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.

Iran, with more than 65 million people, is one of the driest countries in the world. Urbanization, industrialization, and agriculture have increased demand for water while sapping the county’s scant supplies. Only 10 percent of the country receives adequate rainfall for agriculture. Water scarcity is a national concern and creates pressure to construct large infrastructural projects to transport water to drier parts of the country. A water tunnel has recently finished construction linking the Dez River and the central desert province Qom. Called the largest water tunnel in the Middle East, the project took five years to complete. At 27.3 miles long, the tunnel will move 120 million cubic meters of water each year.
Much of Iran's water is stored underground. Iranians centuries ago developed man-made underground water channels called qanats which are used more than wells to access those supplies. A qanat taps water that has seeped into the ground and channels it via straight tunnels to the land surface. Flood control and management of water resources have made dams popular projects in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The 42 dams are used for irrigation, flood management, hydropower, and in some cases drinking water. In numerous localities, there may be no precipitation until sudden storms, accompanied by heavy rains, dump almost the entire year's rainfall in a few days. Often causing floods and local damage, the runoffs are so rapid that they cannot be used for agricultural purposes. The dangerous relationship with water supplies in Iran poses many challenges for the future. Sudden innundation following drought make agriculture and safe water more unreliable and difficult.