Duration | Comment | Visions |
0:00 | Four years ago Falluja was the well-known strong hold of the Sunni insurgency | Various shots of the US troops fighting in Falluja |
0:06 | Today these parents have gathered along with their children to send an SOS message that their town has become a stronghold for birth deformities | Pan shot of the deformed children gathering with their parents in a local school in Falluja |
0:14 | Most of the children have brain –damage related deformities, limb deformities and eye deformities | Various shots of deformed children then banner in Arabic reads ( we send an SOS crie to the world to rescue the deformed children due to the military operations ) |
0:25 | Tiba is one year old she had deformity in one of her eyes , her mother told us how the story began | Set up shot for the deformed child Tiba with her mother |
0:32 | Tibs’s mother Arabic S OT : Three days after birth, I spotted tiny arteries over her eye People said it is just a birth mark A month later the size and colour started to double and change respectively and the tumor portion started to double and fall down six weeks later it started to go down her eye, I opened her eyes then, and found red spots in her eye We took her to many doctors and ophthalmologist, but they said there is no treatment for her. You have to be patient it is a tumor in her blood vessels Did the doctors managed to diagnose her case? - They said it is because of the war and the chemical materials which were dropped her specially here in Falluja during the war - Do you think of having another baby after what happened to you child? - No this is the first and last time I cant have another baby to be like her she made me depressed she made me hate the whole world when I look at he suffering before my eyes she stopped sleeping recently and cry with anger I feel like I am having a nervous breakdown she is suffering I even wish that she died from the beginning so that we both would feel better | MCU shot of Uhoud Aftan, Tiba’s mother |
1:59 | Three days after birth, I spotted tiny arteries over her eye People said it is just a birth mark A month later the size and colour started to double and change respectively and the tumor portion started to double and fall down six weeks later it started to go down her eye, I opened her eyes then, and found red spots in her eye We took her to many doctors and ophthalmologist, but they said there is no treatment for her. You have to be patient it is a tumor in her blood vessels Did the doctors managed to diagnose her case? They said it is because of the war and the chemical materials which were dropped her specially here in Falluja during the war Do you think of having another baby after what happened to you child? No this is the first and last time I cant have another baby to be like her she made me depressed she made me hate the whole world when I look at he suffering before my eyes she stopped sleeping recently and cry with anger I feel like I am having a nervous breakdown she is suffering I even wish that she died from the beginning so that we both would feel better | MCU shot of Uhoud Aftah the mother of the deformed child |
2;00 | VOT : Tiba was not the only one with eye deformity in Falluja as the doctor told us | Set Up shot for Dr Abdullah Mohammed examining a patient’s eye |
2;05 | Arabic SOT Dr Mohammed Abdullah “Every week I see newborn babies who suffer eye lid deformity and cases of entire eye atrophy some times they are born with small eye, either bilaterally or unilaterally. The congenital cataract are so common in here , and optic nerve atrophy, and entire orbit deformity even they are bourn with out eye” | |
2;44 | VOT : Other cases were so deformed that they couldn’t attend the gathering , Fatima is three years old she has mental retardation, unable to see, speak or hear , her tiny frame burdened with two heads and the story of her birth was just as bizarre as her body | Various set up shots of Fatima the deformed child |
3:05 | Fatima’s Mother Arabic SOT: When I was pregnant the sonar doctor told me that I have triplet and I actually gave birth to triplets The first one was just a skull, the two others were supposed to be twins but they turned to be two heads with one body A month later, I recovered and took her to doctors in Baghdad, Ramadi and Falluja. We did many MRI and sonar tests, but all the doctors to take her and not to waste my time -Did the doctors managed to diagnose the case? -They said it is because of the phosphorus bombardment during the war. They asked me if I have children before her, I said yes I have five ones all of them are normally borne. I call on charity organization to find a solution to my child | MCU shot of the mother |
3:55 | VOT The levels of birth deformity are rising as the paedritition of Falluja hospital said | Set up shot for the paedritition |
4:01 | Arabic SOT of Raghad Saud: There are new cases f birth deformities that we see for the first time, we used to read about these syndromes only in medical text books, but they are getting so common here, I worked as a paedritition in Falluja and Ramadi and noticed that the congenital anomalies are more common than other diseases like chest ones. Some babies are borne so deformed that their parents wish their children will die. | MCU shot of the paedritition |
4:37 | VOT: Some times the parents wishes comes true but how often is that | Set up shot of the Falluja funeral director at Falluja symmetry |
4:44 | Arabic SOT of Mahmoud Abdulla , funeral director in Falluja “Most of the newborn babies die shortly after death, I bury 4-5 of them most of them are deformed” | MCU shot |
5:01 | VOT Human rights campaigners are trying to document these cases | Set up shot for Hikmat Tawfiq Deputy chairman of Al Akhiyar human rights organization |
5:06 | Arabic SOT of Hikmat Tawfiq Deputy chairman of Al Akhiyar human rights organization “ we have recorded around 200 cases in our organization in most of these cases are birth deformities which has risen after the war on Iraq. Most of these cases are incurable in Iraq, but these is no one to help. We call on International charity organizations to help out those people | MCU shot of Hikmat Tawfiq Deputy chairman of Al Akhiyar human rights organization |
5:36 | SOT Most of the locals attribute the rise of birth deformities to the use of white phosphorus by the US troops when they launched the biggest bombardment on Falluja in November 2004 | |
5:49 | US troops denied the use of white phosphorus to kill their enemies, in a statement to the Independent newspaper, however the confirmed using it for this purpose in another statement to ABC news | Shot of the independent newspaper website with headlines on the white phosphorus use in Falluja + another shot of ABC News website with headline reads US troops confirms using White phosphorus |
6:02 | Local lawyers are trying to sue the American troops but there is a legal problem deterring their efforts | Set up shot for local lawyer Baha’a Farhan |
6:07 | Arabic SOT ( question ) What legal problem do you have in helping deformed children? Bahaa farham “We try to help them by filing complains against the SU forces, but the US forces say they consider the complains within three months after the incident, in case the military unit recognizes firing the complainer or causing any damages to him but they do not consider any complains after three month. The problem is how to deal with the birth deformities, many birth deformities have risen after the second offensive of Falluja. these deformity only turn up after giving birth the problem is how tackle these cases. We call on the International community and International court of justice to set up a special tribunal to consider these cases” | |
7:09 7:31 | And in the middles of US Troops denial and confirmations and lack of medical equipments, fascilities and expertise to diagnose the real cause of these deformities, children keep pay heavily for the mistakes of elders | Various shots of doctor with X ray sheet, and children with their mothers in hospital |
9 seconds Fatima the 2nd deformed child with her family to use as a cut away | More shots of Fatima the 2nd deformed child with her family to use as cut aways | |
9 seconds More Tiba the 1st deformed child with her mother and grand mother to use as cut away | More shots of Tiba the 1st deformed child with her mother and grand mother to use as cut aways |