Iraq

In Edinburgh several weeks ago, we went back to our favourite bookshop Tills, now with website, eBay store and partial online inventory.

Most of my book purchases are now through the Amazon marketplace, but nothing beats the serendipity of going through a shop stacked high with quality books.

I picked up Salam Pax’s The Baghdad Blogger, strange reading a blog in paper. Its a short book comprising his posts from about 6 months before the conflict till 3 months after the start of the attack.

Never read any of his blog online and it took a little while to get into it. There’s a good introduction by Rory McCarthy. His posts start off short and trivial, he started of writing it as a public letter to his friend Raed in Jordan, but as the build up to the war begins, he writes more on the impending invasion and how day to day life is affected.

There is an interesting point when he starts to receive links from big sites like yahoo. He becomes scared that what he has written has put himself and his family in danger and considers deleting the blog. He decides against it and continues and his posts become more about life in Iraq and the immanent invasion.

His references about events in Iraq past got me interested in its history, particularly the British involvement in the creation of the state

Recently on More4 Robert Newman presented a comedy show titled A History of Oil ( kindly uploaded to Google Video ), he speaks of the German Iraqi

I came across the wikipedia article on the Anlgo-Iraqi War, referring to the conflict in 1940-41, it mentioned the RAF base in Habbaniya

When the Iraq war was on, I remember asking dad if he had been out there, he said he was stationed near Baghdad, he was a radio operator in the RAF during his National Service, I guess it must have been there he was stationed. ( Update: He was in Habbaniya for 18 months )
Newman argues that British aims during the First World War was an Invasion of Iraq ( Here’s a link, 10:20 in ), where he looks at the Batallion of the Dorsets going to Basra in 1914, to prevent the completion of the Berlin Baghdad railway and that railway as a cause of WW1

The Habbaniya base, was handed over too Iraqi control in 1955, it is now a US base.

Dad having been there, over half a century ago, make me think about the recent calls ups of reservists and TA.

A History of Oil is well worthing watching, entertaining and informing.