Birth Defects In Falluja Related To US Attack
December 31st, 2010 The year 2010 is over. Thank god. It was a tough one for me. Kidney failure, going on dialysis and disability has transformed my life. It has given me more time to research and write, but ironicly it has also trapped me in a world that is no more than 5 hours away from my next treatment, luckily Southern California has a wide variety of things to do within 5 hours, beaches and mountains all within reach. If only there wasn't so much traffic.
I tend to focus on the affairs of the world and try to stay on top of events. Sometimes it seems to be an endless game of catchup and with the internet there is almost unlimited access to certain kinds of information. Perhaps I am only trying not to think about my own problems, but I have always been interested in affairs of the greater world. Initially as a child I was struck by the inequities and injustice in the world. I became a radical, and a seeker after higher truths.
Mostly I have stumbled over my own clumsy misperceptions and been blinded by the blinkers of cultural indoctrination. I have tried to rise above, but that has often simply led me to further perplexity. Whatever the case, I am like all of us trying to make sense of this universe.
There was a movie I saw as a teenager, "El Topo", the mole. It was a 1970 cosmic western made in Mexico by the great Polish director Alejandro Jodorowsky, who also stared in the film. The concept was of a subterranean figure who upon reaching the surface, is blinded by the light and then returns to wander in the darkness. That is in some respects the story of my life.
On to the story of the day. I picked this from the various tales being told by the media. It is another story of how war affects the unborn in direct and unexpected ways. Just as capitalism has twisted the world into becoming a giant mall and garbage dump, so militarism has twisted the biological processes and turned life into a living hell.
From the Guardian.UK
Research links rise in Falluja birth defects and cancers to US assault• Defects in newborns 11 times higher than normal
• `War contaminants' from 2004 attack could be cause
Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 December 2010 21.34 GMT
A study examining the causes of a dramatic spike in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Falluja has for the first time concluded that genetic damage could have been caused by weaponry used in US assaults that took place six years ago.
The research, which will be published next week, confirms earlier estimates revealed by the Guardian of a major, unexplained rise in cancers and chronic neural-tube, cardiac and skeletal defects in newborns. The authors found that malformations are close to 11 times higher than normal rates, and rose to unprecedented levels in the first half of this year – a period that had not been surveyed in earlier reports.
The findings, which will be published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, come prior to a much-anticipated World Health Organisation study of Falluja's genetic health. They follow two alarming earlier studies, one of which found a distortion in the sex ratio of newborns since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 – a 15% drop in births of boys.
"We suspect that the population is chronically exposed to an environmental agent," said one of the report's authors, environmental toxicologist Mozhgan Savabieasfahani. "We don't know what that environmental factor is, but we are doing more tests to find out."
The report identifies metals as potential contaminating agents afflicting the city – especially among pregnant mothers. "Metals are involved in regulating genome stability," it says. "As environmental effectors, metals are potentially good candidates to cause birth defects.
The findings are likely to prompt further speculation that the defects were caused by depleted uranium rounds, which were heavily used in two large battles in the city in April and November 2004. The rounds, which contain ionising radiation, are a core component of the armouries of numerous militaries and militias.
Their effects have long been called into question, with some scientists claiming they leave behind a toxic residue, caused when the round – either from an assault rifle or artillery piece – bursts through its target. However, no evidence has yet been established that proves this, and some researchers instead claim that depleted uranium has been demonstrably proven not to be a contaminant.
The report acknowledges that other battlefield residues may also be responsible for the defects. "Many known war contaminants have the potential to interfere with normal embryonic and foetal development," the report says. "The devastating effect of dioxins on the reproductive health of the Vietnamese people is well-known."
The latest Falluja study surveyed 55 families with seriously deformed newborns between May and August. It was conducted by Dr Samira Abdul Ghani, a paediatrician at Falluja general hospital. In May, 15% of the 547 babies born had serious birth defects. In the same period, 11% of babies were born at less than 30 weeks and 14% of foetuses spontaneously aborted.
The researchers believe that the figures understate what they describe as an epidemic of abnormalities, because a large number of babies in Falluja are born at home with parents reluctant to seek help from authorities.
"It is important to understand that under normal conditions, the chances of such occurrences is virtually zero," said Savabieasfahani.
The study focuses on metals as a potential conduit for the contaminant. It suggests a bodily accumulation of toxins is causing serious and potentially irreversible damage to the city's population base, and calls for an urgent examination of metals in Falluja as well as a comprehensive examination of the city's recent reproductive history.
For more of this article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/faulluja-birth-defects-iraq
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