One of the most vile things I have ever seen...
One of the best reasons to support lots of environmental legislation.
Check this out.
http://eyeofthestormexhibition.com/artwork/209869.html
If you have not figured it out yet this is the Baghdad landfill. It is by far one the most disturbing things I have seen, and I have seen a lot. I first saw the Baghdad landfill about a week into my tour in Iraq. Most of us were just sitting around all day waiting to get selected to go out on a mission with the company we were replacing. The first mission I was selected for was to ride along to Camp Victory in Baghdad. For some reason I was not scared, but I was excited. Not even 15 minutes into our mission I experienced my first gunshots fired in defense. The gunner in my truck lit up a truck that came quickly at our HMMWV. Anyways, when we were on the north side of Baghdad, cruising down the freeway, the captain of the unit we were replacing pointed out the landfill. It is huge. Words cannot describe how immense this thing is. I swear you can not see over it from a freeway overpass. That is how much area this thing covers. Just garbage piled 30 feet high for miles. The worst part is that people are living in the landfill, living off the scraps of others. Now imagine what your typical Minneapolis homeless guy throws out, he probably is as wealthy as the typical Iraqi, and now imagine eating what he threw out three weeks ago. Is your stomach turning yet? The people who live there have their own cattle, goats, sheep, and chickens that can be seen foraging in the filth. I do not know what is worse; eating the filth yourself, or eating the animal that lives on it? Anyways, this is why we need to take care of the environment, otherwise we could be living like these unfortunate people someday. Iraq is submerged in air, water, and ground pollution, and I think it made many of us sick. I and many other service members have persistent sinus problems and coughs. The military and the VA call it Illness not otherwise specified (NOS). Oh, and guess what? The US was building the Iraqis a new sanitary landfill (if there is such a thing), but KBR (Dick Cheney's former company) screwed the US and did not finish the project which they started. Another good reason why our country should not be attempting to rebuild Iraq.