Birth defects 'rise' in Falluja
By John Simpson
World affairs editor, BBC News

A paediatrician and parents have told the BBC of a high level of birth defects among children in Falluja, Iraq, blaming weapons used by the US.

Six years ago, in 2004, there were fierce battles as US forces subdued two uprisings in the town.

Now, one hospital doctor told the BBC that they see two or three cases of birth defects each day.

The US military says it is not aware of any official reports showing an increase in birth defects in the area.

It says it always takes public health concerns about any population now living in a combat theatre "very seriously".

“ I am a doctor, I have to be scientific... I have no proof and I have nothing documented, but I can tell you that year by year they were increasing ”
Local hospital doctor

"No studies to date have indicated environmental issues resulting in specific health issues," said US Military Health System Communications Director Michael Kilpatrick.

"Unexploded ordinance, including improvised explosive devises, are a recognised hazard," he added.

But local people blame the weapons used by the US troops during the fighting.

It was hard to find doctors at the brand-new, US-funded hospital in Falluja who were prepared to talk about the problem.

'Savage epidemic'

I was told they were scared to speak because the Iraqi government did not want to create trouble for the Americans.


The official line is that Falluja has only two or three cases of birth defects a year more than normal.

But, in the children's ward, I spoke to a paediatrician who told me he saw as many as two or three cases a day, mainly cardiac defects.

That would mean that this medium-sized town has some 1,000 cases of birth defects a year.

Every doctor, and every parent I spoke to there, believed the problem was the highly sophisticated weapons the US troops used against Falluja six years ago.

The rubble from the damaged buildings was bulldozed into the river - and people in Falluja have got their drinking water from there ever since.

I went to a house where all three young children were suffering from paralysis or brain damage.

A man who heard I was there brought his daughter to show me - she had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, and suffered from several serious diseases.

Falluja is in the grip of a savage epidemic, and the victims are the weakest and most vulnerable of all.



# 40 miles (64km) west of the capital Baghdad
# Major city in the predominantly Sunni province of Anbar, a hotbed of insurgency following US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003
# Burned corpses of four ambushed US contractors dragged through the streets of the city in March 2004
# Scene of major US-led offensive against insurgents in November 2004, when thousands of marines stormed the city
# US military's use of white phosphorus munitions in that offensive widely condemned
# Situation in Anbar as a whole calmer since 2006, when tribal "Awakening Councils" turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq