News: No WMD in Iraq? No problem, the US will use its own...

Babies born in Fallujah (Iraq) are showing illnesses and deformities on a scale never seen before, doctors and residents say. The new cases, and the number of deaths among children, have risen after "special weaponry" was used in the two massive bombing campaigns in Fallujah in 2004.

After denying at first, the Pentagon admitted in November 2005 that white phosphorous, a restricted incendiary weapon, was used a year earlier in Fallujah. In addition, depleted uranium (DU) munitions, which contain low-level radioactive waste, were used heavily in Fallujah.
The Pentagon admits to having used 1,200 tonnes of DU in Iraq thus far. Many doctors believe "DU" to be the cause of a severe increase in the incidence of cancer in Iraq, as well as among U.S. veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War and through the current occupation. (More)

Pictures of babies deformed after the parents' exposure to ammunition using Depleted Uranium can be found here. WARNING: the pictures are very graphic.

The use of White Phosphorus in Iraq is the second part of this hot debate. White Phosporus is not listed in the schedules of the Chemical Weapons Convention, as it can be "legally" used as a flare to illuminate the battlefield, or to produce smoke to hide troop movements from the enemy. But it becomes a chemical weapon as soon as it is used directly against people. A chemical weapon can be "any chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm". (More)


More articles on the Road about Iraq.
Why I feel that strongly about the US invasion in Iraq? Read the short story "M"- Requiem for Baghdad.

Picture courtesy APTN, Pool (AP)