From Yazan: "Below is an article by MSNBC about the lives of Iraqis now.
The data and info is staggering (and unsurprising).
Here is the most powerful part:
"Environmental contamination. Between 2002 and 2005, U.S.
forces shot off 6 billion bullets in Iraq (something like 300,000 for every
person killed). They also dropped 2,000 to 4,000 tons of bombs on Iraqi cities,
leaving behind a witch’s brew of contaminants and toxic metals, including the
neurotoxins lead and mercury. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an Iranian-born
toxicologist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, is studying
the health impact, and her early findings are worrying. Last year, in a study
published with Iraqi colleagues, she reported staggering
increases in birth defects in the heavily bombarded cities of Basrah and
Fallujah. The increases started in the early 90s, after the bombings of the
first Gulf War, and continued right through 2011.
In Basrah, the
group’s analysis of hospital records revealed 16-fold increase in birth defects
among babies delivered between 1994 and 2003 (from 1.4 to 23 per 1,000 live
births), and another 48% rise between 2003 to 2009 (from 23 to 48). Likewise, a
survey of 56 families in Fallujah showed a 50% increase in birth defects
between 1991 and 2010, along with an eightfold increase in miscarriages.""
