A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja.
Shihade, Magid
A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja, by
Joost R. Hiltermann. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2007. xxxii,
314 pp. $29.00 (cloth).
In this work, Joost Hiltermann, a journalist and human rights'
researcher and activist, writes a history of the gassing of Kurds in
Halabja--a city in Iraq's Kurdistan--in 1988 during the Iran-Iraq
war. The book is divided into nine chapters in addition to the
introduction, conclusion, and an epilogue.
The aim of the book is to expose a period in history that could
serve as a lesson to learn from. Throughout the book, the author tries
to put to rest the question of whether Iraq used chemical and biological
weapons in the war against Iran and against the Kurdish insurgency in
the north. He does that through interviews with local, regional, and
international experts and observers, and through documents of Iraqi and
American governments, and international organizations from the period of
the war until early 2003.
The book shows how the United States and Europe allowed Iraq to
acquire these weapons through US and European companies, a practice that
backfired, as Iraq faced the US in subsequent wars. Had the US, for
example, taken a tougher stand on weapons sales early on, Iraq would not
have been emboldened to invade Kuwait, and Iran might not have looked to
acquire non-conventional weapons--a problem which the West has to face
at this moment. Iraqi actions were overlooked by the United States and
other major western powers because of their hostility to Iran, fear of
Iranian victory in the war, and the policy of "dual
containment," in other words, the desire to have both countries
defeated and exhausted in the war (p. 234).
In reality, neither the West nor Israel proved very successful at
this dual containment. While both Iran and Iraq suffered enormous
economic and human losses, this Western-sustained war helped create a
situation in which Iraq as well Iran were very militarized states by the
end of the war. Furthermore, after the Iran-Iraq war ended, the US
misled Iraq by indicating that it was allowed to settle disputes with
neighbouring countries, such as Kuwait, through military means.
Thus, the picture that comes out of this book is that the US never
concerned itself with the well-being and development of the people and
societies in the region. Instead, its main policy concerns centred on
its economic and strategic goals, including the security and hegemony of
the state of Israel in the region. In addition, the author also argues
that Western governments, especially the US, who originally initiated
the international legal frameworks to limit the use of non-conventional
weapons after World War II, have themselves broken these treaties and
have supported brutal regimes in the Middle East, as well as Israeli
brutality against Palestinians and Arabs. Thus, they are the last to be
morally endowed to judge other states or groups when they resort to
using non-conventional weapons.
The book does not provide a sufficient discussion concerning why
European and American governments allowed the sale of non-conventional
weapons to Iraq and Iran without any accountability to where and against
whom they could be used. In other words, the West cannot be both the
seller of a drug and a judge to punish against its use. Those countries
who supplied arms to Iraq and Iran must be first accountable for the
casualties of the war and its consequences.
Also, while briefly mentioning US and Israeli support for the Kurds
in Iraq, the book fails to detail the longer US and Israeli history of
involvement in the region, specifically their arming and support for
Kurdish insurgencies against the Iraqi government, and how these two
states have created further frictions between Kurds in northern Iraq and
the central government.
Hiltermann also fails to show how the situation of the Kurds in
Turkey and Iran could compare to the situation of the Kurds in Iraq. Not
providing a larger context to the history of Kurds might mislead the
readers to conclude that the situation of Kurds in Iraq was worse than
that of Turkish or Iranian Kurdistan. Thus, producing what others have
called "Good Kurd, Bad Kurd," according to which the West have
used the misery of the Kurds in Iraq to advance their aims against Iraq,
often ignoring their own ally, Turkey, which has been also very brutal
against its Kurdish population.
Yet, despite these criticisms, the book makes a positive
contribution in understanding the complex results emanating from the
mingling of regional and international groups with the affairs of other
states and the communities which live within them. The book is suitable
for courses in Middle East studies, politics, history, and the recently
emerging field of security studies. It is also a book which will
interest non-specialists, the general public, and policy makers.
Magid Shihade
University of California at Davis
