We used to dig arrowheads and spears, old swords and bits of armor.
Then came the old bombs, the landmines, devices that malfunctioned and threatened descendants three generations later than the old warriors who had hated, fought, and left their debris behind to threaten those who hardly comprehended the motivations of those who did this.
Now it’s happening again, in Iraq. Adnan Abu Zeed reports in AL Monitor:
Radiation levels in parts of Iraq — including the heavily populated capital — are an environmental disaster that must be investigated and remedied, parliament member Hassan Salem and his Iraqi National Alliance electoral coalition maintain.
The level of contamination actually rises at times as more radioactive remnants of war are uncovered. Children, unaware but fascinated, find and play with irradiated leftovers, such as abandoned vehicles and military equipment. Scrap metal dealers, some of whom are children, contribute to the spread of contamination, and unsuspecting factory workers actually burn contaminated bricks in furnaces for fuel.
According to Salem, this explains how radiation levels reached 62% above the “normal” reading in the Kasra wa Atash district, near Sadr City in northeast Baghdad. …
Speaking to Al-Monitor about pollution in combat areas and leftover radioactive military equipment, Ministry of Environment Undersecretary Jassim Abdul Aziz Hamadi al-Falahi said the situation is under control. He added, “These areas are classified and isolated, and most of them are monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.”
Falahi noted, “The Iraqi state is not standing idle, as several specialized bodies are monitoring radioactive contamination rates and the surface area of contaminated sites, including the Iraq Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority, the Radiation Protection Center and the Radioactive Waste Treatment and Management Directorate affiliated with the Ministry of Science and Technology.”
Another enduring legacy of the Bush Administration and its unnecessary war. Perhaps it would have been worse if we had not invaded, but I find it hard to justify. Very, very hard to justify.
