These photos from the ancient marshlands of Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are but a fond memory of a stunningly beautiful, watery world populated with hospitable, friendly people. At the end of the Gulf War in 1991, with American encouragement, the Marsh Arabs rebelled against Saddam Hussein. The price they paid was heavy. Since the Americans never followed up on their victory, Saddam Hussein’s forces were free to return with fury. They dammed and drained the precious wetlands of the Marsh Arabs, bombed and burned their villages. Precious little remains of a way of life, a civilization, that goes back some 5000 years. Only 30,000 people remain out of a population of about 500,000.
Ranked last on the UN Development Progamme's Human Development Index and faced with mounting food shortages and political instability, photojournalist Shafiq Morton captures images of desperation and hope in Niger
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