SADDAM DRAINED THE GARDEN OF EDEN

Boston Globe ^ | 4/1/2003 | Fred Pearce

[van_erwin]

Saddam Hussein turned a thriving marshland into a poisoned desert. Can it be restored?

The project, which has been discussed only in outline by scientists so far, would be the largest and most ambitious recovery of a wetland ever attempted. It might cost tens of millions of dollars or more, but could be a model for reviving many other natural water reservoirs as the world staves off growing water shortages.

[NautiNurse]

Will the tree huggers ever believe this?

[I still care]

Geez. I thought all along the left would only speak up about Saddam when it became aware of the environmental problems he caused and animals he killed. The heck with people.

DU is going to be upset.

[Frapster]

I really hope they are able to restore these marshes. I saw a documentary on this a few weeks ago and the destruction of the ecology in that region is beyond the pale.

[Eva]

Talk about Saddam's policy of scorched earth! I don't trust environmentalists though. They usually have their own agenda which has nothing to do with ecology.

[RonF]

Yes. The criminal acts of Saddam with regards to these marshes have been known for some time in environmental circles.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[NautiNurse]

Actual title of the article: "Reclaiming an Iraqi Eden."

[finnman69]

San Francisco Chroncicle has a poll on this. I kid you not.


http://www.sfgate.com
Should U.S. pay to restore Iraqi marshes destroyed by Saddam Hussein?

Yes, priceless wetlands a top priority 9%
No, focus relief effort on people 58%
Let the Iraqis decide 13%
Would partly make up for damage we've caused 19%
total votes 243

[dighton]

Southern Mesopotamia, where the Tigris and the Euphrates flowed, first separately, then united, towards the Persian Gulf, was more beguiling in history than in fact. Here were Babylon and Nineveh, here Sennacherib had fought his battles, here indeed, some said, had been the Garden of Eden at the start of the world. But it was a fearful country now. ... In the summer it was indescribably hot, in the winter unbearably cold. In the dry season everything was baked like leather, in the wet season 10,000 square miles were flooded, the waters gradually oozing away to leave malodorous wastes of marsh. Fleas, sand-flies and mosquitoes tormented the place, and its inhabitants lived lives of ignorant poverty, enlivened only by sporadic excitements of crime or brigandage, the illusions of religion and the consolations of sex.

Is this the land of dear old Adam (one British soldier wondered),
And beautiful Mother Eve?
If so dear reader small blame to them
For sinning and having to leave.

-- James (Jan) Morris, Farewell the Trumpets.

[Cyber Liberty]

I recalled the stories during the Iran-Iraq war of Iraqis getting bogged down in the marshes of the southern area of Iraq. I was wondering what happened to them when I was watching the 3rd ID blowing through the area....

[martin_fierro]

I thought all along the left would only speak up about Saddam when it became aware of the environmental problems he caused and animals he killed.

One of my favorite limericks:

Those Greenies sure faded to black
when Iraq the oilfields did attack;
Greenpeace? Not around;
Earth First? Was not found;
'Cuz they know Saddam will shoot back!

[Keith]

"Would partly make up for damage we've caused 19% "

unfreakingbelievable...he did it, we are ready to fix it, and there is STILL a choice to "blame America."

It's time to nuke San Fran...

[BushMeister]

[Carry_Okie]

It has been 10 years since Saddam Hussein began draining the vast bulrush marshes of southern Iraq - home of the Marsh Arabs and sometimes described as the original Garden of Eden.

I hate to disabuse the author, but relating the location of the Garden of Eden to a static place defies geolotechnical history. First, according to coral reef dieoff strata, the Great Flood of approximately 7,000 years ago raised sea level by about 15 meters, bringing the coastline of the Persian Gulf inland and up-river by a good many miles and the estuarine marshes with it (Mesopotamia is a VERY flat alluvial flood plain). The Flood engulfed a good many coastal cities and we have a great deal of sub-marine archaeology to do. Second, siltation moves that coastline outward into the Gulf by about 100 feet per year, or 45 miles in the last 5,000 years. Assuming that the fall of Adam was but 10,000 years ago, if the Great Flood hadn't happened, the site of the Garden of Edin (as it was called) would be very close to present day Baghdad. Who knows?

Wouldn't it be ironic if the site of Babylon and its Hanging Gardens were on top of the Garden of Eden? Fits Satan's MO, IMHO, just like the Dome of the Rock on top of the Second Temple.

[sergeantdave]

The eco-fascists will claim the Iraqis ruined the marshes and need to be herded into green concentration camps called sustainable communities.

These eco-fascists, with their insane opposition to even limited use of DDT, kill 2 million women and children each year, more people than Saddam has murdered in 30 years. Should Greenpeace - started and funded by communists - and the World Wildlife Fund - started and funded by neo-Nazis - show up in Iraq, the Marines should sink their boat in the harbor.

[van_erwin]

ok, um, what?
sorry, but you sound like one of those people that stands on a street corner with a sandwich board shouting about the alien mind control rays.
Are you pro-Saddam? I'm confused - are you defending what he did here?

[dancusa]

Remember,Saddam is a baathist,not a Republican.He gets a free pass on destroying the enviroment.Only Republicans are able to destroy the enviroment.Greenpeace will remain silent on this issue.

[Hanging Chad]

The basic facts may be in there,
but there is also quite a bit of hyberbole in this article.