Oil and Blood

The Middle East region, where over half of the world's known oil reserves lie underground, is no stranger to armed conflict. A distant superpower directly intervened in two of these conflicts. In both instances, it stood against one country and one ruling regime: Saddam Hussein's Iraq. In both wars, a president named Bush led the United States. In 1991, it was George; twelve years later, his son, George. The first war in 1991, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, ended in an Iraqi defeat but not in Hussein's fall. However, in 2003, history did not repeat itself, and the Iraqi ruler was eventually executed by his former subjects three years later. In his book, the publicist and journalist, who specialises in the Middle East, maps out the situation on the battlefields of both conflicts and also delves into the behind-the-scenes negotiations of politicians and diplomats. The author visited Iraq both during Saddam Hussein's rule and when the country was controlled by the US army, travelling through both northern and southern Iraq. He also visited two other countries that played important roles in the wars: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the book contains not only historical facts but also a close-up reportage perspective from the “scenes of the crime”. Martin Novák, MA (*1969) was born in Prague. As a reporter and commentator, he worked successively for Lidové noviny, Czech Television, and Hospodářské noviny. Since February 2006, he has been a member of the editorial team at the online daily Aktuálně.cz. He has also contributed to Týden and Mezinárodní politika magazines. His main focus is on the Islamic world and Eastern Europe. Besides Iraq, he has worked as a reporter in countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine, and China. He is the author of the book Džihád proti Kremlu: Sovětská válka v Afghánistánu a zrod Al-Káidy (Jihad against the Kremlin: The Soviet War in Afghanistan and the Birth of Al-Qaeda). In 2009, he received the Miroslav Ivanov Award for the best Czech non-fiction book for it.