Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam Third Edition

by Simons, Geoff

• ISBN13: 9781403917706
• ISBN10: 1403917701
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-03-04
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Newly reissued and updated to engage with Iraq's current, central role in world affairs, Geoff Simons' seminal book presents a broad history of Iraq, from the earliest times to the emergence of modern Iraq in the twentieth century, the power struggles that led to the rise of Saddam Hussein, the Iran-Iraq war, the 1990-91 Gulf war, and the continuing depiction of Iraq as a 'rogue' nation. Lending objective analysis to a comprehensive historical account, such crucialfactors as the West's historical influence in the Middle East, the prolonged Western support for Saddam Hussein and the US manipulation of the United Nations are profiled. This book encourages a deeper understanding and a deeper ethical perception of the "Iraq question".

Author Biography

Geoff Simons is the author of many highly acclaimed books, including: Indonesia: The Long Oppression, The United Nations: A Chronology of Conflict, and Saudi Arabia.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	ix
Foreword	xi
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgements	xiv
Introduction	xv
PART I IRAQ IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER	1	(110)
1 After the 1991 Gulf War	3	(108)
The Face of Iraq	4	(21)
The Face of Kuwait	25	(6)
Post-War Chronology	31	(24)
The Saddamgates	55	(15)
Other Exposes and Unanswered Questions	70	(5)
The Turkish Factor	75	(8)
The Survival of Saddam	83	(6)
The Bush Finale	89	(4)
Enter Bill Clinton	93	(4)
The Continuing Confrontation	97	(14)
PART II THE HISTORY OF IRAQ	111	(220)
2 The Ancient Crucible	113	(26)
Beginnings	113	(2)
Sumer	115	(5)
Akkad	120	(1)
Babylonia	121	(4)
Assyria	125	(5)
The Jews	130	(3)
The Persians	133	(2)
The Greeks	135	(1)
Romans and Parthians	136	(1)
The Sassanians	137	(2)
3 The Arabs, Islam and the Caliphate	139	(21)
Arab Origins	139	(3)
Mohammad	142	(1)
The Framework of Islam	143	(2)
The Arab Conquest	145	(2)
Schism	147	(3)
The Umayyad Dynasty	150	(4)
The Abbasid Dynasty	154	(2)
Decline	156	(4)
4 Seljuks, Mongols and Ottomans	160	(21)
End of the Abbasids	160	(1)
The Seljuks	161	(3)
Impact of the Crusades	164	(4)
Mongol Onslaught	168	(5)
Ottoman Conquest	173	(4)
Ottoman Decline	177	(4)
5 The Western Impact	181	(43)
Early Interests in Mesopotamia	181	(3)
The Lure of Oil	184	(4)
The Demise of the Ottomans	188	(7)
The Sykes-Picot Agreement	195	(3)
Colonial Interregnum	198	(19)
Towards Independence	217	(7)
6 From Monarchy to Republic	224	(47)
The Growth of Nationalism	224	(3)
Towards the Coups	227	(7)
The Emergence of Ba'athism	234	(3)
The Israel Factor	237	(7)
Prelude to Suez	244	(7)
Revolution and Aftermath	251	(9)
The Ba'athists in Power	260	(8)
The Impact of Oil	268	(3)
7 Into the Era of Saddam	271	(60)
Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti	271	(6)
The Ba'athist Coup	277	(20)
The Kurdish Question	297	(8)
Iran-Iraq War	305	(12)
Western Support for Saddam	317	(8)
US Business and Saddam	325	(6)
PART III TOWARDS THE NEW WORLD ORDER	331	(51)
8 War with the West	333	(49)
Countdown	333	(5)
Iraq's Grievances	338	(7)
The American 'Green Light'	345	(6)
The Invasion of Kuwait	351	(2)
The Fabrication of Consensus	353	(6)
George Bush	359	(2)
The Chronology of Conflict	361	(21)
Afterword	382	(18)
Notes	400	(31)
Bibliography	431	(6)
Index	437