Posted on 05/30/2003 6:46:23 PM PDT by Gorilla44
GENEVA - Water is returning to Iraq's southern dried-out marshlands, the U.N. said in a report on the home of a unique Arab culture almost destroyed by Saddam Hussein in apparent retaliation for an uprising.
The United Nations' environmental agency UNEP said mechanical diggers had broken down barriers and levees built under Saddam, allowing water to flow into the area - believed by some archaeologists to be the Garden of Eden in scripture. Satellite images of the area, once home to some 450,000 largely Muslim Shi'ite Marsh Arabs made famous by British traveller and explorer Wilfred Thesiger, "dramatically reveal streams and waterways...surging back to life", UNEP said in its website report.
Saddam is believed to have diverted rivers in retaliation for what he saw as support by the Marsh Arabs for an uprising against his rule after the 1991 Gulf War.
Tens of thousands of people were forced to leave as the marshes dried up, leaving an estimated population of only some 40,000 on the eve of the U.S.-led war in March to oust Saddam.
The UNEP site (www.grid.unep.ch) carried the images showing the return of water to some of the most desiccated areas of the region, where people have lived on small islands and moved around on thin wooden boats for over 2,000 years.
Parts of the marshes, UNEP said, had been inundated as floodgates had been opened upstream on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that flowed into the area before their waters were diverted by Saddam.
Officials of Saddam's government said at the time the projects that led to the drying of the marshes were aimed at feeding water into other development areas.
UNEP said some dams had now been opened upstream from the marshes and heavy rains had also helped lift water levels in the swamplands.
Local people had been involved in piecemeal efforts to revive the marshlands, but a more orderly and coordinated programme was urgently needed to ensure the recovery could be extended to the entire region and sustained, it said.
Leave it to someone like Saddam to take the Garden of Eden and turn it into hell. I'm sure some apologists for the tyrant will complain that the desert sand is being harmed by the sudden return of water, wildlife, and people. I hope enough of the damage can be reversed that these people can return to their way of life. It enrages me to think that this nonentity of a man nearly murdered an entire culture and turned the area into a wasteland.
Great story, please try again
Notice they didn't mention who's doing the mechanical digging.
It's US military, as we read here a few weeks ago. They weren't going to wait for the "planning" done in Europe.
These UN types don't want to give credit to the US.
Now, a UN peacock is lording it over Paul Bremer, claiming he'll be involved in more than just humanitarian aid...probably in response to the deceitful reporting and accusations by our enemies in the maisntream press over the past week. Chaos, my eye. How do the free people of the world keep a tiny minority of immoral, unelected, unsupervised spoiled busybodies in the UN, press and NGOs from getting their chains on the newly freed Iraqis (and the rest of us!)?
Pray for Paul Bremer. The Iraqi people don't want those disrespectful UN bullies back - the UN building was one of the first to be looted. The left needs victims, they are the oppressors. Keeping people dependent and uninformed is the only way they stay in power. Clinton gave the UN and these NGOs unprecidented power to meddle in international affairs. In Iraq right now they are THE biggest threat to creating stability.
He must have had a different book of Genesis than I've read. My book doesn't mention any rivers, much less whether they were located in Iraq or Iran.
And does he take into account what Noah's Flood would have done to existing riverbeds, or is that ignored?
Not really trying to change this thread into this topic, but your post caught my eye.
I suppose that means that reading 5 chapters in 45 seconds does not guarantee comprehension.
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