Possible link between eurasian bird flu and destruction of Iraq marshes

My son, who was with the 82nd Airborne, and spent 8 months in Iraq during Gulf War I, was scheduled to be shipped to either Iraq or Afghanistan this January 06. I decided to do some research on Iraq and discovered that very little has been done to restore the vast marshes at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Saddam Hussein decided to destroy this haven for freedom fighters by draining and drying the marshes. He succeded in driving all but 50,000 of the original 300,000 population of this giant wetland away. He transported many to cities in the north to displace Kurdish populations. Unfortunately the fish of this watery world were a major source of protein for the entire population. The water had a moderating effect on one of the hottest places on earth. This was also a primary stopping place for major bird migrations between Europe/Central Asia and Africa. Unfortunately, very little restoration money has been allocated to reflood and repopulate this fascinating area. Some say this was the original Garden of Eden. Reversing this destruction should improve the Iraqi diet, improve the climate, enable Arabs to leave Kurdish areas, and enable the birds to stop, rest, and if they are infected with bird flu, die in this relatively isolated area before they arrive in Europe/Central Asia. Questions for our representatives, and scientists. 1) Could the loss of this way station for migratory birds be a factor in the arrival of bird flu in eastern Turkey and Eastern Europe? 2) Why was so little funding approved to permit 1/4 million people to return to their beloved ancestral home, and 5,000 year old way of life? 3) If in fact the bird flu/bird migration problem are related, what can be done to speed up the marsh restoration? Unfortunately, restoring this wetland is an even larger project than Florida Everglades restoration, so creative ideas and action are badly needed. It was finally decided to send my son and his elite unit to Afghanistan and not to Iraq. The fellows in his unit were very annoyed. They were looking forward to going to Iraq to kick butt. Of course, these were not National Guard units. I may have some interesting future comments on activity there.

First, let's format this thing so we can read it:

My son, who was with the 82nd Airborne, and spent 8 months in Iraq during Gulf War I, was scheduled to be shipped to either Iraq or Afghanistan this January 06.

I decided to do some research on Iraq and discovered that very little has been done to restore the vast marshes at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Saddam Hussein decided to destroy this haven for freedom fighters by draining and drying the marshes. He succeded in driving all but 50,000 of the original 300,000 population of this giant wetland away. He transported many to cities in the north to displace Kurdish populations.

Unfortunately, the fish of this watery world were a major source of protein for the entire population. The water had a moderating effect on one of the hottest places on earth. This was also a primary stopping place for major bird migrations between Europe/Central Asia and Africa.

Unfortunately, very little restoration money has been allocated to reflood and repopulate this fascinating area. Some say this was the original Garden of Eden.

Reversing this destruction should improve the Iraqi diet, improve the climate, enable Arabs to leave Kurdish areas, and enable the birds to stop, rest, and if they are infected with bird flu, die in this relatively isolated area before they arrive in Europe/Central Asia.

Questions for our representatives, and scientists:

1) Could the loss of this way station for migratory birds be a factor in the arrival of bird flu in eastern Turkey and Eastern Europe?

2) Why was so little funding approved to permit 1/4 million people to return to their beloved ancestral home, and 5,000 year old way of life?

3) If in fact the bird flu/bird migration problem are related, what can be done to speed up the marsh restoration?

Unfortunately, restoring this wetland is an even larger project than Florida Everglades restoration, so creative ideas and action are badly needed.

It was finally decided to send my son and his elite unit to Afghanistan and not to Iraq. The fellows in his unit were very annoyed. They were looking forward to going to Iraq to kick butt. Of course, these were not National Guard units. I may have some interesting future comments on activity there.

My initial, somewhat uninformed response, would be this: Where does Marsh restoration fall in heirarchy of needs here? The bird flu is a hypothetical threat, and tangential at best to the reasons we are in Iraq.

I'm not saying the matter is not worth some attention. It's just that there are alot of things competing for that finite pot of money.

Thanks for formatting. I just got my first computer 2 weeks ago and am still learning. I did type paragraphs, but must have done something wrong.

My understanding is that marshes provided 1/4 of the protein content of the Iraqi diet before SH drained them. I could be wrong and it might only be 1/4th of the fish. Either way the loss a substantial contribution to malnutrition.

The many marsh Arabs moved to the northern cities are a sgnificant source of conflict as Kurds were evicted from their actual homes by SH to house them. They move back to the marshes and conflict is reduced, hopefully saving lives, including our soldiers.

While these are not such "hard" arguments, some would value them. That is the fact that the Marsh Arab culture is a unique 5,000 year old one. If it is not recovered before this generation dies out, it will be lost forever. Secondly, the marshes were a major stop and rest place for migratory birds, and the loss has undoubtedly caused much harm already.

Since posting this article, I have continued to observe the spread of bird flu. Nothing I have seen has made me think my theory is invalid. Here are some additional points.

1) Bird flu has shown up in all the areas surrounding Iraq, and has now started to appear in Iraq itself. Lack of sufficient marsh area could be causing birds (especially ducks and geese) to frequent farm ponds in surrounding countries, thus infecting domestic birds and their owners.

2) Bird flu has shown up in Africa in exactly those countries that are on the migration pathways that cross over the Iraq marshes.

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