Between Iraq And A Hard Place

On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein launched an invasion of Kuwait that ransacked the country, killed scores of innocent people, and destroyed the country's petroleum infrastructure. Eventually bringing together an allied coalition to turn back Saddam's forces and free Kuwait. But how many people actually know the events occurring in Iraq in the year preceding the invasion from inside the ruling party? I worked as a civilian contractor for close to a year directly for the Revolutionary Command Council, leading a team of Western technicians to modernize banking in the country. On the day of the Kuwait invasion, I, along with hundreds of others were taken hostage as collateral by the Iraqi government. Fearing my own death as well as my immediate colleagues, I led an escape across two deserts five days later to safety in Jordan. I had no previous military training; only the sheer will not to perish as a result of the US government nor forfeit my life for corporate bosses who failed to intervene in any way to help us. This is the story of what I saw in the year preceding Desert Shield that you never heard nor read about, as well as events that followed at the conclusion of Desert Storm. What life was like for a then peaceaEUR"loving people, the regime and how it operated, the betrayals, the "Super Gun", Uday Hussein, the gassing of the Kurds at Halabja, the WMD and the destruction of this stockpile by the US military that caused Gulf War syndrome, and the after effects on our troops which the US government denied for years and years. Thousands and their offspring suffer from these results today and will for generations to come. I never returned to Iraq, but shortly after Desert Storm I did go to perform a similar assignment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while the oil wells were still on fire in the desert. There, I was also an "insider" to the workings of the government, the attempt to recover the stolen gold, the corruption in the ruling family, the hypocrisy of the country, and the plight of the Palestinian people working and living in the kingdom for backing Iraq in its war with the allies. Although I waited a quarter of a century to publish this book for fear of retribution for the material in it, I hope this story sheds light on a war and the destruction of a nation and its people that really did not have to be fought at all. I am still traumatized both mentally and physically from the experience and likely will be for the remainder of my natural life. Believe me, it's a lot easier to do in the movies, and it pays a whole lot better! But it also taught me a valuable life lesson: if you think time heals all wounds, it doesn't. That is why they call a scar a scar!

Living Between Iraq and a Hard Place uses the writing and photography of an American couple that journeyed to Jordan as Peace Corps volunteers and served in a small village for two years in the mid 2000s. Martin and Karen Feess, the author and photographer, through their recollections, bring to life the people among whom they served. The reader will join them in celebrating villagers' weddings and other feasts. The narrative recounts their visits to the wonders of this often-misunderstood place--the Roman ruins, medieval castles, and holy place. By coming to appreciate the rich lives of the Jordanian people, the reader may cultivate the beginnings of an approach both to fathoming the intricacies of the Middle East's obstacles to peace and to appreciating how the seeds of solutions to the region's problems with conflict lie among the people who live there. If you watch or read the news and find your thoughts filled with questions about the realities of the lives of the people existing quietly beneath the headlines, then Living Between Iraq and a Hard Place will help you to find answers to those questions ... and the hints about how peace might take root and flourish.

This is the true story of God doing the impossible. A young couple leaves Silicon Valley to learn Kurdish in Berlin. They have a passion to share the love of Jesus with the world, particularly those who are oppressed, unloved, and disenfranchised. As the First Gulf War ends, they are called to lead a team of relief workers in the mountains of eastern Turkey and Iraq to assist the hundreds of thousands of Kurds who have fled for their lives. Their faith is stretched further as they attempt to adopt two starving Kurdish sisters. Finally, God asks them if their faith is big enough to trust Him -even if they lose these precious children. It is a story of two fragile people, facing formidable challenges, with scant human resources, under extreme conditions. Read about faith when confronted by fear, hope when all seems lost, and peace in the midst of life's greatest struggles. Between Iraq and a Hard Place tells the saga of a couple under intense pressure, of two children facing certain death, and a people facing genocide.

The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq from 1990 to 2003 were the most comprehensive and devastating of any established in the name of international governance. In a sharp indictment of U.S. policy, Gordon examines the key role the nation played in shaping the sanctions.

Iraq has dominated headlines in contemporary times, but its controversial role in international affairs goes back much further. This book presents an understanding of one of the most persistent crises in international affairs, and the various roles the world's central peace-making forum has played in it.

This book is about how we dealt with my mom with Alzheimer's. It's written with humor and heart.

During the decade that preceded Syria’s 2011 uprising and descent into violence, the country was in the midst of another crisis: the mass arrival of Iraqi migrants and a flood of humanitarian aid to handle the refugee emergency. International aid organizations, the media, and diplomats alike praised the Syrian government for keeping open borders and providing a safe haven for Iraqis fleeing the violence in Baghdad and Iraq’s southern provinces. Only a few analysts looked beneath the surface to understand how the apparent generosity toward refugees squared with the ruthless oppression that characterized the Syrian government. In this volume, Hoffmann offers a richly detailed analysis of this contradiction, shedding light on Syria’s domestic and international politics shortly before the outbreak of war. Drawing on firsthand observations and interviews, Hoffmann provides a nuanced portrait of the conditions of daily life for Iraqis living in Syria. She finds that Syria’s illiberal government does not differentiate between citizen and foreigner, while the liberal politics of international aid organizations do. Based on detailed ethnographic research, Iraqi Migrants in Syria draws a highly original comparison between the Syrian government’s and aid organizations’ approaches to Iraqi migration, throwing into question many widely held assumptions about freedom, and its absence, in authoritarian contexts.

Examines dramatic motion pictures and documentary films depicting the September 11 terrorist attacks and the events that followed.