Faces of Grief

10

2012-01-25T23:31:00.001-05:00

People inspect the scene of a car bomb attack outside the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. A car bomb killed several people outside the northern city of Mosul on Monday, Iraq officials said, in the latest in a series of attacks to target the country's Shiites. (AP Photo)

Residents are seen at the scene of a bomb attack in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, January 15, 2012. Ten people were killed when gunmen wearing explosive belts stormed a police building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday, police and provincial officials said. REUTERS/Stringer

9

2012-01-25T23:31:00.000-05:00

Iraqis walk past a damaged vehicle close to a mosque following a wave of attacks prior to the storming a police compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, on January 15, 2012. Insurgents carried out a wave of attacks before storming a police compound in Ramadi.

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

Iraqis look at a destroyed vehicle close to a mosque following a wave of attacks prior to the storming a police compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, on January 15, 2012. Insurgents carried out a wave of attacks before storming a police compound in Ramadi.

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

8

2012-01-25T23:30:00.001-05:00

Iraqis gather at the site of an explosion following a wave of attacks prior to the storming a police compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, on January 15, 2012. Insurgents carried out a wave of attacks before storming a police compound in Ramadi.

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

An Iraqi man looks at a damaged vehicle following a wave of attacks prior to the storming a police compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, on January 15, 2012. Insurgents carried out a wave of attacks before storming a police compound in Ramadi.

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

7

2012-01-25T23:29:00.001-05:00

Iraqis walk past an overturned vehicle following a wave of attacks prior to the storming a police compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, on January 15, 2012. Insurgents carried out a wave of attacks before storming a police compound in Ramadi.

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

Ahmed Abdullah, 38, wounded in a bomb blast is treated at a hospital in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. A bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims on Saturday near the southern port city of Basra killed and wounded scores of people, police said. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

6

2012-01-25T23:28:00.000-05:00

An Iraqi man looks at the remains of a vehicle following a wave of attacks prior to the storming a police compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, on January 15, 2012. Insurgents carried out a wave of attacks before storming a police compound in Ramadi.

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

5

2012-01-25T23:27:00.000-05:00

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a blast in Bartala in the Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, on January 16, 2012. Separate car bombs against displaced members of the Kurdish Shabak community and industrial workers left 12 people dead, the latest in a spate of violence.

AFP PHOTO/STR

Date created: 16 Jan 2012

Iraqi children look at a destroyed vehicle following a wave of attacks prior to the storming a police compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, on January 15, 2012. Insurgents carried out a wave of attacks before storming a police compound in Ramadi.

AFP PHOTO/AZHAR SHALLAL

Date created: 15 Jan 2012

4

2012-01-25T23:26:00.000-05:00

Iraqis inspect damages at the site of a blast in Bartala in the Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, on January 16, 2012. Separate car bombs against displaced members of the Kurdish Shabak community and industrial workers left 12 people dead.

AFP PHOTO/STR

Date created: 16 Jan 2012

AFP PHOTO/STR

Date created: 16 Jan 2012

3

2012-01-25T23:25:00.004-05:00

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of bomb attacks inside the Ramadi police building, which houses an anti-terrorism unit and a jail in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, January 15, 2012. Ten people were killed when gunmen wearing explosive belts stormed a police building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday, police and provincial officials said. Reuters

Asmar Abboud, 31, wounded in a bomb blast is treated at a hospital in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. A bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims on Saturday near the southern port city of Basra killed and wounded scores of people, police said. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

2

2012-01-25T23:24:00.004-05:00

Zahra Manahi, 5, lies in a hospital bed a day after being injured in a bomb blast at a hospital in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. A bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims on Saturday near the southern port city of Basra killed and wounded scores of people, police said. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Ibtisam Hassan, 28, who was wounded in a bomb blast on Saturday, is treated at a hospital in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. A bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims on Saturday near the southern port city of Basra killed and wounded scores of people, police said. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

1

2012-01-25T23:22:00.004-05:00

Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of a car bomb attack outside the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. A car bomb killed several people outside the northern city of Mosul on Monday, Iraq officials said, in the latest in a series of attacks to target the country's Shiites. (AP Photo)

Ten

2012-01-22T23:21:00.002-05:00

Iraqi soldiers gather at the site of a bomb attack near the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad January 16, 2012. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousuly

A girl lies in hospital for treatment a day after being wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, January 15, 2012. A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded 130 others in the attack on Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims at a checkpoint in the city of Basra, police and health officials said. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

Nine

2012-01-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of a car bomb attack outside the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles (362 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. A car bomb killed a number of people outside the northern city of Mosul on Monday, Iraq officials said, in the latest in a series of attacks to target the country's Shiites since the U.S. withdrawal last month. (AP Photo)

A soldier (L) inspects a defused car bomb after a blast occurred near the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad January 16, 2012. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousuly

Eight

2012-01-22T23:17:00.002-05:00

People inspect a damaged house at the scene of a car bomb attack outside the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. A car bomb killed several people outside the northern city of Mosul on Monday, Iraq officials said, in the latest in a series of attacks to target the country's Shiites since the U.S. withdrawal. (AP Photo)

Seven

2012-01-22T23:16:00.003-05:00

Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in front of a government compound in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Iraqi security forces on Sunday battled gunmen, who detonated a car bomb before blasting their way into a government compound, killing several policemen during a three-hour gunfight in a one-time Sunni insurgent hotbed in the country's west, police and local government officials said. (AP Photo)

Six

2012-01-22T23:16:00.000-05:00

Residents pray near the coffin of a victim who was killed in a bomb attack in Basra, before his burial at a cemetery in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad January 15, 2012. A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded 130 others in the attack on Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims at a checkpoint in the city of Basra, police and health officials said. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

A boy lies in a hospital for treatment a day after being wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, January 15, 2012. A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded 130 others in the attack on Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims at a checkpoint in the city of Basra, police and health officials said. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

Five

2012-01-22T23:14:00.003-05:00

An Iraqi security forces member inspects the site of bomb attacks inside the Ramadi police building, which houses an anti-terrorism unit and a jail in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, January 15, 2012. Ten people were killed when gunmen wearing explosive belts stormed a police building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday, police and provincial officials said. REUTERS/Stringer

A policeman scans the coffin of a victim who was killed in a bomb attack in Basra, before his burial at a cemetery in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad January 15, 2012. A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded 130 others in an attack on Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims at a checkpoint in the city of Basra, police and health officials said. REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish

Four

2012-01-22T23:14:00.000-05:00

A woman reacts while Security forces inspect the scene of a bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims, killing and wounding scores of people, police said, near the southern port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

An Iraqi security forces member stands beside the body of a policeman killed by bomb attacks at a hospital in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, January 15, 2012. Ten people were killed when gunmen wearing explosive belts stormed a police building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday, police and provincial officials said. REUTERS/Stringer

Three

2012-01-22T23:11:00.000-05:00

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250km (150 miles) north of Baghdad, January 13, 2011. Two car bombs targeting police officers' houses blew up separately and wounded at least 15 people in the oil city of Kirkuk, Baghdad, local officials said. Reuters

Soldiers stand guard at the site of a bomb attack in Basra, 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Baghdad, January 14, 2012. A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded 130 others in an attack on Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims at a checkpoint in the city of Basra, police and health officials said. Reuters

Two

2012-01-22T23:10:00.000-05:00

A Kurdish man stands on the roof of a destroyed house in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk after two carbombs targeted on January 13, 2012 the houses of two police officers in the multi-ethnic city, 240 kms north of the capital Baghdad. Getty Images

An Iraqi soldier stands amid the destruction following two blasts in Kirkuk on January 13, 2012, targeting the houses of two police officers in the northern multi-ethnic city, 240 kms north of the capital Baghdad. Getty Images

One

2012-01-22T23:09:00.000-05:00

Shiite pilgrims react while security forces inspect the scene of a bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims, killing and wounding scores of people, police said, near the southern port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Iraqi security inspect the scene of a carbomb explosion in Kirkuk on January 13, 2012, following two blasts targeting the houses of two police officers in the northern multi-ethnic city, 240 kms north of the capital Baghdad. Getty Images

10

2012-01-16T23:46:00.000-05:00

Security forces and people inspect the scene of a bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims, which killed and wounded scores of people near the southern port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

People inspect the scene of a bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims, killing and wounding scores of people, police said, near the southern port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

9

2012-01-16T23:45:00.003-05:00

People and security forces clean the scene of a bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims, killing and wounding scores of people, police said, near the southern port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

8

2012-01-16T23:45:00.000-05:00

A soldier and a man inspect the scene of a bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims, which killed and wounded scores of people near the southern port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

A woman reacts as security forces and local people inspect the scene of a bomb attack on Shiite pilgrims, killing and wounding scores of people near the southern port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

7

2012-01-16T23:44:00.000-05:00

People inspect the scene of a car bomb attack at a predominantly Sunni area in western Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. Three car bombs exploded Monday evening in the Iraqi capital, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

6

2012-01-16T23:43:00.000-05:00

Iraqi policeman, Sattar Jabbar, lies in a hospital bed after being injured in a car bomb attack at al-Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. Two car bombs exploded Monday evening in the Iraqi capital, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. (AP Photo / Karim Kadim)

Policemen look at a destroyed vehicle a day after a bomb attack occurred in southwestern Baghdad January 10, 2012. A suicide bomber drove the car into a crowd of Shi'ite pilgrims in the Bayaa district of southwestern Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding 28, police and hospital sources said. Reuters

5

2012-01-16T23:42:00.000-05:00

4

2012-01-16T23:39:00.003-05:00

An Iraqi woman reacts as her son Saad Mohammed, 5, lies in a hospital bed after being injured in a car bomb attack at al-Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. Two car bombs exploded Monday evening in the Iraqi capital, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. AP Photo

Saad Mohammed, 5, is comforted by his mother at a hospital after being injured in a car bomb attack at al-Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. Two car bombs exploded Monday evening in the Iraqi capital, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. AP Photo

3

2012-01-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

Gheda Karam, like so many in Iraq today, is the sole supporter of her family. [Dahr Jamail/Al Jazeera]

Iraq: A country in shambles

Despite most of the daily violence in Iraq having long since fallen from the headlines, reports are constant and blood continues to flow. Reported attacks around the country on January 3 included a roadside bomb killing an Iraqi soldier near Mosul, a sticky bomb seriously wounding a Pershmerga guard in Kirkuk, gunmen killing a Sahwa militia member and his wife in Muqdadiya, and a roadside bomb which wounded three civilians in Baghdad - to name but a few. When most Iraqis are asked what their main concern is, "security" tends to be the first answer, then followed by electricity, water, jobs, and healthcare. Yet security is the foundation upon which the rest of the infrastructure can be built, so ongoing attacks across Iraq, and the chaos they bring, do not bode well for the future.

Raad Hamza receives treatment at a hospital after being injured in a car bomb attack at al-Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. Two car bombs exploded Monday evening in the Iraqi capital, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. AP Photo

2

2012-01-16T23:37:00.002-05:00

In Sadr City, Bahgdad, the streets are cracked, filled with potholes, and strewn with refuse. [Dahr Jamail/Al Jazeera]

Iraq: A country in shambles

As a daily drumbeat of violence continues to reverberate across Iraq, people here continue to struggle to find some sense of normality, a task made increasingly difficult due to ongoing violence and the lack of both water and electricity. During the build-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration promised the war would bring Iraqis a better life, and vast improvements in their infrastructure, which had been severely debilitated by nearly 13 years of strangling economic sanctions. More jobs, improved water availability, more reliable electricity supplies, and major rehabilitation of the medical infrastructure were promised. But now that the US military has ended its formal military occupation of Iraq, nearly eight years of war has left the promises as little more than a mirage.

Some areas of Baghdad continue to receive one to five hours of electricity a day. [Dahr Jamail/Al Jazeera]

1

2012-01-16T23:36:00.000-05:00

A policeman inspects the scene of a bomb attack in Kazimiyah in the north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. On Thursday a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Hana Abbas Lazim, 11, grieves at the hospital for her slain father was killed in a bomb attack in Sadr City eastern of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. (AP/Karim Kadim)

Ten

2012-01-12T22:11:00.000-05:00

An Iraqi man cries over the body of his 14-year-old daughter, Suad Abdullah, at a clinic in Falluja during fighting there in April 2004. Akram Saleh/Reuters

The children of the family of Suad Mohammed live in a cheap breezeblock structure just steps away from the bush-filled crater (background) and building ruins from a double suicide truck bombing six years ago against the Hamra Hotel on November 18, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. The blast, on November 18, 2005, killed eight residents and destroyed buildings across the neighborhood, leaving one memory of the violence that marred the 8 1/2-year US military presence in Iraq.

(Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

Date created: 18 Nov 2011

Nine

2012-01-12T22:09:00.000-05:00

A victim of a bomb attack lies after treatment at a hospital in Sadr city in eastern Baghdad January 5, 2012. Four bombs in mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas in Iraq's capital Baghdad killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens of others on Thursday, police and hospital sources said. Reuters

An Iraqi boy run by his mother past six-year-old bomb rubble as they return to their bomb-damaged home, just steps away from the crater from a 2005 double suicide truck bombing against the Hamra Hotel on November 18, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. The blast, on November 18, 2005, killed eight residents and destroyed buildings across the neighborhood, leaving one memory of the violence that marred the 8 1/2-year US military presence in Iraq.

(Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

Date created: 18 Nov 2011

Eight

2012-01-12T22:08:00.006-05:00

People walk past destroyed buildings at the scene of a bomb attack in Kazimiyah in the north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. On Thursday a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. AP Photo

A man grieves on the coffin during the funeral of a victim who was killed in Baghdad's Thursday bombings in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad January 5, 2012. Bomb attacks in mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas of Iraq killed at least 73 people and wounded scores on Thursday, police and hospital sources said, raising fears of an increase in sectarian strife. Reuters

Seven

2012-01-12T22:07:00.004-05:00

Religious flags of Shiite Imams waves while relative of Qssim Abbas, 48, who was killed in a bomb attack take his body for burial in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. On Thursday a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. AP Photo

Mohammed Ali grieves over the coffin of his daughter, Fatima Mohammed, 15 before her burial in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. A wave of explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods on Thursday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said, and intensifying fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks after the U.S. troop withdrawal that was completed last month. AP Photo

Six

2012-01-12T22:05:00.001-05:00

People chant slogans against Iraq's vice President Tariq al-Hashemi during a protest in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (342 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012. The standoff over al-Hashemi is at the heart of an ongoing political crisis pitting the leaders of the country's mostly ethnic and sectarian based party blocs against each other. The banners in Arabic read, "The Iraqi people demand a trial for al-Hashemi" and "Al-Hashemi to the hell." (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

A man inspects the scene of a bomb attack in Kazimiyah in the north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. A wave of explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods on Thursday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said, and intensifying fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks after the U.S. troop withdrawal that was completed last month. AP Photo

Five

2012-01-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

Villagers grieve over the dead.

Civilian massacrein Haditha

March, 2006, Time Magazine

But the details of what happened that morning in Haditha are more disturbing, disputed and horrific than the military initially reported. According to eyewitnesses and local officials interviewed over the past 10 weeks, the civilians who died in Haditha on Nov. 19 were killed not by a roadside bomb but by the Marines themselves, who went on a rampage in the village after the attack, killing 15 unarmed Iraqis in their homes, including seven women and three children. Human-rights activists say that if the accusations are true, the incident ranks as the worst case of deliberate killing of Iraqi civilians by U.S. service members since the war began.

Four

2012-01-12T22:03:00.001-05:00

A man inspects the scene of a bomb attack in Kazimiyah in the north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. On Thursday a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Three

2012-01-12T22:02:00.000-05:00

Four-year-old Abdul Jaleel Mohammed has birth defects and health problems that his family blames on depleted uranium exposure from the 2004 US military attacks on Fallujah [Dahr Jamail/Al Jazeera]

Fallujah babies:Under a new kind of siege

"We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine," Alani told Al Jazeera at her office in the hospital, while showing countless photos of shocking birth defects. As of December 21, Alani, who has worked at the hospital since 1997, told Al Jazeera she had personally logged 677 cases of birth defects since October 2009. Just eight days later when Al Jazeera visited the city on December 29, that number had already risen to 699.

"There are not even medical terms to describe some of these conditions because we've never seen them until now," she said. "So when I describe it all I can do is describe the physical defects, but I'm unable to provide a medical term." Most of these babies in Fallujah die within 20 to 30 minutes after being born, but not all.

++++++++++++++++++++

I can think of nothing more evil than to take away a community's right to have healthy children. And that is what the American people have done, and it will last for eons. This type of pollution will never go away.

People inspect the scene of a bomb attack in Kazimiyah in the north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. On Thursday a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Two

2012-01-12T22:01:00.002-05:00

Photo caption: "Findings suggest the enriched Uranium exposure is either a primary cause or related to the cause of the congenital anomaly and cancer increases," says a recent scientific report on the incidence of birth defects in Fallujah. [Dr Samira Alani]

Fallujah babies:Under a new kind of siege

In July 2010, Busby released a study that showed a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in Fallujah since the 2004 attacks. The report also showed the sex ratio had declined from normal to 86 boys to 100 girls, together with a spread of diseases indicative of genetic damage similar to but of far greater incidence than Hiroshima. Dr Alani visited Japan recently, where she met with Japanese doctors who study birth defect rates they believe related to radiation from the US nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She was told birth defect incidence rates there are between 1-2 per cent. Alani's log of cases of birth defects amounts to a rate of 14.7 per cent of all babies born in Fallujah, more than 14 times the rate in the affected areas of Japan.

Congenital abnormalities have mushroomed in the wake of devastating US sieges in Fallujah in 2004 [EPA]

Fallujah babies:Under a new kind of siege

In Babil Province in southern Iraq, the head of the Babil Cancer Centre, Dr Sharif al-Alwachi, said cancer rates have been escalating at alarming rates since 2003, for which he blames the use of depleted uranium weapons by US forces during and following the 2003 invasion. "The environment could be contaminated by chemical weapons and depleted uranium from the aftermath of the war on Iraq," Dr Alwachi told Al Jazeera. "The air, soil and water are all polluted by these weapons, and as they come into contact with human beings they become poisonous. This is new to our region, and people are suffering here."

One

2012-01-12T22:00:00.001-05:00

Boys look at a vehicle damaged by a bomb attack in Baquba, 65 km northeast of Baghdad January 4, 2012. Reuters Photo

Car windows were shattered during a wave of Baghdad bombings that killed nearly 70 people last month. AFP/Getty Images

10

2012-01-09T21:59:00.000-05:00

People gather at the scene of a bomb attack in Sadr City eastern of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. A wave of explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods on Thursday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said, and intensifying fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks after the U.S. troop withdrawal that was completed last month. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Michael Kamber for The New York Times

Family members comforted Saif Abdulasada, whose leg was amputated after a motorcycle bomb explosion in Baghdad's Sadr City on Thursday.

9

2012-01-09T21:57:00.001-05:00

The Shi'ite Muslim area of Iraqi capital Baghdad today witnessed double explosions which killed at least 24 people also wounding over 37 people. A roadside device and a parked motorcycle housed the explosions which went off in the Sadr city in the northeastern region of Baghdad. An unidentified police officer said the motorbike bomb exploded near labourers waiting to be hired for work. People in minibuses were hurt from the explosive planted inside the roadside device. Police said they found and defused two other bombs in the area. Later on Thursday morning at least 12 people were killed and 32 others wounded when two car bombs exploded in Kadhimiya district, a mainly Shi'ite area in northwestern Baghdad, Iraqi police said.

January 5, 2012

Bombs targeting Shiites kill at least 72 in Iraq

At least 72 people were killed Thursday in a series of attacks on Shiites in Iraq, marking the deadliest day since U.S. troops withdrew last month and raising new worries about the country’s sharp sectarian divisions.

Analysts warned that the bombings, in what appeared to be the worst day of violence in the country in more than a year, could unleash more danger. One local security official blamed the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, but no militant organization asserted responsibility for the blasts.

The attacks, which wounded at least 147 people, included explosions in two Shiite neighborhoods in the capital and a suicide bombing next to a large group of Shiites on a pilgrimage in southern Iraq. The violence occurred against the backdrop of a deepening political standoff between the country’s Shiite and Sunni leaders.

A man wounded in a bomb attack is wheeled in on a stretcher by relatives at a hospital in Baghdad January 5, 2012. Four bombs in mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas in Iraq's capital Baghdad killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens of others on Thursday, police and hospital sources said. Reuters

8

2012-01-09T21:56:00.000-05:00

Civil defense personnel and other people gathered at the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad's Kadhimiya district Thursday. Dozens of Iraqis were killed and wounded Thursday in a series of attacks against predominantly Shiite areas in Baghdad and southern Iraq. Reuters

January 5, 2012

Iraqi police inspect the site where a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near a group of day labourers in Sadr City, Baghdad. Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images

7

2012-01-09T21:54:00.002-05:00

Attacks in Shia areas of Sadr City and Kadhimiyah have raised the threat of a return to sectarian bloodshed [Reuters]

January 5, 2012

Attacks on Iraq's Shias leave scores dead

Iraq has been struck by a wave of bombings that killed more than 70 people, wounded at least 146 others, and has further deepened the country’s sectarian divide at a time of ongoing crisis in government. The coordinated attacks on Thursday targeted Shia Muslims and their communities, leading to an atmosphere of fear that recalls the bloody sectarian war from 2006 to 2007, and only looks to worsen in days to come. In the morning, a bomb planted on a parked motorcycle and another two roadside devices killed at least nine people and wounded 35 others in the impoverished Sadr City district in northeastern Baghdad, sources said.

"There was a group of day labourers gathered, waiting to be hired for work. Someone brought his small motorcycle and parked it nearby. A few minutes later it blew up, killed some people, wounded others and burned some cars," said a police officer at the scene who declined to be named. Two bomb attacks in Kadhimiyah, another predominantly Shia district in Baghdad's north, killed another 15 people and wounded 31, an interior ministry official said. In the afternoon, a suicide bomber struck Shia pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Karbala. The attack, near Nasiriyah about 200km south of Baghdad, killed at least 45 Iraqis, according to police and hospital reports.

Attacks in Shia areas of Sadr City and Kadhimiyah have raised the threat of a return to sectarian bloodshed [Reuters]

January 5, 2012

Attacks on Iraq's Shias leave scores dead

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Signs of battle: People grieve outside a morgue before claiming the body of a relative killed in a bomb attack. Reuters

January 5, 2012

Damage: The site of a bomb attack in Sadr city where two explosions struck. Reuters

January 5, 2012

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Iraqi police inspect the site where a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near a group of day labourers waiting to pick up work, on January 5, 2012 in the Shiite district of Sadr City, north of Baghdad. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP/PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

Iraqis inspect a destroyed car following a blast in the central city of Baquba, 60 kms (40 miles) north of Baghdad, on January 4, 2012. Bomb and grenade attacks north of Baghdad killed three people -- two children and a policeman -- and wounded 17 other people, officials said. A

STR/AFP/Getty Images

Date created: 04 Jan 2012

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Implosion: The bomb attacks have increased fears Iraq is going to descend into chaos following the withdrawal of U.S. troops last month. Reuters

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Signs of battle: An Iraqi walks past blood on the pavement in Sadr City. AFP/Getty Images

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Iraqis look inside a bus damaged from shrapnel after a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near a group of day labourers waiting to pick up work, on January 5, 2012 in the Shiite district of Sadr City, north of Baghdad. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP/PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

An Iraqi looks inside a bus damaged from shrapnel after a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near a group of day labourers waiting to pick up work, on January 5, 2012 in the Shiite district of Sadr City, north of Baghdad. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP/PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

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Iraqi stand at the scene after a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near a group of day labourers waiting to pick up work, on January 5, 2012 in the Shiite district of Sadr City, north of Baghdad. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP/PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

A boy walks past by a bus damaged from shrapnel after a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near a group of day labourers waiting to pick up work, on January 5, 2012 in the Shiite district of Sadr City, north of Baghdad. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP/PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

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Police tape cordonnes off the scene in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah, after twin car bombs exploded at the site. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP PHOTO /ALI AL-SAADI

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

Iraqi police look on as a wounded man is evacuated from the site of a bomb attack to a hospital in Nassiriya, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad January 5, 2012. A suicide bomber targeting Shi'ite pilgrims killed at least 30 people and wounded at least 70 others in southern Iraq on Thursday, Qusay al-Abadi, head of the provincial council in Nassiriya said. Reuters

Lasting scars.....

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Ten

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Iraiqs inspect the scene in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah where twin car bombs exploded on January 5, 2012. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP PHOTO /ALI AL SAADI

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

Iraiqs walk at the scene in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah where twin car bombs exploded on January 5, 2012. A spate of blasts against Shiite enclaves in Baghdad killed at least 21 people, officials said, as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.

AFP PHOTO /ALI AL SAADI

Date created: 05 Jan 2012

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Iraq, bombe a Baghdad.