The Toxic Legacy of the Iraq War
Generational Casualties
By STAN GOFF
September 24, 2003
Counter punch

My grandson was born last December at Womack Army Medical Center, one of the finest medical facilties in the country now. The labor and delivery room was nicer than many hotel rooms. The care and attention was nonpareil. Military medical care -- now under idiotic pressure to privatize -- is proof that profit is often antithetical to the provision of quality services.

My grandson was born there because his father -- my son -- was entitled to this quality care as a member of the Army. My son is now languishing in a former palace along the Euphrates River, surrounded by millions of people who don't want him there, waiting for mail that takes four to five weeks to arrive, keeping an ear attuned for incoming mortars, and gazing at pictures of his son -- our grandson -- who will not know him when he returns.

My grandson is perfect, and I don't just say that because I have become a grandparent cliche -- which I have, with my office and home both converted into shrines full of baby photos. He is perfect in that he has all his assigned parts, they function in coordination with one another, and his growth and development are proceeding, as the medical folk say, normally. He was born with great lungs and the grip of a longshoreman, he never seems to get sick, and he seems very interested in all people, in all music, in squirrels, and in passing automobiles. He seems to go into a trance when a breeze blows on his face, and he chatters and blows raspberries when he is excited.

I am crazy in love with this child, spoil him shamelessly, have already dedicated a book to him, and I look forward to more grandchildren, having three more kids who are well into their reproductive years.

At a recent Congressional briefing organized by Congresswoman Maxine Waters, ten military family members, myself included, testified about our opposition to Bushfeld's War. Afterwards, during dinner together, one of the young military spouses told me that she and her husband, now stationed in Iraq, had made a decision not to have children. Since then, those if us involved with the Bring Them Home Now campaign are hearing this more and more from military couples. They are worried about depleted uranium.

My grandson is learning to walk, and he is immensely curious, which makes for a lot of vigilance and work. But he didn't require massive surgery to survive to his ninth month, nor does he require a battery of experts and specialists like he would if he were born without a thyroid gland, or if he required a drain inserted into his cranial vault, or if his digestive tract were disconnected.

This happens a lot more than it should to Iraqi children, and it may happen to American children born to parents now serving in Iraq. That's why many couples in the military are now deciding that they will not have children. Here is an excert from a letter on the Bring Them Home Now web site: "My husband and I have decided not to have children. We are afraid that something that we've been exposed to in Iraq may cause birth defects. This whole war has turned my life upside down and is even affecting my life years into the future."

For those who are not faint-hearted, you can visit this site <*> where there are some very disturbing images of "extreme birth defects" in Iraq, that are occurring at alarming rates, lest anyone think this is an irrational fear being expressed by these military couples.