damage to the environment: depleted uranium
a weapon that keeps killing [excerpt]
Hillel Cohen
When the bombs and shells blanketed Iraq during the U.S./UN war in 1991, tens of thousands were killed and injured. But the so-called "smart" bombs and high-tech shells had another remarkable feature: they could keep on killing long after being blown to bits. The dust that settled after the bombing and shelling was radioactive. And seven years later, people all over Iraq, especially infants and new-born children, are suffering from the effects.
As a representative of the 1199 health care workers’ union in the Iraq Sanctions Challenge delegation, I was particularly interested in the health impact of the sanctions. For over twenty years, I have worked in epidemiological research. Before traveling to Iraq, I had read some material on depleted uranium. I was looking forward to speaking to doctors in Iraq who were studying DU and its health effects.
There had been early indications that depleted uranium could become a major health problem. Although the Pentagon has been using the stuff for years to make bombs and shell casings, this was the first time that a huge amount had been used in actual combat. The Pentagon estimates almost a million shells with DU were used.
Even in 1991 there was speculation that the burned-out tanks and debris from the shells might be dangerous. But other, more immediate disasters demanded attention. For several years after the war, the Iraqis were still trying to recover from the enormous destruction of the bombings. Buildings had to be repaired or, if too damaged, torn down. Bridges had to be rebuilt and roads, water systems, and thousands of other necessities of everyday life attended to. Many things couldn’t be repaired. The economic sanctions, back then and right through to today, have blocked Iraq from importing pipes, construction equipment, chlorine for water treatment, and medical supplies, as well as virtually all scientific instruments. The doctors, engineers, and health specialists had their hands full with daily emergencies.
As the years of sanctions dragged on, the doctors began to notice that they were treating unusually large numbers of cancers—such as infant leukemia—that had been relatively rare before the war. It was more obvious since there were little or no supplies of first-line medications for these cancers. With a huge increase in all sorts of simple illnesses, like childhood diarrhea, it took some time to see the big increase in cancer cases and deaths. Also, with the general breakdown of health services caused first by the bombings and then by the sanctions, many more people were getting sick than were coming to the hospitals. Parents were not always bringing their children to the hospitals because, with few supplies, not much could be done there. So it took a while for it to become clear that many were getting sick and dying from causes other than infection.
excerpt from CHALLENGE TO GENOCIDE
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