need help with Iraq water question

[jhain]

Anyone seen any current accounts regarding Iraq's water?

I remember in the lead up to the 'War' there was much mention of the US gaining control of water supplies in the region...

Not finding anything now...

This is old but noteworthy:
http://www.counterpunch.org/wells05162003.html

May 16, 2003
Water Woes
In Iraq, Water and Oil Do Mix

By LEAH C. WELLS

Conspicuously missing from the ubiquitous Iraq war critique was the subtle agenda of water rights in the parched Middle East region. Of all the reasons for invading Iraq, securing water rights was never mentioned because it implicates too many countries with volatile connections to Iraq, like Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Israel. Protest signs read, "No Blood For Oil," as American corporations salivated in line for the opportunity to win contracts to rebuild the ravaged infrastructure. Why did no antiwar protesters carry signs saying, "No War for Water"? They should have.

The current litany of reasons for invading or threatening to invade countries pertains to terrorism, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and undemocratic, fundamentalist regimes. These reasons are particularized and specific, and keep the world guessing where the United States will launch its next attack. With an explicit agenda for controlling water in the Middle East, however, the roadmap for regime change and regional control would become transparent and predictable.

A land of displaced people and destroyed ecosystems, the once thriving marshland area of southern Iraq was home to hundreds of thousands of marsh Arabs who had sustained a 5,000 year-old culture until the ancient life-giving waters were drained and dammed by the recently-toppled Saddam Hussein government as well as by other riparian states. Truly Saddam created a catastrophic situation by redirecting the water and razing marsh Arab villages. Yet aside from the apparent ecological and humanitarian crisis pertaining to the area, why is the project of rehydrating the marshlands so urgently important for American interests?

A World Bank webcast in May 2001 quotes Jean-Louis Sarbib, Vice President of the World Bank's Middle East and North Africa Region, as saying that the CIA had identified water as one of the key issues of the 21st century. Water is a pressing issue in the Middle East which, like the sparse underground aquifers, stays beneath the surface. With 45 million people in the Middle East not having access to drinking water and 80 million not having access to sanitation, Sarbib's commentary is an understatement.

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[theresistance]

1. Yes...

Iraq is a huge supply of water in the arid Middle East, and there was talk in the 1990's that water from the Euphrates and Tigris could be piped south to arid parts, especially...Israel. Now America controls Iraq...this is possible. I don't have a link or reference for this at the moment.


Also, one reason behind Israel's so-called "security" barrier that they are building through Palestinian land is to secure water supplies on the West Bank. I don't have a link for this but here's the reference: NewScientist magazine, 29 May 2004 issue, page 6.

[jhain]

2. thanks for the link

It is NOT just oil, of course.

Money to be made in many illegal ways, it seems.

[theresistance]

3. I haven'y actually heard

Of anything about the water issue in Iraq since America went in, but its a good one to watch. For Israel, there's no doubt that they are stealing water from the Palestinians, especially since it was reported by the respected NewScientist magazine.