VERSIONS: روسيا اليوم NOTICIAS FREEVIDEO ИНОТВ RTД
breakingnews
Go to main page   USA   News   Iraqis left to clear up American mess, literally  
MORE ON THE STORY
F-35 pilot's helmet 29.09.2010, 12:10 7 comments

There are people to carry on the torch of world leadership – ex NATO boss

After the Cold War ended conflicts in the world went down by 80% so the world now is a much better place to live in, believes former NATO boss George Robertson, who was the alliance’s Secretary General in 1999-2004.

A US solider of the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, leads Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq (AFP Photo / Ali Al-Saadi) 20.09.2010, 08:22

Iraqi security forces on trial as US combat operation ends

While US forces are withdrawing from Iraq, 36 people have just fallen victim to a recent triple car bombing in Baghdad, leading some to question whether the country is able to sustain stability and security on its own.

08.09.2010, 08:49 4 comments

Iraqi war turns into laughing stock for some

An American soldier serving in Iraq has sparked controversy after video footage of his pranks was posted on YouTube. A discharged sergeant planted grenades in locals' cars at check points just to see their reactions.

AFP Photo / Ali Al-Saadi 23.10.2010, 09:36 15 comments

Poisonous US weapons in Iraq kill thousands and mar generations

US commanders in Iraq ignored evidence of torture and the murder of civilians. These are the major findings from the leak of 400,000 secret American military files from the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

15.09.2010, 13:31 14 comments

Iraqis outraged at payout for US victims of Saddam’s regime

Iraq has agreed to pay $400 million to American citizens who say they were tortured or traumatized by Saddam Hussein’s regime after he invaded Kuwait in 1990. Locals are outraged.

02.07.2009, 09:18 15 comments

NATO bombings’ aftermath takes toll on Serbia

There's a ticking time bomb in Serbia, where doctors have reported a sharp increase in cancer deaths among locals and claim this could be linked to NATO's use of depleted uranium shells during the 1999 bombings.

A U.S. Soldier takes down the vehicle numbers of humvees loaded up on a trailer as they prepare to leave Iraq at Balad Base 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad  August 27, 2010 29.08.2010, 14:39 4 comments

Iraq War – over or just begun? NYC offers its view

With US combat troops now out of Iraq, some are wondering if the real battle in the country is only just beginning.

An Iraqi policeman, Bagdad (AFP Photo / Ahmad Al-Rubaye) 11.04.2010, 12:13 2 comments

Security as a policy

What does the opposition in Iraq want?

Mediterranean Sea: Hamas naval policemen, holding Palestinian flags, patrol the sea off the coast of Gaza City on May 30, 2010 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams) 07.06.2010, 16:59 18 comments

Iran offers military protection for Gaza aid ships

Iran is ready to provide escort for further aid ships destined to Gaza. The pledge made by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens to escalate tensions with Israel.

AFP Photo / Patrick Baz 15.04.2009, 12:59 1 comment

US forces leave Iraq polluted

The initial reason to invade Iraq was the alleged presence of weapons of mass destruction. Now the US has pledged to withdraw troops, who are accused of using controversial weapons themselves, and no clean-up is planned.

Iraqis left to clear up American mess, literally

Published: 29 October, 2010, 07:21
Edited: 29 October, 2010, 16:07

A US soliders in northern Iraq (AFP Photo / Ali Al-Saadi)

(10.3Mb) embed video

TAGS: Ecology, Health, Military, Politics, Human rights, Iraq, USA


With US troops heading home, Iraq is faced with tons of rubbish and leftovers staying behind. Although markets in the country are now flooded with used American goods, many Iraqis are scared to buy them.

Fallujah in Iraq is a city of mosques and is fast becoming the city of leftovers. Junk left behind by the US Army now dots the landscape.

“A lot of things: generators, car bodies, engines – all for sale,” said Hamid Ghanin, a guard at the former American camp.

For just a few dollars, the highest bidder gets to walk away with second-hand goods American soldiers no longer want.

“The prices are attractive, quite reasonable here,” said a potential customer, Adhmad Issawi.

The sellers claim they came across the loot in different ways. Some they found, some was stolen, the rest they bought. A lot was just given to them.

“As for me, I would not buy it,” Hamid Ghanin said. “We Iraqis are not looking for rubbish. We say, take your junk away with you.”

Across Iraq, American troops have left their camps and handed them over to the Iraqi security forces.

Property and equipment that has not been taken to Afghanistan has either been returned home to the United States or left behind.

Still, American officials worry that the tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment left behind could end up in the wrong hands.


Click to enlarge

“The Americans did not leave anything behind for free, I am sure of it,” said political analyst Dr. Fadhil Al-Badrani. “All the stuff, it is old and wrecked and stuff the Americans cannot use. The Humvees the Iraqi Army got from the American Army, we had to buy them.”

Despite the fact that second-hand American equipment can now be easily bought by Iraqis, not many are eager to jump at the opportunity. There is no love lost for things American in Iraq today.

“People hate America and they are also scared that these things may be polluted and cause diseases,” Al-Badrani said.

Truck driver Abu Saif says he would not take a chance buying anything on sale. He has been warned by local media that there could be poisonous substances in the abandoned US military camps.

“People fear many diseases, including chest related and cancer,” he said.

The concern is backed up by the Iraqi government.

“Of course, there must have been a great impact on the environment, a great number of weapons were used in this war and on a wide scale,” said Deputy Minister of Environment Dr. Kamal Latif. “Our tests show an increase in pollution levels.”

A good chunk of the American army has left Iraq in what US officials are calling their biggest movement of people and machines since World War II.

Still, the soldiers and their equipment remain a stark reminder that the war is not quite over.

+9 (10 votes)
 
Back to top
next MORE NEWS
29.10.2010, 03:14 10 comments

Covert FBI war against Americans leaves dark memories

It has been 54 years since the FBI launched a covert war against political dissents known as the Counter Intelligence Program or more infamously by its acronym COINTEL-PRO.

Afghanistan: A policeman walks past a pile of narcotics set alight by officials on the outskirts of Herat on September 4, 2010. (AFP Photo / Aref Karimi) 29.10.2010, 16:00 8 comments

First Russia-US operation in Afghanistan hailed a success

Two hundred million doses of heroin have been destroyed in Afghanistan thanks to the joint efforts of Russia and the US, Russia's drug control chief said on Friday.

Bru Raczin December 26, 2010, 06:35
0

With so much US equipment left behind why don't some of the Iraqui car bombers and manufacturers of IED's buy up some claymores and try to take them apart and figure out how they work?  (maybe then the world will be better off with a few less carbombers to worry about!)