Six years after severe fighting raged in Fallujah between U.S. Marines and Iraqi insurgents the effects of the battle still linger. Specifically, there is increasing anecdotal evidence that birth defects are increasing at an alarming rate.
In 2004 insurgents took control of Fallujah, a city 40 miles west of Baghdad. U.S. Marines, supported by U.S. Army units and British troops, led Operation Phantom Fury to recapture it from insurgents.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) acknowledges that, "there has been no authoritative medical investigation, certainly by any Western team, into the allegations that the weapons used by the Americans are still causing serious problems." However, it also adds that a local paediatric specialist, Dr Samira al-Ani, is certain that the number of children with birth defects, particularly, congenital heart defects is increasing, "I am a doctor. I have to be scientific in my talk. I have nothing documented. But I can tell you that year by year, the number [is] increasing."
The United States has acknowledged using white phosphorous, an incendiary known as 'Willy Pete', but only as an illumination device. More intriguingly, "America has never given a clear response to claims it also used depleted uranium weapons against the insurgents, such as ‘bunkerbuster’ bombs, according to dailymail.uk.co. Both weapons are known to contaminate ground water and soil. Their effects on crops, animals and human beings are not totally understood.
However, Professor Chris Busby of Ulster University concludes unequivocally that, "depleted uranium is a mutagen and cause birth defects even at quite small concentrations.
The increase in birth defects and early onset cancers in Fallujah was first reported by The Guardian in November 2009, on the fifth anniversary of the battle. At that time The Guardian stated, "Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants, compared to a year ago, and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting."
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/289277