The Gulf Between Us: The Gulf War and Beyond

This British ``instant book'' of 12 critical essays (plus a poem) includes some British and Arab voices that will seem refreshing to an American audience. Though a few contributions are dated, most stand up well. In her angry, cogent introduction Brittain, assistant foreign editor at the Guardian , indicts the U.S. and Great Britain for ignoring the issue of democracy in the Middle East as well as warnings about the war's tragic consequences. Iraq-born journalist Faleh' Abd al Jabar thoroughly analyzes the roots of the invasion of Kuwait, emphasizing Iraqi internal dynamics such as the need to trigger patriotism in a crumbling society. Jordan-born writer Fadia Faqir, transmuting reportage into quasi-fictional narrative, conveys the plight of Arab women, ``the forgotten casualties of the cycles of violence.'' Columnist Edward Pearce of the Guardian --the only British daily that opposed the war--excoriates the British press, observing that ``for the British broadly, war had come to play a therapeutic role.'' The book also includes an essay by Washington defense analysts Rear Admirals Gene La Rocque and Eugene Carroll and another by Nation contributors Alexander Cockburn and Andrew Cohen. (Feb.)