After years and countless lives lost, the U.S. government is refusing [3] to fully acknowledge the health crisis its burn pits in Iraq have unleashed upon the U.S. service members exposed to airborne contaminants, even after the VA was ordered [4] by Congress last year to establish a registry for those who have suffered ill health as a result. But when it comes to the long-term hazards of burn pits, bombings, bullets and chemical weapons upon the people of Iraq, whose exposure is exponentially greater and continues to the present day, such recognition is virtually non-existent.
In fact, if it were not for the crusading work of environmental toxicologist Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, key information about the environmental legacy of the U.S. occupation of Iraq would be completely lost to U.S. scholarship. Earlier this month, Savabiesfahani released a troubling new study, which unearths further evidence that air pollution directly tied to war is poisoning the most vulnerable members of Iraqi society: children.