Chemical warfare agents are the most brutal weapons among the weapons of mass destruction. Sulfur mustard (SM) is a potent toxic alkylating agent known as “the King of the Battle Gases”. SM has been the most widely used chemical weapon during the wars. It was widely used in World War I. Thereafter, it was extensively employed by the Iraqi troops against the Iranian military personnel and even c...

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of alpha particles and heavy metals contamination in the meat products consumed in Najaf, Iraq. Moreover, this study was also targeted toward comparing the results with those in the literature and making appropriate conclusion and recommendations. Material and Methods: This study determined the track of alpha particles and ...

Due to its extreme density, depleted Uranium (DU) has recently entered the warfare industry and became a major pollutant to the biosphere. Although DU is less radioactive than natural Uranium, it still retains all its chemical toxicity. Limited data exists regarding the long-term hazards of DU on humans, however, it is suspected to be a major toxic and mutagenic agent. Literature review reveals...

Though the broader literature suggests that women may be more vulnerable to the effects of trauma exposure, most available studies on combat trauma have relied on samples in which women's combat exposure is limited and analyses that do not directly address gender differences in associations between combat exposure and postdeployment mental health. Female service members' increased exposure to c...

Deployment has well documented psychological consequences for military personnel. To fully understand the human cost of war, the psychosocial impact of separation and homecoming of military personnel on their families must also be considered. Recent arduous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan make understanding the impact of war on spouses topical and pertinent. Widespread psychological morbidity...

There have been studies about the impact of a suicide on family members and friends, but none to date on a military unit in a combat zone. This is the first description, to my knowledge, of the effects of the suicide of a U.S. Army soldier deployed to Iraq. A narrative from the treating psychiatrist's perspective describes both the acute and longer-term (four months) effects of the suicide on m...

This case study presents an overview of the conceptualization and treatment of two veterans of the Iraq War who presented for combat-related treatment at a Veterans Administration Medical Center. In addition to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of reexperiencing, arousal, and avoidance, the veterans exhibited compulsive checking behaviors that appear to be influenced by theater-spec...

BACKGROUND Previous estimates of mortality in Iraq attributable to the 2003 invasion have been heterogeneous and controversial, and none were produced after 2006. The purpose of this research was to estimate direct and indirect deaths attributable to the war in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. METHODS AND FINDINGS We conducted a survey of 2,000 randomly selected households throughout Iraq, using a...

Even when American decision-makers were denying it, ordinary Iraqis in the neighborhoods of Baghdad fearfully anticipated the dangerous consequences of the U.S.-led invasion. We use two unique Iraq datasets to analyze the self-fulfilling neighborhood specific forces set loose following the U.S.-led invasion. Sectarian criminal violence by Shia militia disproportionately forced Sunni residents f...

The aim of this review is to evaluate what is known about the impact on children of parental deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. We searched for relevant studies with a minimum sample size of 50 which were published between 2003 and 2010 using Google Scholar, MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Bibliographies of retrieved articles were also searched. Nine US-based studies were identifi...