cover image Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush

Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush

Barry Lando, . . Other Press, $24.95 (350pp) ISBN 978-1-59051-238-8

The Iraq invasion of 2003 was only the latest in a long line of episodes of Western manipulation in that country, which owes its existence—and its complex and troubled demographics—to the designs of British imperialists. Lando, a 60 Minutes investigative producer and filmmaker, carefully arranges all the threads of modern Iraqi political history and liberally doles out the guilt. Though the subtitle mentions Churchill and Kennedy, the book covers the period from WWI through the 1970s in the first two chapters, with the bulk devoted to Iraq after 1989. Through extensive quotes from politicians, statesmen and official documents, Lando exposes the duplicity and ulterior motives that have pervaded the West's dealings Iraq. From the CIA's artificial prolonging of the Iran-Iraq War to the legendary betrayals of the Kurds and Shiites, the result has been death and destruction on a massive scale. Though the prose is sometimes dry and Lando's focus on Machiavellian politics makes it hard to get a clear view of Iraqi society, his book offers readers a grasp of the country America has broken more than perhaps any other. (Jan.)