Beyond the Ultra-Nationalist State The current debate on the compatibility of Arab-Muslim culture with Enlightenment ideals of rationality, democracy and tolerance is curiously devoid of historical reference. In the Arab world, the debates on democracy and progress regained momentum during the late 1970s, when the Islamist movements Isam al-Khafaji • 14 min read
MER Article Diverting Water, Displacing Iraq's Marsh People Among the under-reported casualties of the Iraq regime’s ongoing war against its people have been the indigenous marsh Arabs of southern Iraq. During the Iran-Iraq war, the vast riparian marsh areas that form the estuary of the Tigris and Euphrates had become a haven for deserting Iraqi conscripts, and Joost Hiltermann • 2 min read
MER Article The Displacement of Urfiya Hama Ahmad In the summer of 1992, Joost Hiltermann, an editor of Middle East Report, spent three months interviewing Kurdish villagers about Iraq’s military campaigns against the Kurds in the 1980s, for the human rights organization Middle East Watch. These interviews yielded evidence of widespread human rights abuses, and are currently Joost Hiltermann • 9 min read
MER Article How Bush Backed Iraq An ongoing House Banking Committee’s investigation into US policy toward Iraq, led by chair Henry Gonzalez (D-TX), sheds new light on the role of George Bush in pressing for strong US support of the Baath regime in Iraq. Documents released by the committee reveal that at critical moments Bush interv Jack Colhoun • 7 min read
MER Article Omissi, Air Power and Colonial Control David Omissi, Air Power and Colonial Control: The Royal Air Force, 1919-1939 (Manchester, 1990). In the recent war with Iraq, US air superiority was crucial in minimizing the US (and other allied) casualties, preparing the ground for a swift advance by land forces. The Middle East, and particularly Vinay Lal • 3 min read
MER Article The False Promise of Operation Provide Comfort The US-led response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait has had many immediate repercussions on the international humanitarian network set up at the dawn of an earlier “new order” -- the close of World War II. It also has more than a few similarities to the protection scheme set up then to assist and prote Bill Frelick • 12 min read
MER Article State Terror and the Degradation of Politics in Iraq The degradation of Iraqi politics and society under the Baathist regime is a story that can now be pieced together from documents that just a few months ago no one would have dreamed having access to. Baghdad’s brutal repression turned the March uprising in Iraq into another tragic episode, Isam al-Khafaji • 20 min read
MER Article Why the Uprisings Failed In March 1991, following Iraq’s defeat in the Gulf war, the Kurds of northern Iraq and Arabs of the south rose up against the Baath regime. For two brief weeks, the uprisings were phenomenally successful. Government administration in the towns was overthrown and local army garrisons were left in dis Faleh A. Jabar • 33 min read
MER Article Dilemmas of Relief Work in Iraq The allied attack on Iraq in January-February 1991, and the hardship inflicted on the civilian population, prompted many UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to mobilize relief efforts in the country. I spent seven weeks in May and June leading a relief team in southern Iraq. Relief work w Atallah Kuttab • 4 min read
MER Article The Iraq Sanctions Catastrophe The continuing public health emergency in Iraq is taking a higher toll in civilian lives than the coalition bombing last January and February. This emergency could have been over by now if the Bush administration and its allies at the United Nations had accepted recommendations on humanitarian needs James Fine • 5 min read
MER Article Eyewitness: Iraq Joost Hiltermann, an editor of this magazine, traveled through Iraq from March 23 to April 10, 1991, as Middle East field coordinator of the Boston-based organization Physicians for Human Rights. The delegation, whose mission was to study the impact of the Gulf war and civil conflict on the health o Joost Hiltermann • 4 min read
MER Article Editor's Bookshelf Feminist analysis has added an important dimension to the peace movement’s understanding of the issues in the Gulf war. Several commentators have noted the gendered character of the metaphors and symbols that the Bush administration has employed in representing the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and the US response, and Joel Beinin • 4 min read
