Revolt on the Tigris: The Al-Sadr Uprising and the Governing of Iraq

by Mark Etherington

Book Overview

A former paratrooper in the British Army with extensive experience of conflict and post-conflict management in the countries of former Yugoslavia, Mark Etherington had just completed an M.Phil. in international relations at Cambridge University in 2003 when the British Foreign Office asked him to assume the governorship of Wasit Province in southern Iraq on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority or CPA.Etherington established a small team...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801444519
• ISBN13: 9780801444517
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The confusion of occupation

This is one of the best books to emerge on post-Saddam Iraq. Mark Etherington tells the story of his governorship of Wasit province in south-central Iraq, based in the city of Kut, 2003-4, including the evacuation of his staff in the face of attack by Moqtada Sadr's Mahdi army in April 2004. Unlike so many accounts of the period written by journalists and academics, Etherington does not try to tell the whole story of the occupation and transfer of sovereignty. Neither like so many others does he have an axe to grind (especially Americans balming other Americans, state dept, pentagon etc.). Rather he sticks to what he saw, heard and lived through - maybe the focus comes from his background as an officer in the British paratroopers - and this will make his book of value to future historians. I can't know if all the details are right. But his account confirms much of what I saw myself in US-British run Iraq: the lack of any overall plan; the professionalism and commitment of many of the US troops; the confusion in hierarchy caused by the contracting out of so many simple tasks to contractors like Kellogg Brown and Root; and the ambivalence of many Iraqis .... "The inhabitants of Kut and the wider province bore our errors and inadequacies with endless courtesy, dignity and grace," he writes. "They were ambivalent about so many things, particularly the occupation of their country; and saw no contradiction in thanking us with great emotion for toppling Saddam Hussein and as passionately asserting their right to be left alone, independent and in peace." Etherington's tentative conclusion - and the reader can trace him reaching it through day-by-day experience - is that the occupation lacked the resources, particularly the military ones, to enforce and stablise its authority. And therefore that the problems arising from this undermined what planning and strategy it had. The US, he concludes, needed more troops and a more vigorous response to challenges (the initial looting across much of Iraq in April 2003 is outside the scope of the book) to give Iraqis confidence in the future. Along the way there is a pen portrait of Paul Bremer, the chief US administrator, an excellent description of the `goldfish bowl' CPA headquarters in the Baghdad green zone and passages that evoke beautifully the Tigris river flowing through Kut. Of course Etherington writes from his own perspective - the strength of the book - so it is very much an `outsider' assessment of the Iraqi parties strong in the province, Sciri and Dawa, and of the tribes. But he has written something of a first draft of history in a courageous way.

And in this corner...

Etherington wrote the book in his voice, with his perceptions, and from his perspective: it's his, well-received or not. His understanding of the tribal nature of the Iraqis has no parallel in the US. Americans, especially those who've not visited the Middle East, have little concept of the reality of the region and the daily challenges faced by Westerners who attempt to function there. Etherington painted a portrait of the region that is utterly realistic and authentic. His prose is readable and refreshing in the use of terms and phrases more commonly used in the UK. I thank him for sharing his time and expertise with the Iraqis and his attempts to make the situation better.

Revolt on the Tigris

Well written and offers insight into problems with conditions, people of Iraq, and sub-contractor who were in South-Central Iraq during the Sadr uprising. This reviewer was there. Thus has first-hand experience of what happened. The author (Etherington) gives you a account of what was happening. Unfortunately, he slants his management and leadership style (and why not, he was the author)favorably and omits his mistakes in leadership, his ego, utter reliance and trust of those he led; however, it is a must read on issues and events occuring 2003/2004.