Körfez savaşlarının çevreye etkisi
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Date
2009
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Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü
Abstract
War and armed conflict have severe environmental impacts starting from the preparation phase. Wartime environmental impacts were noted as far back as in the ancient world. Since the beginning of recorded history, environmental destruction capacity of weapons has increased. Production and testing of nuclear weapons, aerial and naval bombardments of territory, dispersal and persistence of land mines and ordnance and use of toxic chemicals like Agent Orange to defoliate jungles in Vietnam are examples of such environmental destruction.The US invasion of Iraq stemmed not only from its will to get access to and control the petroleum, but was also attributed to the lobbying of the powerful defense industrialists who had been struggling with the constant decrease in orders since the end of the cold war. This study aims to analyze the environmental consequences of the Gulf wars. First and Second Gulf Wars and their aftermath, the US invasion of Iraq wreak havoc to Iraq and Persian Gulf. The firing of oil wells and releasing of about 10 million barrels of oil destroyed the biodiversity, caused air pollution. The infrastructures of Iraq, mainly the sewage-treatment plants were destroyed. After aerial and ground based bombardment, Iraqi agricultural land became useless. The use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons by US Army caused radioactive pollution. The health consequences of DU bombing caused an increase in cancer in Iraq as well as in US war veterans and resulted in birth anomalies in Iraqi children. As a result of Gulf Wars 4.7 million of Iraqis have left their homes, of which more than 2.7 million Iraqis are displaced internally, while more than 2 million have fled to neighbouring states. The two wars and the following invasions have damaged the environment and historical and cultural heritage of Iraq as well as harming its people.
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Körfez Savaşları, Ekolojik etki