iraq

War movies are a fickle thing but in Kathryn Bigelow’s movie „The Hurt Locker“ from 2008, we can see the ugly side of war from the perspective of the individuals, thereby evading any open judgement but still grasping the tension and brutality of war.

The Hurt Locker focuses on an American bomb squad team (more accurate, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal) in Iraq 2004 which tries to find and defuse bombs before they can detonate. When the Staff Sergeant gets killed by a remote-controlled explosion, the team (played by Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty) gets a new member, namely William James (an excellent Jeremy Renner), a maverick when it comes to defuse but also a reckless team member who refuses to communicate properly and puts himself into danger more often than not.

Sumeria and the birth of civilisation

From the beginning of the fifth millenium B.C., the fertile plain of the Mesopotamian delta was the scene of man’s greatest progress, the change from single scattered farming units to an urban society. At that distant point in time, the first towns had already been built at Eridu, Ur and Uruk.

The irrigation network for this plain was, with its dams and canals, a remarkable achievement, comparable with any subsequent river control system.

Archaelogists and historians are of the opinion that the Sumerians were the first to develop a form of civilisation, on the evidence of the excavations in their cities. In approximately 3200 B.C. they invented writing, and had scholars studying history.

The Akkadians

Contemporary with the Sumerians, the Akkadians were one of the oldest Semitic tribes to settle in the Mesopotamian delta, and under king Sargon, in about 2350 B.C., conquered the ancient kingdom of Sumer.

Practically nothing is known about the origins or the language of this high-land people before they arrived in Iraq. Several of their scientific terms, however, recorded by the Babylonians, are thought to be of Indo-European roots. They came down from the mountains of Loristan in the north-east, captured Babylon from which the Hassites had withdrawn, and founded the Kassite dynasty as successors to the Babylonian empire. They gave themselves the title of ‘kings of Babel and Akkad’.

Their most famous king was Kurigalzu (1483-1412 B.C.) a contemporary of the Pharaoh Amnu-Kis II of Egypt. He built a new capital, called Dur-Kurigalzu, the ruins of which are to be found 25 miles north-west of Baghdad at Agarguf. The huge ‘ziggurat’ is in good condition and has withstood the ravages of time for more than two thousand years. It was consecrated to the most important Kassite god, An-Lil.

According to the records found at Tel-al-Amarna (the country of Amurru) in Egypt, the Kassites had far-ranging contacts with the East, during the time of Akhenaton. They added practically nothing, however, to the culture inherited from their predecessors, or to the history of Mesopotamia.

A Semitic tribe which emigrated from the Arabian Peninsula and settled in the north of Iraq around 3000 B.C. On every possible occasion their rulers had tried to break away from the rule of the states in the south of Iraq. Then in the first millenium B.C. they became a force to be reckoned with when king Adad-Nirari subjugated his neighbours and made a treaty with Babel. It was at this time that he began the series of conquests which became the greatest Eastern empire known to ancient history.

Under king Nirari, written records of their history began to be kept, known as ‘lemmi’, in which the important events of the year were recorded under the name of the chief minister, appointed annually by the king.

One of their famous kings was Assur-Nasirpal ii (884-858 B.C.), a stern ruler whose conquests extended as far as the northern and eastern mountains. He fought against the Arameans and captured Damascus using chariots for the first time in man’s history for taking cities by storm.

The kingdom was divided up into provinces for each of which he appointed a governor. He rebuilt the city of Calah (Nimrud) and constructed a dam in dressed stone on the Tigris. In his large palace were carved marble scenes depicting incidents in his life; hunting and battle scenes and vassal princes bringing him gifts and tribute. This was one of the greatest achievements of Assyrian architecture.

In 612 B.C. Nineveh, capital of Assyria, was captured by the Chaldean Nabopolassar. After the siege the ramparts were destroyed and the king burned to death in his palace.

The fall of Nineveh marked the end of Assyrian political and military domination and a new era in Mesopotamian civilisation was inaugurated by the Chaldeans.

Their greatest king was Nabu-Chodonossar, who reigned for forty years (605-562 B.C.), and most famous for his building achievements, particularly in his capital, Babel, which was continually being enlarged and beautified during his reign.

One of the seven wonders of the world, the hanging gardens, were created here. In the magnificent palace built for his wife Amanis, daughter of Atyakis, whose homeland was in the mountains, the king wanted her to have the type of scenery with which she was familiar.

Accordingly, he had gardens planted, complete with trees, and an ingenious irrigation system on each of the seven stories of the palace.

The gateway of Ishtar is another of his magnificent achievements. It is made of gaily coloured glazed bricks with carvings in relief of a lion, a bull, and the mythical animal called Mushakhshu, one of the forms of their god Marduk. The gateway is now in the Berlin Museum. It is 50 meters high, including the towers, and 8 meters wide, leading to the Processional Way, as wide as the towers and one hundred meters long.

After the fall of the Chaldean empire in 538 B.C., a series of foreign dynasties ruled the country of the two rivers. These included the Achaemenians, Alexander of Macedon, the Seleucians, Parthians and Sassanians.

During the reign of the Sassanian king, Yazujord iii in 637 A.D., Said Ibn Abi Waqqas at the head of the Arab-Islamic army of liberation freed Iraq from Sassanian rule at the famous battle of Al-Quadissiya. He pursued their armies as far as Iran and finally defeated them at the battle of Nafawand in 642 A.D. The Persian king fled and after he was killed in 651 A.D., Persian domination came to an end and the foundations were laid for the Arab-Islamic empire.

In addition to the states which existed on the Arabian Peninsula in pre-Islamic times, the Arabs had settled also in Iraq and Syria. They had established staging posts along the caravan routes during the Parthian, Byzantine and Sassanian periods. These staging posts developed into towns surrounded by walls, and since the caravan routes were also military routes, these towns had great strategic importance during the Persian, Roman and Byzantine Middle Eastern campaigns.

They also became important trading points between their Arab inhabitants and the Persians and Greeks. The most important ones and the tribes inhabiting them were:

Four countries ivaded Iraq in 2003. These were the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland. The invasion was the beginning of the current Iraq War.

According to George W. Bush, at that time President of the United States the reason was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people. In 2005, the CIA released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.

The invasion started with an air strike on the Iraqi Presidential Palace on March 19, 2003. The following day, Basra was attacked. Massive air strikes across the country caused chaos and prevented an effective resistance.

Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and Baghdad was occupied on April 9. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein went into hiding as the occupation of the country was completed. On May 1, an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.

The Iraq War, also known as the Occupation of Iraq, is an ongoing military campaign. President Hussein was captured and later sentenced to death and executed by the new Iraqi government. By 2008, the estimated number of refugees was about 4.7 million.

In 750 A.D. the torch of Arab-Islamic civilisation passed from the hands of the Syrian Ommayads to those of the Abbassids, who, in taking over the Caliphate, enriched both the Islamic and other civilisations during their reign.

Many great cities had been founded by earlier peoples, and under the first Caliphs, cities such as Basra, Kufah and Wasit were founded. It was under the second Caliph Abu Jafar Al-Mansur that Baghdad was founded to become the capital of his empire and a beacon of learning to all mankind.

During his reign, Baghdad, whose other name was Dar-es-Salaam (city of peace), became a magnet for men of science, literature and art from all over the world. It was during the Caliphates of Haroun al-Rashid and his son AI-Mamun that Iraq reached the highest point in what was truly a golden age.

The empire consolidated its boundaries and strenghtened its administration, wealth and prosperity spread throughout the land. The renown of the Caliphate became synonymous with the name of the capital (another name was capital of Al-Rashid), and was known all over the world. international relationships were developed, and it should be noted that Al-Rashid was contemporary with Charlemagne with whom he had strong ties of friendship. His son, Al-Mamun was a scholar in his own right, with a true scholars breadth of understanding so that even serious arguments on religious questions could take place in his presence.

But mankind’s greatest debt to him is for his act of bringing to Baghdad translators from every country in the world to translate into Arabic the most important academic works on all subjects from their own countries. As payment he gave the equivalent weight in gold of each translators’ book-which led some to choose the thickest parchment for their manuscript. Knowing this ruse, AI-Mamun nevertheless paid this weight if he considered that it was worth it. Other scholars and authors were rewarded with even greater generosity. As a result of this immense effort, the Arab language became the repository of man’s cultural heritage, and for this alone the name of Al-Mamun remains immortal.

The July Revolution (1958)

At dawn on July 14th, 1958 the monarchy was overthrown, the corrupt feudal system destroyed, and the Republic of Iraq proclaimed.

This marked a turning point in the country’s history, in the break with dependance on the imperialists and the abrogation of its military alliances. Unfortunately, it did not take long before things went awry and a dictatorship was set up by Abdelkarim Kassem. The people, who had already acquired a taste for freedom, were not prepared to accept this and continued to strive towards their democratic objectives.

The February Revolution (1963)

On February 8th 1963, the armed militia of the Arab Ba’th Socialist Party, with the loyal support of the people, overthrew the Kassim government and put an end to a period which had been filled with tribulation for Iraq.

Great efforts were made to bring about the objectives of the revolution, in particular the formation of a progressive and socialist national government capable of sustaining the fight for Arab unity.

Saddam Hussein was the President of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Ba’ath Party and participated in the 1968 coup that brought the party to power.

As vice president under General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam created security forces through which he could controll conflicts between the government and the armed forces. Through the 1970s, Saddam strengthened his authority as Iraq’s economy grew rapidly.

As president, Saddam maintained power during the Iran–Iraq War and Gulf War. During these conflicts, Saddam suppressed Shi’a and Kurdish movements seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence.

In 2003, the United States and its allies invaded Iraq, and Saddam lost his power. Captured on 13 December 2003, Saddam was brought to trial under the Iraqi interim government. He was found guilty the killing of Iraqi Shi’ites in 1982 and was sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam was executed on 30 December 2006.