May 16, 2003
CounterPunch

Water Woes: In Iraq, Water and Oil Do Mix

by Leah C. Wells

Conspicuously missing from the ubiquitous Iraq war critique was the subtle agenda of water rights in the parched Middle East region. Of all the reasons for invading Iraq, securing water rights was never mentioned because it implicates too many countries with volatile connections to Iraq, like Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Israel. Protest signs read, "No Blood For Oil," as American corporations salivated in line for the opportunity to win contracts to rebuild the ravaged infrastructure. Why did no antiwar protesters carry signs saying, "No War for Water"? They should have.

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"Sacrificing Africans, Muslims To Bring Nile Water To Israel," The Wisdom Fund, March 22, 1996

["In the 1990's there was much discussion over the construction of a so-called Peace Pipeline that would bring the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates south to the parched Gulf states and, by extension, Israel. No progress has been made on this, largely because of Iraqi intransigence. With Iraq in American hands, of course, all that could change."--Stephen C. Pelletiere, "A War Crime or an Act of War?, New York Times, January 31, 2003]

"Regime Change for Iraq: Oil and Water for Israel?," The Wisdom Fund, April 1, 2003

Jeevan Vasagar, "Storms lie ahead over future of Nilel," The Guardian, February 13, 2004