11 - 17 January 2001
Issue No.516
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 11 - 17 January 2001 Issue No.516 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Sophisticated weaponry
For 10 years, international health agencies working in Iraq have been reporting horrifying statistics on the increased incidence of cancer and leukaemia among civilians, particularly children. The Iraqi government blames the use of depleted uranium (DU) shells by the United States during the Gulf War for this human disaster. But because the Iraqi government had been labeled evil by the world's sole superpower, any claims it makes are brushed off as lies and propaganda. The US and Britain have also insisted on denying Gulf War Syndrome, disregarding complaints by scores of US and British troops that their exposure to targets hit by DU shells during the war could be the reason so many of them now have cancer.
European members of the US-led alliance that fought in the war against the former Yugoslavia are currently trading accusations regarding the role of DU shells in the deaths of at least 18 soldiers -- seven Italian, five Belgian, two Dutch, two Spanish, one Portuguese and one Czech -- who have died of cancer since returning from tours of duty in Bosnia or Kosovo. This time, it seems, the US cannot disregard claims that its "advanced" DU shells have killed not only civilians, but also its own troops and those of its allies. Germany had opposed the use of DU shells at an early stage, and other angry European nations have been accusing the United States of squandering their soldiers' lives.
The development the US introduced in the war against Iraq, and later applied in its military campaigns against countries singled out for a dose of American discipline, was dependence on massive and sustained air raids.
This technique proved to be very efficient in saving the precious lives of American soldiers and satisfying US public opinion, but wrought a cataclysm in the targeted countries. More disastrous still are the long-term effects of American punishment, which leaves in its wake not only defeated armies, but also several generations of civilians crippled or killed by disease.
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