After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?
by Jonathan Randal
Buy on AmazonJonathan C. Randal has been celebrated for more than a quarter century for his trenchant reporting on war and civil disturbances in the Third World. Here is his firsthand report on Kurdistan - a shocking, tragic account of diplomacy and politics in the Middle East, and a gripping adventure story about being a war reporter in the 1990s. Throughout the Kurds' history, world powers have promised to help them achieve autonomy, and each time the Kurds have been betrayed. But they are also masters of betrayal: Randal, recording their talent for vehement internecine warfare and their gift for friendship, takes us behind the headlines to the inner story of power politics in the Middle East, and it is not a pretty one.…
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"I chose this because it is an excellent book about the Kurds . The permanent dissidence of the Kurds is right at the heart of Iraqi politics. They were in permanent rebellion from the moment that the British created Iraq after World War I, and included the northern part of Iraq which was inhabited by the Kurds. They never in their hearts accepted Iraq. They were always in a state of rebellion. This coloured and shaped Iraqi politics over a long period – right up to today, where the Kurds are part of the Baghdad government. Because they are better organised than others, they are often more influential than their proportion of the population would suggest. One has to bear in mind that what happened to the Kurds was extraordinarily violent. And one has to know about this to understand what has happened, and is happening."
The Iraq War · fivebooks.com