Iraq’s Pro-Iran Resistance Continue Attacks Upon Neighbors

  

New Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has promised to bring all weapons under state control but the pro-Iran Resistance is not only being defiant but threatening Iraq’s relations with its neighbors.

Gulf States Weary Of Continued Threats From Iraq's Resistance

  

Pro-Iran Resistance attacks upon the Gulf States and Jordan during and after the Iran War have strained relations between Iraq and its neighbors. Before Baghdad was courting them for investment, but now that’s in jeopardy.

Iran And Its Iraqi Allies Continue Attacks During Ceasefire

  

On April 8 the ceasefire went into effect between the U.S. and Iran. Hostilities were supposed to stop in Iraq as well as the Resistance announced a two week halt to operations but they have not. Iranian Kurdish groups have been attacked again and again and most recently a Kuwait border post was hit by an Iraqi drone.

Iran War Day 39: Explosions Across Baghdad

  

The news of the day was a series of strikes by the U.S. and Israel across Baghdad. The Federal Police’s 2^nd Division was hit in Sabi al-Bour in the north. This was likely a mistake as a nearby Hashd base was also struck. Five police were wounded. A rocket landed on a house in Amiriya killing two civilians while an airstrike blew up a home on Palestine Street. The latter was used to store weapons for the Resistance. Jets also targeted locations in Jamila and Maghreb Street in the east. Five Hashd were wounded at a camp in Taji outside of the city in the north.

Iran War Day 37: Paradox Of Iraqi Oil Passing Through Strait Of Hormuz While Oil Sites Attacked

  

The weekend marked a paradox in Iranian strategy towards Iraq. On the one hand there were a series of attacks upon the Iraqi oil industry and on the other a tanker with Iraqi petroleum passed through the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran said Baghdad would be exempt from its blockade.

Iran And Its Iraqi Allies Have A Strategy For The War Where Is America and Israel's?

   

As the Iran War enters its second month Iran and its allies’ strategy has become apparent. They are focusing upon Iraq’s oil industry, the Kurds, the Baghdad Airport and neighboring countries. The Americans and Israel on the other hand don’t appear to have any plan.

Iraq Running Out Of Money Due To Iran War

  

The Financial Times reported on the economic crisis that the Iran War is causing for Iraq. It said that Baghdad has lost around $5.4 billion since the start of the conflict and it only has 1-2 months worth of cash to cover government salaries. The Central Bank on the other hand said its reserves could cover 12 months worth of oil exports. The problem is by law the bank can’t cover the government’s budget so it has to issue bonds or some other means to provide money. Government salaries and benefits are the largest part of the budget because adding public workers is the main means that the ruling parties have to maintain their support. Before the war Baghdad was running into problems meeting its obligations because of low oil prices. Now it is barely making any money with the Strait of Hormuz closed.

Iraq Starts Exporting Oil Once Again During Iran War

  

Iraq’s Oil Ministry announced that it was exporting petroleum once against through Turkey. After Irbil and Baghdad came to an agreement up to 250,000 barrels a day began flowing through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The United States reportedly played a leading role in getting the two sides together as it wants more oil on the market to try to bring down prices.

Review the mother of all battles, Saddam Hussein’s Strategic Plan For The Persian Gulf War

Woods, Kevin, the mother of all battles, Saddam Hussein’s Strategic Plan For The Persian Gulf War, Naval Institute Press, 2008

 

the mother of all battles, Saddam Hussein’s Strategic Plan For The Persian Gulf War was the first book in the Iraqi Perspectives Project. Using captured Baath documents Kevin Woods attempted to give the Iraqi side of the Gulf War. He showed how Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi leadership had a completely different mindset than their Western opponents. This explains how Saddam believed that he won the Gulf War.

Review Saddam’s War

Bulloch, John and Morris, Harvey, Saddam’s War, Faber and Faber, 1991

 

Saddam’s War is a very short and thorough overview of the causes of the Gulf War. It was written by John Bulloch and Harvey Morris who worked for the Independent newspaper in London as a journalist and an editor. It provides a good introduction for anyone interested in the conflict.

Review Martyrs’ Day, Chronicle of a Small War

Kelly, Michael, Martyrs’ Day, Chronicle of a Small War, New York: Vintage Books, 2001

 

Michael Kelly was a journalist who traveled throughout the Middle East during the Gulf War. His book, Martyrs’ Day, Chronicle of a Small War reads like a travel journal. It is full of all the places he went from Iraq to Jordan to Israel to Egypt to Saudi Arabia to Turkey, the people he met and the adventures he had. There are some interesting parts like his interviews with Kuwaitis right after the Gulf War and Iraqis during the sanctions, but it is not essential reading. It’s more of a deep background book or for someone who wants a light read.

Review The Gulf Conflict 1990-1991, Diplomacy and War in the New World Order

Freedman, Lawrence and Karsh, Efraim, The Gulf Conflict 1990-1991, Diplomacy and War in the New World Order, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993

 

The Gulf Conflict 1990-1991, Diplomacy and War in the New World Order by Lawrence Freedman and Efraim Karsh is one of the most comprehensive books about the Gulf War. Most others on the topic follow the same script. They go over Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the U.S. led response, Iraq’s intransigence and then the Gulf War. Freedman and Karsh have that plus the international response from countries like England, France, the Soviet Union and Japan along with all the diplomatic negotiations that led up to the war. If you want to get a complete story of the crisis then The Gulf Conflict should be at the top of your list.

Iraq’s Electricity Minister Doesn’t Seem To Know What Self-Sufficiency Means

After signing deal to import electricity from Saudi Arabia Iraq's Electricity Min said Iraq might become self-sufficient in energy in a few years (Al Mada)

The Iraqi government has a history of overpromising and underdelivering. In July Electricity Minister Adil Karim provided the latest example. He said that Iraq might become self-sufficient in electricity by 2025 provided money and natural gas to fuel power plants was provided. He went on to say that Iraq might export energy to the Gulf States and Europe.

Review Transnational Shia Politics, Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf

Louer, Laurence, Transnational Shia Politics, Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf, New York: Columbia University Press, 2008

 

Laurence Louer in Transnational Shia Politics, Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf is a history of the Shiite movements in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait and their relations to Iraq and Iran. The author argues that networks were formed between clerics and political parties in Iraq and Iran with the Gulf States. At first, these were followers but eventually the clergy and movements in the Gulf formed their own agendas.

Islamic State’s Summer Offensive In Iraq Ends In August

The Islamic State’s summer offensive in Iraq came to an end in August as incidents decreased each week of the month. Pro-Iran groups on the other hand picked up their operations to carry out the most attacks of the year so far.

Security In Iraq Aug 22-28, 2021

 

 

The Islamic State’s summer offensive in Iraq officially ended in August. At the same time pro-Iran groups are picking up their attacks during that same period.

Review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War

Darwish, Adel and Alexander, Gregory, Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991

 

Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War was released right after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It starts by providing some historical background to Iraq-Kuwait relations, the rise of Iraq as a regional power and then finishes with the events that led Saddam Hussein to take over his neighbor. Journalist Adel Darwish and Gregory Alexander which was a pseudonym argue that Baghdad’s regional ambitions which were ignored by the West led to the Gulf conflict.

How Saddam’s View Of the US As A Threat Led To Kuwait Invasion

Many took US Amb to Iraq Glaspie's meeting with Saddam as the Bush Admin okaying his invasion of Kuwait but that proved wrong (The Diplomat)

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 many initially believed this was okayed by the Bush administration. That mainly arose from U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie’s meeting with the Iraqi leader just before the conflict started. She told Saddam that the U.S. had no position on the Iraq-Kuwait border issue. That made headlines even though she also told him that the White House opposed the use of force to resolve the matter. Captured Iraqi documents found after 2003 revealed that not only did Saddam not take the conversation with Ambassador Glaspie as a kind of approval, but that he believed invading Kuwait was a way to stand up to what he saw as America’s plots against him.

Review Desert Storm, Volume 1: The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Shield 1990-1991

Review Hooton, E.R. and Cooper, Tom, Desert Storm, Volume 1: The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Shield 1990-1991, Warwick: Helion & Company, 2019

Desert Storm, Volume 1 had great potential, but got lost in a breakdown of all the military forces involved in the aftermath of the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The book starts with some history on the creation of Kuwait, Iraq-Kuwait relations and then the militaries of Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The invasion of Kuwait is next, and then all the forces and logistics involved in Operation Desert Shield. It’s the later that really brings down the book as it takes up nearly a third of the text and begins to read like a list of all the different pieces of equipment that were deployed.

Review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, Religion, Identity and Otherness in the Analysis of War and Conflict

Hassan, Hamdi, the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, Religion, Identity and Otherness in the Analysis of War and Conflict, London, Sterling: Pluto Press, 1999

Hamdi Hassan wrote an interesting but ultimately inconsistent book in the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, Religion, Identity and Otherness in the Analysis of War and Conflict. He argues that realist theory the main system of analysis for international relations provides an incomplete explanation for why Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. Hassan argued that one most look at Arab culture, politics and discourse, what he labels Pan-Arabism to understand Iraq’s actions. He provides some original insights such as how Saddam was able to garner widespread support throughout the Middle East. His fault is that the book is based upon a thesis and he defines each major concept he brings up, and goes through the literature and theory around them. The book ends up getting lost in all these explanations as a result. In the end this leads to a wildly inconsistent read.