What can we do about all the fetuses in Iraq who are dying from radioactive depleted uranium (DU) dust, left from the US invasion of Iraq? Burnt out DU armored tanks and spent DU shells are all over the urban areas of Iraq. They are not posted as dangerous, children play on them and with them, and adults, including pregnant women are exposed to them daily.

DU was heavily used around Basra after Gulf War I. “Dr Basma Al Asam, a gynecologist of 22 years experience who works at the Al Manoor hospital in Baghdad, says: “I’ve been watching this for seven years now,” she says, “and it’s increasing. We’re not just seeing babies born with congenital abnormalities, but very late spontaneous abortions because of congenital defects. In the past we used to see, maybe, one a month. Now it is two or three cases per day.”
www.wsws.org

While DU is not especially toxic when incorporated into weapons and armor, it pulverizes and burns on impact, leaving a highly radioactive dust that remains that way for 4.5 billion years. When breathed or eaten, it bombards the body with radioactivity. Rapidly growing fetal cells are especially vulnerable. The US military refuses to acknowledge the danger and clean up or post these sites.

It also affects US personnel. Wives of Iraqi Gulf War I veterans are three times more likely to suffer miscarriages than the average across Iraq.
www.wsws.org

This is an especially cruel form of abortion, being perpetrated on Iraqi and also Afghani women by the US government. Thousands of fetuses die, and many more are born deformed, because of this outrage. What can we do?

Carol S. Wolman, MD