Iraq seeks help in its fight to overcome the toxic fallout of war and terror - The Ecologist
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Iraq is working hard to remediate the environmental impacts of two Gulf wars and Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons programme, writes Wim Zwijnenburg. But it now faces new hazards deliberately caused by Islamic State - and is in desperate need of international support.
De Saddam à nos jours
Al-Jubury has accused IS of polluting water sources with oil waste and toxic chemicals, and destroying agricultural land, leading to desertification, economic losses and threatening food security.
It appears that IS has adopted a strategy of using environmental damage as a weapon of war through the “deliberate contamination of rivers, lakes and streams with toxic waste and oil contaminants.”
To address this problem, local news agencies have reported that the MoE will begin an environmental assessment of affected areas. According to Luay al-Mukhtar, director of the ministry’s department for the regulation of chemicals and polluted sites, the purposde is to
“prevent the spread of disease and to safely dispose of waste. As part of this project, ministry teams will perform laboratory checks and analysis of water, soil and air in every area that has been cleared and secured of [IS] control.”
La #pollution comme arme de #guerre, les Irakiens sont servis et ils ne sont pas sortis de l’auberge ! #Irak #santé #environnement #eau #sols #industrie_pétrolière #armes_chimiques #industrie_chimique