An Alliance Against Babylon: The U.S., Israel, and Iraq

by John K. Cooley

Book Overview

The ruins of ancient Babylon still stand in Iraq. They are a reminder that today's conflict is only one of many that have engulfed the country, and the wider Middle East, over the centuries.

John Cooley, a former correspondent for ABC News and the Christian Science Monitor, argues that America's new invasion and occupation of Iraq marks a turning point in the West's relationship with the Arab world, and alters the balance of power within...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0745322824
• ISBN13: 9780745322827
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent reading

Cooley was a staff correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and ABC News and has written widely on the issues (including six other books on the Middle East). Drawing on published and much unpublished works (including his own personal interaction with people like Ben Gurion), he focuses on Iraq as how it was/is impacted by Israel and the US. It is a concise description of the tragic history of ancient Babylon and modern Iraq in the context of meddling and/or occupation by outside powers (from the Ottomans to Britain to Israel and the US). It describes for example, the Zionist manipulation of Iraqi Jews to force them to flee their country. It describes how the CIA "gave Saddam a leg up" (Chapter 6). The detailed discussion of the history goes through the periods of the Iran-Iraq war when the US continued to back Saddam but also made dealings with Iran to keep them killing each other), o the period of the Kuwait episode (some call it gulf war I), Sanctions, and then the latest war on Ira that is still ongoing. The last chapter its titled "Endgame: Iraq democratized or dismembered?" and it deals with a range of issues from the neoconservative (Zionist) cabal in action to dismember Iraq with the help of Israeli intelligence and military support, the sharing of weapons and training, Abu Ghreib nightmare, Israel relationship with Turkey and Kurdish areas, and the alliances that are being built at the expense of native people in Iraq and Palestine.