The Ma'dan are being forced to leave their homeland and a link to the ancient past is disappearing quickly. As of this writing, there has been no major outcry from neighboring Iran about the marsh-draining or human displacement, though the marshlands do border Iran. However, about 650,000 Iraqi refugees have crossed over the Iraqi border to Iran to escape Iraqi military operations directed against them. As mentioned above, the U.N. Human Rights Commission and Middle East Watch have been monitoring the situation. Mass arrests, assassinations, poisoning the water and burning villages were also ordered by the Iraqi regime.
Agriculture has nothing to do with what is actually transpiring.
Relevant Literature Books Hazelton, Fran, ed. Journals Gleick, Peter H., Haleh Hatami, Peter Yolles. Draining Life From Iraq's Marshes. America's Unyielding Policy Toward Iraq. Down but not out.