Depleted uranium (DU) was used in the munitions used by our troops in Iraq. Over the past few years the number of congenital birth defects, cancer cases, miscarriages, premature births and other problems has increased almost exponentially. These cases seem to be highest in cities like Fallujah which came under severe attack.
Official Iraqi government statistics show that, prior to the outbreak
of the First Gulf War in 1991, the rate of cancer cases in Iraq was 40
out of 100,000 people. By 1995, it had increased to 800 out of 100,000
people, and, by 2005, it had doubled to at least 1,600 out of 100,000
people. Current estimates show the increasing trend continuing. And the official government statistics probably severely underestimate the total number of cases.
The rate of heart
defects in Fallujah is 13 times the rate found in Europe. And, for
birth defects involving the nervous system, the rate is 33 times that found in Europe for the same number of births. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings generated a birth defect rate between one and two
per cent; in Fallujah the rate is 14.7%.
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