1.0 Introduction

After thirteen years of the devastation of an entire country through the implementation of the criminal economic sanctions that were imposed by the United States of America and the United Nations on Iraq, the US administration decided to invade Iraq.

Gulf War I and the destruction of Iraq's economy, education, health care system, and society through the continuous bombing and attacks of the illegal No Fly Zones, were all part of the plan to invade Iraq and take over one of the richest oil reserve countries in the Middle East region. Pirating Iraq's wealth is an advanced step to control and manipulate global economy.

New generations of conventional and banned weapons were used in the invasion of Iraq military operations from March 19th - April 9th of 2003. Table 1 shows some of the weapons that were used during the invasion and then, the continuous occupation of Iraq.

Other illegal weapons are cluster bombs & munitions, Napalm bombs, white phosphor and Depleted Uranium weapons.

1.1 The invasion of Iraq

Military operations have resulted in the following environmental damages:

1. Nitrogen, Sulfur, Carbon oxides from explosions of conventional bombs and weapons.

2. Soot and Hydrocarbon plumes from burning thousands of barrels of oil from oil wells and pits surrounding Baghdad and other cities. Smoke and soot from burning crude petroleum generates toxic and carcinogenic [6] substances like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAH's, dioxins, furan, Mercury and Sulfur. Black soot plumes covered Baghdad and other cities for more than weeks during the invasion operations.

3. Thermal heat and pollution as a result of using Napalm and other heat generating weapons.

4. Noise pollution from the "Shock and Awe" attack on the civilian population of the major Iraqi cities where noise intensity exceeded 130db, close to the threshold of pain to human beings.

5. Increase of total suspended solids (TSP) in the air due to the invading forces' heavy artilleries traffic & deep earth bombardment using Bunker Buster bombs and other earth penetrating missiles. Modeling dust storms during Gulf War 1, 1991 indicated an increase of the frequency of dust storms events from 10% of the days annually to 18% due to huge soil disturbance between Kuwait and Iraq [7].

6. Electromagnetic pollution from the use of laser guided missiles, radars and advanced electronic devises. Increase of electromagnetic energy in the atmosphere cause the ionization of the atmosphere. Ionization of atmosphere generates free oxygen radicals. Formation of these radicals can cause serious related diseases like anxiety, depression, and pregnancy problems. Higher rates of cardiovascular disease and Cancer were diagnosed in areas of early radar systems [8].

7. Ionized radiation from the use of Depleted Uranium weapons in highly populated areas like Baghdad, Smawa, Basra , and other cities as will be explained next section [9] [10].

8. Surface and ground water pollution as a result of:

a. Fuel and toxic chemicals under storage tanks rupture as a result of bombing and explosions, looting of industrial complexes, and Iraqi military camps and bases.

b. Sewage water accumulation as a result of sewer network destruction. Sewage water percolated to shallow ground water then to nearby water courses.

c. Polluted rain storms and runoff as a result of dissolution of previously mentioned air pollutants.

d. Pathogen water pollution like cholera, typhoid, infectious habitats and malaria from all the sewage and polluted runoff inflow to rivers.

9. Land and soil degradation as a result of explosions and heavy artilleries traffic and sewage flooding of huge area's of Baghdad and other major cities in addition to the accumulation of garbage.

10. Contamination of Al-Tuwaitha (Iraqi Atomic Commission complex) where about 600 Tons of natural Uranium and Cobalt 60 containers were looted after spilling this radioactive waste on the ground of the complex and surrounding area's. Green peace radioactivity measurements of Tuwaitha village reached (1300-10,000) times natural background [10].

11. Radiological contamination of parts of Al-Jazeera high land of Mosul Uranium Extraction site. The looters took highly contaminated Uranium extraction instruments and destroyed the radioactive waste ponds causing serious ground water contamination in the area [11].

2.0 Status of the Environment and Human Population under US Occupation (2003 - to date)

After announcing the end of the Iraq's invasion military operations on May 1st, 2003, the occupation of Iraq by the United States of America became a reality. The international community was stunned by the cruelty of the event, and by the emergence of a modern day colonial era.

The occupation forces allowed, and in cases supervised, the destruction and looting of National Museums, civil service centers, governmental ministries, food ration storages, industrial complexes, mines, etc. as part of the invasion operation to create a state of chaos that allowed the invading forces to rearrange the situation in Iraq as if it were one of their video games.

Paul Bremer, the Bush administrations assigned Civil Governor dissolved the Iraqi Armed Forces and security forces in Iraq, allowing the country to spiral into violence and blood, as was planned by the Occupying forces.

The occupation-assigned government was selected to satisfy implementing the Washington DC pre-written new Iraqi constitution, to change the demographic structure of Iraq in order to take over its oil wealth.

Iraq's population is mainly composed of 80-85% Arabs and 15-20% Kurds [12]. In order to pull Iraq away from its surrounding Arabic environment, the occupier's constitution officially divided Arabs in Iraq into Shiia and Sunni sects, a division based on sect/religion- something the American constitution itself forbids to discriminate upon in America. The main reason behind this was to rely on and award the Kurdish and Iranian-descendent Shiia (non-Arab) to help the United States invading and conquering the country.

The American media kept repeating statements like 'Sunni Arabs' to create a misleading image and idea that the Arabs are not a majority, but only a minority in Iraq. If we take into consideration the constitutional religious and sectarian differences alone, the Sunnis (being Arabs and Kurds) would also constitute the majority in the country, the Kurds being 98% Sunni Muslims.

The occupation decided to adopt a (sectarian-ethnic) basis in the constitution to divide the country into three major parts (Northern Kurdistan region, Southern Shiia region and a Middle Sunni Region).

Changing the national identity of a country is not as easy as it seems. The USA and its local allies (Kurds and Iranian) have to commit a genocide against the Arab population (first the Sunni then the Shiia) to properly change the demography and nationality of Iraq as it has been planned in the Greater Middle East Project.

A few weeks after announcing the end of Iraq's military invasion operations, Iraqi resistance of the occupation had already begun. The military resistance in Iraq is mainly comprised of anti-occupation civilians and some of the 600,000 unemployed former personnel of the Iraqi army and security forces, which were dissolved (personnel still fully equipped with their weapons).

These Iraqi forces knew of locations of weapons ammunition stock piles that were distributed all over the country, pre-planned to be used in a Guerilla type Warfare in the case of occupation.

The American Administration not anticipating the ferocity of the resistance, decided to use what they call the previously prepared 'Terrorism and Al-Qaeda doctrine' to describe all types of occupation resistance in Iraq. According to which, they brutally attack and kill civilians, destroy villages, cities and any place that assists and/or sympathizes with the occupation resistance.

The resistance kept accelerating the number and impact of their operations, the Occupation Army started losing control of the situation.

In June 2004, the UN amended resolution 1546 to form an Iraqi government under occupation and promised to end the occupation during 2005 [14]. In reality intellectuals in Iraq know this is one way to dismiss the Occupying Forces from their responsibilities towards the occupied country according to international humanitarian law.

It is also an efficient way to get new Iraqi National Guard and security forces assembled with Kurdish Peshmerga, the pro-Iranian Shiia militia's, and involve them in taking responsibility for the sectarian blood bath that has been taking over the country, all in favor of implementing the new constitution that will ultimately disintegrate Iraq into three separate regions [15].

With the help of thousands of Foreign Security Contractors (e.g. Black water) [16] and local death squads tens of thousands of innocent people were killed [17]. Torture and illegal imprisonment of citizens, besieging and blockading of entire cities and centers were spreading maniacally throughout the country (with the exception of Kurdistan area). Serious violations of humanitarian law have been committed by the US administration and military authorities that can be considered as war crimes [18].

More than 1.1 million were killed or died since the beginning of the military operations in 2003 [19] [20]. This is not necessarily in armed conflicts, but in a massive killing plan achieved through the following:

1. Intentional killing and forced migration of medical doctors and health care personnel [21]. It is estimated that more than 40% of hospitals health care personnel fled or got killed during occupation and governmental forces attacks on hospitals. Without healthcare, more people died including children, women and the elderly.

2. Taking over hospitals and health care centers by assigning snipers to nearby rooftops in order to murder any patient in need of immediate medical care, as was the case in the battle of Falluja and Haditha and many other incidents [22].

3. Direct killing of patients inside hospitals in what appears to be occupational encouraged sectarian driven violence.

4. Cutting all kinds of medicine and life supporting systems and aids when attacking cities and villages refuse the existence of occupation forces in their areas. The occupation and governmental forces attacked Fallujah's medical infrastructure as they did in, Diyala, Haditha, Al-Qaim, Tal A'afar, Ramadi, Al-Sadre, Basrah and Samara cities to name few.

5. Denying conflict area resident's potable water, acquiring food [233] and sanitation services to force them to live amongst their own waste for months at end. A method similar to using biological pathogens warfare in civilian areas to get rid of as much people in those areas as possible. In Baghdad alone areas like Khadra'a, Amyria and Aadhamia to name a few, have gone through this dilemma.

6. Attacking religious centers, and places of worship (Mosques and Chapels) and mass killing of the worshippers inside, not to mention violations of their basic human rights to practice their beliefs.

7. Intentional assassination of Academics, engineers, civil service personnel, journalists, and International Organizations staff [24].

Forcing professionals to flee the country caused the Iraqi government to depend on foreign companies like Halliburton and Bechtel to rebuild the country, companies who have been robbing the country blind for the past five years with no reconstruction.

About 4.5 million forcefully displaced Iraqis fled their country or homes and cities, 2.5 million of them are internally displaced inside Iraq [25]. Another 1.5 million In Syria and 0.5 in Jordan

8. Excessive use of power and illegal weapons by the occupation and government forces on civilians in attacked cities. Collective punishments of women, children, and elders have added more victims in areas of conflicts [27]. Mass Killing of civilians in Falluja, Haditha, Mahmoudia, Ishaky Diyala, Ba'aquba, Al-Qaiem, Arab Juboor and other areas are all considered as grave breaches of International Humanitarian Law and war crimes.[18 ]

9. Starvation and war induced poverty includes more than 50% of the Iraqi population[28] whom live in an oil rich country with approximately 70% of the youth unemployed who have to survive in a crushed economy plagued with inflation.

10. Mass killing have resulted in the great suffering of about three million widows and Four and a half million orphans [28] without financial support, most of which dropped out of school abandoned their education in order to feed their families [29].

Hardship that resulted from the lack of non-electrical power service. In Baghdad, most areas get 2 hrs/day of electricity [30] [31]. Serious consequences resulted from this problem such as the inability to operate medical services, pumping stations of potable water and sewage collection and delivery to treatment stations. Also the inefficiency of fully operating sewage treatment plants caused huge pathogenic pollution in two major Iraqi rivers, Tigris and Euphrates. Figure 2 shows the failure in drinking water bacteriological tests in each governorate as of 2004 [32]. With lack of medical services thousands of children and other Iraqi citizens died from the failure of Sanitation even in the capitol of Iraq, Baghdad [33].

Total failure in controlling environmental quality parameters all over Iraq. Concentrations of air and water pollutants are permanently higher than International Standard. Figures 3, 4 and 5 Show some of these environmental quality measurements [32].

Bulldozing hundreds of acres of green date palms, orange and lemon trees in central and eastern areas of Baghdad as a collective punishment for farmers whom refuse to supply the occupation forces with information about the resistance fighters [34]. Deforesting these areas cause total damage to all related ecological settings and species in these areas, and increased desertification in an already semi arid country like Iraq.

As we can see, major breeches to the Geneva Conventions I, III, and IV of 1949 have been committed by the occupational authorities and forces. War crimes such as willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment, unlawful detention, deportation or transfer of civilians, unlawful transfer of POW's; denying civilians or POW's of fair trial rights; hostage taking, and wanton destruction and appropriation of property [18] were all committed by the occupation and its assigned government. If we add other more than million death casualties as a result of USA imposed comprehensive sanctions on Iraq from 1991-2003, it is very clear that a planned Genocide have been committed against the Iraqi people [35].

Read the full text with diagrams and data tables here (pdf)