January 10, 2006

Isn't it amazing the way the press turns one good turn into such a spectacular feature story? I would never complain about the concern that Lt. Jeff Morgan had for Baby Noor. Not for one second, but what about the thousands of the Iraqi children that have been left with birth defects as a result of all the depleted uranium we have left for the poor Iraqi's to live with from now on?

Depleted uranium, known as DU, is a highly dense metal that is the byproduct of the process during which fissionable uranium used to manufacture nuclear bombs and reactor fuel is separated from natural uranium. DU remains radioactive for about 4.5 billion years. That's beyond my imagination to comprehend. What kind of criminal mind uses such a method of warfare that will continue for eons to plague its foes?

But that is only part of the problem. A second, potentially more serious hazard is created when a DU round hits its target. As much as 70 percent of the projectile will burn up on impact, creating a firestorm of ceramic DU oxide particles. The residue of this firestorm is an extremely fine ceramic uranium dust that can be spread by the wind, inhaled and absorbed into the human body and absorbed by plants and animals, becoming part of the food chain.

Once lodged in the soil, the munitions can pollute the environment and create up to a hundredfold increase in uranium levels in ground water, according to the U.N. Environmental Program. And studies show it can remain in human organs for years.

It is beyond my feeble mind to comprehend why any human being would want to treat another human being in such a way, but that is what we, I say we, for that is what our government is doing to the poor people of Iraq. My faith decries such an outrageous plague that we have imposed on that nation and it's people.

Let us truly applaud Lt. Jeff Morgan, who e-mailed his friend in Douglasville who is a social worker. They enlisted the help of a variety of officials and social service organizations. Through those efforts, Noor, her grandmother and her father were flown to the United States, arriving in Atlanta late last month. And even now the corrective surgery has been performed on that one little innocent baby. But I come back to my earlier question "What about the thousands of other little children that we have left with all the dangers of cancer and deformation?"

Photos of Babies Deformed at Birth as a Result of Depleted Uranium (DU) 2003

photos: Dr. Jenan Hassan