Bush in Babylon: The Recolonization of Iraq

by Tariq Ali

The assault and capture of Iraq—and the resistance it has provoked—will shape the politics of the twenty-first century. In this passionate and provocative book, Tariq Ali provides a history of Iraqi resistance against empires old and new, and argues against the view that sees imperialist occupation as the only viable solution to bring about regime-change in corrupt and dictatorial states. Like the author’s previous work, The Clash of Fundamentalisms , this book presents a magnificent cultural history.

Detailing the longstanding imperial ambitions of key figures in the Bush administration and how war profiteers close to Bush are cashing in, Bush in Babylon is unique in moving beyond the corporate looting by the US military government to offer the reader an expert and in-depth analysis of the extent of resistance to the US occupation in Iraq.

On 15 February 2003, eight million people marched on the streets of five continents against a war that had not yet begun. A historically unprecedented number of people rejected official justifications for war that the secular Ba’ath Party of Iraq was connected to al-Qaeda or that “weapons of mass destruction” existed in the region, outside of Israel.

More people than ever are convinced that the greatest threat to peace comes from the center of the American empire and its satrapies, with Blair and Sharon as lieutenants to the Commander-in-Chief. Examining how countries from Japan to France eventually rushed to support US aims, as well as the futile UN resistance, Tariq Ali proposes a re-founding of Mark Twain’s mammoth American Anti-Imperialist League (which included William James, W.E.B. DuBois, William Dean Howells, and John Dewey) to carry forward the antiwar movement. Meanwhile, as Iraqis show unexpected hostility and independence, rather than gratitude, for “liberation,” Ali is unique is uncovering the depth of the resistance now occurring inside occupied Iraq.

Genres: Politics, Middle East, History, Nonfiction, War

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2003

About the author

Tariq Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: طارق علی) is a British-Pakistani historian, novelist, filmmaker, political campaigner, and commentator. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and regularly contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books.

He is the author of several books, including Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991) , Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007) and the recently published The Duel (2008).

Reviews

[Eternauta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Οξυδερκής και αιχμηρός, ο Tariq Ali μας εισάγει στη σύγχρονη ιστορία του Ιράκ, βάζοντας την εκστρατεία του 2003 στο ιστορικό πλαίσιο του διαχρονικού δυτικού ιμπεριαλισμού στη Μέση Ανατολή.
Το κείμενο είναι γραμμένο και δημοσιευμένο παράλληλα με την έναρξη των επιχειρήσεων και η οργή ξεχειλίζει σε κάθε σελίδα. Η γραφή είναι φορτισμένη αλλά αυτό δεν μειώνει την αξία των τεκμηριωμένων επιχειρημάτων. Η ελληνική έκδοση περιέχει και ένα παράρτημα- σχολιασμό των εξελίξεων μετά την πρώτη δημοσίευση στα αγγλικά.

[KOMET · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book 1 year after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It offered me a concise and sobering history of the country and the various interventions it experienced from the British (who created the country) and the U.S.

[csillagkohó · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

Er zijn sowieso grondigere boeken over de moderne geschiedenis van Irak te vinden. Maar Tariq Ali's grote troeven zijn de insider-info die zijn politieke en dissidente vrienden hem toefluisteren, zijn kennis van Arabische poëzie om occasioneel in te lassen (waarom ook niet) en zijn snedige en gevatte pen. Al de hoofdstukken over de twintigste eeuw in Irak zijn dan ook helemaal het lezen waard en hebben mij veel bijgebracht.

De hoofdstukken over de Amerikaanse invasie zijn minder geslaagd. Daar gaat Ali weinig in op de eigenlijke politieke en militaire ontwikkelingen. In de plaats daarvan geeft hij een rommelig, overambitieus overzicht van het Amerikaans imperialisme in zijn geheel. Logische kadering omdat hij schreef in 2003, toen de invasie al elke dag in de actualiteit was, maar niet heel verfrissend of origineel, vooral als je het vandaag leest.

[Kariem · Rating 4 out of 5]

One must remember that there is absolutely nothing new under the American imperial bandit Sun

[ASC Library]

956.70443 Ali

[C.B. Daring · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ali has a very whimsical tone to this writing, which makes the book very accessible. At times it is hard to follow the narrative he is trying to lay out. Very interesting history of Iraq.

[Margery · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is good but it's hard to read, because apparently no one in the administration understood this complex civilization.