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The assault and capture of Iraq — and the resistance it has provoked — will shape the politics of the twenty-first century. In this passionate and provocative book, Tariq Ali provides a history of Iraqi resistance against empires old and new, and argues against the view that sees imperialist occupation as the only viable solution to bring about regime-change in corrupt and dictatorial states. Like the author’s previous work, The Clash of Fundamentalisms, this book presents a magnificent cultural history.
Detailing the longstanding imperial ambitions of key figures in the Bush administration and how war profiteers close to Bush are cashing in, Bush in Babylon is unique in moving beyond the corporate looting by the US military government to offer the reader an expert and in-depth analysis of the extent of resistance to the US occupation in Iraq.
On 15 February 2003, eight million people marched on the streets of five continents against a war that had not yet begun. A historically unprecedented number of people rejected official justifications for war that the secular Ba'ath Party of Iraq was connected to al-Qaeda or that “weapons of mass destruction” existed in the region, outside of Israel.
More people than ever are convinced that the greatest threat to peace comes from the center of the American empire and its satrapies, with Blair and Sharon as lieutenants to the Commander-in-Chief. Examining how countries from Japan to France eventually rushed to support US aims, as well as the futile UN resistance, Tariq Ali proposes a re-founding of Mark Twain's mammoth American Anti-Imperialist League (which included William James, W.E.B. DuBois, William Dean Howells, and John Dewey) to carry forward the antiwar movement. Meanwhile, as Iraqis show unexpected hostility and independence, rather than gratitude, for “liberation,” Ali is unique is uncovering the depth of the resistance now occurring inside occupied Iraq.
“Tari Ali … has poured all his caustic verve and literary talent into this essay on the modern history of Iraq. Drawing on the work of great Arab historians, but also on personal testimony and the works of different Iraqi poets, he reconstitutes the principal moments of a tragic history — a pitiless dissection of the lies used by the Anglo-American leaders to legitimate their recent imperial expedition in Iraq.” — Le Monde Diplomatique
“An often compelling insider’s perspective — with some valuable insights into the sensitivities that explain why the occupying coalition in Iraq is not being treated as a savior.” — New York Times Book Review
“As in 2002’s Clash of Fundamentalisms, Ali proves a sharp and learned guide with a poet’s touch.” — New York Press
“Ali broadens our horizons, geographically, historically, intellectually and politically . . . [He] has a sharp mind and wit. His mode of history telling is lyrical and engaging, humane and passionate.” — The Nation
Tariq Ali is a writer and filmmaker, long-time political activist and campaigner, and very much in demand as a commentator on the current situation in the Middle East. He has written over a dozen books on world history and politics, including the bestseller The Clash of Fundamentalisms, five novels, and scripts for both stage and screen. The first novel in the Islam Quintet, Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, was awarded the Archbishop San Clemente del Instituto Rosalia de Castro Prize for Best Foreign Language Fiction published in Spain in 1994 and, like The Book of Saladin, has been translated into several languages.
Publication
Cloth: Nov. 2003
Paper: Oct. 2004
262 pages
15 b/w illustrations
Cloth
ISBN-13: 978 1 85984 583 7
£16 / US$20 / CAN$33
Paper
ISBN-13: 1 84467 512 8
£7.99 / US$12 / CAN$18
Also available:
The Clash of Fundamentalisms
Street-fighting Years: An Autobiography of the Sixties
The Book of Saladin
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree
The Stone Woman
A Sultan in Palermo
Pirates of the Caribbean