Books by Haifa Zangana

With the fluid lucidity of a dream, exiled Iraqi writer Haifa Zangana attempts to rectify her memories of the hideous torture she endured during the 1970s at the hands of the Ba'ath Party of Iraq, which was led by Saddam Hussein. Zangana was one of the few who actively protested the rise of Hussein, who had the full support of the West as he began to transform the once-open nation of Iraq into his personal den of oppression. She and her fellow protesters were collected, incarcerated, and routinely tortured in the prison at Abu Ghraib, in scenes which would be reenacted some 30 years later by American occupiers. Torn by her need to remember what happened to her and her mind's natural attempt to dissolve the memory, Zangana finds the metaphor of the dream best captures her mental relationship with her former self, who remains both integral and distant to the person she has become.

Aiming to lay bare the act of blatant state terrorism that is the invasion and occupation of Iraq, this book seeks to reveal the extraordinary tapestry of lies, distortions and gross media manipulation that underpin it. It looks at how public opinion is wilfully ignored and "democracy" used as a figleaf for the furthering of colonial ambitions.

Draws on the perspectives of leading writers to explore the impact of the War on Terror throughout the world, in an anthology published in conjunction with the Stop the War coalition and United for Peace and Justice that includes contributions by such figures as John Berger, Naomi Klein, and Joe Sacco. Original.