Review
From the book jacket: The United
States invaded Iraq with grand ambitions to bring it democracy
and thereby transform the Middle East. Instead, Iraq has
disintegrated into three constituent components: a pro-western
Kurdistan in the north, an Iran-dominated Shiite entity in the
south, and a chaotic Sunni Arab region in the center. The
country is plagued by insurgency and is in the opening phases of
a potentially catastrophic civil war.
George W. Bush broke up Iraq when he ordered its invasion in
2003. The United States not only removed Saddam Hussein, it also
smashed and later dissolved the institutions by which Iraq's
Sunni Arab minority ruled the country: its army, its security
services, and the Baath Party. With these institutions gone and
irreplaceable, the basis of an Iraqi state has...
Beyond the Book
A Short History of Iraq (map
showing Kurdish and Shia areas)
The Republic of Iraq (about the size
of California) spans the lands of
ancient Mesopotamia, (between the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers), the northwestern
end of the Zagros mountain range and
parts of the Syrian Desert.
Mesopotamia was home to the world's
first known civilization, the Sumerians,
who were followed by the Akkadians,
Babylonians and Assyrians. Between
them they were responsible for the
earliest known writing, establishing
mathematical principles and laws,
developing irrigation techniques, the
wheel and much...
