Reviews for The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict

The average rating for The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-08-09 00:00:00 Evgeny Kapustin This was actually the First Gulf War, folks. Sadly not as irrelevant a war as you might want it to be, considering the incessant Iran-baiting going on these days, the I-I War still stands as one of the longest conventional wars of the last century and one whose repercussions can still be felt in the region and even further. Hiro, as always, nicely balances the actual military events with political shenanigans and gives some good briefs and background on the history of the conflict and its causes. More importantly, it sets the stage for ensuing events in the Middle East, especially the Second Gulf War. Some takeaways, especially for American readers, and most especially those who might need a wake-up call when it comes to foreign policy shenanigans 1) Widespread use of chemical weapons by Iraq against Iran, including the slaughter of its own citizens in places like Halabja. 2) US backing for Iraq. Yes, the US sold him weapons (including chemical), satellite info, et cetera. Pictures speak a thousand words: Yep, that's Donald Rumsfeld, who some of you might find familiar as the guy who wanted to attack Iraq some years ago. He brought Saddam Hussein some spurs from Ronald Reagan. Then the US attacked Iraq in '91. Confusing, right? Not as confusing as what came next. Get ready for #3: 3) The US sold weapons to Iran, too. Yes, that's right. Remember the Iran-Contra scandal? Who couldn't? The greatest moment of exposure for how fucked American foreign policy is! Even better, freaking Israel helped the US sell arms to Iran. Anyway, those are just juicy tidbits. Overall, this is an excellent book, if a little heavy on military details.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-03-05 00:00:00 Heidi Bullen An easy to read journalistic rather than scholarly account of the longest conventional war of the 20th century that lasted 7 years and 11 months and ended in a statelemate. Written in 1990, it is refreshingly unmolested by irrelevant references to future events like Iraq's invasion of Kuwait or September 11. Anyone who believes in such a notion as one Arab World or Islamic World will be dissapointed to see in this book that the human drive for power, honour, and wealth is far too universal to be overcome by idealistic notions of nationalism or religion. Iran, even during the nascent fervour of an anti-American anti-atheist Islamic revolution was more than willing to purchase most of its military arsenal from the 'Great Satan' America, those atheist abominations the Soviet Union and North Korea, and its anti-Islamic laicic neighbour Turkey. Saddam suppressed Iraq's Kurdish rebels but encouraged Iran's Kurds to rebel whilst Iran supplied Iraq's Kurdish rebels whilst suppressing its own. Egypt became a pariah of the Arab world after signing a peace accord with Israel, but Saddamn- the great anti-Zionist torchbearer of the Arab world- had such a hunger for more weapons that he ushered Egypt's re-entry into the Arab League and they became strong allies as a result: a friend in need is a friend indeed. This dark comedy played itself in many other hypocritical ways, illustrated in this book. Had the author explained some of the weapon and military jargon then the many tactical accounts would have been easier to follow. However the reader is not left lost because the author explains that one side's equipment was better than the other (Iraq always having an edge on materiel) and gives the outcome and signifance of each battle. Most of the book's content concerns domestic and international political relationships and circumstances but there are still many accounts of individual battles. A great introduction and an eaasy refresher.