The Burning Pits by Joseph Hickman (2016) - How Trash Poisoned U.S Troops in Iraq

Sad state of affairs. Military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan were built on contaminated ground. Remnants of mustard gas and chemical weapons poisoned civilians in Iraq and American troops. KBR a subsidiary of Halliburton a U.S company who was paid billions by the U.S government courtesy of the tax-payer caused mass fatalities. KBR operated 'the burn pits' that burnt all the U.S armies trash in open fire dug out holes. The trash pits burnt 24/7 and the poisonous plume started causing severe respiratory problems. Soldiers and civilians lungs were all irrevocably and unnecessarily damaged leading to mass cancer outbreaks and disability. This all happened because KBR and Halliburton operated the "the burn pits" with no regard for any form of regulations or testing. 

The plume smoke and the ground dug up for the trash pits was never monitored or tested for carcinogens or adverse health affects. One particular sad story is about a very young soldier who was posted in Iraq. He complained to his commanding officers about the smoke affecting his battalion form the burning of U.S trash and was rubbished. He stood in a guard post tower for 365 days 12 hours a day. He never saw any rebels. But the poisonous smoke from the burning trash pits would cause him great distress everyday. His lungs would splutter and his throat would become inflamed and feel like it was on fire. After ending his monotonous tour of duty 2 years later he died of brain cancer with full blown respiratory problems. He had never had any bad health until shipping out to Iraq. He is one of thousands of soldiers termed 'delayed casualties' who die after going to war. He received no help or financial aid from the U.S government and the VA who help veterans with health problems. 

The U.S government has not yet acknowledged how it killed and maimed its own soldiers by allowing KBR to win the trash disposal contract without any competition. Meanwhile in Iraq the cancer tolls increased by 15% due to the invasion and war on terror killing thousands due to magnesium and dangerous chemicals burnt in the pits and breathed in by citizens. Iraqi nationals are to scared to have children now due to birth defects on a scale dwarfing Japan's problems from the fallout from the atomic bombs. Good read. Had no idea about this problem. War is never just in my opinion. Especially when the ones signing the bills into law do not fight in the wars they create. Currently only a 5th of the U.S senate have any military experience, and only 1% of U.S politicians children are fighting in American wars currently.

An Ode to Billy Joe the Human Squirrel of ‘Pennys’

A man called Billy Joe liked to collect copper Penny’s in America. For 45 years

or so he picked up every penny that ever came across his path, it’s hard to imagine

he ever missed one. And yet every time he discovered a shiny strawberry relic 

pressed by some big coin machine in Washington he stared up high into the

heavens and thanked the universe and endless cosmos for his good fortune.

If someone ever dropped a nickel or a quarter dollar he would always run 

after them chasing them down a few blocks to give it back to them, 

but he would never do the same for a penny he was like a jealous lover

and wanted them all, all of the time. His magpie eyes would search out

even the slightest glint of red metal like a roving street sweeper he went

onto amass over 500,000 U.S certified legal tender pennies. 

Sadly one day the man who ran on pennies like a meaningless slot machine

that never payed out fell on hard times, due in part to the current economic

recession, old age and supporting his family. Facing destitution and homelessness

the man made the melancholic decision to cash in his life’s work, every good

damn penny, because he simply couldn’t afford to live, he was quoted as saying;

“Lord put some food upon the table, help me paya weeks rent,

I don’t really need no cable as long as my children been feed”  

Much later he conveyed to media how excruciatingly painful it had been to cash

up his life’s work for a measly $5000 dollars, a tiny cheque on flimsy paper 

could never fill the void left by losing his hard won mammoth coin collection.

He recounted how the saddest idea for him was the thought of all his beloved

penny’s sloshing around in the financial system only to be lost and taken for 

granted again, and how this time he didn’t have enough time to find them all 

because he was dying.

From a philosophical point of view isn’t it strange how the small amount of money

Billy earnt in the end was utterly dwarfed by his supreme joy even ecstasy of

chasing and hunting pennies such a simple act that he adored almost above 

everything else in life except his family. I’d be interested to know if the reader

thinks it’s a gift or a curse finding value were there really is none?

Despite Old Billy Joe succumbing to his phantom illness that struck him down

like a thunderbolt after selling his pennies I can still imagine him like the mad

human squirrel he once was and forever is; galloping down suburban pavements

in Los Angeles searching for worthless stained red gold, that only he could see.

  Never forget that there was once a poor humble human bean called Billy Joe

who treated unwanted pennies littered on the streets like lost magical talismans.                  

Hopefully we can all start discovering our ‘Pennys’ too, an action that brings us

untold joy with no real productive end just guided by our own free will, passion

and desires (now that sounds very millennial indeed).         By Moss