– fordi tiden kræver et MODSPIL

24. Aug 2005

Iraks sumpe og marsklande

 
Iraqi Marshes
I betragtning af, at vi gang på gang må konstatere, at Iraks forhold er i blodig uorden efter den amerikansk-ledede invasion og besættelse, bør vi vel også her ile med at viderebringe, når der rent faktisk sker noget godt; i dette tilfælde økologisk og måske med tiden etnografisk, i det sydlige Irak. Således Aljazeera:
A Japanese-funded UN project launched a year ago has used the internet and eco-friendly technology to restore the Middle East's main wetland area, which is believed to be the basis for the biblical Garden of Eden.

Shia fighters hid in the labyrinth of waterways and floating reeds after Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime crushed a Shia insurrection after the 1991 Gulf War.

In retaliation, Saddam diverted waterways and burned down the reedbeds, reducing the 9000 square km of permanent wetlands in the 1970s to just 760 square km when his government was toppled in 2003.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said its satellite images showed that 37% of the permanent wetlands was now restored, with the figure nearing 50% in the spring before water evaporated with the summer heat.
Men skønt dette initiativ måske gør meget godt, bør besættelsesmagten med USA i spidsen stadig passe på: Marskaraberne var indædte og uforsonlige væbnede modstandere af Saddam, og medmindre de ligefrem udryddes, er der ingen grund til at tro. de skulle komme til at elske den fremmede besættelse mere. Vi læser i The Guardian:
For 13 years he was a defiant symbol of Iraqi resistance. Hunted in vain by Saddam Hussein's militia, the legendary guerrilla fighter Abu Hattem fought an extraordinary campaign against the Iraqi regime from his secluded bases in the poisoned marshland of southern Iraq.

Known as the Lord of the Marshes, his exploits earned him a reputation that is a cross between Robin Hood and Lawrence of Arabia, with tales of suicidal missions and narrow escapes.

Western journalists tried for years to track him down during the guerrilla years, visiting Iranian border towns in the hope of finding him. They had no more success than the Iraqi secret police. Now that Saddam has fallen, the rebel leader has finally emerged from hiding and has given his first interview to the Guardian.

Abu Hattem said many of the legends about him were true. He fought what he calls The War of the Fleas with small groups, continually on the move, a constant source of irritation to the Iraqi army. He could not defeat them in open battle but he left them nervous about entering the marshes.
(...)
He hoped the British and US forces "will go soon". He expected this to happen when security was established - which it has been - and local government set up.

He was alarmed by a US proposal last week to maintain four permanent bases in Iraq. "I have the same feelings about this idea as would every single guerrilla fighter round the world who does not want a foreign power over him."
Så ja - for både økologer og urbefolkning er der gode nyheder. Om det også ender med at være gode nyheder for en besættelsesmagt, der burde have pakket deres kufferter for efterhånden længe siden, er en anden sag.

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