By PATRICK COCKBURN
Snakes are attacking people and cattle in southern Iraq as the Euphrates and Tigris rivers dry up and the reptiles lose their natural habitat among the reed beds.
"People are terrified and are leaving their homes," says Jabar Mustafa, a medical administrator, who works in a hospital in the southern province of Dhi Qar. "We knew these snakes before, but now they are coming in huge numbers. They are attacking buffalo and cattle as well as people." Doctors in the area say six people have been killed and 13 poisoned.
In Chabaysh, a town on the Euphrates close to the southern marshland of Hawr al-Hammar, farmers have set up an overnight operations room to prevent the snakes attacking their cattle.
"We have been surprised in recent days by the unprecedented number of snakes that have fled their habitat because of the dryness and heat," Wissam al-Assadi, one of the town's vets said. "We saw some on roads, near houses and cowsheds. Farmers have come to us for vaccines, but we don't have any."
Counterpunch
<span style=""> "The rivers that made Iraq's dry soil so fertile are drying up because the supply of water, which once flowed south into Iraq from Turkey, Syria and Iran, is now held back by dams and used for irrigation. On the Euphrates alone, Turkey has five large dams upriver from Iraq, and Syria has two."</span>
ReplyDeleteInteresting article but what is the problem with these other countries? They can't work this out to benefit all?
When you have a country crippled like Iraq anything goes - and what caused this to happen, this boldness to redirect the water through dams to this degree? I will give you a hint "from the halls of...blah blah blah"
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought the article was that IM had returned to Iraq
ReplyDeleteNOT nice!
ReplyDeletehehehe
ReplyDeleteV attacks the loyalties of others. I wonder if V considers himself a loyal to America. If I am not mistaken, V is an American Jew.
ReplyDeleteTurkey and Syria had a major crisis in their relations over this issue, I remember, maybe 5 years ago. As it seems Turkey is behaving as if it's still the Ottoman empire.
ReplyDeleteHere is your answer, I have loyalty to no nation - I hate nationalism, and perhaps this can gicve you an idea where I stand in the spectrum of views regarding the current group of Hegelian nations (listen for the words regarding all nations) -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Q3BVsIBzY
In case you had a problem hearing the lyrics -
ReplyDeleteRenegades Of Funk lyrics
No matter how hard you try, you can't stop us now
No matter how hard you try, you can't stop us now
We're the renegades of this atomic age
This atomic age of renegades
Renegades of this atomic age
This atomic age of renegades
Since the Prehistoric ages and the days of ancient Greece
Right down through the Middle Ages
Planet earth kept going through changes
And then no renaissance came, and times continued to change
Nothing stayed the same, but there were always renegades
Like Chief Sitting Bull, Tom Paine
Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcom X
They were renegades of their time and age
So many renegades
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
From a different solar system many many galaxies away
We are the force of another creation
A new musical revelation
And we're on this musical mission to help the others listen
And groove from land to land singin' electronic chants like
Zulu nation
Revelations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Now renegades are the people with their own philosophies
They change the course of history
Everyday people like you and me
We're the renegades we're the people
With our own philosophies
We change the course of history
Everyday people like you and me
C'mon
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
Poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
Because where we're goin' there ain't no stoppin'
Poppin', sockin', puttin' a side of hip-hop
Because where we're goin' there ain't no stoppin'
Poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
'Cause we're poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
Poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're teachers of the funk
And not of empty popping
We're blessed with the force and the sight of electronics
With the bass, and the treble the horns and our vocals
'Cause everytime I pop into the beat we get fresh
There was a time when our music
Was something called the Bay Street beat
People would gather from all around
To get down to the big sound
You had to be a renegade in those days
To take a man to the dance floor
Thanks for your answer V. Have you considered that others also think beyond nationalism? Perhaps Mojo sees himself as a human being and supported those resisting Saddam because he saw it as a human thing to do (rather than seeing it solely throught the prism of Iraqis and Americans.)
ReplyDeleteYes, the height of humanity, supporting an illegal war that has killed over a million people and enslaved the Iraqis. Dig a little deeper up your ass for an answer.
ReplyDelete