Rivers of Fire highlights the little-known Middle East conflict over a natural resource more valuable than oilówater. The views of all the countries involved are reflected in this fascinating tapestry. The interrelationships of basic need versus limited supplies and heightened use, with the inflammable political overtones equal a potentially volatile situation. Control of water is the ultimate weapon in the Middle East, and it is an issue which will continue to threaten stability in a region where each country has a spiraling population creating an ever-increasing demand for water, and each also had a steadily diminishing supply. If present trends continue, the region faces human and environmental catastrophe before the end of the century. Turkey is damming the Tigris and the Euphrates, which provide water for nearly all of Iraq and much of Syria; water is being diverted to vast irrigation projects, and in the process is already depriving Iraqi and Syrian projects downstream of the water they need. Turkey now has the power to stop the flow of both rivers altogether.
