Iraq War Could Have Environmental Consequences

Date: March 13, 2003

Source: News Room

A looming war in Iraq could have devastating environmental consequences, based on what occurred in the wake of the first Gulf War. Farming in Kuwait is still struggling after Iraqi forces torched about 700 Kuwaiti oil wells at the end of the 1991 Gulf War, creating a toxic black shroud over the region in one of the most destructive acts of ecological sabotage in history. Temperatures dropped, Gulf fisheries collapsed, and fresh water supplies were poisoned by fires and giant oil slicks. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein says Baghdad will not ignite oil wells and has no weapons of mass destruction.

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