Fallujah babies: Under a new kind of siege

By Dahr Jamail | Al Jazeera English | Published: January 6, 2012

Doctors and residents blame US weapons for catastrophic levels of birth defects in Fallujah’s newborns.

Congenital abnormalities have mushroomed in the wake of devastating sieges in Fallujah in 2004 (EPA)

Fallujah, Iraq – While the US military has formally withdrawn from Iraq, doctors and residents of Fallujah are blaming weapons like depleted uranium and white phosphorous used during two devastating US attacks on Fallujah in 2004 for what are being described as “catastrophic” levels of birth defects and abnormalities.

Dr Samira Alani, a paediatric specialist at Fallujah General Hospital, has taken a personal interest in investigating an explosion of congenital abnormalities that have mushroomed in the wake of the US sieges since 2005.

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Wave of bombings leaves scores dead in Iraq

By Dahr Jamail | Al Jazeera English | Published: January 5, 2012

At least 70 killed and more than 100 wounded in the latest attacks in mainly Shia areas across the country.

Dahr Jamail reporting from Baghdad on Thursday’s bombing targeting Shia pilgrims in southern Iraq.

Read the story at Al Jazeera English.

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Seven Years After Sieges, Fallujah Struggles

By Dahr Jamail | Al Jazeera English | Published: January 3, 2012

With their city largely destroyed by two US military assaults, residents of Fallujah continue to suffer.

Many of Fallujah's buildings that were damaged or destroyed in 2004 remain in disrepair (Dahr Jamail/Al Jazeera)

Fallujah, Iraq – Fallujah still bears the scars of war; skeletons continue to be pulled from the rubble of bombed buildings, and, worse, rates of birth defects and childhood malformations have skyrocketed.

There is evidence of reconstruction, but shortages of electricity and clean water remain prevalent. The overall mood in the city is one of anger, hopelessness, and fear.

In April and November of 2004, the United States military launched two massive military sieges against the city of Fallujah, located 60km west of Baghdad, due to on-going resistance there against the occupation.

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Rivals Say Maliki Leading Iraq to ‘Civil War’

By Dahr Jamail | Al Jazeera English | Published: December 29, 2011

Iraq’s deputy Prime Minister accuses Nouri al-Maliki of acting like “a dictator” amid fears of “chaos and civil war.”

Saleh al-Mutlaq, a prominent Sunni politician, has been placed on 'extended leave' (EPA)

Baghdad, Iraq – Less than 24 hours after the US military withdrew the last of its occupation forces from Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered an arrest warrant for Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi on terrorism charges.

Maliki, a Shia, levelled the charges against the highest ranking Sunni in the government – a move that threatens to drag the country back into sectarian bloodshed such as what occurred in 2006-2007 and led to tens of thousands of Iraqis being killed.

The move is particularly dangerous at this time, given the power vacuum created by the US withdrawal.

Just three days after US forces withdrew from Iraq, on December 21, Maliki placed Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni politician and a leader of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, on “extended leave”.

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