5 replies to this topic

[Arpa]

Lat night I caught the latter half of the book review on C-SPAN
The author seemed to know quite a bit about the history, geograpnhy and demography of the tegion in question. Notably, on several occasions when he referred the demography of Iraq he mentioned the three major minorities-Sunni Arab, Shiite Arab and Kurdish. Of course the audience, as knowledgeable they seemed to be, nobody asked about the Assyrian element. During the QA when he was asked if the south, Shiite, religious kin of Iran would eventually choose to join Iran. Naturally his answere was "probably not" since the Iraqi Shiites are Arabs unlike the Iranians ones. From there, in a way to illustrate what he meant he advanced to Iran's ironic position in the region and cited the fact that Shiite Moslem Teheran is more supportive of Christian Armenia rather than her own religious kin Azerbaijan.
To me, a book such as this is an invitation to reexamine the legacy of the two major world wars and the aftermath, the arbitrary delineations and creations of mini, midi and mega empires. Which brings to mind, of course the empire of Ankara, India, Pakistan et al. He also touched upon Ankara's nervousness about a potential Kurdistan.
This begs the question, now that we know more about the peoples who were trampled over then, if there should be another and definitive world war to redraw the world map only this time based on what the indigenous people say what and who they are rather than Churchills who could care less who and what an Assyrian/Chaldean, or for that matter an Armenian is.
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Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq
Catherwood, Christopher
http://www.forbesboo...p?prod_cd=IOLZR

Winston Churchill is one of the twentieth century's greatest statesmen, yet as Britain's colonial secretary in the 1920s, he made a mistake with calamitous consequences for the twenty-first century. Scholar and adviser to Tony Blair's government Christopher Catherwood chronicles and analyzes how Winston Churchill created the artificial monarchy of Iraq after World War I, thereby forcing together unfriendly peoples--Sunni Muslim Kurds, Sunni Muslim Arabs, and Shiite Muslims--under a single ruler. Indeed the map of the Middle East that Churchill created led to the rise of Saddam Hussein and the wars in which American troops fought in 1991 and 2003. Defying a global wave of nationalistic sentiment, the desire of subject peoples to rule themselves, Winston Churchill put together the broken pieces of the Ottoman Empire and created a Middle Eastern powder keg. Inducing Arabs under the rule of the Ottoman Turks to rebel against their oppressors--abetted by T. E. Lawrence--the British and French during World War I convinced the Hashemite clan that they would rule over Syria. In fact, Britain had promised the territory to the French. To make amends, Churchill created the nation of Iraq and made the Hashemite leader Feisel king of a land to which he had no connections at all. Catherwood dissects Churchill's decision--which later resulted in a 1958 military coup against the Iraqi Hashemite government, and finally in Baath Party rule--providing a gateway to understanding the terrible legacy of the Ottoman Empire's collapse. Churchill's Folly is an essential book for readers eager to learn the history behind Iraq's formation and to see how one man's decisions can destroy world peace eighty years later.

[Armen]

Ironically, Churchill's and Roosevelt's lives were saved by a couple of Armenian KGB agents (Gevork and Goar Vartanyan) during Tehran conference in 1943.

Yuri Kuznets writes about this in his recent book "Teheran-43 or Operation Long Jump".

http://www.fas.org/i.../teheran43.html

Actually, in Soviet movie of 70s Tehran-43 has Charles Aznavour and another french singer (don't know the English spelling for her name) performing "Une Vie Damour". Alain Delon is also in the cast.

[bellthecat]

Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq
Catherwood, Christopher 
  http://www.forbesboo...p?prod_cd=IOLZR

Winston Churchill is one of the twentieth century's greatest statesmen, yet as Britain's colonial secretary in the 1920s, he made a mistake with calamitous consequences for the twenty-first century. Scholar and adviser to Tony Blair's government Christopher Catherwood chronicles and analyzes how Winston Churchill created the artificial monarchy of Iraq after World War I, thereby forcing together unfriendly peoples--Sunni Muslim Kurds, Sunni Muslim Arabs, and Shiite Muslims--under a single ruler. Indeed the map of the Middle East that Churchill created led to the rise of Saddam Hussein and the wars in which American troops fought in 1991 and 2003. Defying a global wave of nationalistic sentiment, the desire of subject peoples to rule themselves, Winston Churchill put together the broken pieces of the Ottoman Empire and created a Middle Eastern powder keg. Inducing Arabs under the rule of the Ottoman Turks to rebel against their oppressors--abetted by T. E. Lawrence--the British and French during World War I convinced the Hashemite clan that they would rule over Syria. In fact, Britain had promised the territory to the French. To make amends, Churchill created the nation of Iraq and made the Hashemite leader Feisel king of a land to which he had no connections at all. Catherwood dissects Churchill's decision--which later resulted in a 1958 military coup against the Iraqi Hashemite government, and finally in Baath Party rule--providing a gateway to understanding the terrible legacy of the Ottoman Empire's collapse. Churchill's Folly is an essential book for readers eager to learn the history behind Iraq's formation and to see how one man's decisions can destroy world peace eighty years later.

What a crock of shit this books sounds. He lacks even the most basic understanding of Iraq's history. For example, there was no Arab rebellion against the Ottomans in Iraq. And if Iraq under its current borders had not been created then Turkey would have quickly reoccupied all of northern Iraq in the post WW1 period.

The origins of the 1958 coup date from WW2, when the "nationalists" - a small clique of fascist-inclined Iraqis - called in German help to precipitate a coup against British rule. Britain had planned to give Iraq complete independence by the end of the 1930s, but, thanks to WW2 and the existence of pro-German groups, Britain feared that any independent Iraq would quickly become a German colony, so halted plans for independance. This antagonised a lot of ordinary Iraqis, and resulted in the growth of the Baathist party. So blame the Germans.

Meanwhile, the pro-German Iraqis organised their short-lived coup, took over Baghdad, and asked for German militery help. The Germans quickly flew in a flight of aircraft but the idiot Iraqis mistook them for British planes! After landing in Baghdad, the first man who got out of the first plane was shot dead by Iraqi soldiers. Unfortunately he happened to be the comander of the German forces! And the by now rather discouraged Germans did no fighting at all because the Iraqis did not realise that the plentyful supply of gasoline they had promised the Germans was only ordinary petrol and not suitable for aviation fuel. Germany were not very serious about intervening anyway, since they wanted Turkey to join the Axis forces and one of the rewards for this that Turkey wanted was to regain all of Iraq.

[Yervant1]

Ironically, Churchill's and Roosevelt's lives were saved by a couple of Armenian KGB agents (Gevork and Goar Vartanyan) during Tehran conference in 1943.

Yuri Kuznets writes about this in his recent book "Teheran-43 or Operation Long Jump".

http://www.fas.org/i.../teheran43.html

Actually, in Soviet movie of 70s Tehran-43 has Charles Aznavour and another french singer (don't know the English spelling for her name) performing "Une Vie Damour". Alain Delon is also in the cast.

BBC News

Nov 27 2019

 

 

Goar Vartanyan: Russian spy who 'changed history' dies at 93

• 27 November 2019

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Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionGoar Vartanyan with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2005

Russia has paid tribute to a former Soviet intelligence officer it credits with uncovering a Nazi plot to kill the Allied leaders Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt during World War Two.

Goar Vartanyan died on Monday at the age of 93. She was married to Soviet spy Gevork Vartanian, who died in 2012.

Without the pair "the history of our world could have been different", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"These are people who left their mark on the history of mankind."

• Soviet spying legend Gevork Vartanian dies at 87

Born in what was then Soviet Armenia in 1926, Vartanyan moved to Iran in the 1930s. At 16 she joined an anti-fascist group led by her future husband, who was already working as a spy. They allegedly exposed hundreds of Nazi agents in the country.

The group was given responsibility for securing a 1943 conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran, where the British, Soviet and American leaders met to discuss their strategy for fighting the war.

Image copyrightAFPImage captionJosef Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Tehran conference

The group are said to have uncovered a plot - known as Operation Long Jump - to kill the "Big Three" Allied leaders and arrested the would-be Nazi assassins.

The plot was allegedly commanded by the infamous Austrian-born Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny but was foiled after transmissions were intercepted by Soviet operatives.

However, Skorzeny later wrote in his memoirs that the plot never existed.

Goar and Gevork Vartanyan moved to the Soviet Union in 1951 and later worked together as spies posted overseas under deep cover - as part of the so-called "illegals" programme - from 1956 to 1986, Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency said. Her code name was Anita and his Anri.

• The man who turned Soviet spies into Americans

Mr Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said Russia's leader - a former intelligence agent - knew the pair well.

"He is a Hero of the Soviet Union! She is the heroine of all his achievements! He passed away first. She passed away today," the SVR said in a statement.

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/...R6SVP32082rwjs4

[Yervant1]

Deutsche Welle, Germany

Nov 27 2019

 

 

Legendary Soviet spy Goar Vartanyan dies

 

26.11.2019

 

Goar Vartanyan, a Soviet spy credited for stopping a Nazi assassination plot against Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt in 1943, passed away at 93. She shared the glory with her husband and fellow spy, Gevork Vartanyan.

 

Russian intelligence officials confirmed the death of Goar Vartanyan, the female half of the iconic agent couple who allegedly stopped a Nazi plot to killed Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.

 

Goar and her husband Gevork Vartanyan had a "remarkable impact" on the lives of intelligence agents and ordinary people, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

Agency head Sergey Naryshkin praised Goar Vartanyan as "an example of wholehearted service to the motherland."

 

"We will not forget what this seemingly fragile, but strong, courageous and selfless woman, has done in covert intelligence," he wrote in a statement posted on the SVR website.

 

Gevork Vartanyan welcomed the granddaughter of Winston Churchil during her 2007 visit to Moscow

 

Heroes of Tehran

 

Goar Vartanyan was born in Soviet-ruled Armenia in 1926, with her family moving to Tehran some years later. As a teenager in Iran, she joined an anti-fascist group and met her future husband. During the opening years of World War II, the Vartanyans' group is believed to have uncovered hundreds of Nazi agents operating in the country.

 

The group's biggest discovery, however, came in the run-up to the 1943 Tehran conference, the first trilateral meeting of leaders of the USSR, the UK, and the US.

 

The Soviet agents allegedly got wind of a Nazi plot dubbed "Operation Long Jump" which aimed to assassinate the top leaders. They then managed to track down the first team of German operatives, and have them arrested by Soviet authorities. The Nazi leadership reportedly canceled the plot after learning of the advance teams' failure.

 

The story was adapted for the 1980 film featuring French movie star Alain Delon.

 

'Extreme conditions'

 

The Vartanyans took residence in the USSR in 1951. After getting their degrees from a foreign language institute in Yerevan, the two returned to intelligence work until retiring in 1986. They operated together in "extreme conditions in many countries," the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said without providing details.

 

"The big three" allied leaders: Josef Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Tehran, 1943

 

After the couple's retirement from active duty, they continued to teach and train upcoming Russian agents. Goar's husband was decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union award.

 

Putin attended husband's funeral

 

When commenting on his medal, which is shaped like a five-pointed star, Gevork used to say that "at least two" of the points belong to his wife, SVR said on Tuesday.

 

Gevork Vartanyan passed away in 2012, at the age of 87. President Vladimir Putin, himself a former intelligence agent, attended the funeral at the prestigious Troyekurovskoe cemetery in Moscow. The authorities have since unveiled a statue of Vartanyan at the cemetery.

 

Goar Vartanyan is expected to buried at the same location, possibly on Friday, a SVR spokesman told the AFP news agency.

 

dj/ng (AFP, Interfax)

 

https://amp.dw.com/e...jG5igi01eV7bB7E

[MosJan]

RIP..