ID :
184259
Wed, 05/25/2011 - 09:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/184259
The shortlink copeid
Britain Pulls Out Troops but Leaves Legacy of Torture in Iraq
TEHRAN (FNA)- Although the British troops put an end to their devastating presence in Iraq after eight years of occupation, many Iraqis are still seeking to revive their trampled rights.
Britain concluded its naval training mission in Iraq on Sunday, more than eight years after it contributed the second largest contingent of troops to the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
During the period, many accusations were leveled against the British troops, but most of them remained unanswered.
The British forces are accused of financial corruption, including siphoning out millions of barrels of crude oil via Basra port to undeclared destinations.
They are also infamous for their horrific prisons and intelligence services that were tasked with eliminating opponents of Iraq's military occupation.
Hamed Khalaf, a 42-year-old Basra resident, is one of the victims of the British soldiers' torturous act. He said in an interview with FNA in Basra that he can still remember the inhuman behavior of British soldiers.
"I was tortured by the British soldiers without standing a trial and while I was innocent, a kind of torture that I have never seen even during the dictatorial rule of Saddam," he stated.
He further revealed that he had witnessed and experienced many types of torture and harsh interrogation techniques when he was kept in Basra's Abu Naji prison, Southeast of Iraq.
As regards the tactics and torture techniques used by the British soldiers on the inmates, Khalaf said that they forced prisoners to take off their cloths, deprived them of sleeping, intimidated prisoners, used electric shocks, shot them in the head, chest and face and broke their jaws and teeth.
But still the worst accusation leveled against the British forces pertains to their use of depleted uranium. The depleted-uranium bombs and munitions used by the British Army against the Iraqi people in the 2003 invasion of the country have caused growing congenital deformities and mental retardation, not just for the present, but for the next three generations in Iraq.
The existing proof and evidence in Iraq show that Britain has used depleted uranium against the Iraqi people.
Use of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq has led to an increase in cancer patients and the birth of deformed infants.
The shocking aftermaths of this inhumane action by the US and Britain will be seen in three future generations in Iraq and will damage the Muslim population for the long years to come due to the longevity of the depleted uranium.
Recent medical reports indicated that cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, specially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment.
Dr Ahmad Hardan, who served as a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, says that there is scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to cancer and birth defects.
"Children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have produced ample evidence to show that depleted uranium has disastrous consequences," he said
Also the Iraqi doctors say cancer cases increased after both the 1991 war and the 2003 invasion.
Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of "Uranium in Iraq" recently reiteratd that the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates in 1996-1997 and 2008-2009.
Not everyone is ready to draw a direct correlation between allied bombing of these areas and tumors, and the Pentagon has been skeptical of any attempts to link the two. But Iraqi doctors and some Western scholars say the massive quantities of depleted uranium used in U.S. and British bombs, and the sharp increase in cancer rates are not unconnected.
In Falluja, which was heavily bombarded by the US in 2004, as many as 25% of newborn infants have serious abnormalities, including congenital anomalies, brain tumors, and neural tube defects in the spinal cord.
The cancer rate in the province of Babil, south of Baghdad has risen from 500 diagnosed cases in 2004 to 9,082 in 2009.
The water, soil and air in large areas of Iraq, including Baghdad, are contaminated with depleted uranium that has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years.
The British should face thousands of court trials for their barbaric actions in Iraq, but they pulled out without even providing an answer to these accusations and without taking up the responsibility for what they have done in this country.
Britain concluded its naval training mission in Iraq on Sunday, more than eight years after it contributed the second largest contingent of troops to the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
During the period, many accusations were leveled against the British troops, but most of them remained unanswered.
The British forces are accused of financial corruption, including siphoning out millions of barrels of crude oil via Basra port to undeclared destinations.
They are also infamous for their horrific prisons and intelligence services that were tasked with eliminating opponents of Iraq's military occupation.
Hamed Khalaf, a 42-year-old Basra resident, is one of the victims of the British soldiers' torturous act. He said in an interview with FNA in Basra that he can still remember the inhuman behavior of British soldiers.
"I was tortured by the British soldiers without standing a trial and while I was innocent, a kind of torture that I have never seen even during the dictatorial rule of Saddam," he stated.
He further revealed that he had witnessed and experienced many types of torture and harsh interrogation techniques when he was kept in Basra's Abu Naji prison, Southeast of Iraq.
As regards the tactics and torture techniques used by the British soldiers on the inmates, Khalaf said that they forced prisoners to take off their cloths, deprived them of sleeping, intimidated prisoners, used electric shocks, shot them in the head, chest and face and broke their jaws and teeth.
But still the worst accusation leveled against the British forces pertains to their use of depleted uranium. The depleted-uranium bombs and munitions used by the British Army against the Iraqi people in the 2003 invasion of the country have caused growing congenital deformities and mental retardation, not just for the present, but for the next three generations in Iraq.
The existing proof and evidence in Iraq show that Britain has used depleted uranium against the Iraqi people.
Use of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq has led to an increase in cancer patients and the birth of deformed infants.
The shocking aftermaths of this inhumane action by the US and Britain will be seen in three future generations in Iraq and will damage the Muslim population for the long years to come due to the longevity of the depleted uranium.
Recent medical reports indicated that cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, specially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment.
Dr Ahmad Hardan, who served as a special scientific adviser to the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, says that there is scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to cancer and birth defects.
"Children with congenital anomalies are subjected to karyotyping and chromosomal studies with complete genetic back-grounding and clinical assessment. Family and obstetrical histories are taken too. These international studies have produced ample evidence to show that depleted uranium has disastrous consequences," he said
Also the Iraqi doctors say cancer cases increased after both the 1991 war and the 2003 invasion.
Abdulhaq Al-Ani, author of "Uranium in Iraq" recently reiteratd that the incubation period for depleted uranium is five to six years, which is consistent with the spike in cancer rates in 1996-1997 and 2008-2009.
Not everyone is ready to draw a direct correlation between allied bombing of these areas and tumors, and the Pentagon has been skeptical of any attempts to link the two. But Iraqi doctors and some Western scholars say the massive quantities of depleted uranium used in U.S. and British bombs, and the sharp increase in cancer rates are not unconnected.
In Falluja, which was heavily bombarded by the US in 2004, as many as 25% of newborn infants have serious abnormalities, including congenital anomalies, brain tumors, and neural tube defects in the spinal cord.
The cancer rate in the province of Babil, south of Baghdad has risen from 500 diagnosed cases in 2004 to 9,082 in 2009.
The water, soil and air in large areas of Iraq, including Baghdad, are contaminated with depleted uranium that has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years.
The British should face thousands of court trials for their barbaric actions in Iraq, but they pulled out without even providing an answer to these accusations and without taking up the responsibility for what they have done in this country.
