Here is a Link to an article about the impacts of the decades long wars that have devastated Afghanistan. Like most places that have undergone war for such a lengthy time period, the countryside here has been severely degraded. The article has one particularly striking image on the right hand side showing a boy walking through the disgustingly dirty and polluted river. Just as in Iraq there are problems with people stealing, smuggling and taking advantage of the unlawfulness.
It is reasonable to expect some sort of environmental protection during times of war? Would there be a difference between a war in or between developing countries and one with more developed countries where environmental protection may be a bigger issue and priority?
ok it's Iraq but it's interesting
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Here is a link to a blog put up by Morgan on a different Blog. There are a
number of entries that tie more to your topic than theirs. Enjoy.
15 years ago
Posts
I was surprised to hear about the new environmental law in Afghanistan. Although they may not have the means to enforce it, it's still a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad to hear about the effects of the years of war on the environment and the animal population, but at the same time it's hard to say that we should be implementing environmental protection when there are so many human rights travesties happening every day... So I do think it's reasonable to expect some sort of environmental protection, but I would prioritize human lives over the environment. That being said, in some ways the two are intimately connected, so that' makes things kind of complicated. So I guess I don't really have an answer...
I agree with Evelyn that there should be an expectation for environmental protection, but of course human life is always a more immediate concern.
ReplyDeleteI think what is important to note here, though, is that we must examine the power structures. If the body in power is unstable or insecure as well as corrupt, it might actually negatively impact the country in order to stay in power. For example, last week my post was about how Saddam Hussein drained the marshes in southern Iraq in 1991 in order to stop the insurgency of the Marsh Arabs who live there. As a result, he destroyed a part of his own country and very valuable resources that existed there in order to keep control of his power.
This can be applied to the situation in Afghanistan. Until 2001, the Taliban was the ruling body in the nation, and it is obviously unlikely that they would address either the environment or human safety during war. Although they are no longer the official government and are now an insurgency movement, the consequences of their time in power, including environmental impact, are definitely still prevalent today.