Iraq War Veteran Condemns Himself To Death

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Thomas Young has suffered deteriorating health since losing control of his body from the chest down when he was shot in Sadr City, Iraq, in April 2004. He had been in the country less than a week.

Mr Young, 33, is receiving hospice care in Kansas City, in the US state of Missouri. He has had his colon removed while also struggling through a pulmonary embolism and several bouts of depression.

He estimates that he is forced to take between 35 and 45 pills per day.

After being taken off blood thinning medication he suffered a brain injury that he blames for a loss of speech and use of his arms.

He announced this week that he plans to soon begin refusing nourishment and crucial medication, condemning himself to death. "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired," he told his local newspaper.

Read more at The Telegraph. 

10 Years Later: The Unseen Problems Iraq Faces

The 10 year anniversary of the Iraq War has just passed. There's been a lot of reflection on the part of U.S. officials and former supporters of the war on the measure of success achieved since the invasion. To be sure it's easy to list accomplishments (Saddam Hussein toppled, Democracy, etc) but what about the issues the Iraqi people face?

The United States may be finished dropping bombs on Iraq, but Iraqi bodies will be dealing with the consequences for generations to come in the form of birth defects, mysterious illnesses and skyrocketing cancer rates.

Al Jazeera’s Dahr Jamail reports that contamination from U.S. weapons, particularly Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, has led to an Iraqi health crisis of epic proportions. “[C]hildren being born with two heads, children born with only one eye, multiple tumours, disfiguring facial and body deformities, and complex nervous system problems,” are just some of the congenital birth defects being linked to military-related pollution.

In certain Iraqi cities, the health consequences are significantly worse than those seen in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of WWII.

(Dr Samira Alani/Al Jazeera])

The highest rates are in the city of Fallujah, which underwent two massive US bombing campaigns in 2004. Though the U.S. initially denied it, officials later admitted using white phosphorous. In addition, U.S. and British forces unleashed an estimated 2,000 tons of depleted uranium ammunitions in populated Iraqi cities in 2003.

DU, a chemically toxic heavy metal produced in nuclear waste, is used in weapons due to its ability to pierce through armor. That’s why the US and UK were among a handful of nations (France and Israel) who in December refused to sign an international agreement to limit its use, insisting DU is not harmful, science be damned. Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s refusal to release details about where DU munitions were fired has made it difficult to clean up.

Today, 14.7 percent of Fallujah’s babies are born with a birth defect, 14 times the documented rate in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fallujah’s babies have also experienced heart defects 13 times the European rate and nervous system defects 33 times that of Europe. That comes on top of a 12-fold rise in childhood cancer rates since 2004. Furthermore, the male-to-female birth ratio is now 86 boys for every 100 girls, indicating genetic damage that affects males more than females.

(Dr Samira Alani/Al Jazeera)

(On a side note, these pictures are rather sanitized compared to other even more difficult to look at images. See here if you can bear it.)

If Fallujah is the Iraqi Hiroshima, then Basra is its Nagasaki.

According to a study published in the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, a professional journal based in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg, there was a sevenfold increase in the number of birth defects in Basra between 1994 and 2003.

According to the Heidelberg study, the concentration of lead in the milk teeth of sick children from Basra was almost three times as high as comparable values in areas where there was no fighting.

In addition, never before has such a high rate of neural tube defects (“open back”) been recorded in babies as in Basra, and the rate continues to rise. According to the study, the number of hydrocephalus (“water on the brain”) cases among new-borns is six times as high in Basra as it is in the United States.

This isn’t isolated to Fallujah and Basra. The overall Iraqi cancer rate has also skyrocketed:

Official Iraqi government statistics show that, prior to the outbreak of the First Gulf War in 1991, the rate of cancer cases in Iraq was 40 out of 100,000 people. By 1995, it had increased to 800 out of 100,000 people, and, by 2005, it had doubled to at least 1,600 out of 100,000 people. Current estimates show the increasing trend continuing.

As Grist’s Susie Cagle points out, “That’s potentially a more than 4,000 percent increase in the cancer rate, making it more than 500 percent higher than the cancer rate in the U.S.“

Dr. Mozghan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, told Jamail that “These observations collectively suggest an extraordinary public health emergency in Iraq. Such a crisis requires urgent multifaceted international action to prevent further damage to public health.”

(Dr. Samira Alani/Al Jazeera)

Instead, the international community, including the nation most responsible for the health crisis (hint: it starts with a “U” and ends with an “S”), is mostly ignoring the problem.

To make matters worse, Iraq’s healthcare system, which was once the envy of the region, is virtually nonexistent due to the mass exodus of Iraq’s medical doctors since 2003. According to recent estimates, there are currently fewer than 100 psychiatrists and 20,0000 physiciansserving a population of 31 million Iraqis.

Dahr Jamail was on Democracy Now this morning discussing the horrific effects of military-related pollution in Iraq:

Yanar Mohammad, President of the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq was also on Democracy Now and addressed the toxic legacy of birth defects in Iraq. (I interviewed Mohammed for a piece I wrote for Muftah about the deterioration of Iraqi women’s rights since the invasion, which you can read here.)

The ACN Morning Report Wednesday March 20, 2013

GOOD MORNING! TODAY IS WEDNESDAY MARCH 20, 2013. HERE ARE TODAY'S TOP AND MOST INTERESTING HEADLINES FROM ACN:

55 Killed In Iraq On Anniversary -- Ohio Gunman Mocks Victims' Families -- Senate Dems Drop Assault Weapons -- Cyprus Uncertainty Puts EU In Jeopardy -- Pentagon Bans 60MM Mortars After Deaths -- Contingency Plans Underway For Syria

ATTACK CLAIMS 55 LIVES ON IRAQ ANNIVERSARY

Baghdad (CNN) -- At least 55 people were killed and scores more wounded when bombs exploded across Iraq on Tuesday, a stark reminder of the violence and instability that grips the country 10 years after the start of the U.S.-led war.

The attacks -- 17 car bombs, seven roadside bombs, and two shootings -- ripped mostly through Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, but also struck Sunni communities in other towns. At least 187 people were wounded.

TEENAGE GUNMAN IN OHIO MOCKS VICTIMS' FAMILY 

Thomas Lane wore a T-shirt with KILLER scrawled in black ink during his sentencing Tuesday in an Ohio courtroom for shooting and killing three students in a high school cafeteria and wounding two others last year.

Mr. Lane, 18, was sentenced to three life sentences without parole. He pleaded guilty last month to opening fire on the morning of Feb. 27, 2012, with a .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol at Chardon High School while waiting for a bus to attend an alternative high school.

SENATE LEADERS DROP ASSAULT WEAPONS FROM GUN SAFETY BILL

Three months after the mass shooting of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school outraged the nation, Senate Democratic leaders are dropping an assault-weapon ban from gun legislation.

While public opinion polls show most Americans support an assault-weapon ban, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday the proposal has fewer than 40 votes in the 100-member chamber. Its sponsor, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, will be given a chance to offer the measure as an amendment to gun legislation that Democrats will introduce, second-ranking Democrat Dick Durbin told reporters.

EURO ON DEFENSIVE AS CYPRUS PARLIAMENT DISREGARDS BANK TAX, MARKETS EYE BERNANKE

(Reuters) - The euro was pinned near four-month lows against the U.S. dollar in Asia on Wednesday after Cyprus' rejection of bailout terms seemed to threaten default or even expulsion from the euro zone.

The general assumption in markets is that the European Union, as so often before, will hash out a last minute deal that keeps Cyprus in the single currency.

PENTAGON BANS 60 MM MORTAR ROUNDS 

HAWTHORNE, Nev. (AP) - A mortar shell explosion killed at least seven Marines and injured several more during mountain warfare training in Nevada's high desert, prompting the Pentagon to immediately halt the use of the weapons until an investigation can determine their safety, officials said Tuesday. The explosion occurred Monday night at the Hawthorne Army Depot, a sprawling facility used by troops heading overseas, during an exercise involving the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Several Marines from the unit were injured in the blast, authorities said.

COMMANDER: CONTINGENCY PLANS UNDERWAY FOR SYRIA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that several NATO countries are working on contingency plans for possible military action to end the two-year civil war in Syria as President Bashar Assad's regime accused U.S.-backed Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons.

The ACN Morning Report Tuesday March 19 2013

GOOD MORNING! TODAY IS TUESDAY MARCH 19TH 2013. HERE ARE TODAY'S MOST INTERESTING AND TOP STORIES FROM ACN:

Pope Francis Inauguration Mass -- Chemical Weapons In Syria? -- 10th Anniversary Of Iraq War -- Fl. Student Plotted Attack -- Hillary Clinton Comes Out On Gay Marriage -- Cyprus To Vote On Taxing Deposits -- The Bernanke Buzzkill -- NASA Curiosity Rover Suffers Glitch -- NYC Plan To "Hide" Tobacco 

Pope Francis Pleas For Poor At Inaugural Mass

Pope Francis has inaugurated his papacy at a Mass in Rome, calling on global leaders and all the people of the world to defend the poor and the weak.

Up to 200,000 people attended the Mass in St Peter's Square.

His homily focused on protection - of the environment, children, the elderly and those in need, who he said were "often the last we think about".

Francis was elected by a conclave of cardinals last week to take over from Benedict XVI.

Syria Says Rebel "Chemical Weapon" Attack Kills 6

www.chron.com

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria's information minister says a chemical weapon fired by rebels on a village in the north of the country is the "first act" by the opposition interim government announced in Istanbul.

Omran al-Zoubi says the missile containing "poisonous gases" was fired from Nairab district in Aleppo into Khan al-Assal village on Tuesday.

He says 16 people were killed and 86 wounded in the attack. He spoke to the pro-government Al-Ikhbariya TV station.

On 10th Anniversary Of Iraq War 20 Killed, 96 Injured

BAGHDAD, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Up to 20 people were killed and more than 97 wounded in a series of bombings and shootings in central Iraq on Tuesday morning, the police said.

In Baghdad, eight car bombs ripped through crowded areas mainly in Shiite districts across the capital, killing a total of 15 people and wounding 73 others, an interior ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Also in the capital, two people were killed when two sticky bombs attached to their cars detonated in western and eastern Baghdad, while a third shot dead by gunmen in the southern part of Baghdad, the source said.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden truck into the entrance of an Iraqi army base in the town of Iskandariyah, some 50 km south of Baghdad, killing at least two people and wounding more than 10 others, a local police source anonymously told Xinhua.

Central Florida Student Plotted Attack On Other Students

FSU

Authorities say a University of Central Florida student who pulled a dorm fire alarm in the middle of the night had a more sinister plan than sending students scurrying out into the night.

Campus police said Monday that 30-year-old James Oliver Seevakumaran was armed with two guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a backpack filled with explosives and a plan to attack other students as they fled the seven-story dorm where he lived.

His plans were thrown off by campus police officers' quick response to the fire alarm and a 911 call from Seevakumaran's roommate who had holed himself in a bathroom after Seevakumaran pointed a gun at him.

Hillary Clinton Comes Out On Gay Marriage

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may not have declared whether she’s running for president in 2016, but her public declaration supporting gay marriage on Monday puts her on the same page with other potential Democratic candidates should she decide to run.

Clinton made the announcement in an online video released by the Human Rights Campaign. “LGBT Americans are our colleagues, our teachers, our soldiers, our friends, our loved ones, and they are full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship. That includes marriage. That’s why I support marriage for lesbian and gay couples. I support it personally and as a matter of policy and law,” she said. Clinton acknowledged her evolving position on the issue. “Like so many others, my views have been shaped over time by people I have known and loved, by my experience representing our nation on the world stage, my devotion to law and human rights, and the guiding principles of my faith.”

Cyprus Parliament Says Bank Levy Unlikely

A number of members of Cyprus's parliament have told CNBC that the legislation to tax bank deposits is unlikely to pass, a move that could potentially put the country into default.

Parliament is due to convene at 4 p.m. London time on Tuesday and despite the ruling party saying they will approve the proposal, several parties have said they will reject the levy. No single party has a majority in the 56-member chamber to push through the vote.

Fed Meeting: Bracing For Bernanke Buzzkill

Stocks are rallying, job growth is strengthening and a housing recovery is well underway -- but don't expect the Federal Reserve to back away from its stimulative policies just yet.

If anything, the Fed is likely to deliver a buzzkill after its two-day meeting wraps up Wednesday. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will also address the state of the economy in a press conference following the release of the Fed's latest statement on interest rates and new economic forecasts.

Second Computer Glitch Stalls NASA's Mars Rover

NASA.Gov

Computerworld - After a computer glitch sidelined NASA's Mars rover Curiosity late last month, another problem has it down again.

NASA reported that Curiosity put itself into safe mode on Saturday after a software bug caused a command file to fail a size-check.

"This is a very straightforward matter to deal with," said Richard Cook, Curiosity's project manager. "We can just delete that file, which we don't need any more, and we know how to keep this from occurring in the future."

NASA said late on Monday that bringing Curiosity out of safe mode is expected to take a couple of days.

NYC Plan Would Keep Tobacco Products Hidden

AP

NEW YORK (AP) — Cigarettes would have to be kept out of sight in New York City stores under a first-in-the-nation plan unveiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday, igniting complaints from retailers and smokers who said they've had enough with the city’s crackdowns.

Shops from corner stores to supermarkets would have to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in other concealed spots. Officials also want to stop shops from taking cigarette coupons and honoring discounts, and are proposing a minimum price for cigarettes, below what the going rate is in much of the city now, to discourage black market sales.

McCain Rips Hagel For Opposing Iraq Troop Surge