Iraqi famers forbidden to grow non-genetically modified crops

[chookie]

"When the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) celebrates biodiversity on World Food Day on October 16, Iraqi farmers will be mourning its loss.

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.

"The US has been imposing patents on life around the world through trade deals. In this case, they invaded the country first, then imposed their patents. This is both immoral and unacceptable", said Shalini Bhutani, one of the report's authors.

The new law in question <2> heralds the entry into Iraqi law of patents on life forms - this first one affecting plants and seeds. This law fits in neatly into the US vision of Iraqi agriculture in the future - that of an industrial agricultural system dependent on large corporations providing inputs and seeds. "

http://www.todaysalternativenews.com/index.php?event=link,150&values%5b0%5d=&values%5b1%5d=1942

[frank frankly]

1. oh no

the fascists think of everything

[Systematic Chaos]

2. OMG those sons of bitches.

If peak oil or some horrible (man-made?) plague don't wipe us out first, I think this toying with nature will do it and it will be a real living nightmare.

:scared: :nuke: :scared:

[SharonAnn]

3. But of course, the intent always was to privatize EVERYTHING

in Iraq. A perfect demonstration of how corporations can rape and pillage a country that has rich natural resources.

[lefty_mcduff]

4. Unf**king Believable!

n/t

[aquart]

5. This is murder.

And don't even want to think of the people who will be murdered because of it.

Does the main body of Iraqi people know what we've done?

Seed smuggling. There's going to be seed smuggling. And the agri-business inspectors? They should update their insurance and make out their wills. Now.

I'm sending this to a Greek journalist I know.

[Eloriel]

6. I call THIS bioterrorism

Horrible, horrible, horrible -- words fail me, but my rage is fully intact.

[Webster Green]

7. Bushco is despicable......

Farmers aren't allowed to save their seeds.

Pay the corporate masters for their GMO bullshit seed.

They want to control everything.

[Ima]

8. not the only county

Just the other day, I read about this happening in another country. The farmers lost a court case about it. Sorry, I forgot where.

[Minstrel Boy]

9. this is so fucking sick and wrong

Those goddamn bastards.

[soothsayer]

10. i hate monsanto and all others of its ilk

disgusting

[DrWeird]

11. Monsanto is doing this?

Did they also invent the weather machine discussed on that site?

[porphyrian]

12. At least we're not exposing them to depleted uranium to determine...

...the long-term effects. Jeez, it's not like we're intentionally giving them syphillis...

Seriously, though, people freak out about genetically modified food way more than they should. There is no reason to trust the corporations making it, but the procedure really isn't much different than hybridization.

[ConsAreLiars]

13. Here is the originating site:

http://www.grain.org/front/

This is the essence of the PNAC wars, not simply stealing oil and the power it conveys, but extending corporate power into areas where the dominance of multinational capitalism was being restricted.

Dominate, destoy, devour -- or die.

That is the only law that these monsters obey.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

14. Creating a culture of corporate dependence from scratch. Fuckers.

This only makes sense to the Nazis who want to turn the cradle of civilization into their own dependent creation after destroying local autonomy like fucking vampires.

Vampire capitalism. I guess that's redundant, isn't it?