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Children in Fallujah who suffer from birth defects which are thought
to be linked to weapons used in attacks on the city by US Marines

Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the
Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004,
exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study.

Iraqi doctors in Fallujah have complained since 2005 of being
overwhelmed by the number of babies with serious birth defects, ranging
from a girl born with two heads to paralysis of the lower limbs. They
said they were also seeing far more cancers than they did before the
battle for Fallujah between US troops and insurgents.

Their claims have been supported by a survey showing a four-fold
increase in all cancers and a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in
under-14s. Infant mortality in the city is more than four times higher
than in neighbouring Jordan and eight times higher than in Kuwait.

Dr Chris Busby, a visiting professor at the University of Ulster and
one of the authors of the survey of 4,800 individuals in Fallujah, said
it is difficult to pin down the exact cause of the cancers and birth
defects. He added that "to produce an effect like this, some very major
mutagenic exposure must have occurred in 2004 when the attacks
happened"... >>>