Then a decade later, as young men with picks and small water pumps began knocking down the embankments that kept water out of the former wetlands after Hussein’s fall, he was among those who watched water re-enter the marshes.
It has not been plain sailing since. The marshes are struggling as a result of climate change and mismanagement. And yet, Abu Abbas’s optimism has remained.
Early last year, lying in bed with his health failing, he received a visit from his nephew, Jassim Al-Asadi. “What is the status of the marshes?” Abu Abbas asked. “Things are miserable,” Jassim replied. Before Jassim could continue, Abu Abbas cut him off.
“Do not be afraid for the marshes,“ he said. "They will survive, even if the water is salty, as long as there are people like you who will defend them.”
The Ghosts of Iraq’s Marshes tells the history of the creation, destruction, and revitalization of the Marshes and their inhabitants against the backdrop of the dramatic events that have convulsed Iraq in the past fifty years.
It follows the life of Jassim al-Asadi, an irrigation engineer who was jailed and tortured under Saddam Hussein and who subsequently dedicated his life to the reflooding and restoration of the Marshes. He eventually contributed to the Marshes being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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