A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq
by Christopher Hitchens
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Book Summary Information
Author: Christopher HitchensEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-06
ISBN: 0452284988
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq
Book Review: Hooray for Hitchens!
Summary: 5 Stars
This gripping series of essays was written during 2002 and 2003 for the online magazine Slate. In the author's words, the intention was that of testing short-term analyses against longer term ones, whilst subjecting long-term convictions to shorter-term challenges. The essays are presented unchanged; only a short preface, an introduction and an epilogue have been added.
In the introduction, Hitchens sets out his convictions whilst pointing out the contradictory and sometimes completely ridiculous arguments of the anti-war Left and isolationist Right. The witty way he demolishes the facile slogans of the so-called peaceniks often makes the reader laugh out loud. Amongst other subjects, he thoroughly and comprehensively debunks the slur that an Israeli or Zionist lobby was behind the war. Identifying the Antisemitic innuendo and imagery employed in these arguments, Hitchens points out that the most insistent lobbyists for the new Iraq policy have been Iraqis - Muslim and Christian, Arab and Kurdish, devout and secular.
The first essay: Machiavelli in Mesopotamia, of November 7, 2002, examines the "case against the case against regime change". The one titled Armchair General tackles the idea that non-soldiers have less right to argue for war, whilst in Terrorism, Hitchens explores the definition of the term. He refers to Claude Chabrol's film Nada that demonstrates the promiscuous cruelty of nihilistic terrorists. Hitchens defines terrorism as the tactic of demanding the impossible at gunpoint.
One of the most perceptive and thought-provoking essays is called Anti-Americanism, an investigation of the nature and history of this phenomenon on the Left and Right in Europe. Further thoughts cover some prominent domestic examples and observations on European critics like Le Pen and Haider. Hitchens suggests that a more apt term for the foreign strain would be Anti-Modernism or Anti-Cosmopolitanism and for the US version, Native Masochism. It is descriptive, but I prefer the word Paleotard that has emerged in the blogosphere after the publication of this book.
The essay titled Evil brilliantly explores the meaning of the word from all angles. Despite the sneering of leftist intellectuals he argues persuasively that there is such a thing. Hitchens describes it as behavior that is simultaneously sadistic and self-destructive. In the trenchant piece Chew On This, he discusses Saddam's crimes, Al-Qaeda's massacres, Kurdish freedom, oil that is worth fighting for and a couple of other matters the so-called anti-war activists ignore in their ignorant obscurantism. Hitchens nails it time and again, expertly exposing the mendacious spin and the juvenile sloganeering to identify the essence, causes and consequences of the issues.
My personal favorite is called The Rat That Roared, an amusing essay on France, the French, Chirac and De Gaulle. It concludes with this arresting description of Chirac: " ... a vain and posturing and venal man ... a balding Joan of Arc in drag. This is the case of the rat that tried to roar." The following one: Inspecting Inspections is also outstanding, exposing the ridiculous farce of the United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq. In the article Not Talking Turkey, Hitchens argues that the USA is much better off without unreliable allies like Turkey.
Insight follows insight, as the author once again excels in puncturing the hollow and misleading arguments of Christians who were against the removal of Saddam, giving examples of the Vatican's idiotic and transparently one-dimensional pronouncements and the opinions of the propagandist Jimmy Carter. The grinning peanut is responsible for much of the mess in the Middle East but he just cannot cease from interfering. When not waging a propaganda war against Israel through his now discredited book of half-truths, distortions, calculated omissions, downright lies and gross inaccuracies and a provocatively biased title, he's hugging Hamas terrorists and ignoring the plight of the people of Sderot who have been braving a rain of rockets from Gaza for years.
People who preferred Saddam Hussein to oil are scrutinized in the essay Oleaginous where Hitchens dissects some contradictory positions taken by the peaceniks, briefly covers the UN Oil-for-Food scam that obscenely enriched members and clients - mostly French and Russian - of Saddam's regime while the people starved. He explains the absurdity of the puerile Blood-for-Oil accusation in the historical context of the Iran-Iraq War and Saudi interests rooted in distrust of Iran. Most of those UN bureaucrats, European politicians, American peaceniks and international businessmen opposed the liberation of Iraq because they didn't want to forfeit Saddam's bribes. They were the exact opposite of noble pursuers of peace: oily (scuse the pun), sleazy, unprincipled, greedy and unconscionable rogues in the pay of a megalomaniacal sadist.
The Epilogue: After The Fall, deals with the toppling of the dictator's statue, the Gulf War of 1991 and its aftermath and the personal experiences and impressions of the author after the 2003 liberation. He considers the 12 years between the two wars as an era eaten by locusts, rubbishing the nonsense and fabricated fears parroted by opponents of the war: the apocalyptic worst case scenarios, the mythical Arab street and the fatuous rhetoric of ideologues & propagandists like Scott Ritter and Robert Fisk.
Hitchens covers every angle of the Iraq War in its proper historical perspective, also criticizing the mistakes and policies of the USA and other Western powers. The platform the book provides to ordinary Iraqis adds a welcome additional dimension of insight. I admire Hitchens' intellectual integrity, his detailed knowledge of history and his captivating style. This little classic offers ample evidence of Hitchens at his best, putting principles above politics and pulling to pieces a web of deception, disinformation and distortion with truth as his weapon. I also recommend A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq edited by Thomas Cushman. The Iraq War, the special relationship between the UK and USA and the future of our dangerous world where threats to the West are multiplying again are also intelligently treated by William Shawcross in his book Allies.
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