Looks like part of the cuts that the conference committee has made to the Iraq spending bill include cash allocated to restoring wetlands. I assume this was the funding that would have restored the wetlands that were the former home of the marsh Arabs in Iraq, which were destroyed through water diversion projects as a reprisal for their resistance to Saddam following the Gulf War. That’s a shame. On the other hand, they have eliminated the Senate requirement that half of the reconstruction money be granted to Iraq as a loan. I’m not opposed to loaning money to Iraq as opposed to giving it to them outright, but if we’re going to do that, we should let Iraqis decide how to spend it.