Review Lloyd Gardner, The Long Road To Baghdad, A History Of U.S. Foreign Policy From The 1970s To The Present, The New Press, 2008

 

Rutgers University Professor Lloyd Gardner attempted to explain the larger ideas behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq in The Long Road To Baghdad, A History Of U.S. Foreign Policy From The 1970s To The Present. He argues that the war was the result of a change in foreign policy philosophy from the realism of the Cold War to a new idealism based upon asserting American power and spreading democracy. The problem is Gardner gets lost in the details and side stories and loses track of his argument.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 2 ISIS seized control of Fallujah in aftermath of PM Maliki shutting down Anbar protests

 

1915 Suleiman Bey took over Iraq Command for Ottomans Called on Arab sheikhs to join war against

British and planned on retaking Basra

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 1 After PM Maliki shut down Anbar protest sites ISI destroyed police stations in Ramadi and Fallujah as insurgency made its return

 

1914 UK set out from Qurna, Basra north Found Tigris River had been blocked Gunboats

couldn’t follow Forced UK to retreat back to Qurna

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 31 U.S. withdrew troops from Iraq

 

1920 High Commissioner Sir Cox reported that many sheikhs of large confederations supported

British Mandate and didn't want an Iraqi govt

(Musings On Iraq review Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 30 Saddam executed while Sadrists chanted Moqtada Body later kicked and spat on by Shiite politicians

 

1915 Gen Aylmer in command of UK relief force for Kut said he was going to move his

entire corps at once in methodical advance rather than sending one division ahead to reach Kut was quickly as possible

Iraqis Going To Fight In Ukraine Due To Lack Of Opportunities At Home

 

The Iraqi press has recently been full of stories about Iraqis joining the Russian army to fight in Ukraine. The reporting has led the government to threaten action to stop its people from going to the war.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 29 2nd Phase of Battle of Mosul began with attack upon eastern side of city

 

1934 Yasin al-Hashemi Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani criticized PM Ayubi Jawadat for elections he

held because excluded them Senate criticized vote PM started being called a tyrant

(Musings On Iraq review Independent Iraq 1932-1958, A Study in Iraqi Politics)