My apologies, as this posting is going to address last week's country, as well as this week's. I am fighting off a sickness that the more paranoid part of my psyche is almost entirely convinced is the Swine Flu.

Afghanistan

http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/december01_index.php?l=7

This link gives a brief summary of all of the environmental challenges facing Afghanistan today, and reveals that essentially the bulk of the environmental damage the land of Afghanistan has occured within the last two decades. Besides opium production, which has been going on for centuries, the majority of Afghanistan's problems, including chemical weapon production, land mines, and a decline in the amount of land used for agriculture. The wars that have wracked Afghanistan have been severely detrimental to their Eco System, and this is particularly poingnant because the conflicts in Afghanistan have been almost entirely no fault of their own. First idependence from the Soviet Union, next the American invasion into Afghanistan. The challenges they face have been caused by outside influences, and now they need the resources to fix them. To whom does that responsibility fall?

Iran

http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/iran/iran_environment.html

This article refers America's collaboration with Iran on issues involving the environment, particularly the ones that effect Iran the most, including air pollution and deforestation. It discusses past collaboration efforts between the two countries. Again, like Saudi Arabia, where the United States cannot work together on one arena, such as at the political level, they can find common ground on another level, like the environment.