A research study on the cause of the rise in cancer and birth defect cases in Iraq shows traces of chemical and radioactive ammunition used by US-led troops in the war-torn country.
A study by Iraq's Environment Ministry indicates that cities targeted by the US and its allies during the wars that began in 1991 and 2003 show unmistakably higher rates of cancer cases and incidence of genetic mutations.
"In 1991 and 2003, there have been used some rockets headed with depleted uranium and they were fired from tanks and vehicles that belonged to (foreign) army," Iraqi Environment Minister Narmin Othman told Press TV.
Since 2003, numerous cases of cancer have been reported in Iraq, many of which are blamed on the toxic weaponry used by the military forces of the US and its Western allies.
However, Iraqi Health Minister Saleh Mahdi al-Hassanawi said the Ministry of Health has not yet found any link between the number of cancer cases and the depleted uranium used by foreign military forces in Iraq.
"Despite a lot of contaminators, chemicals, radiation… according to the central registration office in the Ministry of Health, it seems to be within the accepted incidence (rate) in the world," he said.
But everyone doesn't agree with Hassanawi.
Many Iraqi doctors and cancer victims see a direct link between the depleted uranium weapons used during the Iraq wars and the rise in cancer.
"I suffer from cancer because of American weapons," said cancer patient Khalid Abdul Abbas. "They used chemical weapons and radioactive bombs against the Iraqis," he stated.
In 1991, US forces fired rockets containing depleted uranium at Iraqi positions for the first time and used DU weapons again in the war that began in 2003, turning large swathes of Iraq into radioactive wastelands.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Tuesday, July 27th 2010 at 12:32PM
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