Saddam's War of Words: Politics, Religion, and the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait

by Jerry M. Long

Overview

From a Western perspective, the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 largely fulfilled the first President Bush's objective: "In, out, do it, do it right, get gone. That's the message." But in the Arab world, the causes and consequences of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and his subsequent defeat by a U.S.-led coalition were never so clear-cut. The potent blend of Islam and Arab nationalism that Saddam forged to justify the unjustifiable—his invasion of a Muslim state—gained remarkable support among both Muslims and Arabs and continued to resonate in the Middle East long after the fighting ended. Indeed, as this study argues in passing, it became a significant strand in the tangled web of ideologies and actions that led to the attacks of 9/11.

This landmark book offers the first in-depth investigation of how Saddam Hussein used Islam and Arab nationalism to legitimate his invasion of Kuwait in the eyes of fellow Muslims and Arabs, while delegitimating the actions of the U.S.-led coalition and its Arab members. Jerry M. Long addresses three fundamental issues: how extensively and in what specific ways Iraq appealed to Islam during the Kuwait crisis; how elites, Islamists, and the elusive Arab "street," both in and out of the coalition, responded to that appeal and why they responded as they did; and the longer-term effects that resulted from Saddam's strategy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292702646
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	04/01/2004
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Jerry M. Long is Director of Middle East Studies and Assistant Professor in the Honors College at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Introduction
• Chapter 2. Historical Background and Inter-Arab Politics prior to the Invasion of Kuwait
• Chapter 3. Historical Background and Inter-Arab Politics after the Invasion of Kuwait
• Chapter 4. Iraq, Deep Culture, and the Employment of Islam before the Invasion of Kuwait
• Chapter 5. Fi Sabil Allāh: Iraq and the Employment of Islam in the Invasion of Kuwait
• Chapter 6. Islam and the Region at War
• Chapter 7. Reflections on Jihad and the Other Gulf War
• Chapter 8. Closing Reflection: The View from the Mountains
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index