So yes, those rumblings that Wikileaks is at least tacitly approved as a leak point / dumping ground for getting info out there in overwhelming bulk seem somewhat more plausible but I feel it more likely the novelty of the wikileaks phenomena is what prevents the media from ignoring it as they are so doing with the medical survey of Fallujah.
The Patrick Cockburn article mentioned by Chomsky can be found here. Fun quotes:
Dr Chris Busby, a visiting professor at the University of Ulster and one of the authors of the survey of 4,800 individuals in Fallujah, said it is difficult to pin down the exact cause of the cancers and birth defects. He added that "to produce an effect like this, some very major mutagenic exposure must have occurred in 2004 when the attacks happened".
Yes of course the pacification of Fallujah occurred in 2004.
US Marines first besieged and bombarded Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, in April 2004 after four employees of the American security company Blackwater were killed and their bodies burned. After an eight-month stand-off, the Marines stormed the city in November using artillery and aerial bombing against rebel positions. US forces later admitted that they had employed white phosphorus as well as other munitions.
Hmmery, the same white phosphorous that was used by the Israelis during Operation Cast Lead(page 21, paragraph 48)? Still the Palestinians and Iraqis deserved it eh Amber?
He added that the US commander who ordered this devastating use of firepower did not consider it significant enough to mention it in his daily report to the US general in command. Dr Busby says that while he cannot identify the type of armaments used by the Marines, the extent of genetic damage suffered by inhabitants suggests the use of uranium in some form. He said: "My guess is that they used a new weapon against buildings to break through walls and kill those inside."
Oh well, all those assurances DU rounds were completely harmless before and during the invasion were wrong, boy are those advocates' faces red (with the blood of Iraqi children) now!
Researchers found a 38-fold increase in leukaemia, a ten-fold increase in female breast cancer and significant increases in lymphoma and brain tumours in adults. At Hiroshima survivors showed a 17-fold increase in leukaemia, but in Fallujah Dr Busby says what is striking is not only the greater prevalence of cancer but the speed with which it was affecting people.
The residents of Fallujah should be grateful the Coalition of the Willing freed them from the oppression of genetic orthodoxy and allowed Iraq to become a future centre for Oncology research. And by doing all this the west has certainly been saved from vague threats to their way of life or something.
Again apologies I'm only posting this a month late but at least I'm beating most of the mainstream media I guess.
Edit Whoops forgot to add this feature by Democracy now about it. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/29/patrick_cockburn_on_missing_billions_in
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