Cancer victims in Iraq

In the last 10 years, research has made it clear that uranium is one of the most dangerous substances known to man, certainly when used in sophisticated weapons. US and Israeli forces used these types of dangerous and prohibited weapons against civilian populations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza. Christopher Busby, a British scientist and activist who has carried out research into the risks of radioactive pollution says there is proof of a definitive link between cancer and depleted uranium. US forces used depleted uranium, especially in Iraq. Due to the use of depleted uranium, doctors in Iraq are recording a sharp rise in the number of cancer victims in Baghdad and other parts of country. Local doctors also blame depleted uranium from US military equipment used in the 2003 invasion. Cancer patients in the province of Babil that was a stronghold of resistance fighters have increased almost tenfold in just three years. In this part of Iraq 500 cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2004. This year more than 9,000 new cases have already been found, and the number is rising. Iraqi researchers believe that radiation due to US weapons is responsible for the increase in cancer. After irrefutable evidence of human rights violations, all champions of human rights and the UN are sitting silent and doing nothing.

When told that a half million children have died as a result of punitive sanctions on Iraq and the number of Iraqi children killed by sanctions exceeded that of children killed in Hiroshima because of the atom bomb, then-US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is said to have calmly asserted that US policy objectives were worth the sacrifice of half a million Arab children. Maybe the neocons in the US establishment and media will say the same thing about the cancer victims of Iraq.

Khawaja Umer Farooq, Jeddah, published 19 October 2009

Baseless assertions

In his letter “Global warming” (Oct. 15) Iqbal Paul makes a number of unsubstantiated assertions.

“Only the oil industry lobbyists and the scientists rejected by their peers have some ax to grind,” deny the global warming mythology. Who are these “rejected scientists”? Who precisely has rejected them? Are the likes of NASA and the Goddard Space Institute rejecters of science”? He mentions a “recent study by an economist” on the issue of global warming. Scientists, not economists, are qualified to pronounce on global warming.

Iqbal Paul goes on to state that “A vast majority of prominent climate scientists agree that GW is happening... it has been caused largely by human activities”. Can he name a few of those scientists? Who exactly are they and which organizations do they work for? As for supposed anthropogenic global warming having “.... effects on the world including droughts, mass flooding, species extinction and an economic collapse comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s....” this is pure unbridled and unsubstantiated hysteria.

“GW cannot be halted quickly”. Well it has been halted. It stopped in 1998. Most man-made greenhouse gases are absorbed by the oceans. Other greenhouse gases are a natural part of the Earth’s atmosphere and have been present for millions of years. “On an individual level, one can adopt eco-friendly practices and start reducing his/her carbon footprint on Earth”. In other words — politically correct social control and bullying.

To put all the nonsense about supposed man-made global warming into perspective, it is worthwhile to examine what the real scientists have to say about it. In his article “No man-made global warming” (2006) Rolf A. Witzsche claims that “Even the current warming tend, which began in the mid-1600s, began long before man-made greenhouse gases were created by industrial activity that is currently blamed for global warming in one of the most deeply reaching political cover-up projects in history, which is obviously designed to hide the impending return of the Ice Age.”

In the same article, Witzsche cites professor Zbigniew Jaworowski, who has identified the geological period that the Earth is currently going through as interglacial and whose warmer temperatures are but a “blip” in comparison to the much warmer historical temperatures that the planet has experienced.

Francis A. Andrew, Nizwa, Oman, published 19 October 2009

Next Nobel winner?

I am afraid Aijaz Zaka Syed (“Go earn it now, Mr. President” — Oct. 16) will be the next Nobel winner, because he is giving too many hopes to your readers. US President Barack Obama got it for distributing hope worldwide. There is a conspiracy theory around, according to which Israel’s friends say:

“Hey Obama, the biggest thing you are going to get for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is a Nobel, for which Bill Clinton strived hard. It is here already. Now concentrate on other things...”

Zubair Hudawi, By e-mail, published 19 October 2009

Al-Shabab’s antics

This is regarding the report, “Somalia’s Al-Shabab whips women for wearing bras” (Oct. 17). The incidents depicted in the report should cause worry to an already fractured country ridden with war, famine and destruction. What Al-Shahab is doing in the name of religion is sheer barbarism and this should be stopped as soon as possible.

Mohammed Rizwanuddin Khan, By e-mail, published 19 October 2009

Civil war in Pakistan

After two days of bomb blasts and bloodshed, Pakistan is marshalling a force of 30,000 to attack South Waziristan. I think the government is following the same Bush action-reaction strategy after the Sept. 11 attacks without any thought of its efficacy or long-term consequences. Pakistan is slipping into a civil war that is not of its choosing. The saner elements in the country should force a reconciliatory and dialogue approach.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai, published 19 October 2009