U.N.: Iraq Marshlands Rebound Quickly

"TOKYO (AP) - The marshlands of southern Iraq, said to be the inspiration for the biblical Garden of Eden, have recovered rapidly since the fall of Saddam Hussein, whose regime turned much of the lush waterscape into arid salt flats, the United Nations said Wednesday.

New satellite imagery shows a rapid increase in water and vegetation cover in the past three years, with the marshes rebounding to about 37 percent of their 1970 extent, from about 10 percent in 2002, the U.N. Environmental Program said.

``The evidence of their rapid revival is a positive signal, not only for the environment and the local communities who live there, but must be seen as a contribution to wider peace and security for the Iraqi people,'' UNEP executive director Klaus Toepfer said in a report on a multimillion-dollar restoration program.

Saddam drained much of the Mesopotamian waters between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by building dams, dikes and canals after the Marsh Arab inhabitants supported a Shiite Muslim rebellion following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also ordered thousands killed."
Guardian

Well at leaast there is something positive from Iraq.