Category: Middle East

The War on Syria: Exposing Media Distortions

gregoryelich

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The war in Syria, mainstream media tell us, is a simple story, with a brutal dictator on one side and freedom-loving rebels on the other. Into this mix, the Islamic State has inserted itself, while the benevolent United States must intervene to rescue the Syrian people. U.S. involvement in Syria, motivated by altruism, the story goes, arose in direct response to events in 2011.

This view is as fanciful as it is notable for its myopic self-regard.

In Washington’s Long War on Syria, Stephen Gowans dismantles the official story, myth by myth, and provides the context without which it would be impossible to understand events.

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Subverting Iran

gregoryelich

MEK

Much attention has been given to U.S. sanctions policy against Iran. A less noticed aspect of the Bush Administration’s Iran policy has been unfolding that could have far-reaching consequences. A covert war is underway, still in its infancy, but with disturbing indications of possible escalation. In the shadowy world of guerrilla operations, the full extent of involvement by the Bush Administration has yet to be revealed, but enough is cause concern. Read More »

Little Birds: A Devastating Window on the War

gregoryelich

LittleBirdsPoster

At a time when the Iraq war continues to be a defining issue on the American scene, it is ironic that the most powerful and uncompromising documentary on the subject remains almost entirely unknown and unseen in this country.  It took Japanese filmmaker Takeharu Watai a year and a half to film more than 123 hours of footage in Iraq, which he managed to edit down to two unforgettable hours.  The result is the stunning Little Birds, which plunges the viewer into the middle of the war, in all its sorrow and horror, and never lets up.

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The Antiquities Trade and the Looting of Iraq

gregoryelich

Iraq1

It has been called the worst cultural disaster to happen since the Second World War, and one archaeologist likened it to a “lobotomy of an entire culture.” [1] To the consternation of archaeologists throughout the world, the toppling of the Iraqi government unleashed a wave of looting and destruction of Iraq’s national patrimony.  Despite pleas for action from outraged scholars, the culturally blinkered Bush Administration belatedly only acted after media coverage had mushroomed into a public relations fiasco that threatened to upend the manufactured image of benign liberation.  Although the scale of loss from the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad was less serious than initially indicated, it was nevertheless a crippling blow, while elsewhere in Iraq the situation ran alarmingly out of control. Read More »

Can You Spot the War Crime?

gregoryelich

Iraqdoor

I have long held the opinion that patriotism is one of the most abominable vices affecting the human understanding… In its active manifestation –it is fond of shooting — patriotism would be well enough if it were simply defensive; but it is also aggressive, and the same feeling that prompts us to strike for our altars and our fires impels us likewise to go over the border to quench the fires and overturn the altars of our neighbors… Patriotism is fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave, blind as a stone and irrational as a headless hen.

Ambrose Bierce, Civilization (Collected Works, 1909-12) 

As the invasion of Iraq drew to a close, the Bush Administration set about planning to prosecute former Iraqi officials for war crimes. It was announced that hundreds of Iraqis would be put on trial, and thousands more could be granted amnesty in return for their confessions.  As U.S. Ambassador for War Crimes Pierre-Richard Prosper explained it, “There must be credible accountability.  For crimes committed against U.S. personnel, we, the United States, will prosecute.”  Offences committed against Iraqi citizens are to be judged by Iraqis, acting under American guidance and control.  “Atrocities and abuses by the regime of its own people should be tried by Iraqis,” a high-ranking U.S. official declared.  “We’re prepared to provide support which could range from financial aid to legal experts to judges, to make it credible.”  The obvious premise was that only American control would result in a “credible” process. [1] Read More »