Madam, – A number of correspondents and letter writers have expressed approval in your pages for the armed intervention in Libya by the US, France and the UK.
This provokes a question as to how much there is an appreciation of the horrific reality of modern high-tech warfare, as practised by these same western powers.
The town of Falluja in Iraq provides a striking example. In 2004 it was subjected to attack from US forces, using a variety of munitions including white phosphorous and, apparently, uranium-based warheads. These most likely consisted of depleted uranium (DU), which is essentially nuclear waste.
Prof Chris Busby, against an atmosphere of official discouragement, conducted an investigation and produced a report appearing last July. This showed cancer rates dramatically higher than they were before 2004. The rate of child leukaemia is 40 times higher. Infant mortality is 4 times higher than Egypt. Falluja now sees at least 11 times as many major defects in newborns than world averages.
Similar horrors have been visited upon populations in other parts of Iraq, and in Afghanistan. Returned service personnel have not been spared the effects of radiation exposure either.
This ongoing international scandal persists because of the indifference of governments and the influence of powerful industrial and financial interests.
Meanwhile, with rare exceptions, the mainstream media fail to rouse public attention. – Yours, etc,