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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/04/xinhua-iraqi-public-differ-over-planned-u-s-pullout/#respond" title="Comment on Xinhua: Iraqi public differ over planned U.S. pullout">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 4th, 2011 by Haleema Al-Azzawi</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/04/xinhua-iraqi-public-differ-over-planned-u-s-pullout/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Xinhua: Iraqi public differ over planned U.S. pullout">Xinhua: Iraqi public differ over planned U.S. pullout</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/anbar/" rel="tag">Anbar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/autonomous-region/" rel="tag">autonomous region</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombings/" rel="tag">Bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-squads/" rel="tag">Death Squads</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/domestic-security/" rel="tag">domestic security</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/extremists/" rel="tag">Extremists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/logistics/" rel="tag">Logistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militia/" rel="tag">Militia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/national/" rel="tag">national</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua-reports/" rel="tag">xinhua reports</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="text-align: left; unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr"> <p>Little less than six months away from a scheduled U.S. troops’ withdrawal, Iraqi public cannot wait to see the occupiers leave and their national sovereignty restored. Yet unwillingly they expect a continued U.S. presence as few believe the Americans will leave such a deeply-invested and strategically-important place. </p> <p>For Iraqis, the debate on U.S. troops’ departure is intertwined with national dignity, security uncertainty and wariness of its coveting neighbors. Some doubt Iraqi security forces have the capability to curb insurgents and defend the country on their own while others fear a residual American force could sanction continued violence by militias. </p> <p>Quite a few worry neighboring countries will swoop in and exploit the vacuum left by the U.S. whereas a considerable number think the U.S. will manipulate the fragile government behind scenes even if they draw down their troops. </p> <h3>"DON’T EVER THINK U.S. WILL LEAVE EASILY" </h3> </p></div> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/04/xinhua-iraqi-public-differ-over-planned-u-s-pullout/#more-13618" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12873"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/28/violence-hits-education/#respond" title="Comment on Violence hits education">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 28th, 2011 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/28/violence-hits-education/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Violence hits education">Violence hits education</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amil/" rel="tag">Amil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armed-conflict/" rel="tag">armed conflict</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/budget/" rel="tag">Budget</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cairo/" rel="tag">Cairo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/child-labour/" rel="tag">child labour</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/demonstrations/" rel="tag">Demonstrations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/lebanon/" rel="tag">Lebanon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/millennium-development-goals/" rel="tag">millennium development goals</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/photos/" rel="tag">Photos</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/port-said/" rel="tag">Port Said</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-children/" rel="tag">refugee children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/schoolchildren/" rel="tag">schoolchildren</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/students/" rel="tag">Students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sudan/" rel="tag">Sudan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unesco-report/" rel="tag">unesco report</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>NAIROBI, 3 March 2011 (IRIN) – Several Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Yemen are unlikely to achieve the education-for-all Millennium Development Goals by 2015 because of insecurity and conflict, according to a new report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). </p> <p> <a title="20110328_yemen_school_caption by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5568168739/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="border-right: silver 1px solid; border-top: silver 1px solid; display: inline; float: left; margin: 3px 10px 5px 0px; border-left: silver 1px solid; border-bottom: silver 1px solid" height="326" alt="20110328_yemen_school_caption" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5063/5568168739_658b6e1305_o.jpg" width="350" align="left"/></a> <p>The education-for-all goals were endorsed by more than 160 countries in 2000. But according to Kevin Watkins, director of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/reports/2011-conflict" class="external" target="_blank">UNESCO’s 2011 Global Monitoring Report</a>, children and education are not just getting caught in the cross-fire, they are increasingly the targets of violent conflict. </p> <p>"The failure of governments to protect human rights is causing children deep harm – and taking away their only chance of an education," he said. </p> <p>The UNESCO report, entitled The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education, says 35 countries were affected by armed conflict between 1999 and 2008, several in the Middle East. “Children and schools are on the front line of these conflicts, with classrooms, teachers and pupils seen as legitimate targets,” it noted. </p> <h3>Egypt </h3> <p>Recent demonstrations and clashes in Egypt led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, but also closed many schools. In mid-February, half-term was extended for two weeks. Schools in only seven of the country’s 29 governorates reopened after the recess, according to sources in Cairo. </p> <p>The Interior Ministry deployed police outside schools to beef up security and encourage a return to school, but thousands of parents still preferred to keep their children at home. </p> <p>“A deteriorating security situation hinders the opening of the schools and this affects the whole educational process,” Fathi al-Sharqawi, a professor of educational psychology at Cairo’s Ain Shams University, told IRIN. “Teachers will have to skip some parts of the curricula after the students go back to their classrooms, which will also affect these students’ learning badly.” </p> <p>Hundreds of parents have complained that their children are attacked by thugs on their way to school, according to human rights groups. The Egyptian Centre for Human Rights, for example, said some parents complain that criminals use weapons to grab money from children. </p> <p>Manal Abdul Aziz, an Egyptian journalist who opted for home-based tuition for her two children, told IRIN in Cairo: “There is total obscurity about the future of this academic year.” The cost of hiring five teachers for her two children (aged 12 and 15) is the equivalent of US$169 a month – a significant sum for most families. </p> <h3>Iraq</h3> <p><strong></strong>Decades of war in Iraq, UN sanctions, poor security and the economic situation have adversely affected education and increased illiteracy levels. According to data produced by the government and UNESCO in September, at least five million of Iraq’s almost 30 million people are illiterate. Of these, 14 percent are school-age children who left school to feed their families, are displaced or have no access to suitable schooling. </p> <p>Ahmed Khalid Jaafar, 14, told IRIN in Baghdad that he left school after his father died in an explosion three years ago, and sought work on the streets to feed his mother and two younger daughters. </p> <p>"I sell gum and my mother works is a seamstress," said Jaafar. "We make 200,000-300,000 dinars (US$160-250) a month. We spend that money on the most important things, mainly food. School is not important now." Jaafar and his family squat in an abandoned government building. </p> <p>The September data show that adult illiteracy in Iraq is now one of the highest in the Arab region. In rural areas, almost 30 percent of the population are unable to read or write. Significant gender disparities exist, with 40 percent of the illiterate being women. </p> <h3>Other countries </h3> <p>Bahrain is on track to achieve the goal of halving illiteracy levels by 2015, but countries like Iraq, Mauritania and Sudan are off track. "The recent experiences of Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait and Yemen show that literacy policy can be effective: all four countries have increased their adult literacy rates by at least 20 percentage points in the past 15-20 years," the UNESCO report said. </p> <p>In Yemen, a reallocation of 10 percent of the military budget to education would put an additional 840,000 children in school. In the north, 220 schools were destroyed, damaged or looted during fighting in 2009 and 2010 between government and rebel forces, according to the report. "In Yemen, many internally displaced children complement family income by begging, smuggling or collecting refuse, and there are concerns that child labour is increasing." </p> <p>In Syria, attendance rates in pre-school programmes varied from less than 4 percent for children in the poorest households, to just above 18 percent for wealthy households. </p> <h3>In harm’s way </h3> <p>According to the report, armed conflict places children directly in harm’s way. Some get killed while others are exploited as soldiers or forced to flee their homes and become refugees. </p> <p>“Children subject to the trauma, insecurity and displacement that come with armed conflict are unlikely to achieve their potential for learning,” it said. All too often, armed groups see the destruction of schools and the targeting of schoolchildren and teachers as a legitimate military strategy. </p> <p>In conflict situations, children fear to go to school, teachers to give classes and parents to send their children to school. According to UNESCO, in such situations, children suffer psychological trauma, as well as loss of parents, siblings and friends. One survey of Iraqi refugee children in Jordan found that 39 percent reported having lost someone close to them, and 43 percent witnessed violence. </p> <p>“Armed conflict remains a major roadblock to human development in many parts of the world, yet its impact on education is widely neglected,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. “This groundbreaking report documents the scale of this hidden crisis, identifies its root causes and offers solid proposals for change.” </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92091" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | MIDDLE EAST: Violence hits education | Egypt | Iraq | Lebanon | Oman | OPT | Syria | Yemen | Children | Conflict | Education</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12863"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/27/way-of-life-in-danger-as-iraq-fisherman-quit-sea/#respond" title="Comment on Way of life in danger as Iraq fisherman quit sea">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 27th, 2011 by Suheila Jamil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/27/way-of-life-in-danger-as-iraq-fisherman-quit-sea/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Way of life in danger as Iraq fisherman quit sea">Way of life in danger as Iraq fisherman quit sea</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fao/" rel="tag">Fao</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/faw/" rel="tag">Faw</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fishermen/" rel="tag">fishermen</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fishing-industry/" rel="tag">fishing industry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fishing-industry-decline-of/" rel="tag">fishing industry -decline of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraki-kuwaiti-relations/" rel="tag">Iraki / Kuwaiti relations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran-iraq-war/" rel="tag">Iran-Iraq War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qurnah/" rel="tag">Qurnah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shat-al-arab/" rel="tag">Shat al-Arab</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/war-with-kuwait/" rel="tag">War with Kuwait</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote><p>Since time immemorial, villagers on Iraq’s Faw peninsula have fished the waters where the Tigris and Euphrates reach the Gulf. But today, they say violent sea border disputes are forcing them off their boats.</p> <p>The town of Faw near Iraq’s coast has around 40,000 inhabitants, most of them fishermen and their families. Town officials say hundreds of families have left in search of other work, leaving the port in danger of becoming a ghost town.</p> <p>Fishermen complain of rises in the cost of fuel and oil shortages. But mostly they worry about confrontation with Iranian and Kuwaiti coast guards.</p> <p>"They jabbed one of our guys with a knife and bound him with ropes and dunked him in and out of the water like torture. His only crime was that he was a fisherman," said Issa Abdul-Wahid, 43, describing a recent incident with a Kuwaiti patrol.</p> <p>"They tell us ‘You do not have waters. Your borders are the mud.’ But these are our waters," he said.</p> <p>Once the owner of his own boat, Abdul-Wahid said Kuwaitis confiscated his vessel and held it for six months before returning it stripped of equipment. Too poor to refurbish it, he has been reduced to working as a labourer on other men’s boats.</p> <p>"We have no other livelihood but fishing, but our suffering is huge… I have a family to feed. What have we done to deserve this, a government that can’t protect us?"</p> <p>Ali Al-Kanaani, head of the Faw city council, said there were once 2,000 fishing boats operating from the town, but now there are just 400-500. Each boat has a pilot and 10 crew. With each fisherman usually supporting a large family, 100 people could depend for their livelihoods on a single boat.</p> <p>Iraq has only narrowest access to the sea. Its Faw peninsula is surrounded by a 50km stretch of sea coast facing Kuwait on one side, and by the wide Shatt al-Arab waterway overlooking the marshes of southern Iran on the other.</p> <p>The Shatt al-Arab is formed where the Tigris and the Euphrates merge at Qurna, a town some believe to be the site of the biblical Garden of Eden. It runs 184km to the Gulf. An invisible line down much of its length serves as the border between Iran and Iraq.</p> <p>Control of the waterway was one of the main reasons for the costly and bitter war between Iran and Iraq that lasted through most of the 1980s. The boundary dispute is still not settled.</p> <p>Kuwait and Iraq have also yet to define a sea border in settlement talks since Iraq’s 1990 invasion. Many at the docks say Iraqis are viewed with hostility by Iranians and Kuwaitis still bitter over Iraq’s wars against them.</p> <p>In January, a Kuwaiti coastguard was killed and five Iraqi fishermen were wounded in a shootout with Iraqi sailors. Kuwait says the clash erupted when an Iraqi boat entered Kuwaiti waters and refused orders from a coast guard patrol to stop.</p> <p>Faw’s mayor said the incident took place in Iraqi waters.</p> <p>In December 2010, Iranian coast guards detained 12 Iraqi fishermen who they say illegally entered Iran’s waters. Three of them were later freed.</p> <p>Like his father and grandfather before him, Khalef Yousif became a fisherman in his teens, learning the old techniques of casting a net from an metal-hulled boat, hauling in catches of silver pomfret, grouper and shrimp.</p> <p>After nearly two decades at sea, he abandoned the life a year and a half ago and moved with his wife and three children from the port of Faw to a small plot 90km north.</p> <p>He has become a farmer, planting cucumbers and tomatoes on land he was able to buy for a pittance because so many other families are moving out of the area, even further north.</p> <p>"The fishing business is not good anymore. Kuwaitis were harassing us wherever we go," he said, sitting near his shack.</p> <p>Waleed al-Sharifi, Faw’s mayor, said the entire fishing industry may soon vanish altogether. Once, fishermen were protected by Iraq’s navy, but the force has yet to be fully rebuilt since the US invasion in 2003.</p> <p>"Unfortunately the Iraqi officials always put the blame on the Iraqi fishermen," he said. "The fishing career is threatened with extinction for many reasons. I would say if the situation stays as it is, the career will become extinct and without it, Faw will be empty of people." </p> </blockquote> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.arabianbusiness.com/way-of-life-in-danger-as-iraq-fisherman-quit-sea-390077.html" class="external" target="_blank">Way of life in danger as Iraq fisherman quit sea – Culture & Society – ArabianBusiness.com</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11826"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/11/30/iraq-civilians-still-suffering-undue-hardship/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq: civilians still suffering undue hardship">No Comments</a></span> Posted on November 30th, 2010 by Abdus-Samad</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/11/30/iraq-civilians-still-suffering-undue-hardship/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraq: civilians still suffering undue hardship">Iraq: civilians still suffering undue hardship</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/health-crisis-iraq/" title="View all posts in Health" rel="category tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/1990-1991-gulf-war/" rel="tag">1990-1991 Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amil/" rel="tag">Amil</a>, <a 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rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sheep/" rel="tag">sheep</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/situation-in-iraq/" rel="tag">situation in iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/students/" rel="tag">Students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniya/" rel="tag">Sulaimaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tarmiya/" rel="tag">Tarmiya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tarmiyah/" rel="tag">Tarmiyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tripartite-commission/" rel="tag">Tripartite Commission</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d9%85%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">مدينة الصدر‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vice/" rel="tag">Vice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-purification/" rel="tag">water purification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortage/" rel="tag">water shortage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortages/" rel="tag">Water Shortages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supply/" rel="tag">water supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wheat/" rel="tag">wheat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-and-children/" rel="tag">Women and Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%ac%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a8-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%87%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%b1/" rel="tag">جمعية الصليب والهلال الاحمر</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>The persistent lack of security is hampering efforts to provide essential services for civilians. The ICRC is doing its utmost to help meet the most pressing needs. This is an update on these and other <span style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/home!Open" target="_blank" class="external">ICRC</a> 30-11-2010 <a title="Operational Update" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/2010/irak-update-2010-11-30.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Operational Update</a></strong> </span>ICRC activities carried out in Iraq in September and October.</p> <p>Despite improvements in the security situation achieved over the years in many parts of Iraq, ongoing violence continues to claim the lives of hundreds of men, women and children every month, and to have a serious impact on the lives of many more.</p> <p>Over the past year, the lives of many Iraqi civilians have not changed for the better. Civilians continue to carry the heaviest burden amid the widespread violence. They are still the main victims of the indiscriminate attacks and mass explosions that have taken place in cities such as Baghdad, Ninewa, Diyala, Anbar, Najaf, Kerbala and Basra, and that have left, on average, hundreds of people wounded or dead each month this year.</p> <p>"Indiscriminate attacks against civilians inflict tremendous suffering. They are clearly unacceptable. They are contrary to international humanitarian law and to the most basic principles of humanity," said Magne Barth, head of the ICRC delegation in Iraq. "Civilians must be protected against violence, as must be medical personnel and facilities".</p> <p>The humanitarian situation in Iraq remains serious. Iraqis are filled with anxiety and uncertainty about what the future holds. Vulnerable people, such as women heading households, disabled people and detainees, continue to depend to some extent on outside help to meet basic needs.</p> <p>The persistent lack of security and wanton violence have had a considerable effect on the feasibility of providing essential services for the population. The ICRC is doing its utmost to help meet the most pressing needs, especially in rural areas and in the places hardest hit by the conflict and other violence. ICRC activities aim primarily at ensuring that people have access to adequate health, water and sanitation services, and at helping the destitute and other needy people.</p> <p>Visits to detainees held under Iraqi, Kurdistan Regional Government and USF-I authority remain a priority for the ICRC. "Ensuring that detainees are treated humanely and are held in conditions that respect their dignity has been our constant concern since we started working in Iraq 30 years ago," said Mr Barth.</p> <p>The ICRC continues to speak out about the plight of conflict victims in Iraq. It does so in dialogue with as many parties as possible that can influence the situation on the ground. Its aim is to bring about greater respect for civilians and detainees, and to ensure that unimpeded access is granted for humanitarian action to help the people in greatest need throughout the country.</p> <p>"The role of the ICRC, as an impartial humanitarian organization, is crucial to efforts to protect civilians from harm and to ensure that detainees are properly treated and held in decent conditions," said Mr Barth.</p> <p>In September and October 2010, in response to the unstable and often changing security environment, the ICRC made further adjustments to its working procedures so that it could continue to provide services to those who need them most.</p> <h4><b>Bringing aid to vulnerable people</b></h4> <p>The ICRC has maintained its support for people facing special difficulties earning a living and supporting their families, such as women heading households and people with disabilities. In September and October:</p> <ul> <li>hygiene kits and food parcels were provided for more than 5,600 people in the governorate of Mosul; </li> <li>emergency aid was provided for more than 170 displaced people in Sulaimaniya governorate; </li> <li>95 grants were made in Kirkuk, Ninewa, Dohuk, Sulaimaniya and Erbil governorates to enable disabled people to start small businesses and regain economic self-sufficiency. Around 700 disabled people have received such aid since 2008; </li> <li>the livestock of 731 needy farmers in the Kifri district of Diyala governorate were vaccinated; </li> <li>around 950 metric tonnes of wheat seed were delivered to some 3,800 farmers in the governorates of Diyala, Anbar, Salahadin, Baghdad and Babil to help them restore their food production; </li> <li>50 kilometres of irrigation canals serving over 7,000 people were cleaned and renovated in the Khalis and Kifri districts of Diyala governorate; </li> <li>600 sheep and 38 metric tonnes of fodder were distributed to 200 farmers in the Baaj district of Ninewa governorate. </li> </ul> <h4>Assisting hospitals and physical rehabilitation centres</h4> <p>In some rural and conflict-prone areas, health-care services are still struggling to meet the needs of the civilian population. The ICRC continues to help renovate the premises of health-care facilities and train staff. Limb-fitting and physical rehabilitation services are provided by the ICRC to help disabled people reintegrate into the community. In September and October:</p> <ul> <li>10 doctors and 28 nurses successfully took part in a course intended to strengthen emergency services given in Al Sadr Teaching Hospital in Najaf; </li> <li>273 new patients were fitted with prostheses and 1,148 new patients with orthoses at 10 ICRC-supported centres throughout Iraq. </li> </ul> <h4>Providing clean water and sanitation</h4> <p>Access to clean water remains difficult in much of Iraq. ICRC engineers continue to repair and upgrade water, electrical and sanitary facilities, especially in places where violence remains a concern and in rural areas, to improve the quality of services provided in communities and health-care facilities. In September and October, these activities included:</p> <h5>Emergency assistance:</h5> <p>The ICRC delivered water by truck:</p> <p>● in Zharawa district, Sadr City, Husseinia and Maamal to 6,384 internally displaced people; <br/>● to the 385-bed Al Imam Ali General Hospital; <br/>● to the 400-bed Al Kindy General Hospital in Baghdad, which was struggling to cope with summer water shortages.</p> <h5>Support for health-care facilities:</h5> <p>The ICRC completed work upgrading: <br/>● Tarmiyah General Hospital, which serves between 250 and 300 outpatients daily, in Baghdad governorate; <br/>● Tamour primary health-care centre, which serves 50 patients per day, in Kirkuk governorate.</p> <h5>Water supply in hospitals:</h5> <ul> <li>The ICRC completed the installation of drinking-water purification units in Baquba General Hospital, Muqdadiya General Hospital, Baladrooz General Hospital and Al Zahraa Maternity Hospital, with an overall capacity of 600 beds, in Diyala governorate. </li> </ul> <h5>Drinking-water supply:</h5> <ul> <li>Five main projects benefiting around 725,000 people were completed throughout the country. </li> </ul> <h4><b>Visiting detainees</b></h4> <p>ICRC delegates visit detainees in order to monitor the conditions in which they are being held and the treatment they receive. In all cases, the ICRC shares its findings and recommendations confidentially with the detaining authorities, with the aim of obtaining improvements where necessary.</p> <p>In September and October, the ICRC visited detainees held by the correctional service of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence and various Kurdish Regional Government authorities in places of detention in Basra, Thi Qar/Nasiriya, Baghdad, Babil, Kirkuk, Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniya governorates.</p> <p>In some of these places, to help the detaining authority improve conditions of detention, the ICRC gave detainees mattresses, blankets and recreational items such as books and games.</p> <p>The ICRC makes a special effort to restore and maintain ties between detainees and their families. In September and October, over 1,000 Red Cross messages were exchanged between detainees and their families in Iraq and abroad. The ICRC also responded to around 800 enquiries from families seeking information on detained relatives. In addition, it issued 249 certificates of detention to former detainees. The ICRC facilitated the voluntary repatriation of two released detainees, and issued two travel documents to refugees to enable them to resettle abroad.</p> <h4><b>Clarifying what happened to missing people</b></h4> <p>In its role as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC continues to chair the mechanisms set up to address the cases of people who went missing in connection with the 1990-1991 Gulf War. At the 67th session of the Technical Sub-Committee of the Tripartite Commission, held on 28 September in Kuwait, the members of the sub-committee reaffirmed their commitment to accounting for people who went missing in connection with the war. At the sub-committee’s next meeting, which will take place in Kuwait in November, preparations will be made for a joint field mission to the south of Iraq to check on suspected burial sites.</p> <p>On 27 and 28 October, representatives of Iran and Iraq held a high-level meeting in Geneva under ICRC auspices with the aim of determining what happened to people missing in connection with the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. The meeting was the first of its kind following the signature in October 2008 of a memorandum of understanding between Iran, Iraq and the ICRC aimed at expediting the search for information on people previously registered as, or presumed to be, prisoners of war and on others who have gone missing, and at identifying mortal remains.</p> <p>Relieving the suffering of the families of missing persons by clarifying what happened to their loved ones is one of the ICRC’s priorities. The ICRC continues to provide the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights and Baghdad’s Medical-Legal Institute with the technical support they require to exchange information and build up their capacity in the area of forensics.</p> <h4><b>Promoting international humanitarian law</b></h4> <p>Reminding parties to a conflict of their obligation to protect civilians is a fundamental part of the ICRC’s work. The organization also endeavours to promote international humanitarian law within civil society. In this framework, it organizes presentations for various audiences, which include military personnel, prison staff, students and professors.</p> <p>In September and October, information sessions on international humanitarian law were organized for members of the Iraqi Army, the Peshmerga forces and Assayesh security forces. In October, a "train-the-trainers" course was organized for 14 members of the Iraqi Centre for Military Values and Professional Leadership Development. One member of the Iraqi armed forces attended an advanced course on international humanitarian law at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy, and another attended a workshop on rules of engagement, also held in Italy.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/2010/irak-update-2010-11-30.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: civilians still suffering undue hardship</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11672"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/22/%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%aa%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%ad-%d8%a7%d9%88%d9%84-%d9%85%d8%b3%d8%aa%d8%b4%d9%81%d9%89-%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a-%d9%84%d8%b9%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ac-%d8%b3%d8%b1%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84/#respond" title="Comment on افتتاح اول مستشفى عراقي لعلاج سرطان الاطفال في البصرة">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 22nd, 2010 by Umm Fatima</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/22/%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%aa%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%ad-%d8%a7%d9%88%d9%84-%d9%85%d8%b3%d8%aa%d8%b4%d9%81%d9%89-%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%8a-%d9%84%d8%b9%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ac-%d8%b3%d8%b1%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to افتتاح اول مستشفى عراقي لعلاج سرطان الاطفال في البصرة">افتتاح اول مستشفى عراقي لعلاج سرطان الاطفال في البصرة</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/health-crisis-iraq/" title="View all posts in Health" 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mohammed-kamil/" rel="tag">Mohammed Kamil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pollution/" rel="tag">Pollution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sick-children/" rel="tag">sick children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/spain/" rel="tag">Spain</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/survival-rate/" rel="tag">survival rate</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tim-takaro/" rel="tag">Tim Takaro</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/united-arab-emirates/" rel="tag">United Arab Emirates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/uranium/" rel="tag">uranium</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"><a title="20101022_child_cancer_patient_Basrah_childrens_hospital_sitting_with_mother by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5104674603/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px" height="525" alt="20101022_child_cancer_patient_Basrah_childrens_hospital_sitting_with_mother" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447im_/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/5104674603_e359dc4de9_o.jpg" width="350" align="left"/></a> <p>وقالت الطبيبة جنان حسن خلال مراسم افتتاح المستشفى ان "حالات الاصابة بسرطان الدم (<a title="اللوكيميا" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.iraq-beituna.net/show.php?sho=25194" class="external" target="_blank">اللوكيميا</a>) بين الاطفال دون 15 عاما، ارتفعت اربعة اضعاف".</p> <p>واكدت خلال الاحتفالية التي حضرها اباء وامهات الاطفال الذين فقد بعضهم شعر رأسه بسبب العلاج الكيمياوي، ان "معظم الحالات خطيرة، ما يعني ان املهم ضعيف بالبقاء على قيد الحياة".</p> <p>واشارت الطبيبة الى ان المستشفى الذي افتتح رسميا الخميس، بدعم دولي كان يعمل بشكل جزئي لعدة اشهر" قبل ذلك.</p> <p>وقالت "افتتاح المستشفى انجاز مهم. اشكر جميع الذين ساعدوا من اجل بنائه".</p> <p>واضافت انه "انجاز جيد جدا، لكننا ما زلنا بحاجة الى معدات متطورة ومختبرات وادوية كثيرة، نامل الحصول عليها لاحقا".</p> <p>وما زالت المستشفى لا تمتلك المعدات الطبية لمساعدة المرضى وبينهم منتظر ابن الثلاثة اعوام الذي كان يحدق بصمت بعينيه الخضراوين وهو بين ذراعي امه، ايناس.</p> <p>وقالت ايناس احمد انه "تم تشخيص اصابة منتظر بورم سرطاني قبل عام".</p> <p>واضافت "اخذناه الى ايران قبل اشهر، وفتحوا الورم هناك لمساعدته" ووضع الاطباء ابرة في وريد قدم الفتى لادخال الامصال والعلاج.</p> <p>وتابعت وهي ترفع رداءه البرتقالي الذي يحمل صورة "ميكي ماوس" للكشف عن فجوة عميقة في بطنه، ان الاطباء في ايران "قالوا انهم لايستطيعون فعل شيء ونحن الان نحاول نقله خارج العراق ربما الى تايلاند".</p> <p>واشارت الطبيبة جنان الى ان "تزايد حالات الاصابة بالسرطان في البصرة قد سجلتها دراسة اعدت هذا العام من قبل جامعة واشنطن في سياتل، باستخدام معلومات من قبلنا واخرى من مستشفى ابن غزوان التعليمي".</p> <p>ووجدت الدراسة ان حالة الاصابة باللوكيميا لدى الاطفال دون 15 عاما، قد تصاعدت تدريجيا منذ عام 1993 حتى 2007.</p> <p>واوضحت "لاحظنا ان حالات الاصابة بسرطان الدم لدى الاطفال بلغت 698، بين عام 1993 و 2007، لقد تراوحت بين 15 حالة اصابة في العام الاول و56 حالة في العام الاخير".</p> <p>ولفتت الانتباه الى ان "اعلى معدل للاصابات كان 97 حالة في عام 2006" وفقا للدراسة التي اعدت من قبل امي هاغوبيان و تم تاكارو ونشرت في "مجلة الصحة العامة" الاميركية.</p> <p>واكد الطبيب محمد كامل مساعد مدير المستشفى الجديد، ان "الدراسة اظهرت ان حالات الاصابة بسرطان الدم لدى الاطفال في البصرة ازدادت ثلاثة او اربعة اضعاف، لكنها لم تكشف عن السبب" وراء ذلك.</p> <p>وركزت التكهنات على التلوث الصناعي، والكميات الكبيرة من الغازات المنبعثة من ابار النفط في المحافظة الغنية بالابار النفطية، اضافة الى وقوع البصرة على خط المواجهة في الحروب الثلاث التي خاضها العراق.</p> <p>وخاض العراق في 1980-1988 حربا مع ايران ثم حرب الخليج الاولى عام 1991 اعقبها اجتياح العراق للاطاحة بنظام صدام حسين عام 2003.</p> <p>وتطرقت الدراسة التي اعدها تاكارو-هاغوبيان، الى "افتراض كون المواد المتفجرة التي تعرضت لها البصرة كانت سرطانية".</p> <p>واعتبرت الدراسة انه يصعب التكهن بنوع الاسلحة التي استخدمت في تلك الحروب ومن قبل صدام حسين لكبح الانتفاضة الشيعية في جنوب العراق عام 1991.</p> <p>وركزت بعض التكهنات، حول سبب ارتفاع حالات الاصابة باللوكيميا الى اليورانيوم المنضب الذي استخدمته الولايات المتحدة ودول التحالف في حرب عام 1991، لتحرير الكويت ولدى اجتياح العراق عام 2003.</p> <p>ولكن الدراسة لم تشمل العلاقة بين المعدن المشع والمشاكل الصحية.</p> <blockquote></blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.iraq-beituna.net/show.php?sho=25194" class="external" target="_blank">وكالة العراق بيتنا – افتتاح اول مستشفى عراقي لعلاج سرطان الاطفال في البصرة</a></p> </p></div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11670"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/22/iraq-city-with-soaring-child-cancer-gets-new-hospital/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq city with soaring child cancer gets new hospital">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 22nd, 2010 by Umm Fatima</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/22/iraq-city-with-soaring-child-cancer-gets-new-hospital/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraq city with soaring child cancer gets new hospital">Iraq city with soaring child cancer gets new hospital</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/health-crisis-iraq/" title="View all posts in Health" rel="category tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/war-crimes/" title="View all posts in War Crimes" rel="category tag">War Crimes</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/american-journal-of-public-health/" rel="tag">American Journal of Public Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amy-hagopian/" rel="tag">Amy Hagopian</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basrah/" rel="tag">Basrah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cancer-hospital/" rel="tag">cancer hospital</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cancers/" rel="tag">Cancers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cancers-of-the-blood/" rel="tag">cancers of the blood</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/charities/" rel="tag">Charities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chemotherapy/" rel="tag">chemotherapy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/child-cancers/" rel="tag">Child Cancers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/childhood-cancer/" rel="tag">childhood cancer</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/childhood-leukaemia/" rel="tag">childhood leukaemia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/childhood-leukemia-rates/" rel="tag">childhood leukemia rates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/childhood-leukemia-rates-in-basrah/" rel="tag">Childhood leukemia rates in Basrah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/depleted-uranium/" rel="tag">Depleted Uranium</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dr-janan-hasan/" rel="tag">Dr. Janan Hasan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/du/" rel="tag">DU</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/european-union/" rel="tag">european union</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/halima-mukhtar/" rel="tag">Halima Mukhtar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ibn-ghazwan-teaching-hospital/" rel="tag">Ibn Ghazwan teaching hospital</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/inas-ahmed/" rel="tag">Inas Ahmed</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invasion/" rel="tag">invasion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/leukaemia/" rel="tag">leukaemia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/medicines/" rel="tag">medicines</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mohammed-kamil/" rel="tag">Mohammed Kamil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pollution/" rel="tag">Pollution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sick-children/" rel="tag">sick children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/spain/" rel="tag">Spain</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/survival-rate/" rel="tag">survival rate</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tim-takaro/" rel="tag">Tim Takaro</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/united-arab-emirates/" rel="tag">United Arab Emirates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/uranium/" rel="tag">uranium</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Iraq’s first specialist cancer hospital for children could not have opened in a needier location — since 1993, Basra province has seen a sharp rise in the incidence of childhood cancer.</p> <p>"Leukaemia among children under 15 has increased by about four times," said Dr. Janan Hasan of the Basra Children’s Hospital.</p> <p><a title="20101022_child_cancer_patient_Basrah_childrens_hospital by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5104629263/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="border-right: black 1px solid; border-top: black 1px solid; display: inline; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; border-bottom: black 1px solid" height="289" alt="20101022_child_cancer_patient_Basrah_childrens_hospital" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447im_/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1222/5104629263_c977988c92_o.jpg" width="350" align="right"/></a>"Most are high-risk cases, which means that they do not have a high survival rate," she told AFP on the sidelines of the opening ceremony, where hapless parents with sick children in tow, many with the tell-tale baldness of chemotherapy, clustered around the paediatrician.</p> <p>The facility, which was built with multinational assistance and funds, officially opened on Thursday but has been partially operational for several months, Hasan said.</p> <p>"This hospital is a very important achievement, and I thank everyone who helped build it," she said.</p> <p>"This is a very good effort, but we still do not have advanced equipment, labs and many medicines. We hope to acquire them over time."</p> <p>Three-year-old Muntadhar, his green eyes staring dolefully from his mother’s arms, is one of the patients the hospital cannot help because it does not have the equipment.</p> <p>Muntadhar, an intravenous insertion needle bandaged to his foot, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour a year ago, his mother Inas Ahmed said.</p> <p>"We took him to Iran a few months ago and they cut him open to try to help him," she said, lifting his orange Mickey Mouse T-shirt to reveal a deep scar across his belly.</p> <p>"But they said they couldn’t help and now we are trying to take him abroad, maybe to Thailand," she said with a look of resignation. A hospital official said they were working through some charities to arrange the operation, which Muntadhar’s poor parents cannot afford.</p> <p>Halima Mukhtar, draped in a loose black veil that showed her traditionally tattooed face and hands, carried her four-year-old son Musa on her right shoulder.</p> <p>"Thank God for this hospital, otherwise I wouldn’t know where else to turn," she said, a bottle of medicine in one hand.</p> <p>"In this world I have only God and the people at this hospital," she added," as Musa, wearing flip-flops on his feet and a surgeon’s mask that covered most of his face, stared down blankly from his perch.</p> <p>Hasan said the increasing cases of cancer in Basra were best documented in a study published this year by the University of Washington in Seattle, conducted with input from her and the Ibn Ghazwan teaching hospital.</p> <p>The report found leukaemia in Basra among children under 15 had grown year to year from 1993-2007.</p> <p>"We observed 698 cases of childhood leukaemia between 1993 and 2007, ranging between 15 cases in the first year and 56 cases in the final year, reaching a peak of 97 cases in 2006," said the study, authored by Amy Hagopian and Tim Takaro, and published in the American Journal of Public Health.</p> <p>"Basra’s childhood leukemia rates compare unfavourably to those of neighbouring Kuwait and nearby Oman, as well as the US and the European Union and other countries," the study said.</p> <p>"The incidence of cancer is significantly higher in Basra province than in other parts of Iraq," said Mohammed Kamil, deputy director of the hospital.</p> <p>Speculation has focused on industrial pollution, the huge volumes of burning gas from oil wells in the energy-rich province, and Basra’s position in the frontline of wars in past three decades: the 1980-1988 conflict with Iran, the 1991 Gulf War and the US-led invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein.</p> <p>"We hypothesise that hazardous exposures during these wars may have been leukaemogenic," said the Hagopian-Takaro study.</p> <p>What weapons were actually used in those wars, and by Saddam himself against his own people to put down a 1991 Shiite uprising in the south, is anyone’s guess.</p> <p>Some of the conjecture has centred on depleted uranium weapons used by US and coalition forces in the 1991 war to liberate Kuwait and the 2003 US-led invasion.</p> <p>But in Iraq the possible link between the radioactive metal and health problems has not been proven.</p> <p>The hospital, decorated with portraits of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse prancing about with his girlfriend Minnie, was built with help from the United States, Spain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, the UN Development Programme and Project Hope.</p> <p>"This project will have a capability to serve the people of Iraq and its people and children of Iraq for many years to come," said Brigadier-General Randal Dragon, Deputy Commander for Support of the US army base in Basra.</p> <p>"From that perspective, all of us should be proud and hope this project will pay big dividends," he told AFP.</p> <blockquote></blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.france24.com/en/20101022-iraq-city-with-soaring-child-cancer-gets-new-hospital-0" class="external" target="_blank">France24 – Iraq city with soaring child cancer gets new hospital</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11314"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/09/paradise-found-water-and-life-return-to-iraqs-garden-of-eden/#respond" title="Comment on Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 9th, 2010 by Sagib</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/09/paradise-found-water-and-life-return-to-iraqs-garden-of-eden/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’">Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amil/" rel="tag">Amil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arabian-sea/" rel="tag">Arabian sea</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basrah/" rel="tag">Basrah</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nature-iraq/" rel="tag">Nature Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraq/" rel="tag">News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/norfolk/" rel="tag">Norfolk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/photo/" rel="tag">Photo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/photographs/" rel="tag">photographs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rabia/" rel="tag">Rabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reed-warbler/" rel="tag">reed warbler</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice/" rel="tag">rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/richard-porter/" rel="tag">Richard Porter</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/river-delta/" rel="tag">river delta</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sacred-ibis/" rel="tag">sacred ibis</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saddam-hussein/" rel="tag">Saddam Hussein</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/teal/" rel="tag">Teal</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/teal-ducks/" rel="tag">teal ducks</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris/" rel="tag">Tigris</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-river/" rel="tag">Tigris River</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-buffalo/" rel="tag">Water Buffalo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-flow/" rel="tag">water flow</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 42px; float: left; margin: 3px 1px 0px 0px; line-height: 36px; font-style: normal! important">O</span>ne of Saddam Hussein’s greatest acts of ecological destruction – the draining of the Mesopotamian marshes – has been reversed as birds and rivers return to the region</p> <p>Saddam Hussein’s draining of the Mesopotamian marshes of Iraq – recorded as the Garden of Eden in the Bible – was one of the most infamous outrages of his regime, leaving a vast area of once-teeming river delta a dry, salt-encrusted desert, emptied of insects, birds and the people who lived on them.</p> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <p><a title="20100708_marshes_guardian_nature_iraq_captioned" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4777445917/" class="external" target="_blank"><img alt="20100708_marshes_guardian_nature_iraq_captioned" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447im_/http://static.flickr.com/4074/4777445917_ea65faecc3.jpg" border="0"/></a></p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>  <div style="clear: both"> </div> <p>But nearly two decades later the area is buzzing and twittering with life again after local people and a new breed of Iraqi conservationists have restored much of what was once the world’s third largest wetland to some of its former glory.</p> <p>The story of this once almost impossible restoration is told in an exhibition of photographs that has opened in the UK. They show the huge expanses of reeds and open water – now at least half the size of the Florida Everglades – where plants, insects and fish have returned, creating a vast feeding area for migrating and breeding birds, including the majestic Sacred Ibis, the endemic Basrah Reed Warbler and the Iraq Babbler, along with most of the world’s population of Marbled Teal ducks, bee-eaters and many more.</p> <p>"We call them stop-over sites, refuelling sites," said Richard Porter, Middle East advisor for the conservation group Birdlife International, who has helped train biologists and other experts for the local Birdlife partner <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://natureiraq.org/English/" class="external" target="_blank">Nature Iraq</a>. "They are as important as the breeding and over-wintering grounds for species; if you have got to make a journey from central Africa to norther Europe and Asia, and you’ve got nothing to feed on, you’re stuffed."</p> <p>The Mesopotamian marshes originally made up an area more than three times the size of Norfolk, where the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.birdscapesgallery.co.uk/" class="external" target="_blank">exhibition is showing, in Holt</a>. It sprawled across thousands of square kilometres of floodplain where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers divided into a network of tributaries meandering and pulsating south to the Arabian sea. They were home to more than 80 bird species, otters and long-fingered bats, and hundreds of thousands of Marsh Arabs who grew rice and dates, raised water buffalo, fished and built boats and homes from reeds.</p> <p>In the early 1990s, this way of life came to an abrupt end when Hussein ordered the marshes to be drained to punish the local population for an uprising after his failed invasion of Kuwait, a problem exacerbated by the continued construction of dams upstream.</p> <p>He ordered the area to be hemmed in by constructing around 4,000km of earthen walls that towered up to 7m above the unbroken flat landscape. The wetlands retreated to as little as 5-10% of their original size, according to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/1000/1716/meso2.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">a 2001 United Nations Environment Agency report</a>.</p> <p>After Hussein was toppled by American forces in 2003, Azzam Alwash returned from his adopted home in the US to the area, where he had lived for part of his childhood, and learned to hunt ducks with his father while they inspected the irrigation ditches. Alwash found the local people who had stayed had already begun to break up the walls with shovels or earth diggers, and they have continued to do so. They have destroyed up to 98% of the embankments, he told the Guardian, "not because they are tree-huggers or bird-lovers, but because it’s a source of economic income to them, because they can harvest reeds and sell them. They can fish and feed a family or sell them to earn extra income."</p> <p>Alwash, a civil engineer, set up Nature Iraq and has organised training for graduates who help with monitoring work. "We take guards with us with Kalashnikovs, but the most difficult part is the road between [the capital] Baghdad to the marsh," said Alwash. "Once I’m inside the marshes it’s relatively safe."</p> <p>About half the original marshland has been restored – even more had been reinstated, but there was a setback last year because of a drought. Nature Iraq has now drawn up a plan to cope with the diminishing water flows from dams upstream in Turkey by channelling irrigation water back into the rivers and building a barrage to retain meltwater from the mountains and create a "mechanical flood" of water to replicate the important pulses of freshwater that wash through the marshlands every spring.</p> <p>Alwash and his team are also trying to tackle the problem of local poaching, although he has great sympathy with those who have few alternative sources of income, and hopes the opening of a new oil industry will help create jobs.</p> <p>"We have done some work in trying to educate the locals," he added. "We say: ‘Go out and hunt but take less; make $10 today – you don’t have to make $20, and make $10 tomorrow’. We just keep at it. You can’t give up."</p> <p>• The exhibition runs until July 25 at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.birdscapesgallery.co.uk/" class="external" target="_blank">Birdscapes Gallery in Glandford, Norfolk</a></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/09/iraq-marshes-reborn" class="external" target="_blank">Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’ | Environment | The Guardian</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11015"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/11/turkey-muddies-the-water/#respond" title="Comment on Turkey muddies the water">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 11th, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/11/turkey-muddies-the-water/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Turkey muddies the water">Turkey muddies the water</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-ahram/" rel="tag">Al-Ahram</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arab-economic-development/" rel="tag">arab economic development</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ataturk-dam/" rel="tag">Ataturk Dam</a>, <a 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rel="tag">France</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-law/" rel="tag">International Law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/israel/" rel="tag">Israel</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwaiti-investment-in-syrian-dams/" rel="tag">Kuwaiti investment in Syrian dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/large-dams/" rel="tag">large dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/neighbouring-states/" rel="tag">neighbouring states</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northeastern-syria/" rel="tag">northeastern syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rate-of-flow/" rel="tag">rate of flow</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources-ministry/" rel="tag">resources ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/river-water/" rel="tag">river water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris/" rel="tag">Tigris</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-crisis-iraq/" rel="tag">Water Crisis (Iraq)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-flow/" rel="tag">water flow</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-issue/" rel="tag">water issue</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-resources/" rel="tag">water resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treaty/" rel="tag">Water Treaty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treaty-negotiations/" rel="tag">Water Treaty negotiations</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p> </p> <blockquote><p>Syria’s plan to divert the waters of the Tigris portends a long and bitter quarrel with Iraq, reports <b>Bassel Oudat</b> from Damascus </p> <hr noshade="noshade"/> <p>Last year’s severe drought in northeastern Syria dried up the Khabur River which is the lifeline in that region, causing some 500,000 Syrians to migrate to other areas inside Syria. In response, the government signed a deal with the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development to begin a project on the Tigris close to the Syrian-Turkish-Iraqi border, diverting enough water to fertilise 200,000 hectares.</p> <p>Baghdad was infuriated by the project and called Damascus to an "emergency meeting" to clarify the details of the "surprise plan" which would divert river water over long distances inside Syrian territories. Iraq’s Water Resources Ministry stated that any diverted water will affect Iraq’s already meagre water quota, which would negatively influence local agriculture and the economy. Iraqi officials also predicted that the plan will jeopardise already worsening relations between the two neighbouring states.</p> <p>Syria has not responded to Iraq’s invitation. Informed Syrian sources asserted that the project was conceived decades ago, and not a new concept at all, as the Iraqis are claiming. In fact, it is an indicator of warming relations between Syria and Turkey, because Ankara gave Damascus the green light to go ahead and begin the project.</p> <p>The plan is indeed old, but was delayed because previous governments in Turkey refused to sign any agreement to share water with Syria and Iraq. With encouragement from abroad, Ankara was fooled into believing that it would be stronger and have more leverage by controlling the water flow.</p> <p>Syria and Iraq have fought over water resources in the past. In the 1980s, it threatened to ignite a war. Eventually the quarrel came to include Turkey, especially after Ankara began building large dams on the Euphrates and Tigris. So far, no three-way agreement has been reached because Turkey refuses to share the water with Syria and Iraq.</p> <p>The heart of the problem lies in differences of interpretation of Syria and Iraq on the one hand, and Turkey on the other. Turkey believes the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which originate in the Taurus Mountains in Turkey and pass through Syria and Iraq, to be "marginally cross-border rivers" because they barely pass inside the borders of Syria and Iraq. But Syria and Iraq consider them major international water bodies which should be evenly divided among everyone.</p> <p>When the regimes in Damascus and Baghdad fell out in the 1970-80s, this negatively affected their rights to the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris and a number of smaller rivers, because they refused to sit together or with the Turkish side. Ankara used Syrian- Iraqi tensions to exercise control over the waters of the rivers and keep a much larger share than stipulated in international water agreements for itself. It constructed massive dams on the rivers, using their waters in agricultural and industrial projects along their banks. It cut down the amount of water going to each country, and refused to recognise that the two rivers were international waterways but rather local Turkish rivers which happen to pass through Syria and Iraq on their way to the Arab shore, south of Basra in Iraq.</p> <p>In 1974, Turkey began the Southeastern Anatolian (GAP) project which consists of 21 dams, 17 of which on the Euphrates including Ataturk Dam and four others on the River Tigris. It also included 19 power stations and 47 water reservoirs, and a variety of other projects in the fields of agriculture, industry, transportation, irrigation and communication. Ankara earmarked $32 billion for the project and received a large part of the budget from international funding in the form of loans and grants, especially from the US, Canada, Israel and France.</p> <p>In 1987, Syria and Iraq tried to gain some recognition over the waters of the two rivers, but it was too late. Turkey refused to negotiate with them as one party and dealt with each side separately, taking a disproportionate amount for itself. Damascus and Baghdad could do nothing, especially in light of the fact that Ankara continued its plans to construct dams and was able to cut off the flow of the river altogether to both neighbours.</p> <p>In 1989, Syria and Iraq agreed to divide the quota of the Euphrates River given to them, whereby Syria’s share amounted to 42 per cent and 52 per cent went to Iraq. Later, in 2000, the two sides agreed that Syria should receive a share of the Tigris water (which flows 50km inside its border), enough to irrigate almost 200,000 hectares of land.</p> <p>In the end, sharing the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris became a capricious matter, not relying on clear and precise agreements based on international law. Turkey’s whims dictate quotas with no base in international law. In 2007, a three-way meeting failed to result in a comprehensive agreement on the issue because Turkey refused to change the status quo and wanted to make it a de facto arrangement.</p> <p>Syria’s project to divert Tigris water, which it started publicly planning at the beginning of this year, has antagonised the Iraqis to an unexpected degree, and Baghdad’s reaction came as a surprise to Damascus. This is especially true since there is a preliminary agreement regarding this issue with the previous regime in Iraq, which Iraqis today consider invalid. The Syrians counter that the agreement was concluded with a legitimate Iraqi government and not one person per se, and it is illogical to annul agreements between countries every time the regime changes.</p> <p>Syrian political circles feel that Iraq’s reasoning is another attempt by Iraq’s government to raise tensions between the two countries, and manipulate this domestically now that Iraq is about to form a new government.</p> <p>Relations between the two neighbours have not been at their best for almost one year, after Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki accused Syria of hosting and assisting Al-Baath Party elements who support the ousted regime in Baghdad. Iraq claims these elements are behind a number of attacks in Baghdad which have killed hundreds of Iraqis. These accusations also came as a surprise for the Syrians who said they have tried their utmost in the past few years to prevent fighters from going into Iraq by more vigilant control of the border. At the same time, Syria is home to 1.5 million Iraqi refugees and says it has cooperated with Iraqi authorities.</p> <p>Syrian officials believe that Iraq’s objections to the Tigris project are not a result of Iraqi concerns over water but have other political goals to do with domestic Iraqi politics, power struggles among Iraqi factions, and complications in forming Iraq’s new cabinet.</p> <p>No doubt, the quarrel between Syria and Iraq over the past decades has allowed Turkey to do as it pleases with the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris. Today, closer ties between Damascus and Ankara — which could almost be described as a strategic alliance — are still not enough to convince Turkey to admit that these are international rivers, and it continues to control them unilaterally.</p> <p>Observers believe that rising political friction between Syria and Iraq, their distraction with secondary issues over more important ones, and their lax positions towards Turkey on the water issue and other matters have not only caused tension, but resulted in immense strategic losses for both parties. </p> <p>They will have to look beyond this current spat and focus on the real problem — resolving the quota issue with Turkey.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1002/re85.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | Turkey muddies the water</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10787"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/29/%d9%85%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%82%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%8a-%d9%8a%d8%ad%d8%b0%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%aa%d9%86%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b0-%d8%b3%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b9/#respond" title="Comment on محلل اقتصادي يحذر من تنفيذ سوريا مشروع سحب مياه دجلة">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 29th, 2010 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/29/%d9%85%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%82%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%8a-%d9%8a%d8%ad%d8%b0%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%aa%d9%86%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b0-%d8%b3%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b9/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to محلل اقتصادي يحذر من تنفيذ سوريا مشروع سحب مياه دجلة">محلل اقتصادي يحذر من تنفيذ سوريا مشروع سحب مياه دجلة</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/derbandikhan-dam/" rel="tag">Derbandikhan dam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dokan-dam/" rel="tag">Dokan Dam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drought/" rel="tag">drought</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hydro-electric-generation/" rel="tag">Hydro-electric generation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwaiti-investment-in-syrian-dams/" rel="tag">Kuwaiti investment in Syrian dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mosul/" rel="tag">Mosul</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rate-of-flow/" rel="tag">rate of flow</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-river/" rel="tag">Tigris River</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-resources/" rel="tag">water resources</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>بغدا: اكد خبير اقتصادي ان المشروع السوري على نهر دجلة الذي سيخفض من واردات العراق المائية سيؤثر سلباً على قطاع الكهرباء والزراعة وسينعكس سلباً على الوضع الاقتصادي في البلد. وقال مهدي عدنان ان الأصوات الحالية تدعو إلى الحوار والتوصل الى تفاهمات بين الجانبين العراقي والسوري،</p> <p>مشيراً الى ان قراءة الوضع الحالي لا تدل على أمكانية حدوث تصعيد يمكن يصل لحالة الصراع بمختلف مستوياته على المياه. يذكر ان مناطق شمال العراق تعتمد في توليد الطاقة الكهربائية على المحطات الكهرومائية من خلال مشاريع دوكان ودربندخان وسد الموصل، وان انخفاض مناسيب مياه دجلة ستؤثر بالسلب على هذه المشاريع. وأضاف مهدي ان تمسك اي جانب بموقفه بشكل لايمكن ان يتحمله الوضع الذي يعاني منه العراق يمكن ان يؤدي الى تصعيد بين الطرفين قد يصل الى خلق أزمة بحيث يخرج الموضوع من حالة التفاهم الى حالة الصراع وعندها ستتدخل الوساطة الدولية ودول الإقليم لحل هذه المشكلة متمنين ان لايصل الوضع لهذا المستوى بأي شكل من الأشكال.ولفت الى وجوب الأتفاق بين البلدين في حق العراق بحصته من المياه بالشكل الذي لايؤثر على أقتصاده ووضعه الزراعي. يذكر ان الحكومة السورية اقرت تنفيذ مشروع بالتعاون مع شركات كويتية لسحب مياه من نهر دجلة لري أراضي سورية تصل مساحتها الى 200 ألف هكتار في منطقة الحسكة شمال شرق البلاد لأغراض زراعية مما أدى الى طلب الحكومة العراقية عقد اجتماع مع الجانب السوري لحل هذا الموضوع بالشكل الذي لا يؤثر الى ورادات العراق المائية. ويعاني العراق وسوريا نقصا في وارداته من المياه السطحية بسبب مواسم الجفاف بالإضافة الى تنفيذ تركيا لمشاريع اروائية ضخمة من خزانات وسدود ادت الى تقليل مناسيب مياه النهرين بشكل كبير. من جانبه قال مدير عام دائرة المشاريع والبزل في وزارة الموارد المائية علي هاشم ان سحب أي كمية من مياه نهر دجلة ستؤثر بالسلب على واردات العراق المائية. وأضاف هاشم طلبنا عبر القنوات الدبلوماسية عقد اجتماع مع الجانب السوري للتوصل لاتفاق يحافظ على حصص العراق المائية من نهر دجلة، مبيناً انه من المتوقع ان نتوصل الى تفاهم وعقد اتفاقيات بهذا الخصوص. وأضاف هاشم ان معدل ما يدخل العراق عبر الحدود الدولية من نهر دجلة يصل الى 19 مليار متر مكعب سنوياً، بينما تبلغ واردات النهر الإجمالية بعد ان تصب به معظم روافده النابعة من ايران لتصل الى 49 مليار متر مكعب سنوياً، مشيراً الى الوزارة تأمل بان لا يقوم الجانب السوري بسحب كميات تؤثر على المعدلات المذكورة خصوصاً في السنوات التي تقل فيها مناسيب المياه في النهر. وأردف سنحاول ان نحصل على أتفاق عادل ومنصف خلال اجتماعنا مع الجانب السوري ونعتقد انهم سيقدرون الوضع، مبيناً انه تم الطلب لعقد هذا الاجتماع عبر القنوات الدبلوماسية من خلال وزارة الخارجية وما زال الجانب العراقي بانتظار الرد، نافياً ان يكون قد تم تحديد اي موعد لذلك. وأكد هاشم عدم وجود اي بروتوكول دولي ينضم حصص </p> </p></div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10774"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/28/selected-english-coverage-i-would-hate-irakis-too-if-i-were-kuwaiti/#respond" title="Comment on Selected English Coverage: I would hate Irakis too – if I were Kuwaiti">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 28th, 2010 by Sagib</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/28/selected-english-coverage-i-would-hate-irakis-too-if-i-were-kuwaiti/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Selected English Coverage: I would hate Irakis too – if I were Kuwaiti">Selected English Coverage: I would hate Irakis too – if I were Kuwaiti</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/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/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arab-league/" rel="tag">Arab League</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/border-disputes/" rel="tag">border disputes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/british-troops/" rel="tag">british troops</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/businessweek/" rel="tag">BusinessWeek</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cockburn-patrick/" rel="tag">Cockburn - Patrick</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/commentary/" rel="tag">commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/compensation/" rel="tag">compensation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/etihad-airways/" rel="tag">Etihad Airways</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gulf-war/" rel="tag">Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/history/" rel="tag">History</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/independent-the-uk/" rel="tag">Independent -The (UK)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irakikuwaiti-relations/" rel="tag">Iraki/Kuwaiti relations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-airways/" rel="tag">Iraqi Airways</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-airways-dissolution-of/" rel="tag">Iraqi Airways - dissolution of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait-airways/" rel="tag">kuwait airways</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwaiti-investment-in-syrian-dams/" rel="tag">Kuwaiti investment in Syrian dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/looting/" rel="tag">Looting</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/lufthansa/" rel="tag">Lufthansa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east-online/" rel="tag">Middle East Online</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil-production/" rel="tag">oil production</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oil-revenues/" rel="tag">oil revenues</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reparations/" rel="tag">reparations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saddam-hussein/" rel="tag">Saddam Hussein</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/team-members/" rel="tag">Team Members</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/war-with-kuwait/" rel="tag">War with Kuwait</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>I do love the gift for understatement shared by the English and the Irish, here is the Irish journalist Patrick Cockburn writing on Iraki-Kuwaiti relations in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.independent.co.uk/" target="_blank" class="external">The Independent</a>: </p> <blockquote><p>But the animosity between the two sides makes compromise difficult. Other key disputes include the payment to Kuwait of five per cent of Iraq’s oil revenues as reparations. Kuwait Airways’ demand for $1.2bn as compensation for the snatching of 10 aircraft in 1990 forced the closure of state carrier Iraqi Airways this week.</p> </blockquote> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/legacy-of-gulf-war-and-border-dispute-continue-to-dog-relations-with-kuwait-1985072.html" class="external" target="_blank">Legacy of Gulf War and border dispute continue to dog relations with Kuwait – Middle East, World – The Independent</a>.</p> <p>"<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/animosity" class="external" target="_blank">Animosity</a>" does not even begin to describe what the Kuwaitis feel for Irak, and no the fall and subsequent hanging of Saddam has not appreciably lessened Kuwaitis’ intense feelings of hatred and fear of Irak and Irakis.</p> <p>Perhaps I have a somewhat unusual perspective on Irak compared to the other team members. I am not Iraki. Although I have lived here all my adult life and am married to an Iraki nevertheless I remain a Pakistani and as such my perspective is a bit different from that of most of the other team members. I have many good friends here, but I also have good friends in Kuwait. All of which is my way of leading up to the English language articles I want to discuss. First a sign of hope the German airline Lufthansa is resuming services to Baghdad after a hiatus of 20 years:</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-28/lufthansa-first-west-european-carrier-to-resume-baghdad-flight.html" class="external" target="_blank">Lufthansa First West European Carrier to Resume Baghdad Flight – BusinessWeek</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-biggest carrier, will restart regular service to Baghdad, the first western European or U.S. carrier to resume flights to the Iraqi capital. <br/>The airline will serve Baghdad from Munich beginning Sept. 30, following a 20-year break, as economic growth attracts customers to the former war-ridden country, Cologne-based Lufthansa said in an e-mailed statement today. A Boeing 737 operated by Switzerland-based PrivatAir on Lufthansa’s behalf will offer four weekly flights, it said. <br/>The carrier offered Baghdad flights between 1956 and 1990, when it stopped service because of the first Gulf War, during which a U.S.-led army pushed Iraq’s forces out of neighboring Kuwait. The Middle Eastern nation aims to double oil production and lift revenue from crude sales by 60 percent in the coming four years even as it struggles to find a government that’s acceptable to all its major ethnic and religious group</p> </blockquote> <p>Nor are they the only ones as the article goes on to make clear:</p> <blockquote><p><strong>Competing Flights</strong></p> <p>Turk Hava Yollari AO, also known as Turkish Airlines, became the first carrier in Europe to resume Baghdad flights to in October 2008. The airline is offering one daily connection, according to its website. Bahrain-based Gulf Air began serving the Iraqi capital in September, while Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad Airways followed last month. Both airlines operate five flights there a week, according to their websites.</p> </blockquote> <p>Alas Iraqi Airways has not been so lucky as this AFP report from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/" target="_blank" class="external">Middle East Online</a> makes clear:</p> <blockquote><p>Baghdad said Wednesday it is to close state-owned Iraqi Airways in the face of a decades-old financial dispute with Kuwait that prompted the seizure of one of its aircraft last month.</p> <p>The sudden move comes a day after the airline announced it was dropping its services to Sweden and Britain over the legal row with Kuwait, but it was not immediately clear if a new company would be formed to take its place.</p> <p>"The cabinet decided yesterday (Tuesday) to wind up the Iraqi company," transport ministry spokesman Aqeel Kawthar said.</p> <p>"The decision was taken because of the numerous acts of harassment that the company has faced from Kuwait that have prevented its planes from taking on fuel and food at various airports," Kawthar said.</p> <p>"The transport ministry will carry out the decision by the council of ministers, even though we disagree with it," he added, without giving details on whether a new company would be formed.</p> <p>… … …</p> <p>On Tuesday, Iraqi Airways announced it was ceasing its services to Britain and Sweden, with chief executive Kifah Hassan Jabbar blaming the decision on the legal battle with Kuwait.</p> <p>"We are sorry to announce to our fellow citizens, especially the communities living in Britain and Sweden, that Iraqi Airways will stop flying to these two countries because of difficult circumstances as a result of Kuwaiti escalation," Kifah Hassan Jabbar said.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39197" class="external" target="_blank">Middle East Online: Iraqi Airways closes down after Kuwait row</a>:</p> </blockquote> <p>There has been a long running legal battle between the Kuwaiti airline and Iraqi Airways. Briefly the Kuwaitis are suing Iraqi Airways for $1.2bn (£837m, €979m) reparations which they say they are owed because Iraqi airways took looted aircraft and parts from them during the Iraki invasion of Kuwait. The legal battle over this started in the British courts in 1991.</p> <p>"How can they do this?" Say Irakis to me. " We have suffered enough" they go on. And certainly no one can deny that Irakis suffered grievously first under the tyrant and then under the Americans who managed to be even worse than that monster.</p> <p>The problem is that the Kuwaitis suffered too. Oh not the elite who scuttled off to their luxurious properties in London and other western capitals. But the normal average Kuwaiti suffered dreadfully during <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Kuwait" class="external" target="_blank">the invasion</a>. Saddam ordered his troops to go on a rampage and they did, they slaughtered, burnt, and looted all around them. Every single Kuwaiti that I know who stayed in Kuwait has some horror story or another to tell. There are still Kuwaitis "missing presumed dead" even after all this time, to say nothing of the material losses caused to ordinary Kuwaitis by wide scale looting.</p> <p>But it gets worse you see the Kuwaitis are afraid of Irak and they have good reason to fear their northern neighbour. Consider that during the 1930s that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghazi_of_Iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Ghazi of Iraq</a> wanted to annex Kuwait, thirty one years later <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Karim_Qasim" class="external" target="_blank">Abd al-Karim Qasim</a> reasserted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://looklex.com/e.o/qasim_a_k.htm" class="external" target="_blank">the longstanding Iraki claim to Kuwait</a>. (See also the Wiki entry section <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Karim_Qasim#Foreign_policy" class="external" target="_blank">3.4 Foreign policy</a>). Qasim backed down in the face of British troops, the Arab League and hefty secret payments into Baghdad’s treasury from the Kuwaiti emir. But the claim to Kuwait was never dropped. It was that claim that Saddam Hussein used as justification for his <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Kuwait" class="external" target="_blank">invasion of Kuwait</a> and his declaration incorporating its territory into Irak as the 19th governorate. Even still, as Cockburn makes clear in his article, there are border disputes to be settled:</p> <p><cite>The maritime border was drawn up in Kuwait’s favour after the first Gulf War. Endorsed by the UN, it was accepted by Saddam Hussein when his fortunes were at low ebb in 1993 and he was prepared to make concessions to stay in power.</cite></p> <p>When I speak and write to my Kuwaiti friends I detect among a very few of them a very reluctant willingness to consider an opening towards more normal relations with Irak. A few talk of Kuwait becoming a gateway to Irak. But most are not willing to consider this. Although they accept that Irak is unlikely to ever invade Kuwait again they cannot shake themselves of the fear engendered by the history of the last century they cannot resist the temptation, however short sighted and counter-productive it might be, to hit Irak while it is down.</p> <p>Cockburn’s article is short and well worth your while reading <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/legacy-of-gulf-war-and-border-dispute-continue-to-dog-relations-with-kuwait-1985072.html" class="external" target="_blank">reading in full</a>, I hope that my far wordier offering helps you understand the background. It is not about border disputes, or war reparations, or even <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwaiti-investment-in-syrian-dams/">Kuwaiti investment in Syrian dams</a> in order to reduce the amount of water that Irak receives. It is all of those things it is about a small and weak state, Kuwait, that will not forget that it was invaded and brutalised by its neighbour and seizes every opportunity it can to keep that neighbour weak.</p> <p>Sagib</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/page/2/">« Previous Entries</a></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest Articles</a></li> </ul> <div id="featured-articles" class="widget"> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/05/international-committee-of-the-red-cross-iraq-activities-update/">International Committee Of The Red Cross: Iraq Activities Update</a></li> 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Resistance</a> <p class="post-date">27 Jun 2011</p> </li> <li class="cat-post-item"> <a class="post-title" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/06/24/new-union-aims-to-protect-iraqi-bloggers-iwpr/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to New Union Aims to Protect Iraqi Bloggers – IWPR">New Union Aims to Protect Iraqi Bloggers – IWPR</a> <p class="post-date">24 Jun 2011</p> </li> <li class="cat-post-item"> <a class="post-title" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110727020447/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/06/23/%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d8%b9-%d8%b9%d8%af%d8%af-%d8%b6%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%82-%d8%a8%d8%ba%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-3/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to ارتفاع عدد ضحايا تفجيرات سوق بغداد إلى 34 قتيلا و82 مصابا| Death Toll Rises To 34 Dead and 82 Wounded">ارتفاع عدد ضحايا تفجيرات سوق بغداد إلى 34 قتيلا و82 مصابا| Death Toll Rises To 34 Dead and 82 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