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Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 2
I was just checking out Riverbend's blog to see what her reaction is to the Iraqi elections which will start on Sunday (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/). In her lastest post, she is complaining that they have had no running water in Baghdad for 6 days.
She also pointed me to another blog by Imad Khadduri, who is an Iraqi nuclear scientist who wrote the book, "Iraq's Nuclear Image" (http://www.iraqsnuclearmirage.com/index_en.php). He has some very interesting things to say, too. (Khadduri's blog: http://abutamam.blogspot.com/)
For instance, no one in the good old US of A realizes that when the Iraqi farmers start farming again, it will be illegal for them to use seeds from their last crops; instead they must buy genetically engineered seeds from Monsanto, an American conglomerate. "A new report [1] by GRAIN and Focus on the Global South has found that new legislation in Iraq has been carefully put in place by the US that prevents farmers from saving their seeds and effectively hands over the seed market to transnational corporations. This is a disastrous turn of events for Iraqi farmers, biodiversity and the country's food security. While political sovereignty remains an illusion, food sovereignty for the Iraqi people has been made near impossible by these new regulations." (http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/iraq_seeds.htm).
Furthermore, "The American Administrator of the Iraqi CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) government, Paul Bremer, updated Iraq's intellectual property law to 'meet current internationally-recognized standards of protection'.
The updated law makes saving seeds for next year's harvest, practiced by 97% of Iraqi farmers in 2002, and is the standard farming practice for thousands of years across human civilizations, to be now illegal.. Instead, farmers will have to obtain a yearly license for genetically modified (GM) seeds from American corporations. These GM seeds have typically been modified from seeds developed over thousands of generations by indigenous farmers like the Iraqis, and shared freely like agricultural 'open source.'"
Iraq law Requires Seed Licenses November 13, 2004
"According to Order 81, paragraph 66 - [B], issued by L. Paul Bremer [CFR], the people in Iraq are now prohibited from saving seeds and may only plant seeds for their food from licensed, authorized U.S. distributors.
The paragraph states, "Farmers shall be prohibited from re-using seeds of protected varieties or any variety mentioned in items 1 and 2 of paragraph [C] of Article 14 of this chapter."
Written in massively intricate legalese, Order 81 directs the reader at Article 14, paragraph 2 [C] to paragraph [B] of Article 4, which states any variety that is different from any other known variety may be registered in any country and become a protected variety of seed - thus defaulting it into the "protected class" of seeds and prohibiting the Iraqis from reusing them the following season. Every year, the Iraqis must destroy any seed they have, and repurchase seeds from an authorized supplier, or face fines, penalties and/or jail time. "
(http://magic-city-news.com/article_2812.shtml)
Now why would we think our genetically engineered seeds would produce better crops than the seeds the farmers have used over the centuries which have adapted to the growing conditions in Iraq?????
What the American press wants us to believe is a parallel reality to what is really going on in Iraq, or at least in the Iraq that is being reported on by civilians living here.
Miulang
I was just checking out Riverbend's blog to see what her reaction is to the Iraqi elections which will start on Sunday (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/). In her lastest post, she is complaining that they have had no running water in Baghdad for 6 days.
She also pointed me to another blog by Imad Khadduri, who is an Iraqi nuclear scientist who wrote the book, "Iraq's Nuclear Image" (http://www.iraqsnuclearmirage.com/index_en.php). He has some very interesting things to say, too. (Khadduri's blog: http://abutamam.blogspot.com/)
For instance, no one in the good old US of A realizes that when the Iraqi farmers start farming again, it will be illegal for them to use seeds from their last crops; instead they must buy genetically engineered seeds from Monsanto, an American conglomerate. "A new report [1] by GRAIN and Focus on the Global South has found that new legislation in Iraq has been carefully put in place by the US that prevents farmers from saving their seeds and effectively hands over the seed market to transnational corporations. This is a disastrous turn of events for Iraqi farmers, biodiversity and the country's food security. While political sovereignty remains an illusion, food sovereignty for the Iraqi people has been made near impossible by these new regulations." (http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/iraq_seeds.htm).
Furthermore, "The American Administrator of the Iraqi CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) government, Paul Bremer, updated Iraq's intellectual property law to 'meet current internationally-recognized standards of protection'.
The updated law makes saving seeds for next year's harvest, practiced by 97% of Iraqi farmers in 2002, and is the standard farming practice for thousands of years across human civilizations, to be now illegal.. Instead, farmers will have to obtain a yearly license for genetically modified (GM) seeds from American corporations. These GM seeds have typically been modified from seeds developed over thousands of generations by indigenous farmers like the Iraqis, and shared freely like agricultural 'open source.'"
Iraq law Requires Seed Licenses November 13, 2004
"According to Order 81, paragraph 66 - [B], issued by L. Paul Bremer [CFR], the people in Iraq are now prohibited from saving seeds and may only plant seeds for their food from licensed, authorized U.S. distributors.
The paragraph states, "Farmers shall be prohibited from re-using seeds of protected varieties or any variety mentioned in items 1 and 2 of paragraph [C] of Article 14 of this chapter."
Written in massively intricate legalese, Order 81 directs the reader at Article 14, paragraph 2 [C] to paragraph [B] of Article 4, which states any variety that is different from any other known variety may be registered in any country and become a protected variety of seed - thus defaulting it into the "protected class" of seeds and prohibiting the Iraqis from reusing them the following season. Every year, the Iraqis must destroy any seed they have, and repurchase seeds from an authorized supplier, or face fines, penalties and/or jail time. "
(http://magic-city-news.com/article_2812.shtml)
Now why would we think our genetically engineered seeds would produce better crops than the seeds the farmers have used over the centuries which have adapted to the growing conditions in Iraq?????
What the American press wants us to believe is a parallel reality to what is really going on in Iraq, or at least in the Iraq that is being reported on by civilians living here.
Miulang
The "Oil for Food" program should change its name to "Food for Votes".
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