Sad...crying

I don't expect anyone to understand but.... My country is in turmoil. Yesterday there were bombs all throughout Baghdad and 57 were killed, hundreds injured. It's so depressing. Everyone knows that it's the doing of the Prime Minister, even the (shi'aa) Parliament is standing up against him acknowledging that it's him. He's trying to create violence between the sects so that they fight each other. Yesterday there were car bombs placed in 'shi'aa' neighborhoods and he blamed the Sunni Al Qaeda (magically reappeared?) saying that they were doing it out of hatred for them.. He wants them to fight so that he can stay in power. Now they are pushing back the local elections that were supposed to take place next month. It's violent and not safe. I just want my country to return to the beautiful, amazing, historical pinnacle of creation that it once was.    

I'm sorry momma. I know you are aren't they currently but it has to be hard to watch tha happening, even from a distance.

That would be scary to be living right there.

Not to mention that today is the 10th anniversary of the U.S. led invasion. Also..the worst part is, DU (depleted uranium). The cancer rates and rate of birth defects is the highest it's ever been. I was reading that cancer rates are 14x that of what they were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. My brother-in-law is in Iraq right now struggling to fight off cancer and doesn't have access to good enough medical treatment and there's nothing we can do. We've sent them all of our money to send him to other countries seeking treatment. Children in Iraq are being born with 2 heads..1 eye...spinal/neural/congenital defects. Long limbs. Short limbs. No limbs. Rate of childhood cancers are ridiculously high. Right now, the current rate of cancer (although no exact statistic is available due to private health sectors not sharing their statistics) is around 3500 in every 100,000. THAT'S A LOT. In 1991 (start of the first gulf war) it was only 40. 40 in every 100,000. By 1995 it had tripled. Then in 2005 it was at 1,600. Now it's around 3500.

Sorry sweetie. I can't imagine seeing your home country go through that   I wish I could solve all the worlds' problems  

I couldn't imagine! How scary...

Thanks girls. It's sad that this is all that can really be done right now...is just condolences. A moment of silence for those who've fallen..and we just carry on. It's going to get worse, you know. It seems in these years nothing is on our side.

So I was reading this and did some googling because it's very sad and I don't know much about it.....


We are the ones responsible for DU and stuff causing all these birth defects and cancer in your country? The americans did it? Just asking because I read it in 2 different articles, just want to know if that's true or a rumor?

Quoting Preggo ✖ Status:" So I was reading this and did some googling because it's very sad and I don't know much about it..... ... [snip!] ... The americans did it? Just asking because I read it in 2 different articles, just want to know if that's true or a rumor? "

America, unfortunately, illegally in the first gulf war. It's not just Iraqis suffering, btw. It's the British and US troops as well. Not to mention DU fallout travels and remains radioactive for billions of years.

I can link you a good article which highlights everything, if you're really interested.

It started in 1991 when the US used missiles coated in DU. It is known that it's illegal but there were some efforts of 'coverup' basically. Then they used DU weaponry again when they invaded in 2003.

Personally, I think that the U.S. government should let my brother-in-law into the U.S. and give him free medical treatment to fight his cancer, since technically it's a direct result of their weapon choices. But I doubt that's going to happen. We've been trying for over a year to bring him here and have thrown away hundreds of dollars in visa application fees just to have his visa rejected. It smurfing sucks, because he really does have a good chance to beat it if he comes here. I had a highly-respected former head of oncology review his medical records and he says he believes he could treat him and help him beat it.

But in Iraq, Turkey, Syria and India (the countries he has access to)...yeah...doesn't look so good.  

Quoting Pusherman:" America, unfortunately, illegally in the first gulf war. It's not just Iraqis suffering, btw. It's the ... [snip!] ... radioactive for billions of years. I can link you a good article which highlights everything, if you're really interested."

That makes me really sad to be an American...I kind of liked it better when I didn't know that.

Quoting Preggo ✖ Status:" That makes me really sad to be an American...I kind of liked it better when I didn't know that."

Don't say that...every country does stuff in the heat of the moment, even if it isn't the best call of action. I don't hate America for that, because what's done is done. I hate that they aren't doing more to reconstruct, at least with funding.. The cost of DU clean up alone is 30-45 million dollars. But probably if they did send any financial aid to my country, it would end up in the wrong hands anyway. Ah, the joys of having a beyond corrupt government that doesn't give a smurf about its citizens. Lose-lose situation for my people, as always.