Book Description
A profound and personal journey to the heart of a shattered nation.
In March 2003, Patrick Cockburn traveled secretly to Iraq just before the invasion, and has covered the war from Baghdad ever since. In The Occupation, Cockburn describes the fighting on the ground as Saddam's armies collapsed, the looting of Baghdad, the failure of the US occupation, the springs of the resistance and how it turned into a full scale uprising. Explaining how the three main Iraqi communities, the Kurds, the Shia and the Sunni, responded to the growing conflict, he gives us a nuanced portrait of daily life in Baghdad, of how Iraqis themselves reacted to the invasion and the long war and occupation that followed.
Customer Reviews:
Gripping, Horrifying.......2007-08-12
Patrick Cockburn is a British journalist who has lived in Iraq for a long time--and who supplements that with having been close to and covered the similar occupation by Britain of Northern Ireland.
So he is miles ahead of U.S. journalists who were "embedded" with the U.S. military.
The "embedded" journalists saw only what the U.S. military wanted them to see.
The U.S. military had learned an important lesson in Vietnam: NOT to avoid invading a country and alienating its people, but to avoid letting journalists see it and report it. One of the big factors in opposition to the Vietnam War was that every night on TV, people saw burning villages, killed civilians, wounded and dead U.S. soldiers.
Cockburn saw what he wanted to see.
But even in that, he was limited--because Iraq has become so dangerous that even journalists are fair game for kidnappers and killers.
Still, he does a good job.
His reporting (because of the danger of traveling) is anecdotal, but it is telling.
And he understands the politics and ethnic dynamics in Iraq--which the U.S. administration either did not understand or did not care about.
He also understands nationalism: no nation, no matter how bad its government, likes to have outsiders invade and take over.
This lesson is all-important. It is the lesson of Vietnam. It is the lesson of the American Revolution. And, now, of course, it is the lesson of Iraq.
Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds hate each other and without Saddam's fierce repression, civil war was inevitable. But they all hate the invading U.S. soldiers and administrators (and contractors, who take their work, when Iraqi unemployment is 50% to 70%) more.
Cockburn states that the U.S. occupation was bound to fail, given the tribalism and sectarianism of Iraq. Be he also outlines how the stupendous arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence of the Bush administration made it far worse.
On the other hand, we should all be glad that Bush IS incompetent. If he were competent, he would be Hitler.
Anti American point of view of our effort........2007-08-04
From the spelling and from the total contempt of American and Americans I gather that the Author is British. And that is mainly what this book is about, contempt for American actions, and to a certain extent contempt for British actions where the Brits are allied and trying to help our noble cause.
What the book is about:
`The Occupation', is mainly a list of things that we have done wrong, and how terribly bad Iraq is after American liberation. And the truth is things are bad here, and there have been mistakes and misdeeds, and there is plenty of sad events and misery, enough to write this short book.
If the book had been written by an educated insurgent, I don't imagine it would be much different. The author writes of no American successes, as though for the entire war that has gone on for four years, that nothing has ever been done right. I expected at least a notional objectivism so the author could claim journalistic integrity or something, but he makes no such attempt. He does write plenty about the successes of the insurgents and how they are undefeatable.
The author writes that the only reason for American success in Fallujah was our superior and overused firepower, but that it was really a success of the insurgency because they learned not to fight us that way. He seems to think that the only reason we ever win anything is because of our superior firepower.
The author concedes nothing to us in terms of good will, stoic effort, any talent or ability. He offers not one example of anything that we have done right. He offers no useful suggestions of what we could do to improve the situation. No useful or non-useful suggestions really. Just that we are bad greedy, incompetent, amoral and corrupt. And the Brits in that they are on our side, are only slightly better, but are also bad on average in all those categories, because they are on our side.
Readability:
The book was fairly easy to read, and I read the whole thing, so there must have been some parts of interest. There are some interesting personal stories. But really I have probably had my fill of tragic human interest stories in Iraq. When reading the book, I was hoping for something useful, some suggestion or idea about how we could be doing things better over here. But I came up empty in that regard.
My first exposure to any book by Patrick Cockburn.......2007-06-01
I won't give it 5 stars because the writing style is too informal and he doesn't follow a chronological line; he jumps back and forth in time between chapters. Still, this is a valuable account of daily events in the lives of Iraqis, which have largely escaped our news services. It's tragedy piled upon tragedy, and if it weren't a situation full of death, destruction, desperation, and horror, it'd almost be comical.
It is certainly an easy read and it's hard to put down... you'll be done with it in no time.
Definitely a valuable contribution to anyone with an interest in the history of the second war against Iraq.
Excellent survey of a disaster.......2007-01-05
Patrick Cockburn, the Independent's Middle East correspondent, has written a vivid first-hand account of the US-British occupation of Iraq. He notes of the war's prelude, the 1990s sanctions on Iraq, "Imposing sanctions on all ordinary Iraqis was a cruel collective punishment, one of the great man-made disasters of the last century."
He shows that opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq radicalized most of the suicide bombers in Iraq. An Israeli study also concluded that almost all the foreign fighters in Iraq had been radicalized by the invasion. A Saudi investigation showed that few suicide bombers had any contact with al Qaeda before 2003.
Cockburn details the brutalities of the occupation, the imperial arrogance, the use of mercenaries, the deepening religious divisions, the vile sectarian killings, the lawlessness and insecurity, the rampant corruption and the economic chaos (oil, electricity, water and sewerage are all still worse than they were pre-war). All lead to growing national resistance.
The Bush administration claimed that toppling Saddam would stabilise the Middle East. Instead the invasion and occupation have destabilised all the region's countries. The war has destroyed Iraq, worsened the prospects of peace and justice for the Palestinian people and strengthened the al Qaeda terrorists.
The war was `a terrible mistake', as the Royal Institute for International Affairs recently noted. US General William Odom, a former head of the National Security Agency, called the war `the greatest strategic disaster in American history'. We need our troops back home, to defend our borders against the terrorists, people-smugglers and drug-runners generated by the Labour government's criminal wars against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
excellent.......2006-12-29
Very well written, detailed and inciteful, highly recommended for anyone who wants more than the "embedded" corporate media perspective.
Book Description
Codified in the 1899 and 1907 Hague Peace Conferences and later modified by the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, the traditional international law of occupation has been challenged by advocates of human rights and self- determination and tested by the numerous occupations of the last two decades--among them Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus, the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, U.S. operations in Grenada and Panama, and occupations during the Persian Gulf crisis. To address the new issues that have emerged, Eyal Benvenisti formulates a contemporary theory of the law of occupation and establishes guidelines for the lawful management of occupation. In his new preface the author addresses issues arising from the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Benvenisti delineates the international responsibilities and obligations of governments that gain control over foreign territories through the use of force and examines the conduct of various occupying powers of the twentieth century, beginning with the German occupation of Belgium during World War I. He analyzes the actions of these occupants by contrasting them with the reactions of ousted governments, of peoples under occupation, and of other states and of supranational organizations. Additionally, he evaluates the legality of various measures taken by occupants, with the result that the nature of occupation can now for the first time be systematically assessed.
Customer Reviews:
Very Useful.......2006-04-29
I was referred to Mr. Benvenisti's book by a fellow researcher and was not disappointed. His concise, yet accurate, explanations of intenational law has been a wonderful resource for my work.
Personal Thoughts on Benvenisti's Point of View.......1999-04-27
I thought this book was well-written and took into consideration of all of the major occupations that occurred throughout history. My particular interest was his explanation of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the territorial dispute of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. I would more than welcome and purchase more of Mr. Benvenisti's point of views concerning international law.
Book Description
The field of law enforcement is very competitive. Candidates must perform well on both the written and physical exams to set themselves above the competition. This unique book offers 24 one-hour lessons to give step-by-step tutorials for mastering the basic skills needed for many law enforcement exams. Also provided is detailed information about many positions in law enforcement and how to qualify for them.
Complete with sample exams for state trooper, correction officer, police officer, treasury enforcement, and more.
Book Description
The decisions of the Supreme Court of Israel in cases relating to the Occupied Territories.
Customer Reviews:
Occupied (System of) Justice.......2002-09-04
Could a just legal system endure over 35 years of occupation? David Kretzmer - who examines in this book the jurisprudence of the Israeli Supreme Court relating the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 - is leaving the reader to answer this question. Through this fascinating book, though, he gives a detailed and careful discussion of the legal decisions regarding petitions that challenged policies and actions by the authorities and exhibits through them the way this court operates. Kretzmer shows that the Court has ruled not only contrary to the international law - by approving deportations, house demolitions, and actually legitimizing the Israeli settlements policy - but also contrary to its own interpretation principle. This principle gives presumption to individual human rights when they clash with the authorities' power to restrict them. Contrary to that, the Court's decisions relating to the Occupied Territories are government-minded.
In the first part of the book, Kretzmer gives a clear theoretical and legal basis, by explaining the substantive norms at work in the Supreme Court, distinguishing between jurisdiction and justiciability and and shedding light on the question of applicability of international law to the Occupied Territories. In the second part, he discusses the Court's decisions relating to two major political issues: establishment of Israeli settlements and the status of Palestinian residents of those territories. The third part examines the manner the Court has handled petitions challenging security measures against Palestinian residents - house demolitions, deportations, limitations on personal liberty and more.
Kretzmer - a professor of international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Committee - is far from being simplistic. In his work, he keeps the professional and careful job of an academic jurist and let it speak for itself. He withdraws from popular (and political) sweeping arguments, and concentrates on careful examination of the judicial decisions themselves, in light of the norms that the same Court has undertook to apply. He draws a distinction between substantive matters, in which the court indeed failed to intervene, and the procedural constraints on the use of governmental powers, which the Court made an effort to strengthen. He sees the difference between judges being independent and being neutral. The latter is impossible when it has to do not with dispute between authorities and individuals, but between the first and what is perceived to be involving an attack on the very authority and interests of the state itself, by its enemies. He draws his conclusions in his discreet and understatement way, which shows very effectively how Israel occupies not only land and persons, but also the justice system itself.
Book Description
In 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally to the United States and its allies, thereby planting the seed from which would spring one of the world's most successful and stable democracies. In an age when democracy is often pursued, yet rarely accomplished, in which failed democracies are found throughout Africa, Latin America, and Asia, Japan's transformation from an utterly defeated military power into a thriving constitutional democracy commands attention. It has long been assumed that postwar Japan was largely the making of America, that democracy was simply imposed on a defeated land. Yet a political and legal system cannot long survive, much less thrive, if resisted by the very citizens it exists to serve. The external imposition of a constitution does not automatically translate into a constitutional democracy of the kind Japan has enjoyed for the past half-century. Apparently Japan, though under military occupation, was ready for what the West had to offer. Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson convincingly show that the country's affirmation of democracy was neither cynical nor merely tactical. What made Japan different was that Japan and the United States-represented in Tokyo by the headstrong and deeply conservative General Douglas MacArthur-worked out a genuine partnership, navigating skillfully among die-hard defenders of the emperor, Japanese communists, and America's opinionated erstwhile allies. No dry recounting of policy decisions and diplomatic gestures, Partners for Democracy resounds with the strong personalities and dramatic clashes that paved the way to a hard-won success. Here is the story of how a devastated land came to construct--at times aggressively and rapidly, at times deliberately and only after much debate-a democracy that stands today as the envy of many other nations.
Average customer rating:
- An important, contribution to History and a Cry for Justice
|
Occupation: Nazi-Hunter : The Continuing Search for the Perpetrators of the Holocaust
Efraim Zuroff
Manufacturer: Ktav Publishing House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Criminology
| Crime & Criminals
| Nonfiction
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General
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True Crime
| True Accounts
| Nonfiction
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jp-unknown2
| Specialty Stores
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ASIN: 0881254894 |
Customer Reviews:
An important, contribution to History and a Cry for Justice.......1999-06-29
This important study constitutes a pathbreaking contribution to the field of Holocaust studies. It achieves this in several ways. To begin with, Zuroff calls attention to the massive participation of local populations in the Nazi extermination effort. Slowly and methodically, through carefully selected and judiciously documented case studies, the author lays bare the complicity of Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukranian, Croatian and other nationals in acts of genocide, and decries the fact that these same individuals by and large not only evaded trial and punishment, but were often honored as war veterans and even heroes after the war. In addition, through his research, Zuroff raises the question of the role of traditional Christian ( as opposed to racial ) antisemitism as a motivating factor in that effort. In both regards, Zuroff's book provides an important balance to the writings of Daniel Goldhagen and others, who perhaps over-emphasize the role of Germans and of modern racism in the effective carrying out of the Nazi war against the Jews. Finally, Zuroff has a powerful, personal story to tell as he describes his career as `Nazi-Hunter,' in the context of all too belated efforts to bring the murderers to justice. All in all an important, gripping work.
Average customer rating:
- The best survey of African peacekeeping in years
|
Peacekeeping in Africa: Capabilities and Culpabilities
Eric G. Berman ,
Katie E. Sams ,
United Nations , and
Katie E. Sames
Manufacturer: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Rese
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Africa
| History
| Subjects
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| African Studies
| Algeria
| Angola
| Benin
| Botswana
| Central Africa
| Comoros
| Democratic Republic of Congo
| Djibouti
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ASIN: 9290451335 |
Book Description
Peacekeeping in Africa: Capabilities and Culpabilities provides detailed insight into the efforts by the international community and regional and subregional organizations to promote peace and security in the African region. The book analyses both indigenous and external efforts to develop African countries' individual and collective capacities to undertake peacekeeping operations. Peacekeeping in Africa also chronicles the participation of African countries in United Nations peacekeeping operations and non-African-led multinational forces over the past 50 years. It discusses the role of the United Nations in peacekeeping in the region and concludes with recommendation on how to make current approaches more effective.
Customer Reviews:
The best survey of African peacekeeping in years.......2000-07-19
Ms. Sams and Mr. Berman have written an impressive survey of peacekeeping efforts in Africa. Their book looks insightfully at the efforts of the UN, African regional organizations and ad hoc groups and offers a fresh perspective on the successes and failures of these past inititatives. I especially enjoyed their recommendations...and judging by recent comments by many policy makers, I wasn't the only one! This is a must-read for anyone interested in this area, whether they are policy makers or just interested in the topic.
Book Description
The most recent title to appear in the Oxford Monographs in International Law series, Surrender, Occupation, and Private Property in International Law examines the legal situation which arises during periods of occupation in respect of private property which is temporarily used, annexed, or destroyed by occupying forces. It asks what happens to that property after occupation ceases, and addresses the issues of restitution and compensation which may sometimes arise. The author focuses upon the post-war occupation of Japan by American forces as the principal example around which to develop his arguments, and makes extensive use of documents from this period. Relatively little has been written about this crucial period in Japanese history, and the successful linking of the historical and legal aspects in this study will make this book of considerable interest to international lawyers and modern historians.
Book Description
Military forces are increasingly being deployed into hostile environments to conduct humanitarian and peace-keeping operations, and state practice has demonstrated that some aspects of international law which evolved to regulate the conduct of hostilities between states has failed to provide the maximum protection available to protect it's peace-keepers and deter serious violations of international humanitarian law. Jus Paciarii is a richly documented, cutting edge chronicle of three emergent international law paradigms that:
1. afford peace-keepers greater legal protection,
2. impose a legal obligation on all states to search for and arrest war criminals, and
3. grant the United Nations, states, and peace-keepers a greater range of legal authority to use force for humanitarian interventions.
To prove the existence of these emergent paradigms, Professor Sharp details the evolution of United Nations peace operations, reviews existing international law protections for all military forces serving under the authority of the United Nations, and examines the decade of state practice which has most changed the international community's attitude toward military forces who serve as its peace-keepers. At each turn, Sharp superbly summarizes his work in a series of tables and figures, and provides a Draft Protocol III to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 which protects all personnel - civilians and military, noncombatants and combatants - who serve under the authority of the United Nations. This text is exceptionally well-suited as a reference for government officials, military operators, students, and others who are interested in the maintenance of international peace and security.
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- The Pack: Touch Of The Wolf (Book 5) (Silhouette Nocturne)
- The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to Islam (and the Crusades) (Politically Incorrect Guides)
- The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics
- The Road to Arnhem: A Screaming Eagle in Holland (World War II Library)
- The Secret of the Incas: Myth, Astronomy, and the War Against Time
- The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Awakening, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND: 10 Keys for Unlocking Your Personal Potential, Achieving Spiritual Awakening, ... of Humanity's Ultimate Cosmic Destiny
- The Triumph of the Sun
- The Venona Secrets, Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors
- The Vietnam War: An Encyclopedia of Quotations
- The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy
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