Do Toxic Chemicals Cause Cancers?

Did toxic chemicals in Iraq cause GI illnesses?

• Answer:

  1) I assume that you are talking about this war: "The Iraq War, also known as the Second Persian Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States and the United Kingdom." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War The problems with the Gulf War are well known: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_syndrome 2) "Larry Roberta's every breath is a painful reminder of his time in Iraq. He can't walk a block without gasping for air. His chest hurts, his migraines sometimes persist for days and he needs pills to help him sleep. James Gentry came home with rashes, ear troubles and a shortness of breath. Later, things got much worse: He developed lung cancer, which spread to his spine, ribs and one of his thighs; he must often use a cane, and no longer rides his beloved Harley. David Moore's postwar life turned into a harrowing medical mystery: nosebleeds and labored breathing that made it impossible to work, much less speak. His desperate search for answers ended last year when he died of lung disease at age 42. What these three men -- one sick, one dying, one dead -- had in common is they were National Guard soldiers on the same stretch of wind-swept desert in Iraq during the early months of the war in 2003. These soldiers and hundreds of other Guard members from Indiana, Oregon and West Virginia were protecting workers hired by a subsidiary of the giant contractor, KBR Inc., to rebuild an Iraqi water treatment plant. The area, as it turned out, was contaminated with hexavalent chromium, a potent, sometimes deadly chemical linked to cancer and other devastating diseases." Source and further information: http://bootsinbaghdad.blogspot.com/2009/06/did-toxic-chemical-in-iraq-cause-gis.html Further information: http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2009/06/28/news/srv0000005700846.txt http://afterhoursfriends.com/?p=3710 3) "On November 26, 2004, independent journalist Dahr Jamail was perhaps the first to report on the use of "unusual weapons" used in the November 2004 Battle of Fallujah. U.S. media watchdog group Project Censored awarded Jamail's story as contributing to the #2 under-reported story of the year, "Media Coverage Fails on Iraq". On November 9, 2005 the Italian state-run broadcaster RAI ran a documentary titled "Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre" depicting what it alleges was the United States' use of white phosphorus (WP) in the attack causing insurgents and civilians to be killed or injured by chemical burns." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Fallujah#White_phosphorus_usage