The topic of this week's in the news is the renewed Iraqi crisis. The eleven resources discussed offer information, analysis, and commentary from a variety of political and cultural viewpoints. Despite a noted lack of enthusiasm from neighboring Middle East nations and in the UN, the US and Britain appeared ready to take military action against Iraq to punish Saddam Hussein for once again...
In conjunction with the eighth anniversary of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Washington Post Online has created this site, a compendium of information about and analysis of the 42-day air war waged by the US against Iraq in 1991. The site contains author William M. Arkin and General Charles Homer's analyses of the air war's effectiveness, information on the US war goals articulated at the time, an...
A number of documentaries have paid close to attention to various aspects of the current military conflict in Iraq, but this recent documentary by the people at Frontline warrants special notice. In November 2004, a production team documented the day-to-day realities of the soldiers of the 1-8 Cavalary's Dog Company in South Baghdad. The actual filming began three days after the Falljuah campaign...
While it's hard to have a thorough and well-developed perspective at times on events in the recent past, this thought-provoking online site on the recent war in Iraq is a place that brings together important analysis from a host of war correspondents, policymakers, and military leaders. The site includes transcriptions of interviews with various persons involved in the recent military conflict, a...
"Iraq holds more than 112 billion barrels of oil -- the world's second largest proven reserves. Iraq also contains 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and is a focal point for regional and international security issues." Provided by the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy, the Iraq Country Analysis Brief Web site provides a thorough description of the mineral...
As home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world, the nation of Iraq has some of the most important archaeological museums and institutes, many of which have suffered irreparable damage during the war in that country. In order to help with the recovery efforts, the University of Chicago's esteemed Oriental Institute has created this website which contains a number of very useful resources,...
The National Security Archive (the world's largest non-governmental library of declassified documents) has recently released their latest electronic briefing book, dealing with the United States's relations with Iraq in the early 1980s. Edited by Joyce Battle, the collection of documents begins with an extended historical essay that introduces visitors to the complex history of relations between...
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair barely survived two rather harrowing challenges to his position of power in Britain this week. On Tuesday, the House of Commons passed his highly controversial higher education reform bill for the country (which will allow English universities to charge top-up fees of up to £3000) by only five votes. The following day, the greatly anticipated Hutton Report was...
Released as part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Committee on International Security Studies Occasional Papers series, this 93-page report from December 2002 examines the political, military, and economic consequences of war with Iraq. The report is divided into three self-contained chapters, with each one exploring a different facet that illustrates the potential costs of war for the...