>On 11 Feb 2003 at 17:53, Myles Twete wrote: > > > My understanding is that going for Iraq's Oil is only the small > > potatos--or at least the near-term ones. What Bush/Cheney/Bechtel are > > really after is Iraq's dams and water damming potential---which will > > last long past when the oil dries up.... He who controls water, > > controls more than oil. > > > > -Myles Twete > > >[SNIP] > >Dunno about this, "controls water, controls....". Iraq is at the end of >the Euphrates and Tigris, the mouth of the river, not the head waters. >What do they gain/control, ie influence in other countries, by >damming the rivers? > > I recently saw a very good doco on the trouble that Turkey >was causing to Syria and Iraq by damming the Euphrates just short >of their, Turkeys, border. This was causing great trouble in terms of >wells/springs drying up, reduced river flows for the downstream >countries to use for irrigation etc etc. > > I would say that if you want to talk conspiracy theories >regarding water, Turkey, not Iraq, where both the Ephrates and >Tigris rise would be the logical start point > > Regards, > Andrew Lowe
Hi Andrew They rise in Turkey, but most of their length is in Iraq. As with many troubled waterways (and there are many!) it's not just at the source that the problems arise. Turkey is regarded as an ally, and I suppose is thus expected to collude. And the US, especially, has used water (water treatment facilities) as a weapon against Iraq throughout the devastating sanctions period, resulting in very many deaths through disease, especially child deaths. Did you see this? >... In fact, those who really feel that the disaster at Halabja has >bearing on today might want to consider a different question: Why >was Iran so keen on taking the town? A closer look may shed light on >America's impetus to invade Iraq. > >We are constantly reminded that Iraq has perhaps the world's largest >reserves of oil. But in a regional and perhaps even geopolitical >sense, it may be more important that Iraq has the most extensive >river system in the Middle East. In addition to the Tigris and >Euphrates, there are the Greater Zab and Lesser Zab rivers in the >north of the country. Iraq was covered with irrigation works by the >sixth century A.D., and was a granary for the region. > >Before the Persian Gulf war, Iraq had built an impressive system of >dams and river control projects, the largest being the Darbandikhan >dam in the Kurdish area. And it was this dam the Iranians were >aiming to take control of when they seized Halabja. In the 1990's >there was much discussion over the construction of a so-called Peace >Pipeline that would bring the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates >south to the parched Gulf states and, by extension, Israel. No >progress has been made on this, largely because of Iraqi >intransigence. With Iraq in American hands, of course, all that >could change. > >Thus America could alter the destiny of the Middle East in a way >that probably could not be challenged for decades --- not solely by >controlling Iraq's oil, but by controlling its water. Even if >America didn't occupy the country, once Mr. Hussein's Baath Party is >driven from power, many lucrative opportunities would open up for >American companies. From: War for Natural Resources - Mixing Oil And Water, posted here yesterday: http://www.progress.org/2003/iraq12.htm Archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?view=20898&list=biofuel Water is already as contentious an issue as oil, or more so, in many parts of the Middle East, and the world. Meanwhile Americans are increasingly unhappy about the fact that privatized water supplies in the US are being operated by as German company. The corporatization of water supplies worldwide proceeds apace, and is causing very great harm. Recommended: "Blue Gold - The Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World's Water Supply" by Maude Barlow, Chair, IFG Committee on the Globalization of Water, National Chair, Council of Canadians June 1999 A Special Report Produced and Published by the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) "The wars of the next century will be about water." - The World Bank Report Summary: http://www.ifg.org/analysis/reports/bgsummary.htm Here are a couple of excerpts: The Corporate Theft Of The World's Water http://tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5875 The Public Pain Of Private Water http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5903 Maude Barlow has written much about this, try a Google search for "Maude Barlow water" (without the quotes). Such as: "Who Owns Water?" September 2, 2002 http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=barlow regards Keith Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
