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<div id="header"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/">Gorilla’s Guides</a></h1> <h2>“The only thing these sand niggers understand is force and I’m about to introduce them to it.”</h2> <div id="search"><form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/"> <div><input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s"/> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11187"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/29/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%aa%d9%84-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%ac%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%87/#respond" title="Comment on العراق: القتل من أجل المياه">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 29th, 2010 by Nabil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/29/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%aa%d9%84-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%ac%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%87/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to العراق: القتل من أجل المياه">العراق: القتل من أجل المياه</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-land/" rel="tag">agricultural land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-sector/" rel="tag">agricultural sector</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/air/" rel="tag">Air</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armed-conflict/" rel="tag">armed conflict</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/average-rainfall/" rel="tag">average rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bala/" rel="tag">Bala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/construction-of-dams/" rel="tag">construction of dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economic-situation/" rel="tag">economic situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/feuds/" rel="tag">feuds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation-department/" rel="tag">irrigation department</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/land-resources/" rel="tag">land resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity/" rel="tag">salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sandstorms/" rel="tag">sandstorms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shortage-of-water/" rel="tag">shortage of water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/soil-salinity/" rel="tag">soil salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/traditional-tribes/" rel="tag">traditional tribes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/underinvestment/" rel="tag">underinvestment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-distribution/" rel="tag">water distribution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-pumps/" rel="tag">water pumps</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supplies/" rel="tag">water supplies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-baghdad/" rel="tag">west Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>في الساعات الأولى من صباح 18 يونيو، اقتحم مسلحون منزل فيصل حسن في غرب بغداد وقتلوه وزوجته وطفليهما الصغيرين. ولكن لم يكن الدافع وراء هذه الجريمة طائفياً أو سياسياً أو حتى اقتصادياً، بل كان مرتبطاً بالمياه. <br/>فقد كان حسن البالغ من العمر أربعين عاماً موظفاً في دائرة الري المحلية في مدينة أبو غريب، الواقعة على بعد 32 كيلومتراً من بغداد والتي اشتهرت في الآونة الأخيرة بالفضائح المرتبطة بالسجن المقام على أرضها. وكان القسم الذي يعمل فيه حسن يشرف على توزيع الحكومة للمياه على الأراضي الزراعية داخل مدينة أبو غريب ومحيطها.</p> <p>وحسب محقق الشرطة، محمد خضير، رفع مقتل حسن عدد العاملين في قسم الري الذين تعرضوا للقتل في هذه المدينة إلى ثلاثة خلال الأشهر الثلاثة الماضية. وعلق خضير على ذلك بقوله: "لم يكن لأي من هؤلاء علاقة بالسياسة أو الأنشطة المعادية للمتشددين ولكنهم كانوا بدل ذلك ضحايا لطبيعة عملهم التي أصبحت محفوفة بالمخاطر". <br/><strong>خطر المواجهات المحلية </strong> <br/>وتتمتع القبائل والعشائر التقليدية في المناطق الريفية في العراق بسلطة كبيرة، إذ عادة ما تحصل من أعضائها على ولاء أقوى مما يقدمونه للحكومة الوطنية. وقد دخلت هذه العشائر في الماضي في اشتباكات حول الأراضي وموارد المياه ولكن مع غياب حكومة قوية منذ عام 2003 وانخفاض إمدادات المياه خلال السنوات الأخيرة، يرى بعض المحللين أن الخلافات المحلية المرتبطة بالمياه في ازدياد وأصبحت تنذر بخطر حدوث نزاعات مسلحة. </p> <p>وعلق جعفر محمد علي، وهو محلل بكربلاء على ذلك بقوله: "لا نملك اليوم حكومة تعمل بشكل كامل لأنها منشغلة كلياً بالحالة الأمنية والخلافات السياسية، ولذلك لا تلعب دوراً قوياً في ردع أي خلاف محتمل واسع النطاق. كما نعاني أيضاً من نقص حاد في المياه على الصعيد الوطني ومن وضع اقتصادي سيء للغاية يجعل من الصعب جداً على المزارعين القيام بأعمال أخرى". <br/>من جهته، أفاد علي اسماعيل الزبيدي، أحد شيوخ القبائل في محافظة الديوانية الواقعة على بعد حوالي 200 كلم إلى الجنوب من بغداد، أن قبيلته أجرت "مفاوضات صعبة" بشأن حصص المياه مع قبيلة أخرى مجاورة. وأضاف قائلاً: "نحن نعاني من مشاكل يومية فيما يخص المياه، فهم يستعملون مضخات مياه كهربائية ضخمة لشفط المياه ولا يتركون لنا سوى قطرات فقط. كما أن المسؤولين في الحكومة عاجزون عن تنظيم الري ووقف أولئك الذين ينتهكون اللوائح الخاصة به إما بسبب الفساد أو لأنهم يخشون على حياتهم. لذا يتعين علينا حل هذه المشكلة بأنفسنا". وأوضح أنه بحاجة لعقد المزيد من الاجتماعات مع شيوخ هذه القبيلة لحل النزاع حول المياه "ولكن هذا لا يعني أنه بإمكاننا الانتظار طويلاً، بل سنتصرف بسرعة لتأمين المياه التي نحتاجها لأرضنا حتى لو توجب علينا حمل السلاح". <br/><strong>أمة تفتقر للمياه</strong> <br/>وكان العراق تاريخياً واحداً من الدول الأكثر خصوبة في المنطقة بفضل نهري دجلة والفرات اللذين يتدفقان باتجاه الجنوب الشرقي عبر البلاد بأسرها. وكان شريطاً أخضراً من الأراضي الخصبة يمتد عبر وسط البلاد تغذيه مياه النهرين. غير أن مستويات المياه في دجلة والفرات انخفضت بشكل مطرد في السنوات الأخيرة بسبب قلة هطول الأمطار وبناء السدود على الأنهار في تركيا وسوريا. </p> <p>بالإضافة إلى ذلك، تعرض القطاع الزراعي في البلاد للشلل بسبب عقود من الحرب وانعدام الأمن وقلة الاستثمارات وقطع الأشجار من دون رادع لاستخدامها كحطب للوقود، مما زاد من ملوحة التربة وتسبب في تعرض بعض المناطق للتصحر. وقد تحولت مساحات كبيرة من الأراضي الزراعية التي كانت خصبة فيما قبل إلى صحراء شبه قاحلة أخذت تسبب عدداً متزايداً من العواصف الرملية في ظل ذبول النباتات المثبتة للتربة. <br/>وقد قامت الحكومة، استجابة لذلك، بتبني تدابير لتنظيم كمية المياه المستخدمة للري في كل محافظة ولكنها واجهت صعوبات في تنفيذها. وقال مهدي القيسي، وكيل وزارة الزراعة، لشبكة الأنباء الإنسانية (إيرين) أن "المزارعين لم يلتزموا بلوائح توزيع المياه. ونحن ننصحهم باتباع هذه اللوائح هذا العام لأننا لا نستطيع ضمان كمية المياه التي ستتوفر لدينا". </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://arabic.irinnews.org/ReportArabic.aspx?SID=2083" class="external" target="_blank">العراق: القتل من أجل المياه-العراق-بيئة-نزاع-المياه والصرف الصحي</a></p> </p></div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11115"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/24/killing-for-water/#respond" title="Comment on Killing for water">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 24th, 2010 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/24/killing-for-water/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Killing for water">Killing for water</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-land/" rel="tag">agricultural land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-sector/" rel="tag">agricultural sector</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/air/" rel="tag">Air</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armed-conflict/" rel="tag">armed conflict</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/average-rainfall/" rel="tag">average rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bala/" rel="tag">Bala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/construction-of-dams/" rel="tag">construction of dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economic-situation/" rel="tag">economic situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/feuds/" rel="tag">feuds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation-department/" rel="tag">irrigation department</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/land-resources/" rel="tag">land resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity/" rel="tag">salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sandstorms/" rel="tag">sandstorms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shortage-of-water/" rel="tag">shortage of water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/soil-salinity/" rel="tag">soil salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/traditional-tribes/" rel="tag">traditional tribes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/underinvestment/" rel="tag">underinvestment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-distribution/" rel="tag">water distribution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-pumps/" rel="tag">water pumps</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supplies/" rel="tag">water supplies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-baghdad/" rel="tag">west Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, 23 June 2010 (<a title="IRIN" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89586" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – In the early hours of 18 June, gunmen broke into Faisal Hassan’s west Baghdad home killing him, his wife and their two young children. The motive was not sectarian, political or even economic – but water-related. <br/>Forty-year-old Hasan was an employee of a local irrigation department in Abu Ghraib city – 32km west of Baghdad and famed in recent times for scandals surrounding its prison. <br/>The department he worked for supervised government water distribution to farmland in and around Abu Ghraib. His death brings the number of irrigation department employees killed in this city to three in the past three months, Mohammed Khudhair, a police investigator, said. <br/>“All these employees had nothing to do with politics or anti-militant activities, but instead were victims of the nature of their work, which has become a risky one,” he said. </p> <p><strong>Risk of local feuds </strong></p> <p>In Iraq’s rural areas, traditional tribes and clans hold much sway and often attract stronger loyalty from members than the national government. Clans have clashed in the past over land resources and water, but with the absence of a strong government since 2003 and the decline in water supplies in recent years, analysts say local water feuds are on the rise and risk becoming armed conflicts.</p> <div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <p>Government officials can’t control the regulation of irrigation and stop those who violate their regulations either because of corruption or because they fear for their lives. So we have to solve this issue ourselves.</p> </p></div> <p> </div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>“Today, we don’t have a fully functioning government as it is totally preoccupied by the security situation and political wrangling so we don’t have a strong role to deter any possible widespread conflict,” Karbala-based analyst Jaafar Moahmmed Ali said. “Besides, we have an acute shortage of water nationwide and a very bad economic situation that makes it very hard for farmers to do other work.” <br/>Tribal sheikh Ali Ismael al-Zubaidi from Diwaniya Governorate, about 200km south of Baghdad, said he had been having “tough negotiations” over water allocations with another tribe that lives upstream from his. <br/>“We have daily problems with water. They are siphoning water with huge electric water pumps and leave only drops for us,” al-Zubaidi said. “Government officials can’t control the regulation of irrigation and stop those who violate their regulations either because of corruption or because they fear for their lives. So we have to solve this issue ourselves.” <br/>Al-Zubaidi said he needed to hold more meetings with the upstream tribe to resolve the water dispute “but that doesn’t mean that we can wait a long time. We will act swiftly to secure the water we need for our land even if we have to take up weapons.” </p> <p><strong>Water-scarce nation </strong></p> <p>Historically, Iraq has been one of the more fertile nations in the region, thanks largely to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which flow southeasterly through the entire nation. There used to be a thick, green ribbon of fertile land snaking through the middle of the country, fed by the two rivers. <br/>However, in recent years water levels in the Euphrates and Tigris <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86222" class="external" target="_blank">have steadily fallen</a> due to below-average rainfall and the construction of dams on the rivers in neighbouring Turkey and Syria. <br/>In addition, the country’s agricultural sector has been paralysed by decades of war and insecurity, underinvestment and the unchecked felling of trees for firewood, which has increased <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85987" class="external" target="_blank">soil salinity</a> and caused desertification in some areas. Large tracts of once fertile agricultural land have been transformed into semi-arid desert and are causing an increasing number of sandstorms as soil-binding plants shrivel up. <br/>In response, the government has adopted measures to regulate the amount of water being used for irrigation in each province but has faced difficulties implementing them. <br/>“The farmers didn’t adhere to the water distribution regulations. We advise them to follow the regulations this year because we cannot guarantee the amount of water we’ll have,” Mahdi al-Qaisi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, told IRIN. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89586" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: Killing for water | Middle East | Iraq | Environment Conflict Water & Sanitation | News Item</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10614"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/19/19th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/#respond" title="Comment on 19th May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 19th, 2010 by Saba Ali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/19/19th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to 19th May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">19th May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-qaeda/" rel="tag">Al Qaeda</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/algeria/" rel="tag">Algeria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/analysis/" rel="tag">Analysis</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/autonomous-region/" rel="tag">autonomous region</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ceyhan/" rel="tag">ceyhan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/china/" rel="tag">China</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chinese-oil/" rel="tag">chinese oil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cnpc/" rel="tag">CNPC</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/collaborators/" rel="tag">collaborators</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/contingency-plans/" rel="tag">contingency plans</a>, <a 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rel="tag">foreign embassies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/history/" rel="tag">History</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ina/" rel="tag">INA</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-oil-companies/" rel="tag">international oil companies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-kurdistan/" rel="tag">Iraqi kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/krg/" rel="tag">KRG</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-regional-government/" rel="tag">kurdish regional government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurds/" rel="tag">kurds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/labour-market/" rel="tag">labour market</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ministry-of-finance/" rel="tag">ministry of finance</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil/" rel="tag">oil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil-exports/" rel="tag">oil exports</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil-ministry/" rel="tag">Oil Ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rehabilitation/" rel="tag">rehabilitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice/" rel="tag">rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/royal-dutch-shell/" rel="tag">Royal Dutch Shell</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanctions/" rel="tag">Sanctions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/society-and-economy/" rel="tag">Society And Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/southern-iraq/" rel="tag">southern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/summaries/" rel="tag">Summaries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/western-investment/" rel="tag">western investment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wfp/" rel="tag">WFP</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/world-food-programme/" rel="tag">World Food Programme</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua-reports/" rel="tag">xinhua reports</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>I have concentrated on social and economic issues in selecing articles from English language coverage of Irak. The UN via its World Food Programme hopes to kickstart the labour market as well as reduce food insecurity by running a cash-for-work programme. If the programme succeeds it will be expanded. As my colleague Diya al din reported on May 14th (<span dir="rtl" align="right"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/14/%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d8%ae%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%88%d9%85%d9%8a-%d9%84%d9%807-%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a-%d9%84%d8%a7/">دراسة: الدخل اليومي لـ7 ملايين عراقي لا يتجاوز الدولارين | Gorilla’s Guides</a> </span>) more than seven million people have to try to live on the equivalent of US$2 per day so such programmes are desperately needed.</p> <p>The National has a long article on the new airport in Erbil. The context of all of this is that the Kurdish Regional Government hope to use any revenues from this project as a boost to their arguments for increased autonomy eventually perhaps leading to independence.</p> <p>Xinhua reports on the agreement to allow Kurdish oil exports to resume. </p> <p>If you read nothing else read The National’s report  <em>"<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100519/BUSINESS/705199937/1005/rss" class="external" target="_blank">Chinese oil firms make friends abroad</a>" </em>on a day on which the USA has managed to get further sanctions on on Iran the paragraphs below are especially worth bearing in mind:</p> <blockquote><p>Until recently, China’s state-controlled oil companies have had limited success in gaining access to the region’s biggest oil and gas deposits, and to the rapidly expanding local markets for oil and gas.</p> <p>That is mainly because the national oil companies of major Gulf oil exporters were seeking access to technology only available from the West. The Chinese oil producers, however, were able to establish a beachhead in Iran, as the US-led sanctions against the country discouraged western investment.</p> </blockquote> <p>Finally I have included an article by Kirk W. Johnson on how as the US draws down it is stabbing its local collaborators in the back by leaving them to their own devices.</p> <blockquote><p>We know where this road leads. When British forces drew down from southern Iraq just two years ago, militias conducted a systematic manhunt for their former Iraqi employees.</p> </blockquote> <p>What Johnson, who is after all an American, fails to see is that it’s not only militias and <em>takfiri</em> groups who will be after these collaborators. There is universal loathing for them as traitrors who sided with a hated invader against their own country and their own people. When the Americans leave many of their collaborators’ survival prospects will be dismal indeed.</p> <p style="padding-bottom: 1em; border-bottom: gray 1px solid">Saba Ali</p> <h3 style="color: #800000">Society and Economy:</h3> <p><strong>UN agency kicks off first cash-for-work initiative in Iraq</strong><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>19 May 2010 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today launched a cash-for-work initiative to help poor Iraqis earn money to provide food for their families. </p> <p>“While there’s food in the shops, not everyone can afford it and nearly a million people still need food assistance and millions more depend on government aid,” WFP Country Director Edward Kallon said. </p> <p>“Cash-for-work projects are an innovative way to provide a much-needed influx of cash to poor communities who struggle to make ends meet and provide food for their families,” he added. “They are appropriate when food is readily available in the markets but out of their reach.” </p> <p>Participants in the programme will be paid the equivalent of $10 per day for a three-month period for carrying out tasks such as clearing and rehabilitation of sewage and irrigation canals, tree planting, rehabilitation of farmland and a sanitation campaign. </p> <p>While beneficiaries will initially be paid in cash on a weekly basis, WFP is exploring the possible use of electronic technology, such as smart cards, to facilitate payments and reduce security risks in future programmes. </p> <p>Some 1,400 households will be involved in the pilot project which will be carried out in the central Iraqi governorate of Diyala with the help of WFP’s partner organization, Mercy Corps. </p> <p>The cash-for-work project is part of the Diyala Initiative to provide assistance to facilitate the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and other vulnerable groups. </p> <p>That effort is being led by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the participation of several other UN and partner agencies.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34742&Cr=Iraq&Cr1=" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong> </p> </blockquote> <p> <strong>Airlines may put Erbil on the map – The National Newspaper</strong><strong>: </strong><br/> <blockquote> <p>ERBIL, IRAQ // The UAE Government hopes flydubai and Air Arabia will join Etihad Airways in flying to Iraqi Kurdistan this year as companies look to benefit from the region’s attempt to attract tourists. </p> <p><em>snip</em></p> <p>Built to handle 3 million passengers a year, the new terminal can handle wide-body Airbus A380s as well as other aircraft types and will offer the least expensive airline fuel in the world, he said. </p> <p><em>snip</em></p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100519/BUSINESS/705199959/1005/rss" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <p> <strong>Iraq approves agreement to resume Kurdish oil exports</strong><strong>: Xinhua</strong><br/> <blockquote> <p>BAGHDAD, May 19 (Xinhua) — The Iraqi government said it has approved an agreement that would allow the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern part of the country to resume oil exports, an Iraqi newspaper said on Wednesday. </p> <p>The agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) stated that the Ministry of Finance in Baghdad will pay the foreign oil firms operating in Iraqi Kurdish region their expenses, the al-Mashriq newspaper quoted government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh as saying. </p> <p>Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Kurds have independently signed nearly two dozen deals with western oil companies. Baghdad maintains the deals are illegitimate because they bypass the central government. </p> <p>In June 2009, the KRG started oil exports of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the oil fields of Taq Taq and Tawke in northern Iraq, but were suspended a few months later when the central government refused to pay the foreign firms and said the Kurds should pay from their share of the national budget. </p> <p>The latest agreement will pave the way for the KRG to resume oil exports through the national pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the paper said without setting a date for resuming the exports.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/19/c_13303988.htm" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a></strong><strong>: Xinhua</strong></p> </blockquote> <p> <strong>Iraq exports 53 million barrels of oil in April – People’s Daily Online</strong><strong>: </strong><br/> <blockquote> <p>Iraqi Oil Ministry said Tuesday it has exported 53 million barrels of oil in April, bringing in revenues of 4.222 billion U.S. dollars with an average price of 79. 66 dollars a barrel. </p> <p>A statement by the ministry obtained by Xinhua said that 42.7 million barrels were exported through the southern port of Basra, and 10.3 million barrels were exported via Turkey’s port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea. </p> <p>In March, the ministry said the country exported 57.1 million barrels of oil, gaining revenues of 4.351 billion dollars.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6989885.html" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <p> <strong>Chinese oil firms make friends abroad – The National Newspaper</strong><strong>: </strong><br/> <blockquote> <p>The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has acquired 35 per cent of the Syrian oil and gas unit of Royal Dutch Shell, which could help boost Chinese access to some of the world’s biggest oil reserves. </p> <p>The Syrian accord, which is worth an estimated US$1.5 billion (Dh5.51bn), in itself is unlikely to boost crude reserves significantly for either company. Instead, it may be aimed at strengthening ties between China’s biggest producer and international oil companies including Shell, as Beijing seeks to expand its presence throughout the Middle East. </p> <p>Yesterday’s deal would increase CNPC’s existing holdings in three oil and gas production licences covering 40 small fields. Last year, Syria Shell Petroleum Development pumped 23,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from those fields. </p> <p>“This is not a lot of oil and gas for a company like CNPC, which is producing about 2.5 million barrels a day,” Gordon Kwan, the head of energy research at Mirae Asset Securities in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg yesterday. </p> <p>“The agreement strengthens the partnership between Shell and CNPC,” the Chinese company said. </p> <p>Until recently, China’s state-controlled oil companies have had limited success in gaining access to the region’s biggest oil and gas deposits, and to the rapidly expanding local markets for oil and gas. </p> <p>That is mainly because the national oil companies of major Gulf oil exporters were seeking access to technology only available from the West. The Chinese oil producers, however, were able to establish a beachhead in Iran, as the US-led sanctions against the country discouraged western investment. </p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100519/BUSINESS/705199937/1005/rss" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> <p><strong></strong></p> <h3 style="color: #800000">Commentary and Analysis</h3> <p> <strong>Foreign Policy: Leaving Iraqi Employees Behind : NPR</strong><strong>: </strong><br/> <blockquote> <p>There are no serious contingency plans to evacuate the thousands of Iraqis who’ve worked for the United States and live alongside U.S. troops and civilian officials as interpreters, engineers, and advisors. When the U.S. military shutters its bases, these Iraqis will be cut loose to run the resettlement gauntlet, which typically takes a year or more. </p> <p>I recently came across a frightening document that outlines another group’s designs for the coming U.S. withdrawal. Published in Fallujah by the Islamic State of Iraq, the umbrella organization composed of numerous insurgent and terrorist groups (including al Qaeda in Iraq), the manual sets forth their "balanced military plan" in chilling simplicity: "1) nine bullets for the traitors and one for the crusader, 2) cleansing, and 3) targeting." They are practical: "This cannot be accomplished within one or two months, but requires continuous effort." Those who believe the group’s threats have been rendered hollow by the surge might reflect upon the scores of victims from its triple-suicide car bombing that targeted foreign embassies just weeks ago. This past Friday, upon a string of attacks that killed another hundred Iraqis, the group’s "minister of war" declared: "What is happening to you nowadays is just a drizzle." </p> <p>We know where this road leads. When British forces drew down from southern Iraq just two years ago, militias conducted a systematic manhunt for their former Iraqi employees. Seventeen interpreters were publicly executed in a single massacre; their bodies were dumped throughout the streets of Basra. This predictable churn of violence against those who "collaborated" with an occupying power has been repeated through history, from the tens of thousands of Algerian harkis who were slaughtered after the 1962 French withdrawal to the British loyalists hunted by American militias after the Revolutionary War. </p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126971991&ft=1&f=1057" class="external" target="_blank">read in full</a></strong><strong>: </strong></p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10350"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/04/4th-may-2010-selected-english-language-coverage/#respond" title="Comment on 4th-May-2010 Selected English Language Coverage">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 4th, 2010 by Hussein Kareem</div> <h3><a 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rel="tag">Sulaimaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniyah/" rel="tag">sulaimaniyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/summaries/" rel="tag">Summaries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syrian-border/" rel="tag">Syrian border</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/trauma/" rel="tag">trauma</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <h3 style="color: #800000">Human Rights</h3> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/france-germany-top-eu-asylum-table-as-requests-rise-to-260000_64389.html" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>France, Germany top EU asylum table as requests rise to 260,000 < French news | Expatica France</strong></a><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>Germany received the second largest amount of asylum claims in Europe, with more than 31,000, over 7,000 of whom were Iraqis. However it topped the table of positive decisions on those aslum applications, allowing in 9,765 to France’s 5,050.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=514506&ChannelId=4" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Lebanon: Calls for end to arbitrary deportation of refugees</strong></a><strong>:</strong></p> <blockquote><p>Lebanon must halt its practice of arbitrarily detaining and deporting refugees, a human rights organization said Monday.At least 14 refugees, mostly from Iraq, have been coerced into signing deportation orders since the beginning of 2010, said Berna Habib, secretary of the board at Frontiers Ruwad (FR). After unlimited periods of arbitrary detention in miserable prison conditions, the refugees are signing the orders “out of despair,” FR’s Habib told The Daily Star.Late last month, an Iraqi refugee was deported ahead of a court hearing which would have determined whether he could remain in Lebanon. Ali Faris, another recognized refugee from Iraq, was deported on March 31 through the Lebanon-Syrian border. A court hearing held after he left ruled against his expulsion, Habib said. “All deportation orders should be suspended and reviewed, meanwhile, refugees who are arbitrarily detained should be released immediately,” said Habib.At least 1,500 migrants have been detained since 2007, with half of those remaining in custody arbitrarily for months or years, she added. </p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_wires-navyseal_0504may04,0,7658734.story" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Judge refuses to drop charges facing Navy SEAL – dailypress.com</strong></a><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>The court-martial of a Navy SEAL accused of punching a suspected terrorist in Iraq opened Monday with the judge rejecting a defense motion to dismiss the case based on something Geraldo Rivera said on television.</p> <p>Attorneys for Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe of Perrysburg, Ohio, introduced a transcript of an April 22 broadcast in which Rivera told the Fox network’s Bill O’Reilly that someone close to the military official who ordered the court-martial told him the official was pressured by a higher authority not to drop the case.</p> <p><em>snip</em></p> <p>McCabe attorney Haytham Faraj said Monday that the Rivera report suggested "unlawful command influence," and he asked that the charges be dismissed <br/>The judge, Capt. Moria Modzelewski, dismissed the TV commentary as speculation and declined the defense request.</p> </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Health</h3> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g46-V90DS8j1vpyarmMkIkzYVz6QD9FFQV8O0" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqis try to heal mental scars after years of war: Google News</a></strong></p> <blockquote><p>Jabar Abdul-Zahra’s flashbacks are so vivid he can feel the asphalt against his cheek that night six years ago when he lay pinned to the ground between his two critically wounded brothers, the three of them caught in the crossfire as American troops and local militiamen fought in a Baghdad neighborhood.</p> <p>The memory of waiting till dawn for the fighting to subside so he could ferry them to hospital has overshadowed the grief he felt when one brother later died from his wounds.</p> <p>But the 43-year-old computer engineer didn’t understand what was causing the flashbacks, or the palpitations and sheer terror that still overcome him whenever he sees people in uniform.</p> <p>Until he happened to get a contract to hook up the computers at a new center being set up in the backyard of the Imam Ali Hospital. There he met psychiatrist Haitham Abdul-Razaq — and found out he was one of tens of thousands of Iraqis with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.</p> </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Politics and Security</h3> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/world/middleeast/04awakening.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Iraqi Sunnis Frustrated as Awakening Loses Clout – NYTimes.com</strong></a><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>FALLUJA, Iraq — Sheik Aiffan Saadoun al-Aiffan stepped across a scorched patch of farmland, raised his shotgun and fired once. A bird fell to the ground.</p> <p>“Shooting Qaeda,” he said, explaining how he had honed his accuracy, fighting alongside American forces. But those times of counterinsurgency, when tribal leaders like him switched sides in what became known as the Sunni Awakening, are giving way to the rise of a new political order in Iraq.</p> <p style="padding-bottom: 1em; border-bottom: gray 1px solid">The recent parliamentary elections were a serious blow to the Awakening, which has been regarded as not just a movement to pacify restive areas, but also as a potential political force to re-empower Sunnis.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2080586&Language=en" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>كونا : Iraqi electoral commission: Re-count results match previous results up to now – الشؤون السياسية – 04/05/2010</strong></a><strong>:</strong></p> <blockquote><p style="padding-bottom: 1em; border-bottom: gray 1px solid">BAGHDAD, May 4 (KUNA) — The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said the results of Monday and Tuesday’s recount of votes matched previous results up to now. <br/>Head of IHEC’s electoral department Hamdiya Al-Hussaini told KUNA here Tuesday that the results were the same, but more checking was still required. <br/>IHEC recounted on Monday votes of 600 out of Baghdad’s nearly 11,000 centers. <br/>On Tuesday, it would recount votes of 800 other centers. <br/>The Rule of Law Coalition said, Monday, it expects that the results of the recount would match previous results, if IHEC insists on ignoring the comparison of results with the voters records.(end)</p> </blockquote> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1553036.php/Two-dead-in-Iraq-violence-two-al-Qaeda-leaders-arrested-1st-Lead" class="external" target="_blank">Two dead in Iraq violence, two al-Qaeda leaders arrested</a></strong><strong>: Deutsche Presse Agentur</strong></p> <blockquote><p>Two civilians were killed and 14 injured in a attacks in Iraq on Tuesday, while police arrested two al-Qaeda leaders, security officials said. <br/>The officials said gunmen shot and killed a pharmacist working at al-Salam hospital in the northern city of Mosul.</p> <p>Meanwhile police detained alleged Saudi al-Qaeda leader Mohamed Mahmoud Salama in a raid in western Mosul, a security source told the German Press Agency dpa. <br/>The two sides exchanged fire during the raid, leaving two policemen injured. <br/>Salama is believed to have entered Iraq in 2004. He was arrested by security forces in 2006 but managed to escape.</p> <p>Security forces announced that the imam of a Sunni mosque in Mosul was shot and killed by unknown gunmen after evening prayers on Monday night.</p> <p>On Monday, an Iraqi security operation targeting the hideouts of al-Qaeda militants in the city of Baquba led to the arrest of 25 al- Qaeda members, including a prominent leader. ‘Among those arrested is the emir of Baquba, known as Haji Basem, who is involved in the deaths of 24 people and the displacement of 50 families in the area during the years of escalated sectarian violence, between 2005 and 2007,’ a security source said on Tuesday.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/04/c_13277981.htm" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Iraqi intelligence officer killed in Baghdad bombing</strong></a><strong>: Xinhua</strong></p> <blockquote><p>An intelligence officer affiliated to Iraqi Interior Ministry was killed and a government employee was wounded by two separate bomb explosions in their cars in Baghdad on Tuesday, the police said.</p> <p>Lieutenant Colonel Ali Hussein, head of intelligence service in northern Baghdad, was killed when a bomb planted in his car detonated in Baghdad’s northern district of Kadhmiyah, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.</p> <p>The attack took place in the morning when the officer was driving to work, the source said.</p> <div style="border-right: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: lightgrey 1px solid; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <p><strong>Editor’s note:</strong> The civil servant wounded in this bombing works  in the Prime minister’s office.</p> <p><em>Hussein Kareem</em></p> </p></div> <p>Meanwhile, another bomb attached to the car of an employee in the office of the Iraqi ministerial council detonated in the Qahtan Square in western Baghdad, wounding him and two civilians who were close to the scene, the source added.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/04/c_13277994.htm" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>13 wounded in car bombing in northern Iraq</strong></a><strong>: (Xinhua) </strong></p> <blockquote><p>A booby-trapped car parked in the dense populated neighborhood of al-Dawassa in central Mosul detonated in the morning, wounding 13 people and damaging several nearby buildings and civilian cars, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. <br/>The blast occurred at the same neighborhood where the governor of Nineveh Atheel al-Nujaifi lives, the source said, adding that the blast caused no casualty to Nujaifi and his house</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gQNZ-iDlwjFMX9HrXgX7-7y-RuGQD9FFRKL80" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>2 US soldiers in Iraq die in non-combat incidents</strong></a><strong>: Google News </strong></p> <blockquote><p style="padding-bottom: 1em; border-bottom: gray 1px solid">The U.S. military says two American soldiers have died in Iraq from injuries sustained in separate incidents unrelated to combat.</p> </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Society and Economy:</h3> <p>here</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.arabianbusiness.com/585058-muddying-the-waters" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Muddying the waters – Energy – ArabianBusiness.com</strong></a><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>Iraq’s oil minister has raised questions over the country’s planned energy expansion by indicating Baghdad would consider OPEC output curbs that may keep supply well short of ambitious capacity targets.</p> <p>After Baghdad signed contracts to add around ten million barrels per day (bpd) to its oil supply, tough talks were expected within the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on an eventual output target for Iraq.</p> <p style="padding-bottom: 1em; border-bottom: gray 1px solid">But Iraqi oil minister Hussain Al Shahristani seems to have jumped straight to the end game before even sitting down at the negotiating table with his fellow ministers.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/middle_east/view/201005042_more_mideast_airlines_have_iraq_on_their_radar/" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>2 more Mideast airlines have Iraq on their radar – BostonHerald.com</strong></a><strong>: </strong></p> <blockquote><p>Two fast-growing Middle Eastern airlines said Tuesday they are considering starting up services to Iraq, looking to join the growing fleet of carriers serving the war-scarred country.</p> <p>The chief executives of FlyDubai and Qatar Airways each said they are weighing expansions to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, including the Shiite holy city of Najaf and Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region.</p> <p>If the airlines go ahead, they will be joining a growing number of carriers — including Germany’s Lufthansa and Bahrain’s Gulf Air — entering the Iraqi market as security improves and business picks up.</p> <p>FlyDubai is also eyeing Sulaimaniyah in the north and Basra in the south, according to CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith. He told The Associated Press in an interview he is in talks with Iraqi and Emirati authorities to win approval for the routes.</p> </blockquote> <h3 style="color: #800000">Commentary and Analysis</h3> <p>here</p> <p>here</p> <p>here</p> <p> </p> <p>أخبار العراق</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-7275"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/09/03/iraq-driven-out-of-farming-by-a-salty-waterway/#respond" title="Comment on IRAQ: Driven out of farming by a salty waterway">No Comments</a></span> Posted on September 3rd, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/09/03/iraq-driven-out-of-farming-by-a-salty-waterway/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to IRAQ: Driven out of farming by a salty waterway">IRAQ: Driven out of farming by a salty waterway</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-al-khaisib/" rel="tag">Abu al-Khaisib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-decline-of/" rel="tag">Agriculture decline of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-doura/" rel="tag">al-Doura</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-karkha-river/" rel="tag">al-Karkha river</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-karoon-river/" rel="tag">al-Karoon river</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-siba/" rel="tag">al-Siba</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/doura/" rel="tag">Doura</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drought/" rel="tag">drought</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/early-warning/" rel="tag">Early Warning</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fao/" rel="tag">Fao</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farms/" rel="tag">farms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palm-trees/" rel="tag">palm trees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity/" rel="tag">salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shat-al-arab/" rel="tag">Shat al-Arab</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-crisis-iraq/" rel="tag">Water Crisis (Iraq)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, 3 September 2009 (<a title="IRIN" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85987" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – High levels of salinity in Iraq’s Shat al-Arab waterway, formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates in the southern province of Basra, have forced hundreds of families to abandon their once relatively fertile farms, local officials said on 2 September. </p> <p>"Salinity levels started to increase more than a year ago in the Shat al-Arab waterway due to low water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates and the changing course of the al-Karoon and al-Karkha rivers coming from Iran," Amer Salman, head of Basra Agriculture Directorate, told IRIN. </p> <p>"This has led to a fall in the fresh water flow rate, allowing salty Gulf water to pour in," Salman said. Towns and once greenish farmland adjacent to the Shat al-Arab for about 100km has been severely affected, he said. </p> <p>The most affected town is Fao, where at least 200 families (some 1,200 individuals) have left their land and sold their cattle, he said. Other affected towns are al-Doura, Abu al-Khaisib and al-Siba in southern Basra – renowned for their palm trees, fruits and henna orchards. </p> <p>"The salinity level has made it impossible to use the water for drinking and irrigation, animals and agriculture. This is a real and serious catastrophe and it will probably affect the down-town area of Basra soon," he said. </p> <p>IRIN was not able to access figures on drought and salinity-induced displacements in other towns. </p> <p>The head of Basra Provincial Council, Jabbar Amin, described the situation as an "environmental crisis" and declared the affected areas "disaster areas with no-life due to the displacement of humans and damage to agriculture". </p> <p>Amin said the Basra local authorities were trucking water in "but this doesn’t work as the problem is not only the drinking water but environmental and social issues."</p> <p>Falling water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates are <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85925 ">taking their toll on agriculture</a> in Iraq. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85987" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | Middle East | Iraq | IRAQ: Driven out of farming by a salty waterway | Environment | News Item</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-6994"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/07/25/drought-takes-toll-on-iraq-revival-efforts/#respond" title="Comment on Drought takes toll on Iraq revival efforts">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 25th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/07/25/drought-takes-toll-on-iraq-revival-efforts/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Drought takes toll on Iraq revival efforts">Drought takes toll on Iraq revival efforts</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-decline-of/" rel="tag">Agriculture decline of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/climate-change/" rel="tag">Climate Change</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drought/" rel="tag">drought</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/euphrates-river/" rel="tag">Euphrates river,</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-imports/" rel="tag">food imports</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ilisu-dam/" rel="tag">Ilisu Dam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/malaria/" rel="tag">Malaria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mustansiriya-university/" rel="tag">Mustansiriya University</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity/" rel="tag">salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sandstorms/" rel="tag">sandstorms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/soil-salinity/" rel="tag">soil salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/southern-iraq/" rel="tag">southern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-river/" rel="tag">Tigris River</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/typhoid/" rel="tag">Typhoid</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-committee/" rel="tag">water committee</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-contamination/" rel="tag">Water Contamination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-crisis-iraq/" rel="tag">Water Crisis (Iraq)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-resources/" rel="tag">water resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-scarcity/" rel="tag">water scarcity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortage/" rel="tag">water shortage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wheat/" rel="tag">wheat</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>YUSUFIYA, Iraq (<a title="Reuters" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE56N01Q20090724?rpc=401&=undefined&sp=true" class="external" target="_blank">Reuters</a>) – What was known as history’s fertile crescent, where lush farmland and abundant water gave rise to civilization, is today a dusty desert where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers crawl sluggishly toward the sea.</p> <p>Vast tracts of Iraqi farmland are cracked and barren, precious marshes have dried up and sandstorms blot out the sun.</p> <p>Even "Saddam River," the flagship drainage system Saddam Hussein launched in the 1980s to restore Iraq to its ancient agriculture glory, has turned into a sickly green stream flowing far below its high-water mark.</p> <p>Such are the symptoms of a worsening water shortage that threatens to undermine Iraq’s efforts to rebuild its economy after six years of war unleashed by the 2003 invasion.</p> <p>Water is such a precious commodity in the arid Middle East that many experts predict water wars in the future if a sustainable solution is not found.</p> <p>Tensions intensified earlier in the month when Turkey announced that it would resume work on its controversial plan to build a hydroelectric dam on the Tigris in its southeast.</p> <p>Citing cultural and environmental standards, European backers have pulled support for the Ilisu dam project, a temporary victory for Baghdad, but Ankara is determined to push ahead as it seeks to wean itself off energy imports.</p> <p>"This is not a new crisis for Iraq, but this time it’s more serious than ever before," said Amro Hashim, an economic expert at Baghdad’s Mustansiriya University.</p> <p>Iraqi politicians are quick to blame upstream neighbors Turkey, Iran and Syria for dams and increased usage, but experts say Iraq’s problems are also rooted in an exploding population, inefficient irrigation and few incentives to conserve water.</p> <p>"It’s everything going on at once. It’s the urbanization, it’s the climate change, short-term variability in climate, increased demand for food," said David Molden, deputy head of the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka.</p> <p>"Iraq is one place, but it’s not alone in the world … Yes you can always blame neighbors or climate change but ultimately we’ve got to change the way water is managed," he said.</p> <p>Iraq is now in the second year of a major drought, and last year’s use of reserves has made for the worst water shortage in a decade, U.S. officials in Baghdad say.</p> <h3>TROUBLED FARMERS</h3> <div style="border-right: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: lightgrey 1px solid; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <h5>Global Water Supply-Some key facts</h5> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5675TU20090708" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Water Scarcity</strong></a></p> <p>Water scarcity affects one in three people on every continent and is getting worse as water needs rise with population growth, urbanization and increased usage. Almost one-fifth of the world’s population (about 1.2 billion people) live in areas where water is scarce. One quarter of the population lives in developing countries that face shortages due to lack of infrastructure.  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5675TU20090708" class="external" target="_blank">Full Article</a></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5504UW20090601" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Water quality</strong></a></p> <p>Poor water quality can increase the risk of diarrhoeal diseases including cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery and other water-borne infections. Water scarcity can, according to the World Health Organization, lead to typhus, plague and trachoma, an eye infection that can cause blindness.   <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5504UW20090601" class="external" target="_blank">Full Article</a></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE53S52Z20090430" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Water contamination</strong></a></p> <p>Water scarcity encourages people to store water in their homes, which increases the risk of contamination and provides breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which carry dengue fever, malaria and other diseases. Effective water management reduces breeding sites for mosquitoes and also prevents the spread of water-borne infections such as schistosomiasis.  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE53S52Z20090430" class="external" target="_blank">Full Article</a></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN10405131" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Waste water for farming</strong></a></p> <p>A lack of water has increased the use of waste water for farming. More than 10 percent of the world’s people consume foods irrigated by waste water that may contain chemicals or disease-causing organisms.  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN10405131" class="external" target="_blank">Full Article</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN10405131" class="external" target="_blank">Full Article</a></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=105290" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>How much water is there?</strong></a></p> <p>There are 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water on the planet but almost 97 percent is salt water. Most freshwater is locked up in glaciers or deep underground, leaving only a fraction available for human use. Most experts believe there is still enough water to go round, but its distribution is uneven.  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=105290" class="external" target="_blank">Video</a></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL872169920090708" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Water distribution</strong></a></p> <p>Agriculture accounts for 66 percent of human water consumption, industry 20 percent, domestic households 10 percent, according to the World Water Council. About four percent evaporates from man-made reservoirs. Wealthy but water-scarce countries such as Saudi Arabia can afford expensive desalination projects, but poor ones cannot.  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL872169920090708" class="external" target="_blank">Full Article</a></p> </p></div> <p>Drought may bring one of the worst wheat crops in a decade, as low as 1.35 million tonnes or around half a normal crop, a dramatic reversal for a nation that was once a regional grains supplier but which now ranks among top world wheat importers.</p> <p>It’s not just a lack of water that has made Iraqi agriculture so anemic, says Salah Faisal, a farmer bracing himself for reduced harvest on his farm south of Baghdad.</p> <p>"In the 1980s it was war with Iran, in the 90s it was Kuwait and now it’s the Americans. There are 5-6 million martyrs and 70 percent of the people in the countryside have fled. What do you expect?" he asked, squinting beneath the scorching summer sun.</p> <p>Trouble for Iraq’s farm sector, the largest employer but dwarfed by oil in economic output, equals trouble for Iraq.</p> <p>Dependence on food imports, depopulation of the countryside and a fear that idle youth may be recruited as insurgents are factors behind a special initiative launched by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to revive the moribund farm industry.</p> <p>Yet results will be slow as officials nudge farmers to abandon practices such as flood irrigation, which over time has boosted soil salinity and helped make farmland less fertile.</p> <p>In the absence of proper drainage, Iraqi waterways are dangerously salty. The salinity level of water flowing into Iraq is 400 parts per million (ppm). When it reaches the Gulf, that has risen to 2,000 ppm, the Agriculture Ministry says.</p> <p>That compares to around 1,000 ppm in the United States’ Colorado river at its outfall, Molden said. "Most crops, except the most salt tolerant crops, will drop in productivity from their potential when irrigated with this water."</p> <p>In Baghdad, mud banks sprouting fields of reeds now rise out of the slow-moving Tigris, a far cry from 20 years ago when schoolchildren took a swim in its swift currents at their peril.</p> <p>Chronic shortages threaten drinking water supplies and sanitation and exacerbate public health problems.</p> <p>Complaining of government inaction, lawmakers voted recently to block any deals with Iran, Syria or Turkey that do not grant Iraq a greater share of water. It was a largely symbolic move, but one that spoke of deep political disaffection.</p> <p>"The government doesn’t have political will," said Jamal al-Bateekh, a member of parliament’s water committee. "It needs to leverage its ties with the United States to pressure Turkey."</p> <p>Attempts to force the government’s hand could undermine Maliki’s efforts to improve fragile relations with Turkey, a key trading partner which has often been at odds with Baghdad over Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.</p> <p>There are growing complaints from Iraqi officials like Oun Thiab Abdullah, Iraq’s water resources director, who doubts Turkish promises to guarantee a minimum of 400 cubic meters of water a second at the point where the Euphrates leaves Turkey and enters Syria before crossing into Iraq.</p> <p>Abdullah said the river’s water flow at that entry point had dropped in early July as low as 289 cubic meters a second.</p> <p>"We are giving 515 cubic meters to Syria per second on average. This figure is consistent with our obligations," Taner Yildiz, Turkey’s energy minister, said last week.</p> <h3>SALINITY</h3> <p>In a bid to reverse soil salinity and improve farm yields, the United States has spent at least $130 million to repair and extend the farmland drainage canal made famous under Saddam.</p> <p>It rehabilitated a drainage pump station in southern Iraq, the Middle East’s largest, that will send runoff farm water out to sea and, if managed properly, over time leach salt from soil.</p> <p>Much more must be done to promote conservation in a country where farmers do not pay for water and many people in the capital go years without getting a single water bill.</p> <p>A U.S. official in Baghdad, who requested anonymity, said the government must also embrace conservation as a priority.</p> <p>"Should they start a policy of some of a market-oriented water management system where they charge for water? Probably, but it’s not politically acceptable," the official said.</p> <p>Improved methods such as drip irrigation are costly and require equipment and training most farmers don’t now have.</p> <p>"If we plant it, it dies off because there’s not enough water and too much salt," said Abdul al-Salam Haider, who used to grow apricots, oranges and other fruit on his farm in southern Iraq. Now he doesn’t even try.</p> <p>"Iraq, because of its environment, is seeing these problems now, but a lot of other places on earth will see them in the future," Molden said. That is why, he said, "we’ve got to take a stand to figure it out in places like Iraq."</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE56N01Q20090724?rpc=401&=undefined&sp=true" class="external" target="_blank">Drought takes toll on Iraq revival efforts | Green Business | Reuters</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-6786"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/07/07/farmhouses_in_the_hills_sulayminiyah/#respond" title="Comment on Farmhouses in the hills – Sulayminiyah">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 7th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/07/07/farmhouses_in_the_hills_sulayminiyah/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Farmhouses in the hills – Sulayminiyah">Farmhouses in the hills – Sulayminiyah</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/photos/" title="View all posts in Photos" rel="category tag">Photos</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farms/" rel="tag">farms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-kurdistan/" rel="tag">Iraqi kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/photo/" rel="tag">Photo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/photos/" rel="tag">Photos</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaymaniyah/" rel="tag">Sulaymaniyah</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px"> <p><span style="margin-top: 0px; font-size: 0.9em">Follow this link <a title="farmhouses in the hills of Sulayminiyah" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/3698223943/sizes/o/" target="_blank" class="external">farmhouses in the hills of Sulayminiyah</a> or click the photo below to see full size: </p> <p><a title="farmhouses_in_the_hills_sulayminiyah by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/3698223943/sizes/o/" target="_blank" class="external"><img height="412" alt="farmhouses_in_the_hills_sulayminiyah" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917im_/http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/3698223943_4811116743_o.jpg" width="550"/></a> <br/></span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/3698223943/sizes/o/" class="external" target="_blank">farmhouses_in_the_hills_sulayminiyah</a> Originally uploaded by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://www.flickr.com/people/27086036@N02/" class="external" target="_blank">Gorillas Guides</a> to flickr. </p> </p></div> <p> <br clear="all"/></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-6073"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/05/07/iraqi-farmers-desert-land-amid-agriculture-deterioration/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi farmers desert land amid agriculture deterioration">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 7th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/05/07/iraqi-farmers-desert-land-amid-agriculture-deterioration/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi farmers desert land amid agriculture deterioration">Iraqi farmers desert land amid agriculture deterioration</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/early-warning/" title="View all posts in Early Warning" rel="category tag">Early Warning</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-community/" rel="tag">agriculture community</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ali-khalaf/" rel="tag">Ali Khalaf</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/destitution/" rel="tag">destitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economic-disruption/" rel="tag">Economic disruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economic-stability/" rel="tag">economic stability</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/euphrates-river/" rel="tag">Euphrates river,</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/family-survival/" rel="tag">family survival</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmlands/" rel="tag">farmlands</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-commodities/" rel="tag">food commodities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-sanctions/" rel="tag">international sanctions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice/" rel="tag">rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salahudin/" rel="tag">Salahudin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinization/" rel="tag">salinization</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanctions/" rel="tag">Sanctions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/subsidies/" rel="tag">Subsidies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tarmiya/" rel="tag">Tarmiya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-river/" rel="tag">Tigris River</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vegetables/" rel="tag">vegetables</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortage/" rel="tag">water shortage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua-reports/" rel="tag">xinhua reports</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, May 6 (<a title="Xinhua" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/07/content_11325913.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Xinhua</a>) — Necessity may be a possible justification for leaving farmlands of their ancestors because income from farming is no longer sufficient for family survival. </p> <p>With these words, Abdullah Hassan, an Iraqi farmer from Salahudin province, airs his concern about a deteriorating agriculture in the war-torn country. </p> <p>"According to our culture, there is nothing more difficult for a farmer or a peasant to leave his own land to work as a wage earner in another place," Hassan told Xinhua. </p> <p>Hassan, among a large number of Iraqi farmers, left their farmland and now works as an employee in the city together with one of his brothers. His three other brothers are now a soldier, a policeman and a truck driver. </p> <p>"We are no longer getting benefits from our rural areas because of the high costs of the agricultural productions which rose insanely and there is no support from the government," Hassan said while puffing a sigh of sorrow towards the ground. </p> <p>After years of war, international sanctions and the U.S.-led invasion that plunged Iraq even further to destitution, its agriculture sector, which flourished in the ancient history on the fertile lands between two great rivers — Euphrates and Tigris — has hardly anything left, but widespread despair among farmers. </p> <p>Hassan believes that the agriculture sector in Iraq is on its way to an abyss if the government does not take swift and drastic measures to revitalize it socially and financially. </p> <p>"Iraq badly needs to share the latest techniques with the agriculture community to establish economic stability," he said. </p> <p>Water shortage, high levels of salinization and desertification are affecting the once glorious agriculture sector in a country which currently imports almost 3 billion U.S. dollars of food commodities annually, according to officials of the agriculture and water resources ministries. </p> <p>Iraqi marketplaces are replete with fruit, vegetables and seeds imported in low prices especially from neighboring countries like Syria and Iran, a sign reflecting the agriculture deterioration and the consequent farmers immigration to cities. </p> <p>Decades ago, Iraq was a major agricultural exporter, but after the eight-year Iraq-Iran war that started in September 1980 in addition to years of sanctions during the former regime of Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s agriculture sector has somewhat paralyzed for the lack of functioning agricultural machinery. </p> <p>"The agriculture sector covered Iraq’s needs of food for decades and exported the surplus of it to other countries," said Ali Khalaf, a farmer from the rural city of Tarmiya, some 40 km north of Baghdad. </p> <p>"In the past, Iraqi farmers were depending on the government institutions in getting seeds, chemical fertilizer and even the agriculture vehicles in supported prices, but nowadays, without government support, farmers can not afford the expensive equipment," Khalaf said. </p> <p>Hassan urged the Iraqi agriculture ministry to take significant steps to advance the agriculture sector, including granting farmers long and short-term debts to help them improve productivity. </p> <p>They also need subsidies for seeds, high quality chemical fertilizers and agriculture equipment, Hassan said. </p> <p>An agriculture committee in the Iraqi parliament has demanded government support the agricultural sector by providing farmers with debts and irrigation system in an effort to revive the long dilapidated agriculture industry. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516215917/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/07/content_11325913.htm" 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