By John Johnson| Posted Nov 14, 09 1:24 PM CST|

(Newser) – Doctors in Fallujah are seeing an alarming rise in the number of birth defects and early life cancers. They have no definitive evidence, but suspicion has naturally fallen on toxic materials left behind after years of modern warfare, reports the Guardian. The rate of birth defects—including multiple tumors, nervous system disorders, and even one infant born with two heads—is up to 15 times higher than normal.

"Most are in the head and spinal cord, but there are also many deficiencies in lower limbs," said the director of a city hospital that sees an average of two such admissions a day. A year ago, it saw two every two weeks. Fallujah was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and the US has acknowledged using white phosphorous in 2004.

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

Iraqi security forces inspect a bombed-out in Fallujah. (AP Photo/Bilal Fawzi)

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We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies. Before 2003, I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically. - Dr Ayman Qais, hospital director in Falluja

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26 comments

VIEWING:

Circusdog
Nov 14, 09 1:27 PM CST

I guess will have to put off the welcome with flowers again... Reply

IN RESPONSE:

DontLikeYou
Nov 14, 09 1:32 PM CST

Whatever that means..... funny how the left cares so much about the Iraqi people, and yet those leftist "cowards" won't even leave the Green zone (Former) to do a real news story. Lame.

-17

IN RESPONSE:

Circusdog
Nov 14, 09 1:38 PM CST

You should change your name to shortsighted. Just sayin'

+10

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Supercilious
Nov 14, 09 1:39 PM CST

Kind of like how Bush got out of Viet Nam by having his daddy pull strings? Or how Cheney got 6 deferments from the draft? Even your hero Rush Limbaugh was a draft dodger with his anal cyst or maybe his head was up his ass. There are so many chicken-hawks on the right your last statement is as clueless as it is ballsy.

+11

IN RESPONSE:

Wraith
Nov 14, 09 1:43 PM CST

@DLY, let me interupt your spamming and spewing of hatred of all things Liberal to give you a heads up you dumb non thinking Right Wing jacka$$, those birth defects will most probably follow Americans home as young men and women, AMERICAN TROOPS are also exposed to the same chit the Iraqi people have been exposed to and these fine young soldiers from America will want to come home and have children yet they will also have the health issues as well. So you see this isn't going to be just an Iraqi problem but a problem for all soldiers involved just as Agent Orange was and is a problem for the American troops who served in Vietnam only to come home and discover that the Vietnam war had killed them and they never saw it coming. The tumors and birth defects might well indeed affect Americans for many years to come and that is unacceptable so get your head out your a$$ and see the broader implications of this news story when you take time out to wipe the hatred and foam off what you use for a mouth

+11

IN RESPONSE:

opheliaglass
Nov 15, 09 1:06 AM CST

I would have upped Wraith, if not for the odd censorship tactics in that post... (lame) But, anyway, i'm glad I wasn't the only one who wondered about this, reading this article. I really don't see why the military wouldn't disregard its soldiers' health.

| 0 minutes ago

AClotfelter
Nov 14, 09 1:45 PM CST

DU Reply

IN RESPONSE:

brucealmighty89
Nov 14, 09 9:15 PM CST

I don't think it's radiological. The fact that these tend to A.) be gametic mutations and B.) be limited mainly to nervous systems would suggest something chemical, most likely inhaled.

IN RESPONSE:

Thinker
Nov 15, 09 8:58 AM CST

@bruce, although it seems everyone is ignoring your response, I'd like to know more. It's important to determine the causes in order to determine those responsible, even though they will never be brought to justice. Please explain your comment further. What different types of maladies would DU cause? Thanks for the info.

| 0 minutes ago

d3wd
Nov 14, 09 1:45 PM CST

This has been going on for quite some time. See the film "Beyond Treason". The depleted uranium doesn't discriminate. The troops are getting radiation poisoning too. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

JoeQ
Nov 14, 09 1:55 PM CST

Wasn't this the basic plot of Zardoz? Reply

| 0 minutes ago

cyclops
Nov 14, 09 5:46 PM CST

What they are not saying folk is a lot of munitions have depleted uranium in it. It lingers for years and anyone including American military will start having more birth defects. So, far left fringe idiots spew your hate. If the truth was known most of you never joined the Boy Scout. ex-military Reply

-2

IN RESPONSE:

montkathy
Nov 14, 09 9:18 PM CST

Cyclops, We agree about the devastating effects of depleted uranium, so why are you attacking the left for opposing its use?

| 0 minutes ago

AmazedByTheSheeple
Nov 14, 09 6:16 PM CST

It's probably a number of nasty things including Depleted Uranium (DU). Do some research and you'll realize our government and Pentagon don't care about anyone on the planet........they don't care about US citizens, they don't care about innocent civilians in the countries we illegally invade and they don't care about our troops. Anyone that thinks different has been watching too much Fox "News" The plain reality is we are an empire and those in charge want to run the world and unless the average silent complacent morons realize they have to wake up and speak up, then it will continue and by the way the post by "Wraith" is right and several of us have been trying to get word out about illnesses in our troops for years but most people just slap a yellow magnet on their car and think that's all they need to do whereas what they really need to do is make sure we only go to war to PROTECT OUR COUNTRY and if we do that IT MUST BE WELL PLANNED AND THE TROOPS ARE TAKEN CARE OF. Look at Hummers for example---a Pentagon study in 1992 said they were (and this is a direct quote from the Pentagon in 1992) "Death traps"...........but what was done about it? Nothing. Who was in control of the Congress in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006? Who were the Presidents during those years? What party was in charge most all those years? Face it folks, the Republicans and Democrats are one and the same, they are opposite sides of the same coin and they play the "good cop/bad cop" game over and over and over and most people fall for it. They all are supported by the same corporations, they all signed the bills (usually without even reading them) that destroy this country, they all ignore things like DU being used, they all serve the banks and corporations and no matter what some talking head tells you on Fox or anywhere else, your representative is there for power and money and the welfare of troops or civilians in other countries or you or your kids means less than nothing to them....Wake UP! Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Vice
Nov 14, 09 6:48 PM CST

gah you beat me too it, well played sir.

IN RESPONSE:

montkathy
Nov 14, 09 9:12 PM CST

Amazed, I agree with some of what you say, but I must point out that President Clinton did not get the U.S. involved in a totally illegal and immoral war in Iraq. That was President Bush. I was one of those who tried to stop him, but he wasn't listening to anyone who disgreed. Democracy doesn't work that way.

IN RESPONSE:

fancygapva
Nov 14, 09 9:16 PM CST

I'll second that. DU will mean several generations of both American and Iraqi increases in cancer and birth defects. Who in the world thinks anymore that we can aggress against others with weapons of modern warfar without agressing against ourselves and our allies (if we still have any)? DU is a big factor in Gulf War Syndrome. Rumsfeld summed up the concern our government has/had for our troops when he declared them "frangible." Look it up, all you damned patriots.

IN RESPONSE:

krymsonkyng
Nov 14, 09 11:13 PM CST

Be prepared, the rest of this is a bit of a digression. I like your post and agree with several of the statements you put forth, but I must disagree on several points. Since 1992, the Hummer has gone through several upgrades and modifications to improve it's survivability. It is still a cramped tin can on wheels, but there have been steps taken to support the troops riding those dusty trails. Given they include simple ideas like throwing a lot more armor on the cabin, and improvements in protecting the undercarriage. Throw in the few new weapon options that have recently given the meat wagons sharper teeth (not too recent though. Like '97+ recent...) Now where I agree with you: Politics frustrate me to no end, for many of the reasons you offer, but I blame the people involved more than the system. The system runs on what the people want: but folks really don't care. Gimme an ipod and a sammich and plenty of controversy to spout and I'm as happy as the next guy. The ladies and gents within the pentagon are either placed by or are people the citizens let in. The electoral college can only censor so much opinion. It rests on the voters to use information resources, like the all powerful cerebral cyclone that is the internet, to figure out what their opinion really is. I agree, bipartisan politics is good cop bad cop melodrama (with the minor addition of corporate media breeding corporate politicians). My final point is that the country is far from destroyed. In fact, I think this country is as healthy as can be expected. Conflict drives the system and opens the eyes of the voters Ideally, America is a blending of government for and by the people with the sole intention of protecting the people. No popularity contests or deceit, just a Leviathan to guard the wellbeing At it's worst, America is Nascar. I'd rather have Nasacar than a country where no one cares how the race is going... So agreed, but with one more addition. WAKE UP, and Do something about it. it. Everything. Anything. You have the right. Exercise it. :)

IN RESPONSE:

Netstorm2k10
Nov 15, 09 11:32 AM CST

@amazed...yep.

IN RESPONSE:

Netstorm2k10
Nov 15, 09 11:36 AM CST

@krymsonkyng, Democracy dies when money elects the candidate and the media blinds the populace to the truth.

| 0 minutes ago

montkathy
Nov 14, 09 8:59 PM CST

It's really sad and deplorable what the Bush administration has done in our name to the Iraqi people and our own soldiers. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

fancygapva
Nov 14, 09 9:18 PM CST

It's going to get sadder when the war wounds heal up only to turn into cancer and other unpleasant sequelae. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

zackmasson
Nov 14, 09 10:36 PM CST

The children always pay the debts of war. Makes me sick. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

jeebus
Nov 15, 09 12:36 AM CST

Fallujah? Weren't they using white phosphorus there? Reply

IN RESPONSE:

fancygapva
Nov 15, 09 3:29 PM CST

White phosphorous burns people like napalm. It's the front end effects that are a problem, I believe, not the after effects.

| 0 minutes ago

JonmarkP
Nov 15, 09 4:57 PM CST

Good old Newser - not a mention of the principal culprit, incredibly widespread US use of Depleted Uranium Munitions. When they explode, the billions of nano-paticles are breathed deep into the lungs of civilians and soldiers alike. Expect a new round of "mysterious" Gulf War Syndrome-like health problems for returning American veterans, and tons of birth defects here, as well. But it's been a very profitable war for US munitions manufacturers, so it's all good, Reply

| 0 minutes ago

View all 26 comments »

Iraq • warfare • Fallujah • chemical warfare • Iraq war • birth defect

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Iraqi War Zone Sees Big Spike in Birth Defects