Saturday 27 October 2012

Fallujah and long term responsibility to human health in times of war

Recent research, in four separate reports, has looked at the possible causes of increased birth defects in children born in and around Fallujah in Iraq. This town received very heavy bombardment due to its resistance to the US army during the second Iraq war. Concerns have though been raised about the use and effect of modern munitions which use undepleted or even slightly enriched uranium, together with the effect of lead and mercury in other ordinances. See: Guardian Comment is Free 'The victims of Fallujah's health crisis are stifled by western silence' by Ross Caputi
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/25/fallujah-iraq-health-crisis-silence

I would point out that we can't sweep this under the carpet as some would like and pretend that everything the West does is morally correct. I would suggest that we do have a responsibility to ensure the long term health and well being of a community and environment even if, regrettably, wars are justifiable in the short-term. 

 

1 comment:

Kunoichi said...

This is a rehashing of an old story - the only difference is they're apparently no longer blaming white phosphorous.

http://gottagetgoing.blogspot.ca/2011/02/how-not-to-report-news.html

‘Induction over the history of science suggests that the best theories we have today will prove more or less untrue at the latest by tomorrow afternoon.’ Fodor, J. ‘Why Pigs don’t have wings,’ London Review of Books, 18th Oct 2007