Introduction
There are many instances in the modern world when a certain issue emerges and captures the attention of various stakeholders. These stakeholders include scholars of different subjects as well the media. The issue of interest is approached from all angles by these stakeholders and is exposed to extremely dissection as attempts are made to establish its core. The invasion of Iraq by the United States drew a lot of public interest but in recent years, one implication of this war has once again elevated public interest. There have reports of increased birth defects in the Iraqi regions subjected to bombings by the United States. Various media sources and scholars have explored this issue using different approaches but the overwhelming deduction from all these media sources is that the presence of the United States activities in Iraq has led to increased incidences of birth defects in children born in the periods between and after the two gulf wars.
In “Censored 2014”, Huff and Roth presents a brief, but conclusive representation of the situation in Iraq regarding the implications of intensive military activities that have characterized the region particularly in the last three decades. The focus is on two Iraqi cities, Basra and Fallujah, where the effects of military activities have been felt the most. According to Huff and Roth, high levels of mercury, depleted uranium and lead are believed by researchers to be causing conditions such as miscarriages, birth defects, as well as cancer. These presence of these elements is attributed to intensive bombings in the region by the United States military personnel. To support their argument, Roth and Huff quote a recent study that shows more than fifty percent of all the babies that are born in the city of Fallujah have a certain birth defect and while one in every six pregnancies usually ends in a miscarriage. The authors however claim that there has been no conclusive evident to show that US military attacks are directly associated with the observed birth defects but the fact that these effects have been observed primarily after the attacks has been enough to cause a lot of concern from officials. At the end of the article, the authors talk about how the United States military officials have remained mum of the issue and how the federal government has dismissed the reports.
The Guardian has also explored the issue of increased birth defects in Iraq through the article by Martin Chulov. The article also seems to agree with the notion that increased military presence and activities in the town of Fallujah has led to an increase in chronic deformities, as well as increased cancer cases. The difference in this report by the Guardian however is that it comprises of primary research conducted on the actual ground by the media outlet’s correspondents. Instead of relying on information and conclusions from other researchers, this report comprises of primary interviews conducted on obstetricians and neurologists who say that there has been an unexplainable and unprecedented rise in birth defects. In addition, the article quotes several experts including British and Iraqi officials and doctors who have been increasingly petitioning for an investigation into the implication of toxic materials deposited in the Iraqi atmosphere by military activities. The Guardian goes on to quote an Iraqi hospital director who acknowledges that before 2003, there were sporadic numbers of deformities in newborn babies, but since that period, the deformities have, in fact, increased dramatically.
The Guardian does not just collect the insight of the doctors and physicians on the ground. It goes further and conducts a minor research where a pediatrician is asked to keep records over a three weeks periods to determine the frequency of birth anomalies in babies. During that period, a total of 37 babies with anomalies are observed with the most pronounced form of anomaly being neural tube defects. Not surprisingly, most of the babies’ brought to the pediatrician were born in Fallujah.
The Guardian goes on to state that there focus on the issue has also started shifting towards the actual reason that’s could be leading to the observed anomalies in babies. One of the primary reason attributed to the observed effects is radiation or chemical poisoning.
One interesting thing about this report from the Guardian is that some of the frontline doctors in Fallujah have been unwilling to claim a direct link between birth defects and military fighting in the region. In fact, most of them cite a multi-variety of factors that could have contributed to the observed defect including, air pollution, drug use during pregnancy, chemical, radiation, poor psychological status of mothers and even malnutrition. In spite of the reluctance by the doctors to admit that fighting is the cause of these increased cases of birth anomalies and defects, there is more than clear evidence that there is a direct link between fighting and the observed health conditions. This is clear in the statement “Fallujah was the scene of the only two set piece battles that followed the US-led invasion” (Chuvlov, the Guardian). This fact, in addition to the observed increase in birth anomalies in that region alone shows that even if it may not the sole factor, fighting in the region has i one way or another contributed to increased birth anomalies.
The Huffingtpost approach to the issue differs a little from other two reports discussed previously. This report focuses more on the criticism of WHO after its endorsement of a report challenging the existence of a direct link between the US invasion of Iraq and high rates of birth defects in the region. The Huffington conducts a conclusive analysis with main intention being to determine whether the issue of increased birth defects has been covered up. The report is divided into several subsections with each showing proof of this “covering up” of the association between military activities and increased birth defects.
The first thing used by the report to argue its case is the use of toxic ammunitions by the United States forces in Iraq. One of these ammunitions is depleted uranium, commonly known as DU and that has been scientifically proven to cause genetic defects, as well as cancer. According to the report “DU can interfere with the prenatal development of the foetus” (Shah, the Huffingtonpost). The United States has a habit of using this chemical during wars and according to the Huffington post, it was first used during the First Gulf War of 1991. The effects of this ammunition are evident not only in Iraqi citizens but also in American veterans who served in this war. The Huffington post mentions a study conducted by the US government in 2001 on around 21, 000 veterans that showed an increased rate of miscarriages as well as increased likelihood for birth defects. In spite of the damning evidence about the long-term effects of DU, the US military nevertheless went ahead and used it once again in 2002 when it invaded Iraq. The Huffington post also shows statistics from credible bodies such as the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions and the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq that show increased other defects in the nation.
As explained earlier, the report by the Iraq Health Ministry has been faulted for inconsistences. For instance, the Huffingtonpost states that the long period between the conduction of the study and the release of the report raises a lot of suspicion. In addition, a former assistant secretary general of the United Nations is quoted as saying that the United States government intentionally “sought to prevent WHO from surveying areas in Southern Iraq where depleted uranium had been used and caused serious health and environmental dangers” (Shah, the Huffingtonpost). The report’s methodology has also been significantly faulted by the experts and medical journals such as Lancet.
A report by UPI. com on Proquest also explores the issue by quoting various stakeholders who state their concerns on the associated link between military action and birth defects. UPI.com quotes a human rights activist in Iraq shoes organization has enough statistics to prove that birth defects have increase in Fallujah after the invasion by America.
It is not only the media that has reported on the issue. Research journals especially the ones on public health matters have conducted independent research to ascertain the real basics of the issue. One such journal is the “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health”. The journal sanctioned a study on four polygamous families with congenital defects in the Fallujah region of Iraq. This study was conducted using a questionnaire that asked the respondents, all from four different polygamous families about various issues including residential history and activities. The intention was to establish the factors that may have led to exposure to war contaminants. The retrospective reproductive patterns and history of these families. The authors found sporadic and untargeted events that are accompanied by different phenotypes across the four families, as well as increased recurrence of these phenotypes. The final conclusion is that contaminants form modern weaponry used Iraq has led to increased rates of birth defects, and this has overall led to impairment of the population’s health.
The Global Information Network echoes the message of the reports explored above by once again showing that birth defects in Iraq have spiked due to increased use of ammunition such as phosphorus and uranium by the United States government. The report talks about the recent admittance by the Pentagon that it indeed used the white phosphorus as a weapon in Fallujah as well as depleted uranium. In addition, various people on the ground are quoted showing the increased rate of birth defects in Iraq. In fact, people who have been victims are talked about, for instance, a woman whose children died of brain damage after the invasion by the Americans. In addition, Iraqi doctors are also quoted talking about the experience with first-hand cases of birth defects in the aftermath of the American invasion of Iraq. The Global Information Network goes farther to show how the situation is not made any better by a poor health system in Iraq that does not have the adequate personnel and medical supplies to cope with the problems brought about by contaminants from military weaponry.
Conclusion
It is clear that the health implications the war in Iraq has elicited a lot of media interest. The link between military activities and increased birth defects has particularly been subjected to intensive media investigation and reports. These reports have approached the issue from different angles but the common thing in all the reports is that they all support the notion that the presence of the United States activities in Iraq has led to increased incidences of birth defects in children born in the periods between and after the two gulf wars.
Works Cited
Alaani S, Savabieasfahani M, Tafash M, Manduca P. Four Polygamous Families with Congenital Birth Defects from Fallujah, Iraq. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2011; 8(1):89-96.
"Birth Defects Rise in Iraq." UPI. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
Chulov, Martin. "Huge rise in birth defects in Fallujah | World news | The Guardian." The Guardian. N.p., 13 Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
“Birth Defects Spike Due to U.S Use of Uranium, Phosporus”. Global Information Network. Web. 12 Jun. 2008.
Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth. “Censored 2014.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/GiRVL.
Shah, Jeena. "Iraqi Birth Defects Covered Up? | The Center for Constitutional Rights. “The Huffington Post. N.p., 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
