ISIS is waging a ‘water war’ in Southern Iraq
In the 1990s, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein drained the marshes of southern Iraq in order to punish the indigenous Shi'ite tribes that opposed him after the first Gulf War. The desiccation of the marshes destroyed wildlife and the livelihoods of the local people who herded water buffalo there. In 2003, the marshes were re-flooded and and many […]Joanna Paraszczuk writes for Radio Free Europe :
In the 1990s, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein drained the marshes of southern Iraq in order to punish the indigenous Shi'ite tribes that opposed him after the first Gulf War. The desiccation of the marshes destroyed wildlife and the livelihoods of the local people who herded water buffalo there. In 2003, the marshes were re-flooded and and many local buffalo breeders returned to the area.
