The Ultimate War Crime: Breaking the Agricultural Cycle

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http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KHA501A.html

 

The Ultimate War Crime: Breaking the Agricultural Cycle

 

Edited by Iman Khaduri, http://abutamam.blogspot.com/ January 2005

www.globalresearch.ca 25 January 2005

 

The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KHA501A.html

 

For the record: " U.S. declares Iraqis can not save their own seeds "

 

" As part of sweeping " economic restructuring " implemented by the

Bush Administration in Iraq, Iraqi farmers will no longer be permitted

to save their seeds, which include seeds the Iraqis themselves have

developed over hundreds of years. Instead, they will be forced to buy

seeds from US corporations. That is because in recent years,

transnational corporations have patented and now own many seed

varieties originated or developed by indigenous peoples. In a short

time, Iraq will be living under the new American credo:

Pay Monsanto, or starve . "

 

" 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 - , 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 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. "

Iraqis Can't Save Seed January 19, 2005

The original article on this topic: Iraqi farmers aren't

celebrating October 15, 2004

http://magic-city-news.com/article_2812.shtml

As per an Iraqi proverb, the day will come, sooner rather than

later, when the Iraqis will shred Bremer's Laws, soak them in water

and offer the glass to Bremer to drink.

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