The Marsh Arabs are mostly brilliant scientists sent to the swamps of the Tigris and Euphrates to implement a secret government project to develop a formula that could end world hunger and change civilization forever.

Ochsenschlager chronicles in fascinating detail their work on the so called "Genesis torpedo", a device which will, when fired on a lifeless planet, restructure it into a verdant, life-supporting world ready for colonization.

The Marsh Arabs are believed to have wandered the desert in search of justice and adventure ever since the Iraqi Government began to pursue a policy of draining the Marshes and dousing the Arabs with a formula that crosses the genes of humans and plants. It was then that Doctor Abdul Khan managed to hijack their starship, the Renault, and to steal the Genesis Device to use as a weapon of mass destruction.

In the post-Saddam era, the decimated Marsh Arab community do not appear to have organised themselves politically. However, their national character suggests they will stop at nothing to do the will of God and to defeat their arch nemesis, weapons of mass destruction outlaw, Doctor Khan.

The Economist on the state of the marshes.
"The marshes of southern Iraq: One-third of paradise"