Posted on 02/20/2005 9:31:47 AM PST by freedom44
WASHINGTON - Water and new life are returning to an ancient Iraqi marsh considered by many as the cradle of Western civilization.
Saddam Hussein drained the area after the 1991 Gulf War to retaliate against the people who had lived there for thousands of years. International and Iraqi experts are now restoring it.
For more than 5,000 years, the Marsh Arab culture thrived in the 8,000 square miles of wetlands fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The marshes boasted hundreds of species of birds and fish, and periodic flooding created fertile farm lands.
Some scholars believe the flooded, flat plain was an important part of the development of an agriculture-based culture that helped raise civilization to new heights. The vast marsh was identified by some biblical scholars as the site of the fabled Garden of Eden.
But after the Gulf War, Saddam ordered that the marsh be drained. His goal was to punish the Marsh Arabs who opposed his rule.
After Saddam was ousted as president in the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Iraqis began breaching dams and allowing water to flow back into the marsh. About 20 percent of the original marsh was reflooded by last March and thousands of birds have returned. So, too, have thousands of displaced people.
Richardson said the quality of water flowing into the marsh is higher than expected and the response of wildlife has been swift and positive. Plant life is returning to many areas and some people are resuming a way of life that has endured for thousands of years, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I await press-releases from the environmental/wildlife groups praising Bush for making this possible.
Bush won't get a pat on the back from the Sierra Club for this.
Those damn miserable nasty muslim hating Americans. /s
It sounds like a nightmare to me -- living with desert heat plus high humidity, not to mention the insects that make their home there. But if others choose this way of life, then I'm glad it's coming back.
Bring food, it woll be a long wait.
ping
If fat teddy finds water, can a bridge and an oldsmobile with a girlfriend be far behind?
Afraid not ... Puddleglum lived in those marshes just south of the River Shribble ;-)
I'm glad to hear about the habitat being restored. And, yes, I too will not hold my breath waiting for environmentalists and anthropologists to cheer about this.
Ann
Now hold on here. I thought that if you drained a wetland, all of the birds would die! Does this mean that if the birds lose their habitat that they will (gasp!) go somewhere else? Could this really be true? (/sarcasm)
Wow! I want their secret!
Or do you think the writer meant "against the people for whom this area was their ancestral home" for...
;o)
"Iraq's Garden of Eden Returns to Life"
Well, now the Democrats know where to hold their 2008 convention, because any Garden of Eden is going to need LOTS OF SNAKES!
And other bottom dwellers....
"But after the Gulf War, Saddam ordered that the marsh be drained. His goal was to punish the Marsh Arabs who opposed his rule."
...by draining the swamps so he could kill them.
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