Living with the legacies of war - World. The bombardments of Iraqi cities by the US and its allies are blamed for a 'staggering' rise in miscarriages and birth defects. It played unwilling host to one of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq war. Fallujah's homes and businesses were left shattered; hundreds of Iraqi civilians were killed. Its residents changed the name of their "City of Mosques" to "the polluted city" after the United States launched two massive military campaigns eight years ago. Now, one month before the World Health Organisation reveals its view on the legacy of the two battles for the town, a new study reports a "staggering rise" in birth defects among Iraqi children conceived in the aftermath of the war.
High rates of miscarriage, toxic levels of lead and mercury contamination and spiralling numbers of birth defects ranging from congenital heart defects to brain dysfunctions and malformed limbs have been recorded. "The massive and repeated bombardment of these cities is clearly implicated here. Metal hazards Lead. I am sorry for the role I played in Fallujah | Ross Caputi. US soldiers return to their barracks at a military base outside Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. Photograph: Stefan Zaklin/EPA It has been seven years since the end of the second siege of Fallujah – the US assault that left the city in ruins, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands more; the assault that poisoned a generation, plaguing the people who live there with cancers and their children with birth defects.
It has been seven years and the lies that justified the assault still perpetuate false beliefs about what we did. The US veterans who fought there still do not understand who they fought against, or what they were fighting for. I know, because I am one of those American veterans. In the eyes of many of the people I "served" with, the people of Fallujah remain dehumanised and their resistance fighters are still believed to be terrorists. It could have been me instead of Travis or Brad. Travis and Brad are both victims and perpetrators. Security-of-iraqs-tiny-jewish. BAGHDAD — An Anglican priest here says he's working with the U.S. Embassy to persuade the handful of Jews who still live in Baghdad to leave because their names have appeared in cables published last month by WikiLeaks.
The Rev. Canon Andrew White said he first approached members of the Jewish community about what he felt was the danger they faced after a news story was published last month that made reference to the cables. "The U.S. Embassy is desperately trying to get them out," White said. "Most want to stay," White said. The U.S. "Protecting individuals whose safety is at risk because of the release of the purported cables remains a priority. It slammed WikiLeaks for releasing the cables. A furious White also hit the website for publishing the cables. WikiLeaks did not respond to a request for comment. "We had to warn them of the danger and tell them that we want them all to leave," White said. Another was poignant in its assessment of the future: Iraq more dangerous than a year ago, U.S. review finds. The findings contrast with public statements by U.S. diplomatic and military officials in Iraq and come as Washington awaits a final decision by Iraqi leaders on whether they want U.S. troops to stay in the country beyond the expiration of a three-year security agreement in December.
U.S. officials have said they are willing to extend the American military presence into 2012 only after receiving a formal request from Iraqi leaders. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top leaders postponed a meeting scheduled for Saturday to debate any future U.S. military presence, once again dashing hopes of quickly resolving the issue. Maliki instead was scheduled to appear before the Iraqi parliament to defend plans to cut the 46-member cabinet down to 30 members — another long-simmering political dispute that appears far from resolution.
Bowen’s report noted that 14 U.S. troops were killed by hostile fire in Iraq in June, the bloodiest month since April 2009. Maj. Noam Chomsky: My Reaction to Osama bin Laden’s Death. Tugging at Threads to Unspool Stories of Torture. Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima' - Middle East, World. Iraqi doctors in Fallujah have complained since 2005 of being overwhelmed by the number of babies with serious birth defects, ranging from a girl born with two heads to paralysis of the lower limbs. They said they were also seeing far more cancers than they did before the battle for Fallujah between US troops and insurgents. Their claims have been supported by a survey showing a four-fold increase in all cancers and a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in under-14s. Infant mortality in the city is more than four times higher than in neighbouring Jordan and eight times higher than in Kuwait. Dr Chris Busby, a visiting professor at the University of Ulster and one of the authors of the survey of 4,800 individuals in Fallujah, said it is difficult to pin down the exact cause of the cancers and birth defects.
He added that "to produce an effect like this, some very major mutagenic exposure must have occurred in 2004 when the attacks happened". Iraq war logs: Secret order that let US ignore abuse | World news. A prisoner was kneeling on the ground, blindfolded and handcuffed, when an Iraqi soldier walked over to him and kicked him in the neck. A US marine sergeant was watching and reported the incident, which was duly recorded and judged to be valid. The outcome: "No investigation required. " That was a relatively minor assault. Another of the leaked Iraqi war logs records the case of a man who was arrested by police on suspicion of preparing a suicide bomb.
In the station, an officer shot him in the leg and then, the log continues, this detainee "suffered abuse which amounted to cracked ribs, multiple lacerations and welts and bruises from being whipped with a large rod and hose across his back". Other logs record not merely assaults but systematic torture. This is the impact of Frago 242. Frago 242 appears to have been issued as part of the wider political effort to pass the management of security from the coalition to Iraqi hands. There is no question of the allegations all being false.
Wikileaks Iraq war logs: every death mapped | World news. Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Edition: About us Today's paper Subscribe Wikileaks Iraq war logs: every death mapped The Wikileaks Iraq war logs provide us with a unique picture of every death in Iraq. Send to a friend Your IP address will be logged Share Short link for this page: Contact us Report errors or inaccuracies: userhelp@theguardian.com Letters for publication should be sent to: guardian.letters@theguardian.com We have switched off comments on this old version of the site. . © 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. The Lies Of The Pentagon, Ctd - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan. Iraq slaughter not an aberration - Glenn Greenwald.