By guest author Ross Caputi, co-founder of the Justice for Fallujah Project, president of the Boston University Anti-War Coalition, and an Iraq war veteran
On November 7th it will have been seven years since the U.S. began its 2nd siege on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Since that fateful date the people of Fallujah have been expelled, killed, imprisoned, oppressed, humiliated, and poisoned.
The siege itself lasted several weeks, claiming the lives of thousands of innocent civilians. In the years that followed, the rates of multiple types of cancers, birth defects, and infant mortality skyrocketed in Fallujah.
A recent study found enriched uranium in hair, soil, and water samples from Fallujah. The study concludes that uranium is the most likely cause of the health crisis in Fallujah. And the most likely explanation for why the uranium is enriched is that it came from a new generation of weapons that the U.S. combat-tested for the first time in Fallujah. Known as anti-personnel thermobaric weapons, they are suspected of using uranium in their warheads.
What our country did to Fallujah is truly appalling, and we at the Justice for Fallujah Project are doing what we can to make sure that Fallujah is not forgotten. This year Remember Fallujah Week will run from November 13th to the 19th, and we will be having events to raise awareness about what happened to Fallujah in Washington DC, Providence, Rhode Island, Boston, New York, and London to raise awareness about what Fallujah has endured.
Please join us in our fight for justice. www.thefallujahproject.org