Rise in Fallujah Birth Defects Raise Questions About US Chemical Weapon Use

CNN recently ran a segment on the sudden rise in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in the past seven years.

In 2004, the United States carried out two major offenses in Fallujah, destroying major parts of the city in an effort to clear out insurgents. Residents of Fallujah believe the United States used “forbidden” chemical weapons during these strikes and it is not hard to understand this assumption. The local hospital sees several new cases of children born with birth defects like heart conditions, cleft lips, and deformed extremities everyday. The strain this has put on Iraqi families has forced many to decide to no longer have children.

Of course, the United States has their back covered here. Since there has been no official investigation and no documented scientific evidence of the birth defects spike in relation to the war, the United States can remain unaccountable.

Since I doubt the U.S. government will ever own up to the (illegal) horrors perpetrated in Iraq, it remains the responsibility of the Iraqi civilians, US veterans who oppose the war, and their supporters around the world to get these stories out so no one will forget the Iraq war, the fact that it’s far from over, and the continued consequences that will last for generations to come.

Madeleine Dubus is a staff writer for Campus Progress and a writing fellow at The New School.

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