The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has seized Iraq's second city, Mosul; Kurdish forces have taken the Mosul Dam. These new developments raise the question whether the ISIS extremists will purposefully deny water to the Christians and Shi'a of Iraq?
Jeremy Bender, writing in Business Insider, explains why there is reason to worry about this:
ISIS has previously shown a desire to take control of dams as a means of inflicting strategic damage to southern and central Iraq. In January 2014, ISIS took control of the Fallujah Dam along the Euphrates. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) was not able to retake control of the dam until April. During their months in control of the dam, ISIS managed to block the Euphrates, flooding the area around Fallujah while cutting off water to the southern and central districts of Iraq.
Comment: The opposite but complementary threats of drought and flooding could be one of the most consequential results of the ISIS conquests. (June 10, 2014)
July 1, 2014 update: I continue to look at this topic at a new weblog entry, "The Acute Danger of Iraqi Dams."
