24 . In the State of Mississippi, a study conducted by the Veterans Administration discovered that 67% of the children conceived by veterans returning returning from the first Gulf War had missing eyes, missing ears, blood infections, respiratory problems, fused fingers, etc. While the U.S. military vigorously maintains that the radiation levels and toxic effects of depleted uranium experienced by troops were within "safe standards," many suffering Gulf War veterans believe they were guinea pigs in a massive military experiment. According to the College of Medicine of Baghdad University, the postwar congenital malformations of the newborn rose to an alarming 27% of live births. These same malformations also showed up in newborn lambs in southern Iraq. Meanwhile, the tons of depleted uranium dust left behind insure a million years of genetic defects, leukemia, and lung damage for those living in southern Iraq. The U.S. government refuses to acknowledge that depleted uranium has anything to do with the embryonic malformations In Iraq and has systematically silenced any inquiries into this matter (www.rimbaud.freeserve.co.uk/iraq.htm).