Synopses & Reviews
On the tenth anniversary of Desert Storm, a leading commentator on the region investigates events in Iran and Iraq since the war ended, uncovering the mutual deception and intrigue that have marked America's protracted conflict with Iraq.
In Neighbors, Not Friends, Middle East expert Dilip Hiro blows the cover on how Iraq cheated the UN inspectors on disarmament, and how the US conversely manipulated and infiltrated the UN inspection teams to gather intelligence on Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein. Combining first-hand journalistic accounts with political expertise, Hiro assesses the checkered past and future of these embattled nations. He also investigates Hussein, who shows no signs of relinquishing office despite the devastating deprivation suffered by the Iraqi people. He simultaneously tracks the recent upheavals and the development of domestic politics in Iran, where a liberal government strives for authority against a conservative religious right wing.
Hailed as "perceptive," "balanced," and "definitive," Hiro's previous books The Longest War and Desert Shield to Desert Storm won rave reviews for taking us from the trenches of the Iran-Iraq war to its inevitable climax in the Desert Storm campaign. Completing the trilogy, Neighbors, Not Friends continues Hiro's trenchant analysis, yielding the first, full balanced account of Iran and Iraq and their pivotal position for the US and the world today.
Review
"A blow-by-blow account of how two wars have affected the fortunes of two nations. Drawing on myriad sources, from newspapers to interviews, Hiro presents a good primer on contemporary Iraqi and Iranian history." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"I highly recommend this book for its comprehensive coverage of events and its even-handed approach to issues that do nto always recieve objective treatment in the West." Nader Entessar, Spring Hill College
Synopsis
This highly controversial and topical book provides the first full, balanced account of how Iraq cheated the UN inspectors on disarmament and how the US manipulated and infiltrated the UN inspection teams and other staff to gather intelligence on Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
Aimed at the general reader, it follows and assesses the role of Saddam Hussein who became president of Iraq in 1979. Dilip Hiro, an experienced journalist who has written extensively on the region, provides a historical and accessible perspective to the relationship between Iraq and Iran and examines the consequences of internationally significant events such as the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran a year after the end of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War and the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein.
Providing a full account and analysis of events in Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War, he contrasts the long totalitarianism under Hussein with the evolution of the political-religious system in Iran and the development of its internal politics.
This is an essential overview to the conflicts in the Gulf, and should be read by anyone with an interest in the region, its politics and its interactions with the US and UN.
About the Author
Dilip Hiro is a journalist and commentator who has reported on the Middle East for twenty years. His articles have appeared in The New Republic, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Economist. His 21 books of fiction and nonfiction include The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict (1991), Desert Shield to Desert Storm: The Second Gulf War (1992) and The Middle East (1996).