As U.S. forces pull out of Iraq, residents and officials in Falluja say they leave behind bullet-riddled homes, destroyed infrastructure and a worrying increase in birth defects and maladies in a city polluted by weapons and war chemicals.
Amir Hussain and Awfa Abdullah got married in Falluja in 2004 but their lives were turned upside by the birth of their two babies.
Their first child, a baby boy born in 2006, had brain damage and died last year. The second, a baby girl who was born in 2007, suffers from severe skin rashes and has one leg longer than the other.
"We've decided to stop having babies. We don't want any more, because it means new suffering and a new battle against new diseases," Hussain said. "It is our bad luck. Maybe because we got married in the wrong time and in the wrong place."
Falluja, in the desert province of Anbar, served as a base for Iraqi fighters after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and witnessed two major conflicts in 2004. U.S. troops used overwhelming force, tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships to crush insurgents there.
Falluja's residents await the U.S. withdrawal by year-end with a mixture of relief and fear that al Qaeda militants might return. Some are still seeking compensation for the suffering they endured.
At Falluja Hospital, pediatrician Samira al-Ani said the most insidious legacy of the war is seen every day in a startling increase in deformed newborns since 2005.
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Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts
Friday, December 9, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Want to build a nuclear power plant, then I hope your babies don't drink milk...
Radioactive cesium was found in milk powder made by a Meiji Holdings Co. unit in Japan, prompting a voluntary recall of 400,000 cans of the infant formula, Kyodo News said today.
Meiji shares tumbled the most in more than eight months after the report, which said the contamination may be the result of radiation leaked from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Products affected by the recall have the following expiry dates in 2012: Oct. 4, Oct. 21, Oct. 22. and Oct. 24, Kyodo reported.
Meiji slumped as much as 13 percent (2269) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The shares traded down 9.6 percent at a 30-month low of 3,025 yen at 2:28 p.m. local time, set for the biggest one- day slide since March 15.
Meiji shares tumbled the most in more than eight months after the report, which said the contamination may be the result of radiation leaked from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Products affected by the recall have the following expiry dates in 2012: Oct. 4, Oct. 21, Oct. 22. and Oct. 24, Kyodo reported.
Meiji slumped as much as 13 percent (2269) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The shares traded down 9.6 percent at a 30-month low of 3,025 yen at 2:28 p.m. local time, set for the biggest one- day slide since March 15.
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