Iraqis to Face Bad Health for Decades

[Emillereid]

LONDON (Reuters) Nov 11 - Iraqis will suffer physical and mental illnesses for "years, maybe generations" due to poor living conditions, ongoing violence and a collapsed health service, according to a medical charity report.



The report on Tuesday by UK-based charity Medact said 20,000 civilians were injured during the war and its aftermath to July.



It said the breakdown in law and order, lack of security and damage to infrastructure were hitting vulnerable groups like women and children.



"Limited access to clean water and sanitation, poverty, malnutrition, and disruption of public services including health services continue to have a negative impact on the health of the Iraqi people," said the report's author Dr. Sabya Farooq......

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/464218?mpid=20998

This is the real legacy of the US military adventures whether Iraq or Vietnam or where ever -- we give them the war that keeps on killing -- year after dismal year. As Americans it is our duty to take control of our country and change its foreign policy and imperialistic adventures -- we owe to our fellow humans with which we share the planet.

[JailBush]

1. I've often wondered what kind of mess we left in Vietnam.

I've seen mortality statistics, but I don't think I've seen good statistics covering a wider range of problems. We lost about 50,000 people out of a population of - what, about 250 million? I believe the Vietnamese lost 1-2 million out of a far smaller population. God knows how many were wounded.

Wounded Americans returned to their familes, who were safely sequesterd in a safe, prosperous nation. Many Vietnamese lost their parents, their families and villages. They were left to deal with the effects of Agent Orange and bomb craters. Americans dealt with obesity.

Perhaps George W. Bush is punishment for our crimes in Vietnam. But now the bastard is inflicting similar scourges on Iraq. Perhaps Americans might discover empathy if terrorists scattered depleted uranium and cluster bombs across our corporate nation.

[lefty_mcduff]

2. Depleted Uranium will poison the area for decades.

Just ask the poor bastards from the first Gulf War who are dealing with Gulf War Syndrome (which the brass won't recognize)

[burrowowl]

3. Many people

of middle age in Europe have bad teeth from inadequate diets as children after WWII.
In Iraq, the situation is much, much worse. And diet won't cure heavy metal build-up from depleted uranium.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. Let's see, if memory serves me correct, we used depleted uranium(DU)...

...in the FIRST Desert Storm conflict, and then followed that up with sanctions that denied Iraq the basic medical supplies and other items necessary for survival.

Following Desert Storm, the Iraqi infrastructure was completely destroyed and was only partially rebuilt in time for the 2003 version of Desert Storm. Additionally, the cancer/leukemia rates shot straight through the roof, particularly in young children.

During the current "conflict" (some would call it slaughter of the defenseless) about three times the DU was used in Iraq than was used in Desert Storm. Some suspect, as do I, that low-yield nukes were used in the so-called bunker busters that rained down on Irag. Even as we speak, radioactive hot spots can be seen wherever we dropped one or more of those bunker busters.

So, we're talking bout a twelve year time period where we have brutalized the Iraqis at every turn, culminating in the situation in which we find ourselves today.

If an enemy occupied the U.S. and did to us what we're doing to Iraq, how many of the occupiers would you want to kill or maim in any way possible? Don't get me wrong, I want every single American soldier in Afghanistan and Iraq to come home unharmed...but based on the policies of the "people" that placed them there, that outcome anytime soon is extremely doubtful.

[CWebster]

5. And on NPR today I hear an interview with a US soldier in Iraq

a Mother of two small children who she had spoken with "a couple of times" in the past few months, explaining to them that she was there to help the poor Iraqi children who never had bubblegum or ice cream. Along with the usual rhetoric of democracy and liberation she harped on about the lack of respect for the Viet Nam vet.

When all is said and done about war, who pays the price, who profits, once that patriotic wall goes up built on patriotic jingoism and heroic nationalism, there just ain't no room for the truth.

To those who always return to the "world has changed after 911", I wonder if it is little more than an excuse to behave as barbarians.

[Avalon Sparks]

6. Even though all that's true~

"They just hate us for our freedom," Avalon Sparks said sarcastically....