A Gift From God' Renews a Village (Marsh that Hussein drained is revitalized)

The Washington Post ^ | 10/11/2003 | Rajiv Chandrasekaran

[Born Conservative]

'A Gift From God' Renews a Village Iraqi Engineers Revitalize Marshes That Hussein Had Drained By Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, October 11, 2003; Page A01

ZAYAD, Iraq -- The surging water from the Euphrates River first quenched the desiccated soil around this village. Then, with a steady crescendo, it smothered farming tracts, inundated several homes and enveloped the landscape to the horizon.

"Hamdulillah," intoned Salim Sherif Kerkush, the stout village sheik. Thank God.

Thin reeds now sprout on the glassy surface. Aquatic birds build nests on tiny islands. And lanky young boys in flowing tunics spend the first few hours of each day as generations of adolescent males in their families have: gliding across the water in narrow wooden boats to collect fish trapped in homemade nets.

"The water is our life," Kerkush said as he gazed at the marsh that now comes within a few feet of his house and stretches as far as the eye can see. "It is a gift from God to have it back."

A dozen years after Saddam Hussein ordered the vast marshes of southeastern Iraq drained,

[Born Conservative]

Sorry about that, I hit the post key twice (I thought the first post didn't go through). Please delete this post. Thanks.

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[My2Cents]

Was the Coalition given any credit for this, anywhere in the article?

[madison10]

"Drying the marshes was a crime," said Shaheen, who joined the Irrigation Department in 1998, after the canals and dams were built. "I felt I needed to do whatever I could to restore what Saddam destroyed." (excerpt)

This is a good start. What an evil, vindictive creature Saddam is/was.

[Moose4]

Was the Coalition given any credit for this, anywhere in the article?

Nope. Consider the source.

}:-)4

[Born Conservative]

Ping

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

But I thought Bush hated the environment! The liberals told me so!

[45Auto]

I have only one question: What was the rate of malaria in the area before the swamp was drained?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks for the ping, BC.

Marsh Arabs have their land, livelihood and culture back thanks to Pres. Bush and the Coalition removing Saddam.

A good recap of Coalition successes to share with the Washington Post:

Amb. Bremer, Oct. 9:

"Six months ago today Coalition Forces liberated Baghdad. 

Most, but not all, of what has happened since then is good.

The Coalition has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of our strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq....

8 CPA Administrator Press Conference

 Thanks, Tonkin!

If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).

[McGavin999]

He's right, it's going to take a long time. Hopefully, there will be a couple of wet years coming and that'll cut down the time a lot. As to getting the fish back, perhaps they can be seeded.

[gcruse]

The Malaria/Mosquito Coalition must be enthralled.

[Oatka]

The next time you meet some Greenie screaming about the cross-eyed toad being in danger, ask him/her/it where the Hell they were while all this marsh-draining was going on.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Valin]

Illegal keystroke...5yard penalty, lose of down.

[Valin]

Some really good news.

[windchime]

Bump!