Don’t Panic: Has the U.S. committed environmental crimes in Iraq?

Evidence suggests a link between heavy U.S. munitions and a steep rise in birth defects

Fouling rivers, plants and soil in a manner you know will cause death or injury to large numbers of innocent people is an environmental crime.

I first heard the term “environmental crime” during a public gathering of hacky-sacking peace activists gathered in a remote North Carolina forest in 2003. After sharing a joint and engaging in a lively “Widespread vs. Phish” debate, the conversation turned to environmentalism and war. One of the hippies bitched to his comrades about how Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of river-dwelling Iraqis (the so-called Marsh Arabs) by damming and diverting the rivers and streams that flowed through their communities.

So sayeth the unwashed peacenik: “According to one estimate, the population of the Marsh Arabs in 1991 stood at half a million. But after Saddam’s humanitarian and environmental crimes, it is believed that there are at most 200,000 left, and less than 40,000 of those still in Iraq.”

Hold on, hold on. I think I misread my notes.

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(Photo illustration by Andisheh Nouraee)