Sunday, May 03, 2020
The United States and the Kurds
A Cold War Story
✣
Douglas Little
Beneath the snowcapped Zagros Mountains that stretch from southeastern Turkey through northern Iraq to western Iran live 25 million Kurds, the largest ethno linguistic group in the world without a state of theirown. Speaking a language closer to Farsi than Arabic or Turkish and practicing Sunni Islam despite the presence of powerful Shiite communities nearby,the Kurds over the centuries forged a distinctive national identity shaped by an abiding mistrust of Turks, Arabs, and other outsiders who opposed Kurdish independence. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the wake of the First World War, the Kurds embarked on a relentless quest to establish a free, united, and independent Kurdistan, sometimes bargaining with neigh-boring peoples, other times pleading with the great powers, but never inching from armed struggle to secure national liberation. When the Second World War ended, most Americans had never heard of the Kurds, and the few who had were bafºed by the always complex and occasionally absurd tribal,ethnic, and religious rivalries that plagued the no-man’s-land wedged between the Anatolian Peninsula and the headwaters of the Tigris River
By the late 1940s, however, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an escalating Cold War in which an early hot zone stretched from the Turkish straits through Iraq and Iran to the Persian Gulf. As the ideological conflict heated up, Washington discovered that Kurdish nationalism could be useful in limiting Moscow’s innocence in the Middle East. In a classic Cold War story that would be repeated from the central highlands of Vietnam to the rugged savannas of Angola, U.S. policymakers exploited ancient ethnic
and tribal fault lines inside Kurdistan to achieve short-term geopolitical ad-vantage. U.S. officials displayed neither diplomatic commitment nor sentimental attachment to the Kurds, whom they viewed as little more than spoilers in a 40-year struggle to keep the Soviet Union and its Arab clients like Iraq off balance. Although the Kurds began to make cameo appearances in con-temporary news accounts in the 1970s, recently declassified documents now make it possible to trace more fully the ambivalent U.S. relationship with Kurdish nationalism during the Cold War.
This article examines three key episodes: ªrst, the secret backing given to the Kurds by the administrations of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Ken-nedy in an effort to weaken the Iraqi military regime of Abdel Karim Qassim,who had tilted toward Moscow after seizing power in Baghdad in July 1958;second, the cynical covert action launched by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in Iraqi Kurdistan, with help from Iran and Israel, after Saddam Hussein signed an alliance with the Soviet Union in April 1972; and third, Washington’s halfhearted attempts in the early 1990's to use Kurdish guerrillas to foment regime change in Iraq after the first Gulf War. In each case, the U.S. government exploited long-standing anti-Arab resentments among the Kurds, secretly supplied U.S. guns or dollars or sometimes both, and helped ignite an insurrection in Kurdistan, only to pull the plug unceremoniously when events threatened to spiral out of control.
A Cold War Story
✣
Douglas Little
Beneath the snowcapped Zagros Mountains that stretch from southeastern Turkey through northern Iraq to western Iran live 25 million Kurds, the largest ethno linguistic group in the world without a state of theirown. Speaking a language closer to Farsi than Arabic or Turkish and practicing Sunni Islam despite the presence of powerful Shiite communities nearby,the Kurds over the centuries forged a distinctive national identity shaped by an abiding mistrust of Turks, Arabs, and other outsiders who opposed Kurdish independence. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the wake of the First World War, the Kurds embarked on a relentless quest to establish a free, united, and independent Kurdistan, sometimes bargaining with neigh-boring peoples, other times pleading with the great powers, but never inching from armed struggle to secure national liberation. When the Second World War ended, most Americans had never heard of the Kurds, and the few who had were bafºed by the always complex and occasionally absurd tribal,ethnic, and religious rivalries that plagued the no-man’s-land wedged between the Anatolian Peninsula and the headwaters of the Tigris River
By the late 1940s, however, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an escalating Cold War in which an early hot zone stretched from the Turkish straits through Iraq and Iran to the Persian Gulf. As the ideological conflict heated up, Washington discovered that Kurdish nationalism could be useful in limiting Moscow’s innocence in the Middle East. In a classic Cold War story that would be repeated from the central highlands of Vietnam to the rugged savannas of Angola, U.S. policymakers exploited ancient ethnic
and tribal fault lines inside Kurdistan to achieve short-term geopolitical ad-vantage. U.S. officials displayed neither diplomatic commitment nor sentimental attachment to the Kurds, whom they viewed as little more than spoilers in a 40-year struggle to keep the Soviet Union and its Arab clients like Iraq off balance. Although the Kurds began to make cameo appearances in con-temporary news accounts in the 1970s, recently declassified documents now make it possible to trace more fully the ambivalent U.S. relationship with Kurdish nationalism during the Cold War.
This article examines three key episodes: ªrst, the secret backing given to the Kurds by the administrations of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Ken-nedy in an effort to weaken the Iraqi military regime of Abdel Karim Qassim,who had tilted toward Moscow after seizing power in Baghdad in July 1958;second, the cynical covert action launched by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in Iraqi Kurdistan, with help from Iran and Israel, after Saddam Hussein signed an alliance with the Soviet Union in April 1972; and third, Washington’s halfhearted attempts in the early 1990's to use Kurdish guerrillas to foment regime change in Iraq after the first Gulf War. In each case, the U.S. government exploited long-standing anti-Arab resentments among the Kurds, secretly supplied U.S. guns or dollars or sometimes both, and helped ignite an insurrection in Kurdistan, only to pull the plug unceremoniously when events threatened to spiral out of control.
Saturday, May 02, 2020
The Egyptian, Syrian, And Iraqi Revolutions Some Observations On Their Underlying Causes And Social Character
Hanna Batatu
The Shaykh Sabah AI-Salem AI-Sabah
Chair in Contemporary Arab Studies
CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARAB STUDIES
School of Foreign Service
Georgetown University
25 January 1983
https://archive.org/details/HannaBatatuTheEgyptianSyrianAndIraqiRevolutionsSomeObservationsOnTheirUnderlying/mode/2up
1 May, 2020 - 19:00
Andrew Collins discusses the recent announcement that three of the oldest stone enclosures at Göbekli Tepe conform to an underlying geometry featuring an equilateral triangle. He shows how these discoveries - made by two Israeli archaeologists from Tel Aviv University - appear to confirm the orientation of the complex and lend weight to the hypothesis that its enclosures were built to target the stars. This brand new study also reviews earlier evidence indicating that the discovery of a grand design at Göbekli Tepe was perhaps inevitable.
Göbekli Tepe and the Worship of the Stars: A Question of Orientation
A Mandaean ceremony that took place on the banks of the Euphrates river in the late nineteenth century provides compelling evidence that the early Neolithic cult sanctuaries of Göbekli Tepe were orientated towards the north, and not towards the south, the direction of the dog-star Sirius
A Report by Andrew Collins
Wine, Women, and Revenge in Near Eastern Historiography: The Tales of Tomyris, Judith, Zenobia, and Jalila
Johan Weststeijn,
University of Amsterdam
Introduction
This paper deals with the remarkable similarities between stories from three different cultural traditions: the Greco-Roman story of Tomyris, the biblical story of Judith, and two Arabic stories—one about Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, and another about Jalila, the cousin of the epic folk hero al-Zir. I will use the comparison between these four Near Eastern tales as an exegetical tool, and study them as a group in order to better understand the individual versions. In the words of the folklorist William Hansen:
The juxtaposition of narratives belonging to the same family is in itself a cognitively and aesthetically pleasurable experience for the investigator, revealing creative surprises that emerge when clusters of similar narrative ideas are shaped in unpredictable ways by different narrators in different societies in different times, each text lending insight into a neighboring formulation.
These four stories deal with wine, blood, and revenge,and in each of them a woman, the heroine, plays an important role in exacting this revenge. I will analyze William Hansen, Ariadne’s Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature (Ithaca, 2002), 25. the relationship between these elements,and use anthropological literature to study the symbolic meaning and ritual role of wine, blood, revenge and women in the cultures of Near Eastern antiquity.
In her structuralist analysis of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry on vengeance, Suzanne Stetkevych has argued that in such poems, blood vengeance is presented as an inverted commensal meal.3
Here I will argue that in these prose narratives from various Near Eastern backgrounds, blood vengeance by women is presented as inverted childbirth or as an inverted wedding. When placed in this network of metaphorical relationships,curious details from the individual tales that have hitherto puzzled modern readers will become more intelligible.
https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2781357/173984_Johan_Weststeijn_Wine_Women_and_Revenge_in_Near_Eastern_Historiography_.pdf
I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE SOURCE OF THESE TALES ORIGINATE IN VARIATIONS OF THE SUMERIAN MYTH/TALE ABOUT THE GODDESS ANAT'S BANQUET, WHERE THE GODDESS ANAT INVITES AN NUMBER OF THE GODS TO A BANQUET WHERE UPON SHE TAKES DELIGHT IN SLAUGHTERING THEM FOR BETRAYING HER AND HER FATHER
Johan Weststeijn,
University of Amsterdam
Introduction
This paper deals with the remarkable similarities between stories from three different cultural traditions: the Greco-Roman story of Tomyris, the biblical story of Judith, and two Arabic stories—one about Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, and another about Jalila, the cousin of the epic folk hero al-Zir. I will use the comparison between these four Near Eastern tales as an exegetical tool, and study them as a group in order to better understand the individual versions. In the words of the folklorist William Hansen:
The juxtaposition of narratives belonging to the same family is in itself a cognitively and aesthetically pleasurable experience for the investigator, revealing creative surprises that emerge when clusters of similar narrative ideas are shaped in unpredictable ways by different narrators in different societies in different times, each text lending insight into a neighboring formulation.
These four stories deal with wine, blood, and revenge,and in each of them a woman, the heroine, plays an important role in exacting this revenge. I will analyze William Hansen, Ariadne’s Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature (Ithaca, 2002), 25. the relationship between these elements,and use anthropological literature to study the symbolic meaning and ritual role of wine, blood, revenge and women in the cultures of Near Eastern antiquity.
In her structuralist analysis of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry on vengeance, Suzanne Stetkevych has argued that in such poems, blood vengeance is presented as an inverted commensal meal.3
Here I will argue that in these prose narratives from various Near Eastern backgrounds, blood vengeance by women is presented as inverted childbirth or as an inverted wedding. When placed in this network of metaphorical relationships,curious details from the individual tales that have hitherto puzzled modern readers will become more intelligible.
https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2781357/173984_Johan_Weststeijn_Wine_Women_and_Revenge_in_Near_Eastern_Historiography_.pdf
I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE SOURCE OF THESE TALES ORIGINATE IN VARIATIONS OF THE SUMERIAN MYTH/TALE ABOUT THE GODDESS ANAT'S BANQUET, WHERE THE GODDESS ANAT INVITES AN NUMBER OF THE GODS TO A BANQUET WHERE UPON SHE TAKES DELIGHT IN SLAUGHTERING THEM FOR BETRAYING HER AND HER FATHER
by N Lamassu - Related articles
how to keep their own folklore intact from Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish or Persian in- fluences” (Pennachietti ... 1This writer struggled to find the meaning of 'Ṣəwarta,' until he traveled to Iraq and recorded an ... Drower, E.S. (1963). A Mandaic ...
The Soul in the Afterlife: Individual Eschatological Beliefs in Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Islam
Thesis in order to acquire the Doctoral Degree in Philisophy
at the Faculty of Humanities of the George-August-Universität Göttingen
Submitted by
Arash Emadinia
From Isfahan (Iran)
Göttingen 2017
https://ediss.uni-goettingen.de/bitstream/handle/21.11130/00-1735-0000-0005-1268-2/Ph.D.%20Dissertation%20Arash%20Emadinia.pdf?sequence=1
Abstract
The expectation that the soul continues life after leaving the material body is one of the
important features of several Middle East religions. These religions state that the fate of the soul depends on the principles of right and wrong behaviours – ‘morality’ – and the quality of the true or false opinions – ‘beliefs’ – that a belief system recognises for the salvation of individuals.
This system is generally called ‘moral eschatology’.
These eschatological beliefs are not created in vacuum. This means that they can be influenced by the beliefs that they confront through their history and can be affected by other beliefs in their neighbourhood. Comparison with other religions reveals resemblances between different eschatological beliefs. These resemblances are generally explained by such terms as ‘borrowing’ or ‘syncretism’ which may implicitly deny the ‘independent’ status of individual religions. This may happen because the terms ‘borrowing’ and ‘syncretism’ suggest that the borrowed features have been adopted in their original form without being adapted to the ‘borrowing’ belief system.
The similarities between faith systems categorised under the same religious groups, like
Abrahamic religions, seem easy to explain, but some remarkable resemblances between religions that have different backgrounds and histories, like Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Islam, need to be explained. These three belief systems bear resemblances in spite of their different backgrounds and origin. They confronted one another in late antique times in a distinct geographical area which is called Sasanian Iran, that is to say, modern Iran and Mesopotamia,mainly modern Iraq.
The most important sources of these religions were compiled in late antique times, between the 3rd and 11th centuries CE. These sources sometimes bear similar ideas like the continuation of the life of the soul, the soul-taker (life-taker), interrogation, embodiment of deeds in the Afterlife, Paradise, Hell and an intermediate state between Paradise and Hell etc., that need to be explained.
The resemblances between these three faith systems are here partially by adapting a linguistic theory which is called ‘Sprachbund,. This theory states that the resemblances between languages could be due to three reasons:
1. Genetic retention or original ideas;
2. Parallel development; and
3. Borrowing.
According to this theory, when two or more languages share significant traits that
are not found in languages from the same families spoken outside the geographical area in which these languages have confronted one another, a ‘Sprachbund’ has been formed. When we refer to religions with different histories and background, but with similar eschatological ideas, like Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Islam, it seems that this theory may help us to explain the resemblances.
As mentioned above, all these three belief systems have different backgrounds: Zoroastrianism with an Indo-Iranian background, Islam, one of the so called Abrahamic religions, and Mandaeism, a religion with gnostic roots or pagan origin. At first sight, it seems that in late antique times, both Mandaeism and Islam ‘borrowed’ some of the Iranian eschatological beliefs, apparently Zoroastrian beliefs, after confronting each other in Sasanian Iran. However, the term ‘borrowing’ may implicitly deny the ‘independent’ status of both Mandaeism and Islam.
It may be more acceptable to say that both Mandaeism and Islam accepted some of the
Zoroastrian individual eschatological beliefs, in such a way that they all achieve or serve the
Islamic and gnostic overall world view and beliefs. Apparently, in late antique times in Sasanian Iran, the idea of ‘high existence’ or ‘Life beyond’ material life was introduced to the Arab and gnostic communities, and was accepted by their thinkers. However, this acc
It seems that the inspiration drawn from Iranian (Zoroastrian) ideas like the idea of ‘Barzakh’
(high existence or life beyond) continued after the advent of Islam, when the Arab conquerors were confronted more directly with Zoroastrians, especially through the conversion of Zoroastrians to the new faith by.
Some typical Zoroastrian ideas like the embodiment of deeds (Daēnā) and the Zoroastrian idea of the intermediate stage between Paradise and Hell (Hammistagān) may be good examples of this. It should be noted that both being ‘inspired by’ and ‘accepting’ the new ideas were in accordance with the maintenance of their Islamic or gnostic natural features, so we see that in spite of the acceptance of some new ideas by Arab and
gnostic thinkers the dominant features of both belief systems have been maintained. With regard to the theory of ‘Sprachbund,’ we can conclude that that Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Islam formed a ‘Religionbund’ through which they share a number of remarkable individual eschatological beliefs.
Key terms: Middle East religions, soul, morality, beliefs, moral eschatology, borrowing,
syncretism, inspiration, independent status, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Islam, Sasanian Iran, Indo-Iranian, Abrahamic religion, gnostic, Sprachbund, Barzakh, interrogation, embodiment of deeds, Daēnā, Hammistagān, Religionbund
Thesis in order to acquire the Doctoral Degree in Philisophy
at the Faculty of Humanities of the George-August-Universität Göttingen
Submitted by
Arash Emadinia
From Isfahan (Iran)
Göttingen 2017
https://ediss.uni-goettingen.de/bitstream/handle/21.11130/00-1735-0000-0005-1268-2/Ph.D.%20Dissertation%20Arash%20Emadinia.pdf?sequence=1
Abstract
The expectation that the soul continues life after leaving the material body is one of the
important features of several Middle East religions. These religions state that the fate of the soul depends on the principles of right and wrong behaviours – ‘morality’ – and the quality of the true or false opinions – ‘beliefs’ – that a belief system recognises for the salvation of individuals.
This system is generally called ‘moral eschatology’.
These eschatological beliefs are not created in vacuum. This means that they can be influenced by the beliefs that they confront through their history and can be affected by other beliefs in their neighbourhood. Comparison with other religions reveals resemblances between different eschatological beliefs. These resemblances are generally explained by such terms as ‘borrowing’ or ‘syncretism’ which may implicitly deny the ‘independent’ status of individual religions. This may happen because the terms ‘borrowing’ and ‘syncretism’ suggest that the borrowed features have been adopted in their original form without being adapted to the ‘borrowing’ belief system.
The similarities between faith systems categorised under the same religious groups, like
Abrahamic religions, seem easy to explain, but some remarkable resemblances between religions that have different backgrounds and histories, like Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Islam, need to be explained. These three belief systems bear resemblances in spite of their different backgrounds and origin. They confronted one another in late antique times in a distinct geographical area which is called Sasanian Iran, that is to say, modern Iran and Mesopotamia,mainly modern Iraq.
The most important sources of these religions were compiled in late antique times, between the 3rd and 11th centuries CE. These sources sometimes bear similar ideas like the continuation of the life of the soul, the soul-taker (life-taker), interrogation, embodiment of deeds in the Afterlife, Paradise, Hell and an intermediate state between Paradise and Hell etc., that need to be explained.
The resemblances between these three faith systems are here partially by adapting a linguistic theory which is called ‘Sprachbund,. This theory states that the resemblances between languages could be due to three reasons:
1. Genetic retention or original ideas;
2. Parallel development; and
3. Borrowing.
According to this theory, when two or more languages share significant traits that
are not found in languages from the same families spoken outside the geographical area in which these languages have confronted one another, a ‘Sprachbund’ has been formed. When we refer to religions with different histories and background, but with similar eschatological ideas, like Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Islam, it seems that this theory may help us to explain the resemblances.
As mentioned above, all these three belief systems have different backgrounds: Zoroastrianism with an Indo-Iranian background, Islam, one of the so called Abrahamic religions, and Mandaeism, a religion with gnostic roots or pagan origin. At first sight, it seems that in late antique times, both Mandaeism and Islam ‘borrowed’ some of the Iranian eschatological beliefs, apparently Zoroastrian beliefs, after confronting each other in Sasanian Iran. However, the term ‘borrowing’ may implicitly deny the ‘independent’ status of both Mandaeism and Islam.
It may be more acceptable to say that both Mandaeism and Islam accepted some of the
Zoroastrian individual eschatological beliefs, in such a way that they all achieve or serve the
Islamic and gnostic overall world view and beliefs. Apparently, in late antique times in Sasanian Iran, the idea of ‘high existence’ or ‘Life beyond’ material life was introduced to the Arab and gnostic communities, and was accepted by their thinkers. However, this acc
It seems that the inspiration drawn from Iranian (Zoroastrian) ideas like the idea of ‘Barzakh’
(high existence or life beyond) continued after the advent of Islam, when the Arab conquerors were confronted more directly with Zoroastrians, especially through the conversion of Zoroastrians to the new faith by.
Some typical Zoroastrian ideas like the embodiment of deeds (Daēnā) and the Zoroastrian idea of the intermediate stage between Paradise and Hell (Hammistagān) may be good examples of this. It should be noted that both being ‘inspired by’ and ‘accepting’ the new ideas were in accordance with the maintenance of their Islamic or gnostic natural features, so we see that in spite of the acceptance of some new ideas by Arab and
gnostic thinkers the dominant features of both belief systems have been maintained. With regard to the theory of ‘Sprachbund,’ we can conclude that that Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism and Islam formed a ‘Religionbund’ through which they share a number of remarkable individual eschatological beliefs.
Key terms: Middle East religions, soul, morality, beliefs, moral eschatology, borrowing,
syncretism, inspiration, independent status, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Islam, Sasanian Iran, Indo-Iranian, Abrahamic religion, gnostic, Sprachbund, Barzakh, interrogation, embodiment of deeds, Daēnā, Hammistagān, Religionbund
Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World
https://oi.uchicago.edu › sites › files › uploads › shared › docs › ois6
by AA Annus - Cited by 66 - Related articles
the Babylonian Diviner's manual there are many incipits of the omen series for which we lack ... from priest to priest, once vaunted to Lady Drower as follows: if a raven croaks in a ... The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic
“The Ethnocultural significance for the use of plants in Ancient Funerary Rituals and its possible implications with pollens found on the Shroud of Turin”.
Dr. Marzia Boi
Universidad de las Islas Baleares
https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/boiveng.pdf
On the occasion of the exposition of the Holy Shroud of Turin in 2010, and after visiting the ‘Museo de la Sindone’ (Turin), I was interested in the palynological investigations that had been realized, supposing that they had come to unquestionable conclusions.
After reviewing them, I noticed that the pollen identifications had not been studied with the greatest rigor and the ethnocultural meaning that was pointing to their presence was not well understood.
Knowing that the observation of the adhesive tapes collected by Max Frei in the years 1973 and 1978 or other original material was unavailable at the moment, I made my study through observation of published pollen photos on the Shroud and the comparison with my own samples.
My doctoral research has treated about the description of more than one hundred types of pollens of endemic plants from the Balearic Islands (Spain), giving me the opportunity to reveal that among the pollen of the Shroud, there is a copy, difficult to classify and recognize, which belongs to the Asteraceae family that may have been key in preparing the body during the funeral ritual. Other described pollens on the Shroud, which appear in counts with significant values, would also confirm
the practiced ritual.
The plants used in the funeral rites have witnessed, through pollen, the moment of death, which have been ethno culturally significant, reflecting the time in which the story begins of that funeral attire. The presence of these pollen guides on the fabric reveal the application of oils, balms and ointments, also explaining why it has been kept in excellent condition to this day. These small remnants, trapped for centuries, now become valuable items that may provide clues to the moments that occurred more than two thousand years and which are still shrouded in mystery
Dr. Marzia Boi
Universidad de las Islas Baleares
https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/boiveng.pdf
On the occasion of the exposition of the Holy Shroud of Turin in 2010, and after visiting the ‘Museo de la Sindone’ (Turin), I was interested in the palynological investigations that had been realized, supposing that they had come to unquestionable conclusions.
After reviewing them, I noticed that the pollen identifications had not been studied with the greatest rigor and the ethnocultural meaning that was pointing to their presence was not well understood.
Knowing that the observation of the adhesive tapes collected by Max Frei in the years 1973 and 1978 or other original material was unavailable at the moment, I made my study through observation of published pollen photos on the Shroud and the comparison with my own samples.
My doctoral research has treated about the description of more than one hundred types of pollens of endemic plants from the Balearic Islands (Spain), giving me the opportunity to reveal that among the pollen of the Shroud, there is a copy, difficult to classify and recognize, which belongs to the Asteraceae family that may have been key in preparing the body during the funeral ritual. Other described pollens on the Shroud, which appear in counts with significant values, would also confirm
the practiced ritual.
The plants used in the funeral rites have witnessed, through pollen, the moment of death, which have been ethno culturally significant, reflecting the time in which the story begins of that funeral attire. The presence of these pollen guides on the fabric reveal the application of oils, balms and ointments, also explaining why it has been kept in excellent condition to this day. These small remnants, trapped for centuries, now become valuable items that may provide clues to the moments that occurred more than two thousand years and which are still shrouded in mystery
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