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On my most recent visit to the Mesopotamian marshes, in March, I arrived at Sayeed Hithams for breakfast. The pandemic had kept me away for more than a year.

The sun was just rising, the sky pink and golden. Hana, Hithams wife, stood smiling near the door to their reed house. Tea is ready, bread is ready, she said. Come on in.

We sat on the worn-out carpet around a glowing kerosene heater, sipping tea and dipping the flat naan Hana had just baked into hot buffalo milk. What took you so long, Emi? Sayeed asked with a tone of reproach. We havent seen you in forever.

Indeed. A year was the longest Id gone without visiting the Mesopotamian marshes since I began documenting the area in late 2016.

At that time, when journalists and photographers were flocking to the north of Iraq, where the battle for Mosul was raging, I took the opposite path and headed south. I was in search of another view of the country, something different from the war Id been covering for the previous year and a half.

It was a moment of real discovery for me one of those few times when you connect with a place, with a people.

The Mesopotamian marshes, a series of wetlands that sit near Iraqs southeast border, feel like an oasis in the middle of the desert which they are. The ruins of the ancient Sumerian cities of Ur, Uruk and Eridu are close at hand. The broader region, known as the cradle of civilization, saw early developments in writing, architecture and complex society.

The marshes are home to a people called the Madan, also known as the Marsh Arabs, who live deep in the wetlands, mostly as buffalo breeders in isolated settlements, a majority of which are reachable only by boat. Others live in small cities on the banks of the Tigris or Euphrates rivers, which feed the marshes.

Many of the Madan left decades ago, when the marshes were ravaged by war, famine and repression.

During the Iran-Iraq war, waged between 1980 and 1988, the wetlands proximity to the Iranian border turned the area into a conflict zone, a theater for bloody battles. Later, in the early 1990s, in the aftermath of a Shiite uprising against his Baath Party, Saddam Hussein intentionally drained the region where many of the Shiite rebels had fled as a punishment and a way to stifle the insurrection.

The marshes turned into a desert for more than a decade, until the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

By then, damage had already been done. By the early 2000s, less than 10 percent of the areas original wetland existed as a functioning marshland.

Today, after being re-flooded and partially restored, the marshes are once again endangered by climate change, lack of ecological awareness on a local level and, perhaps most dramatically, by the construction of dams in Turkey and Syria and upriver in Iraq.

In 2018, an extremely hot summer followed by a lack of rain caused a serious drought. In some areas, the water level fell by more than three feet.

Thats it, I remember thinking, as the small boat crossed the marsh where corpses of young buffaloes floated in the water. Buffalo breeders like Sayeed Hitham lost about a third of their livestock, and many had to leave when areas turned into a desert. They migrated to neighboring cities or farther still, to the poor suburbs of Karbala, Basra or Baghdad.

But then, a few months later, the water began to rise. People returned. I photographed the renewal, just as Id photographed drought the year before. But it felt then it still feels now like a sword of Damocles hung over the region.

The stakes are high, both ecologically and for the people who live here. If the already-depleted marshes dry up again, the Madan may have no choice but to leave, to cast away from a peaceful enclave into a troubled land.

Still, Ive kept coming back. Over the years, Ive seen drought and abundance, freezing winters and burning summers. Ive seen children born, and watched them grow up. Ive followed Sayeed Hitham and his family as they moved around the marsh, the location of their new home dependent on the water level and each time built out of reeds.

Ive even gotten used to the huge water buffaloes, known locally as jamous, which represent the main source of income for most of the Madan.

The buffaloes scared me at the beginning. But Ive learned to walk through a herd of horns, to let them smell me, to pet the fluffy, friendly calves the ones that try to lick my hand like oversized dogs.

When I outlined my progress to Sayeed, as we wrapped up breakfast, he burst into his wonderful, exuberant laughter. You still know nothing, Emi, he said. You cant even tell the mean jamous in the herd.

Then, serious, and still smiling, he said: Its OK. You have time to learn.

Original post:
In Iraq, Drought and Abundance in the Mesopotamian Marshes - The New York Times

Travelling down the river, Salim noticed that most boats were made of metal, not traditional materials. Ancient Mesopotamian boats and crafts had survived multiple invasions over many millennia, explains Salim. But the displacement and destruction of recent conflicts disrupted the traditional ways of teaching these crafts, often passed down from father to son.

Never before had these strata of knowledge, of engagement of [local] material ever disappeared. This was the very first time, says Salim.

Salim began tracking down the last few living craftspeople in Iraq who knew how to build traditional boats.

Through boat reconstruction and oral history workshops, he has documented six traditional boats, including the tarada, which was the Marsh Arabs war canoe, designed to cut through the reeds with its high curved prow. The others are the guffa, a coil-basket coracle made from grasses, palm and pomegranate stems; the kelek, a raft used to carry goods and people; and the meshouf, the kaiya and the zaima.

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As momentum grew, Salim and his partner, Hannah Lewis, in 2017 co-founded Safina Projects, which aims to preserve and revive Iraqs endangered craft heritage, particularly its ancient boats.

The study of boats [internationally] developed considerably in the 40 years that Iraq has been off the map, says Salim. Theres still a vast amount of knowledge to gather. Already people that have been sources for key information have died, so we are in an emergency state of gathering. Its the last chance to capture knowledge, and to understand it.

The maritime heritage curriculum unit that Jotheri is co-developing builds on Salims fieldwork. The unit will be embedded in Iraqs third-year undergraduate heritage course and is set to launch at universities across Iraq in October.

The unit will cover all aspects of maritime heritage, from industry to management to culture, and will be accompanied by a book that Jotheri and four colleagues at the University of Al-Qadisiyah, at Al-Diwaniyah, in south central Iraq, are writing.

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Iraq's Maritime Heritage Finds a Haven in the Classroom - Al-Fanar Media

BAGHDAD (AP) The mission of U.S. forces in Iraq has shifted to training and advisory roles, allowing for redeployment of combat forces remaining in the country, U.S. and Iraq delegates said Wednesday, after a third round of strategic U.S.-Iraq talks.

Statements issued by both sides, however, said the timing of such a redeployment would be determined in upcoming technical talks, without specifying when they would take place. They also stressed the need for continued security cooperation.

The talks held virtually because of the pandemic began in June under the Trump administration. Wednesdays round, the first under President Joe Biden, centered on an array of issues, including the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Iraq had requested the latest round, partly in response to pressure from Shiite political factions and militias loyal to Iran that have lobbied for the remaining U.S. troops to leave Iraq. Participants included U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hassan.

A State Department statement following the talks said that with increasing capacity of Iraqi security forces, the mission of U.S. and coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq.

The Pentagon press secretary, John Kirby, said Wednesdays statement does not represent an agreement to begin a further withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Iraqi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool said later that Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered the formation of a committee that would hold technical talks with the American side to approve mechanisms and timings related to the redeployment.

Al-Kadhimi has walked a tightrope as he negotiates with the Americans while coming under growing pressure from local militias loyal to Tehran.

Last week, a convoy of heavily armed Shiite militiamen drove openly through Baghdad, denouncing the U.S. presence and threatening to cut off al-Kadhimis ear, a display that clearly sought to undermine the premier.

Angered, al-Kadhimi asked Irans leaders to rein in Iran-backed militias in Iraq and suggested he would confront the factions, two Iraqi officials said Wednesday. In the note, al-Kadhimi threatened to announce clearly who backs these groups, the officials said.

It was not immediately clear who the message was given to. The timing suggested al-Kadhimi, who has appeared powerless in confronting the militias, was looking to appease the Americans ahead of Wednesdays talks.

The message led to a two-day visit this week by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force chief Ismail Qaani to Baghdad, where he met with militia and Shiite political leaders and called for calm, according to a senior Iraqi Shiite politician.

The two Iraqi officials and the Shiite politician all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

U.S.-Iraq ties plummeted after a Washington-directed airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last year. At the time, outraged Shiite lawmakers passed a non-binding resolution to end U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

Iraqi and U.S. officials have said they support a scheduled withdrawal from Iraq but questions remain over timings and the scope of the threat posed by the Islamic State group. According to the Pentagon, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq has dropped to about 2,500 over the past months.

Iraqs Foreign Minister Fuad Hassan said in a statement during Wednesdays talks that Iraq still needs U.S. support related to training, arming and advising its military.

Iraqis, particularly under former President Donald Trump, have often felt squeezed and pressured by both their allies, the U.S. and Iran. Tehran, for instance, seeks billions of dollars in payment for crucial gas and electricity supplies to Iraq. Iraqi officials say the money is sitting idle in an account at the Trade Bank of Iraq because of U.S. restrictions and fears of sanctions.

In a positive sign, the Biden administration last month permitted a 120-day sanctions waiver for Iraq to continue importing energy from Iran, the maximum time frame allowed. Waiver renewals under Trump were often for shorter periods and laden with conditions.

However, Iraqi officials say they require U.S. leniency to repay Tehran directly for the crucial energy imports, forgoing a complex payment system designed to evade U.S. sanctions over trading with Iran.

Iraq relies on Iranian supplies for a third of power needs, especially during peak summer months. Electricity cuts over payment issues resulted in violent protests in the southern province of Basra in the summer of 2018. As Iraq plans for nationwide parliamentary elections in October, the need to avoid unrest is high.

Currently, Iraq can pay Iran indirectly for the supplies in several ways. It can pay in humanitarian goods or medicines, cancel Irans foreign debt, and foot bills such as Iranian Embassy expenses, the costs of Iranian companies operating in Iraq and those of Iranian pilgrimages to Shiite holy sites in Iraq.

But doling out these payments has been difficult, partly because U.S. conditions are so strict.

___ Kullab reported from Istanbul. Associated Press writers Mathew Lee and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

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No timetable for withdrawal of troops after US, Iraq talks - The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Improved performance by Iraqi military forces is allowing the United States and Iraq to look ahead to the day when U.S. forces will no longer be needed to help Baghdad stave off the threat from the Islamic State terror group and its remnants.

In a communique issued Wednesday following virtual talks between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, the two countries agreed to embark on technical talks aimed at establishing a timeline for U.S. combat troops to leave.

The mission of U.S. and Coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq, the communique stated, pointing to the increasing capacity of the Iraqi security forces.

In a tweet late Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi described the talks with Washington as a gateway to restore the normal situation in Iraq and said the Iraqi people deserve to live without fear of conflict.

The U.S. currently has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and just under another 1,000 troops in neighboring Syria. They have been tasked with supporting Iraqi forces and the coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to keep pressure on Islamic State, as it has sought to resurrect its fortunes just over two years after the last remnant of its self-declared caliphate fell to U.S.-backed forces in Syria.

U.S. forces also conduct aerial surveillance missions and airstrikes in support of the Iraqi forces and the SDF, though Iraqs military has carried out a growing number of airstrikes itself in recent months.

U.S. officials, speaking after the virtual talks, emphasized that for now, Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or by its Arabic acronym, Daesh, remains a threat and that there is no plan to begin pulling U.S. troops from Iraq in the near term.

"We've all been working towards the eventual redeployment when we both agree, and the Iraqis believe that there's a need for that mission to end, and there's no need for American support on the ground, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters during a briefing Wednesday.

We didn't go in there with the idea of being a permanent presence, he said. The idea was to defeat ISIS. And that's still the goal.

U.S. officials, of late, have described the threat from IS as diminished, and intelligence estimates indicate the terror groups ranks have thinned to perhaps as few as 8,000 fighters across Iraq and Syria, a fraction of the 34,000 to 100,000 fighters who roamed the region during the caliphates brief heyday.

U.S. military officials have also been quick to praise Iraqi forces, especially the elite Counterterrorism Service (CTS), for eroding the terror organizations capabilities.

In the first three months of 2021, Iraqs CTS carried out more than 100 operations against IS, killing 34 fighters and arresting another 99.

Iraqi forces, and the Iraqi air force, were also credited with playing a major role in a massive air campaign last month that destroyed 120 hideouts being used by IS in Iraqs Makhmour Mountains.

They are a much better force now than they were before, the Pentagons Kirby said, assessing the progress Iraqs military has made since U.S. and coalition forces were first sent to Iraq to push back IS.

They have improved their capability and responded to the training and the assistance that they've been getting, he added.

Despite that improvement, U.S. and coalition officials have been quick to argue that it would be dangerous to ease up on IS cells and remnants.

"The threatremains," foreign ministers with the Global Coalition to Defeat IS said in a statement following a virtual meeting last week.

Defeat IS Coalition Worries About Resurgence

Ministers, who met virtually Tuesday, 'took note' of increased Islamic State activity across Iraq and Syria

Of particular concern has been the groups ability to hide and gain strength in areas where Iraqi, SDF, and U.S. and coalition forces are unable to operate, including parts of Syria nominally under the control of the Syrian government or its Russian and Iranian allies.

There are also concerns that IS operatives, working with criminal networks, are still finding ways to flow to areas with the least security and counterterror pressure, often exploiting the porous border between Iraq and Syria to move people, cash and weapons.

Islamic State Exploiting Security Gaps to Step Up Violence, US Partners Warn

IS operatives appear to be to shaping environment in Syria, Iraq to terror group's advantage

Nike Ching contributed to this report.

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Hopes, But No Firm Dates, for US Withdrawal From Iraq - Voice of America

Visa-free travel is supposed to woo expats and tourists

GETTING INTO Iraq has never been easy. Saddam Hussein was loth to grant visas to curious Westerners, lest they see evidence of his regimes brutality. After his overthrow in 2003, the borders opened up, but war kept civilians away. Then Iraqs new rulers lowered a paper portcullis, demanding fees and the completion of myriad forms. Local middlemen offered to helpfor a price, of course. Oil firms coughed up thousands of dollars to get their workers in.

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That is all changing. Last month Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the prime minister, scrapped visa requirements for visitors from 36 countries, including America, China and those in the EU. They will be granted a two-month entry permit on arrival. Officials say the move will cut red tape, encourage investment and kick-start reconstruction. Its the single most effective decision to open Iraq to the world, says a frequent German visitor.

The move is an effort to reposition Iraq as an area of co-operation, not confrontation, says one of Mr Kadhimis men. The prime minister hopes it will also let Iraq depend less on Iran. His advisers dream of attracting expats and even tourists. Iraq is certainly safer than it used to be. A visit by Pope Francis last month went off without a hitch.

Not everyone is happy, though. Some officials prefer Iranian to Western influence; others fear losing out on bribes. And xenophobia is still a problem. Clerics accuse the government of giving Westerners priority over pilgrims from Muslim countries that are not included in the plan. Its discrimination and wont bring back tourism, says a cleric in the holy city of Najaf.

The doors are not fully open yet. Iraqi consular staff say they have not been officially notified of the changes and that foreigners should still apply for visas. Mr Kadhimis underlings dont always enforce his decrees. Spring break in Baghdad may have to wait until next year.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline "The doors are opening"

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Getting into Iraq may soon be much easier - The Economist