US Invasion of Iraq Lead to Leukemia Rates Worse Than After Hiroshima Crisis

An Iraqi looks at the smoke rising from the bombing of a pipeline south of Basra in March 2004 (EPA)

The US invasion of Iraq that began 20 years ago has left a toxic legacy worse than that of the Hiroshima bombing, according to a recent study.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States in 1945 killed around 140,000 people, most of whom died instantly, while the others passed away in the weeks and months that followed.