AFP.
Apr 13, 2003
Al-Qurna - It is believed to be the Garden of
Eden, the mythic place where the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers join, the cradle of mankind where
Adam came to pray to God.

Today it is a desolate wasteland of excrement,
cracked paving stones and bullet holes. The
eucalyptus known as Adam´s tree, a place of holy
pilgrimage for Christians, Muslims and Jews alike,
stands bleached and dead.

"Once we believed it to be a little parcel of
paradise on earth," said Qassem Khalif, an English
teacher.

"Every generation was taught that this was the
true Garden of Eden and this was Adam´s tree, the
place where he first spoke to God. Now, as you can
see for yourself, it is ruined, there is no
respect, no humanity, no..."

He struggled for the words. "No loving or
kindness."

Whether you believe the holy tradition or not,
Mesopotamia, the fertile crescent between the
watery junction of Euphrates and the Tigris, was
home to the first modern man.

It was here that the alphabet was invented and our
days divided into 24 hours. It was here where the
first epic poems were composed to hand down our
collective history, and where we learned how to
cultivate crops.

And it was here that Saddam Hussein´s Baath party
built a shrine in the 1970s, in this village known
as Al-Qurna, trying to capitalise on the tourists
who poured here in pilgrimage.

But within years the war had been begun with
next-door Iran, remembered here by a shelter
sandbagged against attack. The site fell into
neglect and disrepair. The walls and floor of the
shrine are now cracked and warped.

Beneath the Garden is a mudflat polluted with
urban waste where children fight packs of mangy
dogs before plunging in to swim and fish.

"Since those years Iraq has been all but closed.
It is so foolish. How can the Garden of Eden be
closed?" Khalif said.

"Look at what is left. It is a tragedy. We feel
ashamed for we are its keepers. It is our truest
hope that when peace comes to Iraq, the people of
the world will come back here and pray again at
Adam´s tree," he said.

In the wake of the last Gulf War, Saddam made the
region a victim of his scorched earth policy,
punishment for the southern support of British and
American forces and the failed uprising against
him.

The ruling Baath drained the water and destroyed
the life of the indigenous Marsh Arabs,
descendants of the ancient people of Sumeria and
Babylon.

It was rudely disguised as a feat of civil
engineering designed to turn the salty marshes
into cultivable farmland but the world saw it as
no more than revenge.

Now after another war, British troops from the 1st
Battalion Royal Irish Regiment are greeted with
waves and applause. They covered the army vehicles
with pink frangipani and vibrant orange marigolds.


Ragged children ran from their fields, often with
bundles of wood or tin pails of water on their
heads while village elders waited on the corners
to applaud the convoys.

Some homes, standing on emerald-green inlets and
bounded by fragile fences of plaited rush, flew
the white flag of surrender but it was
unnecessary.

Children followed the troops carnival fashion and
asked them to enter the Garden but they declined.

Major Mike Murdoch, the Royal Irish officer who
took control of Al Qurna in the immediate hours
after Saddam´s rule here was ended, said: "It is
no place for uniforms and weapons, it should never
have been and it will not be now."

"For his actions we are grateful," said Khalif.

"We, the people of Al Qurna, believe this is a
special place and it is our earnest hope that one
day it will be restored to glory. For the glory of
the Garden of Eden is the glory of God."

http://www.littlespeck.com/world/CForeign-Iraq-030
413.htm