An Examination of Genocide and Ecocide in Iraq
by Alex Paresi
Saddam Hussein has been posthumously accused of orchestrating a genocide against the Marsh Arabs while simultaneously conducting an ecocide against the Mesopotamian Marshes of Southern Iraq. After the end of the Gulf War in 1991, Saddam decided to drain the historically and ecologically important marshes that straddle the border with Iran and are the result of the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates River. In what was considered an engineering marvel, three interconnecting marshes were “drained, burned and dammed to the point that only remnants of them still existed... Where once lay healthy, ecologically rich wetlands, teeming with aquatic life, buffalo, and migratory birds there was only barren, salt-encrusted land”. Although Hussein claimed his water-diverting projects had agricultural purposes, it is obvious that their true intentions were more sinister. His paranoia of political dissent compelled him to drain the proverbial Garden of Eden. America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, which was intended to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and confiscate weapons of mass destruction that he was rumored to have possessed, is typically denounced as being based on inconclusive evidence.Rather than possessing weapons of the atomic type, his true artillery included earthmoving equipment that dug vast canals and bulldozed sediment into enormous dykes that rechanneled water away from the marshes, turning the once lush wetlands into a barren desert.
Since the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the dethronement of Saddam’s regime, various organizations, both national and global, have begun restoring the degraded marshes and rebuilding the lost heritage of the Ma’dan. The Marsh Arabs Heritage Project, founded in 1991, focuses on educating adults and schoolchildren about the history and customs of Marsh Arabs in an effort to resurrect the dying culture. Another organization instrumental in the remediation of the wetlands is Nature Iraq. Founded by an Iraqi American named Azzam Alwash who returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam, the organization’s objective is to promote ecotourism in the Iraqi marshes which are valuable breeding and feeding grounds for migrating birds traveling from Asia to Africa. Alwash enthusiastically explained that the improvement in the Marsh’s health is visible. He states, “You can see the reeds getting denser and denser, taller and taller”.
Despite these successes, there are many industrial and infrastructural forces that continue to threaten the marshes and its residents. It is estimated that approximately 80% of Iraq’s oil wealth is located beneath the marshes. For many governments and petroleum companies, the monetary benefits of extracting the oil outweigh the environmental costs of bulldozing the marshes. Additionally, the rivers and tributaries that refresh the marsh’s water supply, such as the Tigris and Euphrates River, are being narrowed due to hydroelectric dams upstream in Turkey and Syria. If these countries continue to selfishly use the waterways without any regard for the countries downstream, the partially restored Iraqi marshes will once again wither away.
by Alex Paresi
Saddam Hussein has been posthumously accused of orchestrating a genocide against the Marsh Arabs while simultaneously conducting an ecocide against the Mesopotamian Marshes of Southern Iraq. After the end of the Gulf War in 1991, Saddam decided to drain the historically and ecologically important marshes that straddle the border with Iran and are the result of the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates River. In what was considered an engineering marvel, three interconnecting marshes were “drained, burned and dammed to the point that only remnants of them still existed... Where once lay healthy, ecologically rich wetlands, teeming with aquatic life, buffalo, and migratory birds there was only barren, salt-encrusted land”. Although Hussein claimed his water-diverting projects had agricultural purposes, it is obvious that their true intentions were more sinister. His paranoia of political dissent compelled him to drain the proverbial Garden of Eden. America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, which was intended to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and confiscate weapons of mass destruction that he was rumored to have possessed, is typically denounced as being based on inconclusive evidence.Rather than possessing weapons of the atomic type, his true artillery included earthmoving equipment that dug vast canals and bulldozed sediment into enormous dykes that rechanneled water away from the marshes, turning the once lush wetlands into a barren desert.
Since the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the dethronement of Saddam’s regime, various organizations, both national and global, have begun restoring the degraded marshes and rebuilding the lost heritage of the Ma’dan. The Marsh Arabs Heritage Project, founded in 1991, focuses on educating adults and schoolchildren about the history and customs of Marsh Arabs in an effort to resurrect the dying culture. Another organization instrumental in the remediation of the wetlands is Nature Iraq. Founded by an Iraqi American named Azzam Alwash who returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam, the organization’s objective is to promote ecotourism in the Iraqi marshes which are valuable breeding and feeding grounds for migrating birds traveling from Asia to Africa. Alwash enthusiastically explained that the improvement in the Marsh’s health is visible. He states, “You can see the reeds getting denser and denser, taller and taller”.
Despite these successes, there are many industrial and infrastructural forces that continue to threaten the marshes and its residents. It is estimated that approximately 80% of Iraq’s oil wealth is located beneath the marshes. For many governments and petroleum companies, the monetary benefits of extracting the oil outweigh the environmental costs of bulldozing the marshes. Additionally, the rivers and tributaries that refresh the marsh’s water supply, such as the Tigris and Euphrates River, are being narrowed due to hydroelectric dams upstream in Turkey and Syria. If these countries continue to selfishly use the waterways without any regard for the countries downstream, the partially restored Iraqi marshes will once again wither away.