Ο Μπους στη Βαβυλώνα: Η νέα αποικιοποίηση του Ιράκ

by Tariq Ali, Σάββας Μιχαήλ (Translator)

Tariq Ali is a novelist, essayist, and BBC commentator who was among the best-known radical student leaders in late 1960s Britain. One of the ways he distinguishes himself from his anti-war contemporaries is via prodigious and multidisciplinary cultural knowledge; he once collaborated with avant-garde filmmaker Derek Jarman on a film about the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, for instance. Bush in Babylon benefits greatly from such knowledge. The book is essentially a harsh critique of the way the Bush administration has dealt with Iraq in the wake of 9-11, referred to as "corporate looting." The most captivating chapter centers on the history of Iraqi resistance as exemplified in poetry made by Iraqis in exile. Ali translates important contemporary works by poets who left during Hussein's regime but are still denied entry back into Iraq by Coalition forces. These are works that have traveled from the Internet to the oral tradition, to become instant spoken-word hits, and they provide a fascinating glimpse into the Iraqi situation that one cannot simply find in a daily newspaper in the West or on CNN. Ali's biggest fault is an undisguised disgust for the "imperialist" United States government. When he lists the casualties in Hiroshima and Nagasaki alongside those in Vietnam with no discussion of the difference between the two events, he alienates many potential fans of his important work. Bush in Babylon has a lot going for it, despite a polemical tone which invariably grates as one marches through this smart, well-researched book. --Mike McGonigal

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

263 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

[Andy Blease · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a bit of history in this book, started just skimming…

[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.