Now, thanks to Bush & Rumsfeld, the world has the opportunity to reverse the destruction of a great ecosystem, the Iraqi marshes destroyed by Saddam.

"Everyone is harping about Saddam's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction," said Alwash, "but here he used water as a mass destruction weapon. He used it to destroy a culture that has lasted 5,000 years. And I'm afraid it has made me somewhat cynical that the international community stood by and did nothing while it was happening."

*** Cynical about the vaunted "international community"? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

The marshes were an integral part of the Iraqi culture and collective psyche, said Alwash, and their loss is an emotional blow that is hard for outsiders to understand.

Ecological scientists are in general accord with Alwash that the destruction of the marshes was a catastrophe of global significance.

*** Global significance.

"By any measure, this was one of the most important wetland systems in the world," said Scott McCreary, a principal and co-founder of Concur Inc., an East Bay consulting group that specializes in developing consensus solutions to natural resource conflicts. "It was on par with other great mega-deltas such as the Yangtze and the Amazon."

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So, how many here think that the Bush admin will get any kudos from the "environmental" orgs? You know the same orgs who protested vigorously the "catastrophe of global significance", the destruction of the marshlands. Oh sorry, they were just way too busy with more important issues like castigating the current admin over drilling for oil in Alaska or lobbying for the idiotic Kyoto protocols or whatever.

-p