Review
While the economy and a new President have recently and powerfully captured the
attention of America and much of the world, the United States-led war on terror, as the
military actions following the September 11
th attacks are often
called, seems to have fallen from the front of our collective consciousness.
Even without intervening worries like natural disasters and dwindling
investments, attention in our culture is hard to keep. There are many reasons –
some valid, some embarrassing – why we may have lost interest in these wars, but
where our distraction is caused by the disconnection of receiving information in
media snippets,
The Forever War is the cure.
Think about it: can your family's struggles, your customs or your faith be
explained in a one minute sound bite? Can a nation's? Is there any organized
group you are...
Beyond the Book
Very Short Histories of
Afghanistan & Iraq
Iraq and Afghanistan are countries with deep histories and multiple ethnic
and religious citizen groups.
The geographical area that today is
Iraq is regarded by historians as the site of some of the earliest human
civilizations, including the Sumerians (who lived between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers in
Mesopotamia,
a Greek word meaning land between the two rivers).
The division between the Shia and Sunni elements of Islam began sometime in the
late 600s after Arab tribes had taken control of the area from Iranian rulers.
After an approximately 500 year Arab dynasty and intervening conflicts with
Turkish warriors, the land that is now Iraq became part of the...
