[Dryerase] Alarm!--Book Review: History of Iraq

[The Alarm!Newswire]

Review of Charles Tripp’s A History of Iraq

by Graham Parsons
The Alarm! Newspaper Contributor

“...those who are seeking to develop a new narrative for the history of 
Iraq must recognize the powerful legacies at work in the country if 
they do not want to succumb to their logic.”	

It has become clear that Iraq and Saddam Hussein will be the most 
likely focus of the next intense, sustained US military operation. In a 
recent article, New York Times correspondents Thom Shanker and David E. 
Sanger noted that the Bush administration is “developing a potential 
approach for toppling President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.”  The article 
makes it clear that the administration’s debate over policy towards 
Iraq is currently limited to practical questions like “when” and “how,” 
having moved beyond broader questions like “if” or “should” we forcibly 
remove Hussein and his regime.  For many of Bush’s policy 
makers—despite growing international and domestic opposition, even 
among some senior Republicans—the issue of a military intervention in 
Iraq seems to be settled, and a US-led invasion appears to be imminent. 
  For those who are interested in gaining a basic understanding of the 
significance of such an event, an examination of Iraq’s distinctive 
political and social nature is certainly necessary.  In this pursuit, 
Charles Tripp’s book A History of Iraq is a valuable resource 
(Cambridge, 2002).

A History of Iraq provides a comprehensive account of the Iraqi state 
from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate to the 
rule of Saddam Hussein in the post-Gulf war.  It traces the ascendancy 
of a series of repressive, totalitarian regimes that have come in 
various political manifestations—first a monarchy, then a republic and 
then Saddam Hussein himself—and in the process, informs us of the 
extraordinary violence that has shaped Iraq’s political history.   It 
is Tripp’s account of the concerns that have motivated this violence, 
however, that rewards the reader with knowledge of the more prominent 
themes in the story of Iraq.

One such theme is the relevance of tribal and ethnic affiliations to 
Iraqi politics, exemplified by the conflict between the perpetually 
ruling Sunni minority and the majority Shi‘a groups.  Despite 
relentless attempts on the part of the Shi‘a community to organize 
effective political opposition, the Sunni elites succeeded in thwarting 
their efforts, often by means of ruthless violence.  This adversarial 
relationship has made the hold on power of all of Iraq’s 
Sunni-dominated regimes precarious and largely unpopular.  
Nevertheless, throughout Iraq’s history, and despite the numerous coup 
détat, successive governments have managed to maintain a Sunni 
character.

Another example of the significance of ethnicity in Iraq is the 
question of the Kurds.  Historically, this question has been solved by 
Iraq’s rulers with little less than brutal repression and 
marginalization.  The horrific massacres that the armed forces have 
carried out on the Kurdish population are appalling.  Both Shi‘as and 
Sunnis alike view the Kurds as ethnic outsiders and are unwilling to 
grant them even elementary rights of citizenship.  The treatment of the 
Kurds, as well as the Sunni-Shi‘a conflict, illustrate some of the real 
interests of power in Iraqi politics.  To his credit, Tripp maintains a 
purely descriptive tone throughout, and tells of these upsetting 
relations with a steady objectivity.

There are, of course, other prominent themes in the story of Iraq.  The 
systems of patronage on which the power of Iraq’s political elites have 
traditionally been based have simply reinforced the ethnic and tribal 
lines that mark divisions of power.  This patronage system has made it 
exceedingly difficult for those left outside the patrimonial framework 
to enter the political arena and urge their interests, and led to the 
further proliferation of violence as a means of effecting the policies 
of those in power.  Tripp’s insights into the increased importance of 
oil to the political economy are also interesting and illuminating.  A 
dramatic increase in oil revenues has merely solidified the positions 
of those in power by making their systems of patronage more effective 
and left the conventional use of violence unchallenged.

The final chapter on the rise of Saddam Hussein is where the above 
mentioned themes coalesce and find their most marked expression.   
Nepotism, patronage, oil and violence are integral components of the 
narrative of Hussein in Iraq.  Helped by the income from Iraq’s healthy 
nationalized oil industry, which he made sure to have effective control 
over, Hussein has established expansive networks of economic dependents 
that completely rely on his position as dictator.  He has used these 
networks—as well as violence—so efficiently, that during the near 
thirty years of his rule he has managed to contain repeated Kurdish and 
Shi‘a revolts, as well as survive eight years of war with Iran, a 
devastating war over Kuwait and a decade of near-total economic 
strangulation.  Indeed, the generation that has come of age under 
Hussein’s rule has seen Iraq’s most troubled and bleak times.

Although clearly illustrating Hussein’s culpability, Tripp does not 
believe Hussein is solely to blame for the plight of the Iraqi people.  
Specifically, Tripp is critical of the sanctions imposed and maintained 
by outside powers (principally the United States and the United 
Kingdom) following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. He notes the “cruel 
paradox” that exists between the official justification of the use of 
sanctions —as leading to a weakening of Hussein’s hold on power and, in 
turn, allowing opposition to begin to operate and flourish—and their 
actual consequences, which have been to strengthen Hussein’s position 
and contribute significantly to the widespread suffering of the 
population.  Tripp also brings to light the direct support Hussein 
received from the US prior to his invasion of Kuwait, and the virtual 
US-Iraq alliance that formed during the war with Iran.  These points 
call into question the ostensibly benevolent intentions of United 
States policy towards Iraq, and raise deep concerns about the goals of 
the forthcoming invasion.

The dramatic nature of Iraq’s history on its own makes Tripp’s book 
engaging, and its relevance to currently unfolding events make the 
story terrifically compelling.  This, combined with Tripp’s 
intelligence and keen analytical style, makes A History of Iraq 
required reading for those who want to understand America’s next war.

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