Greg Muttitt, visiting from the U.K., is the author of the brand new book on Iraq that is making a lot of news. It’s called Fuel on the Fire: Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq.
“Nothing short of a secret history of the war” — Naomi Klein.
Democracy Now aired this interview of Greg this week.
Greg will speak and answer your questions:
Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 7 p.m.
Random Row Books
315 West Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
(434) 295-2493
Map
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About Fuel on the Fire:
The departure of the last U.S. troops from Iraq at the end of 2011 left a broken country and a host of unanswered questions. What was the war really about? Why and how did the occupation drag on for nearly nine years, while most Iraqis, Britons, and Americans desperately wanted it to end? And why did the troops have to leave?
Now, in a gripping account of the war that dominated US and UK foreign policy over the last decade, investigative reporter and activist Greg Muttitt takes us behind the scenes to answer some of these questions and reveals the previously untold story of the oil politics that played out
through the occupation of Iraq.
Drawing upon hundreds of unreleased government documents and extensive interviews with senior American, British, and Iraqi officials, Muttitt exposes the plans and preparations that were in place to shape policies in favor of American and British energy interests. But he also tells the inspiring story of how Iraqi trade unions organized not only to defend their members’ rights, but also to thwart many of the USA’s oil plans — with remarkable success. Through their stories, we begin to see a very different Iraq from the one our politicians have told us about.
In light of the Arab revolutions, the war in Libya, and renewed threats against Iran, Fuel on the Fire provides a vital guide to the lessons from Iraq and of the global consequences of our persistent oil addiction.
“Excellent… a textbook example of how international pressures are put on politicians to get them to buckle” – The Guardian
“Set to turn our understanding of the war on its head” – The Independent
“Will trouble the most ardent liberal interventionist” – Petroleum Economist
“The Iraqi civil society voices resound with dignity in this brilliant, comprehensive account” – New Internationalist