Twenty years after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraq remains scarred by warfare innovations that continue to endanger civilians. The use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions and cluster bombs during intense urban combat has left a harrowing environmental legacy, with cancer rates near former battlefields reportedly doubling since 2003 according to Iraqi health surveys.
Once the cradle of Mesopotamia’s ancient civilizations, areas like Basra and Fallujah now grapple with over 3,000 square kilometers of suspected contaminated land. The UN estimates 10.8 million unexploded ordnances (UXOs) remain buried nationwide, delaying infrastructure projects and farmland rehabilitation.
\"Every soccer field-sized patch takes 3 weeks to clear safely,\" says demining expert Amina Farhad of The HALO Trust. \"Children born after the war are inheriting health complications we’re only beginning to understand.\"
As global powers debate accountability, young activists like 24-year-old Baghdad native Zainab Al-Khashali are leveraging TikTok campaigns (#ClearTheDebris) to demand multinational cleanup funding. \"This isn’t ancient history – our generation drinks water from the same poisoned rivers,\" she explains in a viral video viewed 2.7 million times.
The crisis underscores broader questions about modern combat’s long-term human costs – a lesson resonating with youth-led peace movements from Ukraine to Myanmar.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
