Iraqi group reports DU epidemic

BY CLIFF KINDY

Dr. Najim Askouri and Dr. Assad Al-Janabi, members of Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) in Najaf, Iraq, presented their report on depleted uranium (DU) in Suleimaniya, Iraq, on Dec. 6, 2007. Dr. Assad is head of pathology at the public hospital in Najaf, and Dr. Najim is a nuclear physicist. They were an MPT team documenting the health impact on Najaf of depleted uranium weapons used during the Gulf wars.

The study faced limits of personnel, resources and equipment. But it relied on accumulated public data and a major contribution of time and energy. The focus was Najaf, a city of over 1 million people, and the rural areas in that governate. The area is about 180 miles from where DU was used in the first Gulf War.
In 2004, during a collapsed health care infrastructure, there were 251 reported cases of cancer. By 2006, when the data more accurately reflected the real situation, that figure rose to 688. In 2007, 801 cancer cases were reported. Those figures portray an incidence rate of 28.21 by 2006, which contrasts with the normal rate of 8 to 12 cases of cancer per 100,000 people.

Two observations are striking. One, there is a dramatic increase in the cancers related to radiation exposure, especially the rare soft tissue sarcoma and leukemia. Two, the age at which cancer begins is dropping rapidly, with incidents of breast cancer at 16, colon cancer at 8, and liposarcoma at 1.5 years. Dr. Assad noted that 24 percent of the cancers reported occurred in the 11 to 30 age range.

The researchers gave special attention to three locations in Najaf. Al-Anzar Square is a street 50 meters long. Here there were 13 cancer cases with unrelated individuals of different ages and genders without a family history of cancer. Another, Al-Fathi, is a one-kilometer rural stretch along a river with 37 varied cancer cases reported. The third was Hay Al-Muslameen, a well-to-do sector of the city, with 20 documented cases.

Dr. Najim began his report by noting the U.S. military used 350 tons of DU in 1991 and 150 tons during the 2003 bombing of Baghdad. When DU hits a target, it aerosolizes and oxidizes forming two oxides. The first is water-soluble and enters the aquifers and food chain. The second is insoluble and settles as dust that is carried on the winds.

Aerosolized dust enters the lungs and causes problems as it crosses cell walls and impacts the genetic system. Dr. Najim shared that his grandson was born with heart problems, Down Syndrome, an underdeveloped liver and leukemia. He assumes these were caused by the parents’ exposure to DU. He said, “Cancer is spreading from the conflict area as a health epidemic and will only get worse.” The cancer rate has more than tripled in 16 years in Najaf, similarly to Basra, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

Using a Geiger counter, the team discovered radiation levels of 30 to 40 counts per minute in the Najaf area, compared to 10 to 15 counts per minute at the Tawaitha nuclear research reactor site outside Baghdad.

He concluded his talk by asking, “Would it be just to ask for equipment and facilities to document the problems, clean the environment and care for those exposed to DU?” The forum provided a model that others can duplicate in their own communities to highlight the serious problem as DU blows into neighborhoods across Iraq.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is a peace organization of the Mennonite and Brethren churches that deploys peacemakers to areas of conflict throughout the world. Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), newly organized in Iraq, is now partnering with the Christian Peacemaker Teams serving in Iraq to promote nonviolence.