Crimes of War: Iraq [Paperback]

Richard Falk (Editor), Irene Gendzier (Editor), Robert Jay Lifton (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

Crimes of War—Iraq provides a comprehensive legal, historical, and psychological exploration of the war in Iraq from the same editorial team whose 1971 Crimes of War was a landmark book about Vietnam and the revelation of American war crimes. The editors apply standards of international criminal law, as set forth at Nuremberg after World War II, and by subsequent developments regarding individual responsibility and accountability. These principles have to do with the waging of aggressive war, attacks on civilian centers of population, rights of resistance against an illegal occupation, and the abuse of prisoners. Explorations of psychology and human behavior include levels of motivation and response in connection with torture at Abu Ghraib; the phenomenon of the atrocity-producing situation in both Vietnam and Iraq (in which counter-insurgency, military policies, and angry grief could cause ordinary people to participate in atrocities); the behavior of doctors and medics in colluding in torture at Abu Ghraib; emerging testimony of American veterans of Iraq concerning the confusions of the mission, and the widespread killing of civilians; and accounts of broadening unease and psychological disturbance among men and women engaged in combat.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Jay Lifton is the visiting professor of psychiatry at Harvard. From 1995 he has been conducting psychological research on the problem of apocalyptic violence. He is the author of many books including Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence and the New Global Terrorism and The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. He lives in Boston
Richard Falk, chair of the board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, is the author of Religion and Humane Global Governance and, most recently, The Great Terror War. He lives in Washington DC.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books; First Printing edition (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560258039
• ISBN-13: 978-1560258032
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,730,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How did we get here?, June 7, 2006

By 

A. Benjamin (Goodwell, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crimes of War: Iraq (Paperback)

This is an edited work that reprints a number of articles and editorials written by respected professionals on various facets of war crimes committed in Iraq at the behest of the American government. Each of the three editors assembled articles dealing with their respective specialties: law (Falk), political science (Gendzier), and psychology & ethics (Lifton). Given my standing as a social psychologist, it's that last section that I found especially pertinent. For those interested in the debate the ethical treatment of detainees and the role that helping professionals should play (if any), as well as the social conditions required to create torturers, I would highly recommend reading through the section that Lifton was responsible for preparing.

Overall, this is one of the most important books to come out this year.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly sane reference on foreign policy, international law, and psychology of war, June 14, 2006

By 

Mohamed F. El-Hewie "Mohamed F. El-Hewie" (Hackensack, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crimes of War: Iraq (Paperback)

Since I was born and raised in the Middle East over half of my life, I was dumbstruck by the phrase "legitimate grievances in the Islamic world". For my entire life, I never met a Middle Eastern person who does not feel that westerns are agnostic to such thing as legitimacy of any Islamic right. From the era of British, French, and Italian colonialism, such cultural schism has greatly widened.

Yet, on the issue of the Iraq war, many Middle Eastern scholars experience a different sort of schism. The fact that history has chosen George Bush as the leader of the mightiest power on earth is a godsend opportunity to rid off the butcher of Baghdad. The demise of Saddam's sons will endure in the Islamic conscience for long time as a lesson in eternal justice imposed by Christian soldiers for a good cause that turned foul due to mismanagement. Although, Prince Bandar bin Sultan might claim credit to urging George Bush to commit to the removal of Saddam, yet the remarkable coalition between the Jewish lobby for the benefit of Israel, the American Christian conservative lobby, and the Saudis clearly points to the three monotheistic religions as the ultimate source for inspiring Bush to commit to such reckless, yet courageous adventure.

The three authors of this book prove that there are bold western scholars who dare to question the insidious rise of mad heads of state. Had any such people questioned the madness of Hitler from 1933 on, World War II would have been averted. Then, came the Korean and Vietnam wars, sugar coated as a noble mission to contain communism. Worse even was that Saddam and Bin Laden were funded by America, not to defeat the Soviet and the Iranian Ayatollahs, but to sell weapons and enrich capitalist corporations.

The three authors strive to present a well respected reference on foreign policy, law, and the psychology of warring nations in a scholarly rational tone and supported by sound international laws and norms. Their message might never alter the mania of the arrogant generals and oil thirsty capitalists. Yet, they question the consequences of the "empire law" on the culprits who committed crimes against humanity and the nations that turn blind eye to such crimes. For their credit, one should remember that the Iraq war was completely avoidable when George Bush gave Saddam 48 hours to surrender. Saddam sought refuge in Egypt. Yet, the blood thirsty Bush turned down Mubarak's request to grant sanctuary to Saddam's family. Had the opposite happened, thousands of lives would have been saved without a drop of blood shed.

What the authors have missed was that, the 10-year embargo on Iraq has long antagonized the Islamic world against America. When the war came, many Islamists felt relief that George Bush will pay high price for the American support for Israel and the starvation of the Iraqi people. Now, America is paying by the blood of its sons and daughters for the sole mistake of an irrational president. And Iraq isn't getting better either.

Mohamed F. El-Hewie
Author of
Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pertinent History, December 15, 2006

By 

Cathy "of the band, Cathy and the Wuthering H... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crimes of War: Iraq (Paperback)

Crimes of War: Iraq is a compilation of articles and essays by many notable authors that were almost all previously published in newspapers, magazines, and other sources. So anyone who has compulsively read all the editorials, international documents and medical journal articles about the Iraq War may find this material is old news. But for readers seeking a comprehensive overview of the Iraq War material, this book is an interesting read. Falk's section on international law includes the many documents which are pertinent to the Iraq War, and Gendzier's section of political analysis is insightful. Out of the final section, Lifton's compilation on the social psychological impact of the war, the most important essay is Bacevich's on the New American Militarism, and it may inspire you (as it did me) to buy his book.

These different sections work as well together for analysis of the Iraq War as they did in Crimes of War: Vietnam by Richard Falk, Gabriel Kolko, and Robert Lifton. As you most likely guessed by the title, if you're looking for a book that includes the arguments defending the war in Iraq, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a book that examines the war from many different perspectives, both academic and personal, Crimes of War: Iraq is a good choice.