A Short Guide to Iraq (Published by US War and Navy Departments - 1943)

[Cooley Hurd]

From the Naval Historical Center's website. I found this both interesting and (in a way) sad:

http://history.navy.mil/library/online/iraq_guide.htm



A Short Guide to Iraq - Introduction

YOU HAVE been ordered to Iraq (i - RAHK) as part of the world-wide offensive to beat Hitler.
You will enter Iraq both as a soldier and as an individual, because on our side a man can be both a soldier and an individual. That is our strength--if we are smart enough to use it. It can be our weakness if we aren't. As a soldier your duties are laid out for you. As an individual, it is what you do on your own that counts--and it may count for a lot more than you think.

American success or failure in Iraq may well depend on whether the Iraqis (as the people are called) like American soldiers or not. It may not be quite that simple. But then again it could.

How To Beat Hitler. Herr Hitler knows he's licked if the peoples united against him stand their ground. So it is pretty obvious what he and his propaganda machine are trying to do. They're trying to spread disunity and discontent among their opponents whenever and wherever they can.

So what's the answer? That ought to be pretty obvious, too. One of your big jobs is to prevent Hitler's agents from getting in their dirty work. The best way you can do this is by getting along with the Iraqis and making them your friends. And the best way to get along with any people is to understand them.

That is what this guide is for. To help you understand the people and the country so that you can do the best and quickest job of sending Hitler back where he came from.

And, secondly, so that you as a human being will get the most out of an experience few Americans have been lucky enough to have. Years from now you'll be telling your children and maybe your grandchildren stories beginning "Now when I was in Baghdad -----."

What Is This Iraq?

WHAT is Iraq, anyhow? Well, it's a lot of things, old and new. It is one of the oldest countries in the world--and one of the youngest under its present government. In Baghdad, the capital city, you will see: street merchants selling exactly the same kind of pottery that their ancestors sold at the time of the Arabian Nights. Not far away you will see great dams and modern refineries equal to the best you have seen in America. If you happen to be sent to the oil fields, you will discover miracles of modern engineering construction side by side with primitive refineries built 2,000 years ago and still in operation.

Iraq Is Hot! As a matter of fact you may be so busy when you reach Iraq that you won't see much of anything for awhile. Probably you will feel Iraq first--and that means heat. Blazing heat. And dust. In the daytime Iraq can be one of the hottest spots in the world. If you happen to travel by train in the daytime, the leather seats may get so hot that you'll have to stand up. Most work is done between 6 a.m. and noon and perhaps an hour or two in the early evening. And yet the nights of these hot days are often uncomfortably cool.

Or maybe the first thing you notice will be the smells. You have heard and read a lot about the "mysterious East." You have seen moving pictures about the colorful life of the desert and the bazaars. When you actually get there you will look in vain for some of the things you have been led to expect. You will smell and feel a lot of things the movies didn't warn you about.
</snip>

Much more at link...

[Squatch]

1. Reads like something out of an Indiana Jones screenplay

[BB1]

2. Is this for real?

looks like it, but you'd have to hang your head in shame first - before publishing this.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. It's from 1943...

...at a time when African-American troops were still segregated, so I wouldn't expect much in the way of racial sensitivity.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. "WHAT is Iraq, anyhow?" Great question... K&R.

I haven't read this yet, but I'm looking forward to it, bet it's fascinating and that I'll learn a lot, even from the perspective of 1943. :-)

The best way you can do this is by getting along with the Iraqis and making them your friends. And the best way to get along with any people is to understand them.

Yikes! Talk about a no-brainer... Maybe they should start handing this out again, starting with Bush* and Cheney...:grr:

[Cooley Hurd]

5. kick - for the evening military/history buffs...