Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq Paperback – June 15, 2010

by Nicolas J S Davies (Author), Ben Ferencz (Foreword)

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The invasion and occupation of Iraq wasn't just a tragic mistake. It was a crime.

From the planning of aggression in 2002 through years of hostile military occupation, the United States systematically violated the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions and virtually every principle of international law and order.

America's crimes against the people of Iraq were shielded from public scrutiny by what senior U.S. military officers called the "quiet, disguised, media-free approach" developed in Central America in the 1980s. The echo chamber of the Western corporate media fleshed out the Pentagon's propaganda to create a virtual Iraq in the minds of the public, feeding a political discourse that bore no relation to the real war it was waging, the country it was destroying or the lives of its inhabitants.

In an easily readable and flowing narrative, Nicolas Davies has carefully taken apart the wall of propaganda surrounding one of history's most significant military disasters and most serious international crimes: non-existent WMDs; the equally fictitious "centuries-old sectarian blood feud" in Iraq; and the secrecy of the dirty war waged by American-led death squads. Unlike other writers, Davies has firmly placed each aspect of the war within a coherent context of illegal aggression, hostile military occupation and popular resistance, to uncover the brutal reality of a war that has probably killed at least a million people.

"A clear, intelligent and accurate description of how we are involved in aggression in Iraq. Congratulations!" - Benjamin B. Ferencz, former Chief Prosecutor, U.S. War Crimes Tribunal, Nuremberg.

"If the Iraq occupation lasts another 50 years, it's doubtful a better account of it will be produced than this one." - David Swanson, Author of Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union.

Print length

440 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Nimble Pluribus
Publication date

June 15, 2010
Dimensions

6 x 0.89 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

193484098X
ISBN-13

978-1934840986
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nimble Pluribus (June 15, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 440 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 193484098X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1934840986
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.29 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.89 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,917,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #830 in Iraq History (Books)
- #1,859 in Foreign & International Law
- #1,976 in Iraq War History (Books)

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Gerhardt J. Steinke

PRODIGIOUS SCHOLARSHIP

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2014

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THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ FOR TRUE PATRIOTS.
The author offers highly detailed very specific FACTS with precise sources for everything he writes. As I write this, I see one (1) curious one star review to the effect that the book is "Hardly objective or unbiased" - but has "Some good stuff here." But, alas, this "critic" fails to cite even one error! He also fails to give us even one example of what he considers "good stuff." Sarcastic remarks do NOT constitute an useful review. I have doubts that J. BAILEY has actually read the book. I've finished a first "cover to cover" read on Kindle and will study it again. This book is a "must" for those seeking a better understanding of the corrupt hypocritical cabal of "leaders" who brought us into an invasion of Iraq based on fraud, lies and deceit. This travesty, of biblical proportions, not only ruined our economy (the final price tag will be trillions) but resulted in the needless injury, death of over a million. A democracy only works when citizens are told the truth. This includes soldiers. Particularly troubling is the fact, even several years into the war, that the majority of soldiers "serving" in Iraq STILL believed that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9-11! Give me a break! George Orwell must be rolling over in his grave in reaction to how Dick, George and Rummy misused the English language. Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. It's disgraceful how the media covers Iraq. One of the worst sources of "news" is Fox News. But to be fair and balanced, other US media, albeit less bad, unfortunately are little better.

28 people found this helpful

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John E Norris

NOT A FEEL GOOD BOOK BUT EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD READ IT

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2016

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Every American should read this book to understand the moral responsibility that we have to apologize to Iraq, pay reparations to Iraqi war victims and rebuild that entire country to restore it to its pre-war condition. Author Davies exposes how America has taken the absolute worst of all of its prior hegemonic behaviors throughout the world and combined them in Iraq to create a perpetual reign of terror for people who did absolutely nothing to provoke or threaten America. This is not a feel good book. It will make you feel ashamed as an American and want to see something done to make amends for America's criminal treatment of innocent Iraqi people.

14 people found this helpful

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Mark H. Gaffney

why only eight reviews for this clear eyed and comprehensive book?

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2018

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I second all of the lavish praise already posted for this fine book, which ought to be required reading for every American. The fact that only 8 reviews have been posted since its release is the real story. Our nation has slipped into a swamp of corruption and evil because not enough good men have stepped up to the challenge of restoring the US Constitution and reigning in the US war machine.

6 people found this helpful

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Colin Neiburger

Brilliant and a must read

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2010

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I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Davies speak about his book in Miami, Florida. This book is a brillant document with the specific details to show that the war in Iraq is an illegal war. Reading it can be shocking as the documentation Mr. Davies provides is graphic and to the point. This book should be in every library and classroom and a copy sent to every member of Congress.

18 people found this helpful

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Cameron Powers

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2015

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excellent

3 people found this helpful

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Ted Demmler

Russia and Cuba would have prevented this destruction

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2011

The economic and social destruction of Iraq, an Arab country underatking a Socialist experiment, was delieberately palnned by both Israel and the US. UNSCOM that murderous United Nations creature, destroyed over 1,000 Iraqi industrial enterprises during its reign of terror during the "oil for food" programme a programme designed to starve the country of spare parts and industrial equipment required to re-build the country's industrial base. This is after all the goal: destroy the military-industrial base of a country that you do not control. What should be noted is that Iraq built up its economy using Soviet Planning techniques, after all The Soviet Union was perhaps the only net energy exporter in history which endogenously industrialised its economy.
What is rarely mentioned in the imperialist terror reigned on Iraq is that just prior to the US attack, the last two diplomats to depart Iraq were from Russia and Cuba, two former close allies who also had good ties with Iraq. The Russian military has just embarked on a $650 billion dollar rearmements programme. The Cuban military is known for its tenacious fighting when armed with weapons comparable to its opponent. Take the Angolan war as an example. Cuba took over the fighting from the MPLA Government troops and using Soviet weapons and proceeded to destroy the South African military (no mean feat!!!) and its proxy fighters from the CIA, and British mercenaries who were formerly from the British military. That is good form, good form indeed. The Cubans have long been taught to fly Soviet Migs which the Iraqi airforce was incapable of doing. The point is this: had the Russians and Cubans (possibly with some French military assistance) fought alonsgside Iraqi troops and had the Russians and French provided Iraq with missiles and attack helicopters and aircraft the Cubans would have done most of the fighting and killing of the imperialist invaders. The US military would soon have realised that they could not defeat such a fighting force. There for everybody to see Cuba, armed with heavy Russian and French weaponry, would have defeated the US and its imperialist cronies whoever they were. With Soviet/Russian military advisors the Cubans would have, in conjunction with Iraqi and Russian assistance easily have defeated Cheney-Wolfowitz Rumsfeld and the other neo fascists of the US. One only needs to look at Cuba's dominance of the fighting sports at Olympic level to realise this. Fighting is in their blood, just give them the comparable weaponry and watch. The possibility of this happening may even have been discussed among the Cubans and Russians as they had already defeated Jonas Savimbi and his US-British-South African fighters during the bloody Angolan war. This war involved vicious weaponry and the US and Britain the two leaders against Iraq, were heavily involved in Angola. Cuba in effect defeated all three of the imperialist aggressors in Angola. Unfortunately this war and its outcome is never mentioned by the authors and is never even discussed by so called "anti war activists." Yet just as in Angola the Cuban-Russian nexus combined with local Iraqi units would have destroyed the nonsense "Iraq Liberation" and "Operation Freedom" invasion and left The US and Britain isolated throughout much of the world. It is quite ironic too that Iran next in line for attack, developed even closer ties with Cuba after the attack on Iraq. Iran is not stupid: it knows that Cuba is pound for pound the best fighting country on earth. Period. What other small country could fend off US aggression just 90 kilometers away and endless economic sabotage and warfare against it??? How many other countries could defeat, almost single handedly, Savimbi-US-South African-British mercenaries in a prolonged bloody war in Angola, also a large oil exporting country???

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2010

If the Iraq occupation lasts another 50 years, it's doubtful a better account of it will be produced than this one. Davies puts the invasion and occupation of Iraq into a framework not only of history but also of law. 'Blood on Our Hands' is packed with critical information that never made into the so-called first draft of history, the U.S. media. This is a thoroughly documented account of the motivations, launching, and the conduct through several stages of the Iraq War, a war that any one of these periods shows to have been, above all else, a massive crime.

15 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mukhlis M.

Fabulous, detailed and very informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2018

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This book should be read by anyone who wanted to know more about the criminal actions of the American policy makers. However, I am surprised why has the authors missed or ignored the influence and impact of the Zionist state of Israel and Zionism in general. It is well documented that for years Zionism and Israel has been working on destroying most if not all Arab nations around them. In the Middle East, we have two problems, namely Oil and Israel.

One person found this helpful

Rowland Dye

thanks

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2015

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excellent book

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