Thanks to blog.creativethink.com!
We here at USDemocrazy know all about consequences. Like that time that we didn’t study and failed, or that time we slept in and were late to class…
or that time we tried to say “Hello, have a good day” in Thai to our neighbor and, well… let’s just say that it wasn’t pretty.
But these examples seem trivial compared with the news we heard this week.
It seems that since the US invasion of Iraq there has been a huge influx of birth defects in that country.
Fallujah, a major Iraq town only about 40 miles from the capital of Baghdad that has suffered the most damage during the war, has experienced a serious increase in birth defects. Although Iraq’s official statement on the issue is that the rate of defects at birth in Fallujah is about equal to the national average, the story on the ground seems completely different.
Pediatric specialist Dr. Samira al-Ani was brave enough to speak up against the government. She said that she sees two or three new birth defects every day. And, she does not mince her words about how important this issue is:
I am a doctor. I have to be scientific in my talk. I have nothing documented. But I can tell you that year by year, the number [is] increasing.
This is something that has to be documented over time. But the birth defects recorded so far are serious.
And we’re talking, more serious than that failed exam or being late to class.
Thanks to BBC News
Although most of the defects are cardiac, meaning heart problems, other children suffer from paralysis or brain damage, and the BBC reporter even stated that he saw a baby that was born with three heads, and …
another girl with a spinal condition so bad I asked my cameraman not to film her.
Officials have warned women to not have children. Much of the rubble contaminated
He adds that he heard many times that officials in Fallujah had warned women that they should not have children. Much of the rubble in the city, contaminated by radioactive weapons, has been pushed to the river that women and children drink from.
To add to the troubles, the best doctors have left the city.
Our best doctors fled the city for fear of being detained by American and police forces just because they helped civilians during the two sieges of 2004… They are now considered terrorists or at least terrorist supporters, when they should have been decorated with medals for their heroic work in helping their people.
This leaves Fallujah in a dark place. Hopefully, one more consequence of the war will be that the world will take notice and help these children desperately in need.
