[Peace-discuss] more effects of DU

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20030218a8.htm

The Japan Times
February 18, 2003

Japanese photographer highlights postwar suffering of
Iraqi children

By ASAKO MURAKAMI
Staff writer

A black-and-white photograph shows a 6-year-old Iraqi
girl lying in a hospital bed, her bald head swollen as
a result of terminal leukemia; her open eyes, puffy
and blackened, see nothing.
 

Another photo shows a mother holding her
leukemia-stricken boy, blood streaming from his nose,
in a hospital in Baghdad.

These heart-wrenching images, taken last year by
freelance photographer Naomi Toyoda, were part of a
recent exhibition in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward. For the
past two decades, Toyoda, 46, has been shooting photos
of Palestinians, refugees and the everyday lives of
people in the Middle East.

The Iraqi children are alleged to have contracted
leukemia from the depleted uranium bullets and shells
used by the U.S. military during the Persian Gulf War
in 1991. The U.S. reportedly fired as many as 1
million of these rounds in the fighting.

"I was shocked to learn of the serious effect that
depleted uranium has on civilians' lives," he said.
"As the land has been contaminated by radioactivity,
which then enters the food chain, I can't even
estimate the scale of damage it has brought to the
country. The (Gulf) war ended, but the terrible
aftereffects continue to torment the people."

Toyoda said he was told by a hospital doctor that many
children could be saved with proper treatment, but
economic sanctions have made it difficult to prescribe
the right mix of medicine at the right time.

As the U.S. moves closer to leading a military strike
on Iraq, Toyoda said it should realize that it is
everyday people who suffer the most during and after a
war.

"When the Gulf War started, the U.S. media showed
pictures of missiles hitting targets" without showing
any casualties, he said. "But I could clearly imagine
the people at the bombed sites, as I was there only
one month before the military action began."

Toyoda, who has visited Iraq on five occasions, will
leave for the country again around the end of this
month.

"Although Iraq has been labeled (by the U.S.) as part
of an 'axis of evil,' Iraqi citizens are no different
from us," he said. "I want many people to recognize it
by seeing my pictures. If the international community
wants Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ousted,
empowering citizens by guaranteeing free speech and
access to information would be the best way, instead
of using military force."

The next exhibition of Toyoda's photos will be held in
Kawasaki from Feb. 22 to March 2. The show will move
to Arakawa Ward, Tokyo, for a two-day exhibition
beginning March 8, followed by other parts of the
country. For more information, in Japanese only, visit
Toyoda's Web site at www.ne.jp/asahi/n/toyoda. A
collection of his photographs depicting Iraqi children
is also available from publisher Daisan Shokan.