Red Star Over Iraq

Red Star Over Iraq
Author: Johan Franzén
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN: 1849041016

Recent outbursts of sectarian and ethnic violence in Iraq have made many observers question the viability of the state itself. It is said that due to the artificiality of the state and a lack of deep-seated political institutions, Iraqi politics is doomed to endlessly revert back to primordialism. Political parties are mere facades for the real intention of pursuing ethno-sectarian interests, the argument goes. But the present situation has largely been caused by Saddam Hussein's infamous rule over the past three decades, combined with the plight of international sanctions. Before Saddam's ascent to power in the late 1970s, however, the Iraqi political spectrum was full of political parties operating from ideological platforms. The largest, and arguably most important of these groups, was the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP). The ICP stands out as the only true cross-sectarian party in Iraqi history, drawing support from all of Iraq's diverse communities. From its inception in 1934, it continuously fought the various regimes in power and endeavoured to spread communist ideology throughout Iraq. At times the party achieved considerable success in this regard, although ultimately never able to seize power. Red Star over Iraq analyses the twists and turns of the ICP from its inception until its ultimate demise as a significant political force at the hands of Saddam in 1979.

Pride and Power

Pride and Power
Author: Johan Franzen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 580
Release: 2021-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1787385337

The story of Iraq is one of resistance. In this groundbreaking study, Johan Franzen offers a contextual modern history of the country, its creation and its struggle for sovereignty. Iraq's contemporary history is a tale of a diverse people thrown together into a nation-state by imperialist statecraft. From the state's inception as a League of Nations mandate in the 1920s, through wars, coups and revolutions, Iraqis have always resisted foreign domination. But the country, propelled by the quest for power, intense national pride and a zeal for sovereignty, was catapulted along a trajectory of violence. On one side stood imperialism, seeking to control Iraq for its own ends. Facing it, Iraqis of varying nationalist groups tried to rid the country of foreign meddling and steer a course of self-determination. Pride and Power offers in-depth analysis of the most important events, decisions and processes that led Iraq down this path. Based on extensive research of primary sources, both Iraqi and Western, the book unravels the complexity of Iraq's political history. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the international relations of the Middle East or in understanding the rich history of Iraq, from its foundation to the present.

An Iraq of Its Regions

An Iraq of Its Regions
Author: Reidar Visser
Publisher: Hurst & Company Limited
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781850658740

Recent outbursts of sectarian and ethnic violence in Iraq have made many observers question the viability of the state itself. It is said that due to the artificiality of the state and a lack of deep-seated political institutions, Iraqi politics is doomed to endlessly revert back to primordialism. Political parties are mere facades for the real intention of pursuing ethno-sectarian interests, the argument goes. But the present situation has largely been caused by Saddam Hussein's infamous rule over the past three decades, combined with the plight of international sanctions. Before Saddam's ascent to power in the late 1970s, however, the Iraqi political spectrum was full of political parties operating from ideological platforms. The largest, and arguably most important of these groups, was the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP). The ICP stands out as the only true cross-sectarian party in Iraqi history, drawing support from all of Iraq's diverse communities. From its inception in 1934, it continuously fought the various regimes in power and endeavoured to spread communist ideology throughout Iraq. At times the party achieved considerable success in this regard, although ultimately never able to seize power. Red Star over Iraqanalyses the twists and turns of the ICP from its inception until its ultimate demise as a significant political force at the hands of Saddam in 1979.

The Prose Works of Gha’ib Tu’ma Farman

The Prose Works of Gha’ib Tu’ma Farman
Author: Hilla Peled-Shapira
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2018-09-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1498504671

Peled-Shapira explores the connections between politics, society and literary expression in the works of the Iraqi writer Gha'ib Tu'ma Farman (1927-1990). As the first Iraqi to have composed a modern novel, a perusal of Farman's oeuvre reveals the artistic techniques through which he depicts the complex relationship between the Leftist intelligentsia and the Iraqi regime in the middle of the twentieth century, a period that for the former meant persecution and exile. Peled-Shapira examines Farman's involvement with Communism and the way he documents the Leftist intellectuals' agenda through literature. At the same time she offers a new detailed reading of his virtuoso use of the Arabic language. This book presents an in-depth study of the unique metaphors and the image of Baghdad, which play a prominent role in Farman's works, and hence paves the way to a better understanding of how this prolific writer coped with the predatory regime and his own inner world. The insights on the theme of exile in the book can also be applied on the lives of other intellectuals in the period in question, in and outside Iraq alike.

Hunting Down Saddam

Hunting Down Saddam
Author: Robin Moore
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2004-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780312936679

How Did We Get Him? This authoritative and gripping account takes readers into the real and personal story of the United States forces in Iraq, and their successful maneuvers in capturing one of the most vicious dictators of our time. Hunting Down Saddam contains up-to-the-minute material and provides never-before-heard accounts of the triumphs and frustrations, strategies and attacks, of those who put their lives at risk to track down Saddam Hussein. *The first book to tell the whole story of the pursuit of Saddam, from prewar to his capture *Candid accounts straight from the soldiers on the frontline, which have not been sanitized or filtered through the media, the military, or the Pentagon *Exclusive interviews with key military leaders, including Colonel "Smokin' Joe" Anderson, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles), who led the attack on Saddam's sons Action-packed and controversial, Hunting Down Saddam teems with inside information. Best-selling author Robin Moore gets the real story from these fighting men as only he can. The capture of Saddam Hussein is the defining event for this generation's military and now it is fully detailed in this riveting book.

Imperial Life in the Emerald City

Imperial Life in the Emerald City
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2006-09-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0307265927

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • National Book Award Finalist • This "eyewitness history of the first order ... should be read by anyone who wants to understand how things went so badly wrong in Iraq” (The New York Times Book Review). The Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, 2003: in this walled-off compound of swimming pools and luxurious amenities, Paul Bremer and his Coalition Provisional Authority set out to fashion a new, democratic Iraq. Staffed by idealistic aides chosen primarily for their views on issues such as abortion and capital punishment, the CPA spent the crucial first year of occupation pursuing goals that had little to do with the immediate needs of a postwar nation: flat taxes instead of electricity and deregulated health care instead of emergency medical supplies. In this acclaimed firsthand account, the former Baghdad bureau chief of The Washington Post gives us an intimate portrait of life inside this Oz-like bubble, which continued unaffected by the growing mayhem outside. This is a quietly devastating tale of imperial folly, and the definitive history of those early days when things went irrevocably wrong in Iraq.

The Struggle for Iraq's Future

The Struggle for Iraq's Future
Author: Zaid Al-Ali
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2014-02-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0300187262

An unbarred account of life in post-occupation Iraq and an assessment of the nation's prospects for the future

Red Star Over the Third World

Red Star Over the Third World
Author: Viajy Prashad
Publisher: Leftword
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2020-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9789380118666

'Like the brilliant sun, the October Revolution shone over all five continents, awakening millions of oppressed and exploited people around the world. There has never existed such a revolution of such significance and scale in the history of humanity'. - Hồ Chí Minh// From Cuba to Vietnam, from China to South Africa, the October Revolution remains as an inspiration. After all, that Revolution proved that the working class and the peasantry could not only overthrow an autocratic government but that it could form its own government, in its image. It proved decisively that the working class and the peasantry could be allied. It proved as well the necessity of a vanguard party that was open to spontaneous currents of unrest, but which could guide a revolution to completion. This book explains the power of the October Revolution for the Third World. It is not a comprehensive study, but a small book with a large hope - that a new generation will come to see the importance of this revolution for the working class and peasantry in that part of the world that suffered under the heel of colonial domination.

Big Boy Rules

Big Boy Rules
Author: Steve Fainaru
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2010-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 145877919X

From Pulitzer Prize - winning Washington Post reporter Steve Fainaru comes an unforgettable journey into Iraq's parallel war - a world filled with tens of thousands of armed men roaming Iraq with impunity, doing jobs the military can't or won't do. Fainaru reveals in gritty and shocking detail what drives these men to do the world's most dangerous work.

Echo in Ramadi

Echo in Ramadi
Author: Scott A. Huesing
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2018-02-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1621577635

Winner of the 2019 Gold Medal Award, Best Military History Memoir, Military Writers Society of America Ranked in the "Top 10 Military Books of 2018" by Military Times. "In war, destruction is everywhere. It eats everything around you. Sometimes it eats at you." —Major Scott Huesing, Echo Company Commander From the winter of 2006 through the spring of 2007, two-hundred-fifty Marines from Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment fought daily in the dangerous, dense city streets of Ramadi, Iraq during the Multi-National Forces Surge ordered by President George W. Bush. The Marines' mission: to kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces. Their experience: like being in Hell. Now Major Scott A. Huesing, the commander who led Echo Company through Ramadi, takes readers back to the streets of Ramadi in a visceral, gripping portrayal of modern urban combat. Bound together by brotherhood, honor, and the horror they faced, Echo's Marines battled day-to-day on the frontline of a totally different kind of war, without rules, built on chaos. In Echo in Ramadi, Huesing brings these resilient, resolute young men to life and shows how the savagery of urban combat left indelible scars on their bodies, psyches, and souls. Like war classics We Were Soldiers, The Yellow Birds, and Generation Kill, Echo in Ramadi is an unforgettable capsule of one company's experience of war that will leave readers stunned.