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4. Invasion & occupation of Iraq, 2002 - Present
   

• Is this war all about oil? By Anthony Sampson, The Evening Standard (London), March 2003. Looks backwards in Iraq's relations with US & UK over oil to conclude that oil was a key factor
• Over a barrel Tom Cholmondeley looks at the role of oil and who could benefit in the US. November, 2002 The Guardian

• Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction Looks at the history & development of the WMD arguments in the US government. Very well supported (by documents) Electronic Briefing Book by the US National Security Archive
• WMD: Where Did the Phrase Come from? 2003 History news Network item by Will Mallon looks at the origin of the term
• WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications Comprehensive Carnegie Endowment Report, January 2004. this is the link to the Key Findings and Summary of Recomendation. The full report can be seen here.
• Iraq's Arsenal Was Only on Paper Washington Post article by Barton Gellman shows that since the first Gulf War, nonconventional weapons never got past the planning stage. 2004.
• I found Saddam’s WMD bunkers 2007 item from right wing UK's Spectator about Dave Gaubatz, a former US Air Force special agent, who passed on vital intelligence about WMD's in southern Iraq to the Iraq Survey Group but was dismayed when nothing happened
• Report concludes no WMD in Iraq. 2004 BBC item

    What Else?

• Uncovered: The War On Iraq  Article based on a documentary dissecting the official arguments given by the American government, both to Congress and the public, for its decision to invade Iraq in March 2003. Channel 4, UK
• Motives of the Anglo-American Axis for its war upon Iraq. Excellent set of primary materials/press articles/essays from left-wing World History archives. Subdivided further :
  • The Iraq war as a lever of global domination
  • The role of oil in the attack upon Iraq
  • The war to promote Anglo-American imperialism

• Bush Planned Iraq 'Regime Change' Before Becoming President. 2002 article by Neil Mackay published by Information Clearing House ("News you won't find on CNN") based on the 2000 document of Cheney, Rumsfeld & Wolfowitz, Rebuilding America's Defenses argues for Regime change as a decisive factor in foreign policy
• Documents on Iraq Website of the British Government, provides key documents published relevant to the decision to go to war against Iraq.
• Background on War in Iraq from Human Rights Watch

Events

• The Third Persian Gulf War, from the History Guy. Regularly updated
• U.S Occupation of Iraq, from Wikipedia. Thorough, and given the cooperative concept of the site, a valid source for causes, events and aftermath.
• Toppling Saddam, 2002-03 and  Coalition Provisional Authority Rule, 2003-04 Teaching resource by Ted Thornton from his History of the Middle East Database. For post 2004 see:
  • "Sovereign" Iraq, 2004-2005
  • Civil War in Iraq, 2006-2007
  • The New Iraq, 2008-2009

• Irak, Kuweit und das Öl: Der Zweite Golfkrieg und die nachfolgenden Krisen Note format survey of war. By Sibilla-Egen-Schule, Schwäbisch Hall. In German - but can be googled §
• The anti-war movement Guardian Online (UK) Anti War Movement site includes updates on latest moves and a Guide to anti-war websites

Casualties

• Casualties in Iraq US and civilian casualties, updated constantly. Provided by researchers of antiwar.com, division of the US Randolph Bourne Institute
• Iraq Body Count A project which maintains the world’s largest public database of violent civilian deaths during and since the 2003 invasion. The count encompasses non-combatants killed by military or paramilitary action and the breakdown in civil security following the invasion. Data is drawn from cross-checked media reports, hospital, morgue, NGO and official figures to produce a credible record of known deaths and incidents.
• Iraq's Toll 2003-6 These detailed charts from the Wall Street Journal examine the collective face of the US and allied military who died in Iraq, from the invasion in 2003 up to March, 2006.

It is probably too early for dispassionate response to events in Iraq.  To keep updated the following sites offer reports and analysis in the light of current developments

Keep up to date with:

• BBC: The Struggle For Iraq & CNN: Iraq in Transition. Both offer many background reports as well as constant updates and a useful. The BBC site offers links to UN and other UK & US Government background documents relevant to the coalition war.
• Aljazeera.net Arab World News. For Iraq news from a non coalition, Arab, viewpoint in English. Remember, this site will include non Iraq news items as well. See also Conspiracy Theories. Aljazeera.com lists articles from the world's press that appear to contradict officially presented views about the Iraq situation.
• Iraq Newspapers and News Media Guide Huge set of links to the Iraqi media itself. Ones listed "ENG" are published in English. Read what Iraq does!
• Iraq in Transition Very good PBS site with sections (use the sidebars for these, they are not immediately obvious)
  • Lesson plans
  • Archive of years
  • The Road to War
  • Events of the War
• International Action Center US based group agitating for an end to the occupation. Regular reports & updates

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news



5. Analysis
   

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• Iraq, 1917 Robert Fisk article from the Independent, June  2004, arguing that “Britain's 1917 occupation of Iraq holds uncanny parallels with today - and if we want to know what will happen there next, we need only turn to our history books...” (Iraq pages of the Global Policy Forum)
• Iraq: The Imperial Precedent (January, 2003) British historian Charles Tripp draws parallels between the British invasion of Mesopotamia in 1914 and the US war for "regime change" in Iraq showing how both reflect the "logic of imperial power." (Le Monde Diplomatique). See also Postmodern Imperialism which links US problems in Iraq with the consequences of the British colonial past in the Middle East. (Le Monde) (Iraq pages of the Global Policy Forum)
• Ancient History: U.S. Conduct in the Middle East Since World War Il and the Folly Of Intervention by Sheldon L. Richman, senior editor at the Cato Institute. Very detailed article placing Iraq in a middle eastern context.
• Iraq, past, present and future: a thoroughly-modern mandate? Essay by Beverley Milton-Edwards. Draws parallels for the US today with the British experience.
• The Lying Game An A-Z of the Iraq war and its aftermath, focusing on misrepresentation, manipulation, and mistakes. Published on Tuesday, June 1, 2004 by the lndependent/UK
• Iraq presents a lesson from history As Britain prepared to pull its troops out of Iraq, this BBC report of December 2008 looks back to a previous military campaign and considers whether history is destined to repeat itself.

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news



6. Key resources and sites
   

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• Iraq Conflict: The Historical Background Excellent site from the Global Policy Forum (a New York based, non-profit organization, with consultative status at the UN). Well researched links. Key areas examined are:
  • Oil
  • Colonialism and Repression
  • British Colonialism and the Kurds
  • US and British Support for Hussein Regime 
  • Gulf War ’91 and a Decade of Sanctions

• Iraq Archives Hub Useful set of links to institutes holding archives relating to the British experience in Iraq
• Iraq under Occupation Detailed Special website from Aljazeera includes interactive maps, history lines as well as profiles of key Iraq and coalition individuals
• WWW-VL History Iran: Source of many links to culture, ancient history and life in Iran from the World-Wide Web Virtual Library
• History of the Middle East Database Use this teaching resource by Ted Thornton to place Iraq in a broader geographical and cultural  context. Contains histories and bibliographies of the countries in the region
• Iraq Resource Information Site (I.R.I.S.) Excellent set of resources. IRIS is an online collection of resources documenting the history, culture, people, archaeology, Islam, mythology, current events of modern day Iraq

See the casahistoria site The British in Mesopotamia/Iraq for links to 20th century events before independence