The environmental history of the Republic of Iraq

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The economic history in general of the Republic of Iraq

Nuclear contamination of Gulf War battlefields reported

The Wisdom Fund press release, 10 May 1996. The battlefields of the Gulf War are reported contaminated with nuclear materials—a by-product of the depleted uranium shells fired by US tanks during Operation Desert Storm. DU in weapons is a callous solution to the nuclear industry's problem of waste disposal. Speculation that the Gulf War Syndrome may be related to DU contamination.

U.S. sanctions turn Iraq's water supply into poison

Workers World, 16 July 1998. 1998 missile attack on the Basra water reservoir. Babies and children with gastroenteritis and amoebic dysentery. Restriction on import of chlorine to purify the water supply. The sanctions bar alum to settle solids in the water. Blockade prevents import of sewage line replacement pipes.

Iraq blames U.S., Britain for environment disaster

Reuters, 18 January 2000. Iraq accused Western powers of inflicting a creeping health and environmental disaster on the country by blocking medical and humanitarian supplies. Need for spare parts to rehabilitate water supply and sewerage systems. The oil-for-food deal with the UN had done little to improve Iraq's environment.

Pentagon Documents Show U.S. Intentionally Used Sanctions to Destroy Iraq's Water Supply

By Thomas J. Nagy, The Progressive 7 August 2001. ;The U.S. government intentionally used sanctions against Iraq to degrade the country's water supply after the Gulf War, as shown in Pentagon documents going back to 1991. Lack of required chemicals and desalination membranes. Incidences of disease, including possible epidemics.

A chamber of horrors so close to the 'Garden of Eden'

By Andy Kershaw, Independent, 1 December 2001. According to the Iraqis and in all likelihood the World Health Organisation, which is soon to publish its findings on the spiralling birth defects in southern Iraq. We are responnsible for these obscenities. Gulf War depleted uranium shells. Babies with leukaemia. A shortage of medicines created by sanctions imposed by the UN.

Inside Iraq—The Tragedy of a People Betrayed

By John Pilger, Independent (London), 23 February 2003. Cancer rates of 40-48%. Suspected cause is depleted uranium. Mutated plant life. Children with leukemia. Children born with deformaties. The same patterns as in Hiroshima: increased percentage of congenital malformation, an increase of malignancy, leukaemia, brain tumours. Embargo denies decontamination equipment.