There has also been a marked rise in congenital diseases and birth malformations in Iraq. Down’s syndrome has increased by 4.5 fold with many of the mothers below the age of 35. Many of the birth defects, especially those in southern Iraq, are multi-malformational, reminiscent of children born after Hiroshima and Nagasaki or after the nuclear testing in the Pacific. Babies are born without limbs, eyes, genitalia, internal organs or with additional abnormal organs and many with extraordinary tumors. There is an increase in hydocephaly and anencephaly. These children are either born to mothers who were living in the areas of southern Iraq where depleted uranium was most heavily used or their fathers were veterans from these same areas. In most of these cases there is no previous history of genetic disorder in the families. Many women are now terrified of giving birth and the sanctions prevent proper ante natal care and scanning.

Should Dr. Moonie ever visit the hospitals of Iraq, he would see for himself ample evidence of ‘superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering’. Ward after ward of children and adults dying, in all probability, from the effects of internal radiation: tiny ceramic aerosolized particles which have entered the body through inhalation or ingestion to lodge in the deep lung or migrate to the lymph or bone giving off a steady pulse of alpha radiation. The one year old baby with a huge stomach cancer, the two year old bleeding hopelessly from the ear and throat, the eight year old leukemia victim who buries her head in the pillow to hide her silent tears.