Edition: U.S. / Global  In Race to Tap the Euphrates, The Upper
Hand Is Upstream  Published: August 25, 2002  The Euphrates
River is close by, but the water does not reach Abdelrazak al-
Aween. Here at the heart of the fertile crescent, he stares at
dry fields.  The Syrian government has promised water for Mr.
Aween's tiny village. But upstream, in Turkey, and downstream,
in Iraq, similar promises are being made. They add up to more
water than the Euphrates holds.  So instead of irrigating his
cotton and sugar beets, Mr. Aween must siphon drinking and
washing water from a ditch 40 minutes away by tractor ride. Just
across the border, meanwhile, Ahmet Demir, a Turkish farmer,
stands ankle deep in mud, his crops soaking up all the water
they need.  It was here in ancient Mesopotamia, thousands of
years ago, that the last all-out war over water was fought,
between rival city-states in what is now southern Iraq. Now,
across a widening swath of the world, more and more people are
vying for less and less water, in c