Hi there,

In the six months since President Trump’s inauguration, we have seen unprecedented attacks on the press. Instead of pushing back, corporate owners of commercial networks are caving in. Because we do not accept any corporate or government funding, we rely on audience members like you to sustain our work. I hope you will donate today to support our independent journalism.Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations today will be TRIPLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $45. If you believe that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential to the functioning of a democratic society, please donate today. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Radiation is 1,000 Times the Normal Levels Where US Troops Used Depleted Uranium Shells in Baghdad

Listen
Media Options
Listen

A discussion with the Christian Science Monitor’s Scott Peterson, who visited four randomly chosen sites in Baghdad and reports that while women and children haven’t been warned, US troops have orders to avoid the sites.

An article in yesterday’s Christian Science Monitor begins like this:

“At a roadside produce stand on the outskirts of Baghdad, business is brisk for Latifa Khalaf Hamid. Iraqi drivers pull up and snap up fresh bunches of parsley, mint leaves, dill, and onion stalks.

“But Ms. Hamid’s stand is just four paces away from a burnt-out Iraqi tank, destroyed by–and contaminated with–controversial American depleted-uranium bullets. Local children play “throughout the day” on the tank, Hamid says, and on another one across the road.

“No one has warned the vendor in the faded, threadbare black gown to keep the toxic and radioactive dust off her produce. The children haven’t been told not to play with the radioactive debris. They gather around as a Geiger counter carried by a visiting reporter starts singing when it nears a DU bullet fragment no bigger than a pencil eraser. It registers nearly 1,000 times normal background radiation levels on the digital readout.”

Those are the words of journalist Scott Peterson in yesterday’s Christian Science Monitor. Peterson reported extensively on the trail of toxic war debris. In 1999, he wrote a series of articles on the effects of DU bullets used in the first Gulf War and in the war in Kosovo.

  • Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor reporter

Link:

Related Story

Web ExclusiveMar 21, 2025Human Rights Attorney Wolfgang Kaleck on Double Standards in International Law, from Russia to U.S.
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top