Doctors at Saddam Central Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, where many young leukemia victims go for treatment, used to get only a few cases a year. Now two or three children are diagnosed every week. The cause of this is very clear, It's depleted uranium used during the war. To some outside experts, though, the link between depleted uranium and cancer or birth defects is not at all clear. After the Gulf War, pollution was aggravated by the many oil-field fires set by Iraqi troops as they fled Kuwait.
Scientists say mustard gas can cause genetic damage.
Years of war-related food shortages have left many Iraqis seriously malnourished. Pregnant women who do not get enough folic acid, an essential vitamin, have a greater chance of delivering babies with birth defects. Brix is among those working with the Persian Gulf Veterans Coordinating Board, created partly in response to complaints by U.S. soldiers that they have suffered a wide range of ailments since their Gulf War service. Like the Iraqis, many wonder if their problems are caused by depleted uranium. A couple of years ago, no one was exposed, now the line is that a lot of people might have been exposed but no one was exposed enough to cause any health problems.