Iraq – Page 2 – Mike Marqusee

Nov 27, 2005

Saga of an on-going crime

BOOK REVIEW: Secrets and Lies: The True Story of the Iraq War by Dilip Hiro (Politico’s, ?9.99 paperback) The Spokesman, Issue 88, November 2005 In August 2003, the Bush administration published its “100 Days in Iraq” report, declaring confidently: “Most of Iraq is calm, and progress on the road to democracy and freedom not experienced… Read more

Revisiting recent history

WHEN Bill Clinton told a group of students in Dubai recently that the Iraq war had been a “big mistake”, champions of the current White House occupant were quick to accuse him of hypocrisy. For once, they had a strong point. To be clear, Clinton’s criticism was confined to the conduct of the war, not… Read more

Nov 10, 2005

Fallujah: a name that will live in infamy

The Guardian, 10 November [Below is the complete article; an edited version appeared in The Guardian.] One year ago this week, in the wake of Bush’s re-election, US-led occupying forces launched a devastating assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The mood was set by Lt Col. Gary Brandl: “The enemy has got a face…. Read more

Oct 30, 2005

Empire of denial

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 30 October DURING the heyday of British, French, Belgian or Portuguese colonialism, if you asked the citizens of London, Paris, Brussels or Lisbon whether their countries were the seats of great transcontinental empires, they would have answered “yes”, unhesitatingly, and most would have taken pride in the fact. But stop… Read more

Oct 2, 2005

Blair sidesteps reality – with BBC help

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 2 October TONY BLAIR has dismissed opposition to his Iraq policy as the province of “urban intellectuals”. A strange comment from the Prime Minister of one of the most urbanised societies on earth. But then he also managed to ignore the latest opinion poll showing that 57 per cent of… Read more

Jul 1, 2005

Guinness Book of Politics

Red Pepper, July 2005 Book Review Stop the War: The Story of Britain’s Biggest Mass Movement by Andrew Murray and Lindsey German (Bookmarks) The strengths of this publication are Noel Douglas’s vibrant design and its generous helpings of fiery, stylish anti-war visuals – including montages by Peter Kennard and Leon Kuhn, photos by Jess Hurd… Read more

Jun 14, 2005

So what’s wrong with the USA?

Level Playing Field The Hindu, 12 June, 2005 It’s been an interesting experience, being an American abroad, especially since 9/11. Whether in Europe or south Asia, people gape with disbelief at what appears to be an unchained American empire, contemptuous of the rules that apply to others, murderously indifferent to the value of non-American life…. Read more

Sep 20, 2004

Building an effective movement against occupation

Mike Marqusee looks at the challenge facing the British anti-war movement. Labour Left Briefing, October 2004 Of the many lies we were told about this war, perhaps the biggest was that it came to an end in the spring of 2003. As predicted, the wages of occupation have been death and destruction, mounting by the… Read more

Sep 4, 2004

Dissent and the American mainstream

WhatsonUK, September 2004 For many years it seemed all but invisible. For a few months after 9/11 you’d be forgiven for thinking it had been utterly extinguished. But the other America, the dissident America, was always alive and over the last two years it’s been kicking with increasing force and rising impatience. On 15th February… Read more

May 20, 2004

The lessons of Abu Ghraib

Keynote for Red Pepper, June 2004 The images of occupying troops torturing and abusing Iraqi detainees are a challenge to every British and US citizen. These horrors are being perpetrated in our name, and unless we act to stop them, we are culpable. But to stop them, we have to understand them, along with the… Read more