Iraq's Marshlands Face A Second Death By Drought

In Iraq, drought is threatening one of the country's natural wonders, the vast southern marshland between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

After the 1991 Gulf War, former Iraq President Saddam Hussein drained the wetlands so that his troops could hunt down Shiite rebels who were hiding there.

Projects to revive the marshes were launched after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, with the aim of restoring a vibrant culture that's based on fishing, reed gathering and tending water buffalo.

Local people say all that could now be lost.

The natural slope of the land near the confluence of the country's two great rivers allowed water from the Tigris to flow across a vast plain of reeds, like the Florida Everglades, to emerge into the Euphrates. For centuries, it supported a unique Arab culture — people who lived in reed houses on islands in the marsh.





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