Image on left: Satellite photos track the destruction of marshland in southern Iraq from 1972 (top left) to 1993 (middle) to 2000 (bottom right). (Photos: U.S. Department of State)

The near total destruction of the vast marshlands of southern Iraq by Saddam Hussein's regime has had horrendous ecological consequences and devastated the 500,000 Ma'dan or "Marsh Arab" people, who have populated the area for 5,000 years.

On November 14, the Institute hosted a Current Issues Briefing to examine the effect of Hussein's polices on the Ma'dan including issues such as:

• What have been the environmental and humanitarian consequences of the draining of the marshland?
• How do international laws on water rights apply to the Ma'dan people?
• What are the political implications of the marshlands' destruction?

Moderated by Richard Kauzlarich, director of the Institute's Special Initiative on the Muslim World, the discussion was followed by questions from the floor.

Speakers

• Baroness Emma Nicholson
  Member, European Union Parliament, and Special Rapporteur for Iraq
• Peter Clark
  CEO, AMAR International Charitable Foundation
• Joseph Dellapenna
  Professor, Villanova University Law School
• James Brasington
  Professor, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
• Richard Kauzlarich, Moderator
  Director, Special Initiative on the Muslim World, U.S. Institute of Peace

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