“60 Minutes” ran a wonderful segment on the restoration of the Iraqi marshes.
Saddam Hussein drained thousands of miles of marshland after the 1991 War and slaughtered the Marsh Arabs who lived there. But after Iraq was liberated from this brutal tyrant the US helped resurrect this region in southern Iraq.
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One of the worst environmental disasters of the late 20th Century was the destruction of these Iraqi marshes by Saddam Hussein.
But, George W. Bush restored the marshes.
In early 2003, less than 10% of the Mesopotamian Marshlands remained. By early 2004, 40% of the marshlands had been re-flooded. Since the liberation of Iraq the marshes have been restored to over 85% of their former glory.
A photogragh in 1977 of the marshlands before Saddam drained the land of water. (Nik Wheeler)
George W. Bush not only liberated 50 million people from two of the most brutal regimes in history, he also brought life back to the Iraqi marshes.
Unfortunately, “60 Minutes” did not get around to thanking George W. Bush for restoring the Iraqi marshes. Without George W. Bush’s courage and persistence none of this would have been possible.
That’s just sad.
Related… During the Bush years air pollution levels in every category fell from 2001 to 2007.
