IRAQ: River Tigris becoming a graveyard of bodies

[ProSense]

GRAVEYARD RIVER

08 May 2007 14:01:00 GMT

IRAQ: River Tigris becoming a graveyard of bodies

BAGHDAD, 8 May 2007 (IRIN) - The River Tigris has long been a symbol of prosperity in Iraq but since the US-led invasion in 2003, this amazing watercourse has turned into a graveyard of bodies. In addition, the water level is decreasing as pollution increases, say environmentalists.

Pollution in the river is caused by oil derivatives and industrial waste as well as Iraqi and US military waste, they say.

The river was one of the main sources of water, food, transport and recreation for the local population but after four years of war and pollution, it has been transformed into a stagnant sewer, according to environmentalists.

"The situation is critical. The river is gradually being destroyed and there are no projects to prevent its destruction," said Professor Ratib Mufid, an environment expert at Baghdad University.

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[malaise]

1. I can't take much more of this

I M P E A CH these war criminals!

[Dhalgren]

2. It will never end. We are the New Nazis. Not that we are exactly like

the old ones; we just fill the same niche they did. The only way this will ever stop is if someone manages to defeat us, crushingly, or if there is a violent, bloody revolt in this country. I really don't see either of those two things happening. So get use to this, because it will never end...

[Grandrose]

3. Appalling!

This invasion did open the gates to hell! :cry:

[Ezlivin]

4. River Tigris = River Styx

And our Christian Soldiers are on the march!

[deutsey]

5. Ah, progress

:eyes:

[tubbacheez]

6. The old hymn "Down By The Riverside" takes on a new meaning in this light. n/t

[Supersedeas]

7. Nothing to see here--feed them more fancy dinner picks or Paris going to jail

[mloutre]

8. Maybe in 40 years the Tigris can become a river of peace, too

Though I'm sure it will probably take at least that long if not longer, alas.

Anyway, this post immediately brought to mind the lyrics to a hauntingly lovely Nanci Griffiths song titled "Heart of Indochine" -- it's from her "Hearts in Mind" album, and you can hear a song sample from it here to get a sense of its pensive mood.


I am on a riverboat
On the Saigon River
Where the music's too loud
While I try to have my dinner

Stories I've been told of 1954
When the bodies washed ashore
From that distant war

My friend Michael came in '68
The bodies still floating
With the dinner boats sailing
Beside all those souls
Of the American war

Oh, deliver me to the river of souls
In the heart of Indochine
Deliver me to a river at peace
In this twenty-first century

All those souls that floated free
In these dark war's waters
All the souls now swim together
The French and the Viet Minh
Those American boys
The souls of the Saigon River
At peace in Indochine

I am in a cafe
In Ho Chi Minh City
My friend Bobby Muller
Is sitting with me

This traffic is maddening
In his wheelchair he's napping
I wonder at times,
Does he walk in his dreams?

Later I walked all the way from Tu Do Street
To the banks of the river
With the dinner boats sailing
Beside all of the souls
Of a river in peace

Oh, deliver me to the river of souls
In the heart of Indochine
Deliver me to a river at peace
In this twenty-first century

All those souls that floated free
In these dark war's waters
All the souls now swim together
The French and the Viet Minh
and those American boys
The souls of the Saigon River
At peace in Indochine

Hoa binh... hoa binh...
Peace... in the heart of Indochine


"Hoa Binh", by the way, means "peace" in Vietnamese. And if the Saigon River can become a hoa binh river after all the blood that flowed through it to the sea, then maybe someday the Tigris River can finally become a salaam river, too...