Abstract
This paper argues that "The Kite Runner" and "The Sirens of Baghdad" are connected by a contrast between the main characters of each novel. Amir in the "The Kite Runner" has misguided perceptions as a child that cause him to become a reprehensible person, but his later redemptive actions brought upon by guilt and low self appreciation prove to be praiseworthy, while the unnamed narrator of "The Sirens of Baghdad" learns slowly that there is more than one way to look at the world and that black and white are not the only two colors of the spectrum. The author analyzes both novels and concludes that although both main character's choose different life paths, they both come to the same realization that there is more than one way to look at life and that maintaining more than one view will bring about a beautiful world panorama.

From the Paper
"Amir as a young boy was both selfish and cold, leaving the reader of his story with a definite desire to vomit, but manages to become a respectable albeit weak human being through the realization that he has a disfigured nature. These attitudes and inclinations that Amir had were the result of many different variables that were not completely within his control; however, many choices that he himself made did further along the development of his (lack of) character. The choices that send him on the downward spiral of moral rectitude resolve around the character of Hassan, the servant of his house and his sometime friend. An early incident gives a sense of foreshadowing to his future character. This moment comes as he reads a book to Hassan and Hassan asks what the word 'imbecile means': " 'Well, everyone in my school knows what it means,' I said. 'Let's see. "Imbecile." It means smart, intelligent. I'll use it in a sentence for you. "when it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile" " (Hosseini 29). Here, Amir cruelly manipulates the uneducated Hassan in the search for sick joy and the need to be above another human being. Although this is a rotten trick that Amir performs on Hassan, it is not even comparable to the wicked and disgusting act that solidifies the grotesque ways of his heart. When Amir watches as the sociopathic Assef rapes Hassan without uttering a sound, he has "one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be" (Hosseini 77). Instead of helping his friend, or even searching out help, he turns and runs. Although this action is definitely cowardly, it is far worse than that. In actuality, he "aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba" (Hosseini 77). He ran away and remained silent about his refusal to act in Hassan's defense so that he could secure his father's pride. Amir's perception of his world and what had to be done were completely skewed, much like Judas as he betrayed Jesus. In the warped childhood, Amir lost his soul to gain the whole world (Mark 8:36). Amir was blinded by his selfishness and was left, from this moment, to stumble from one uncertain action to the next. "

Tags:hassan amir sohrab hosseini khadra, kafr karam, eastern world

From the Paper
"President Clinton's decision to send cruise missiles to bomb an intelligence center in Baghdad won wide support from Congress, but it also reopened a long-running debate over White House consultations with Congress.. The operations raised questions about war-making authority because it was Clinton's first unilateral use of U.S. force in a time of multi-lateral operations from Somalia to Bosnia.

Clinton ordered the June 26, 1993 attack in response to what he called "compelling evidence" that Iraq had attempted to assassinate former President George Bush when he visited Kuwait in April. Sixteen suspects in the alleged attack, several of whom are said to have confessed to involvement in a plot to kill Bush, are facing charges in Kuwait.. In the five-minute attack, two Navy ships, the destroyer USS Peterson and the cruiser USS..."

Abstract
This paper provides a description of the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad in April 2003 as U.S. forces ignored the ransacking while they secured valuable oil fields. A description of who did the looting, what was taken, what has been recovered, the agencies involved in recovery efforts and other issues are provided. Three pages of appendices of stolen/recovered artworks included.

From the Paper
"Over the course of three days in April, thousands of valuable artworks and cultural artifacts were stolen from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. Controversy erupted around the world over the loss of world treasures that represent the heritage and cultural history and identity of some of the world's earliest societies and cultures. Many blamed U.S. officials for permitting the looting which occurred in many other museums in Iraq and at archaeological sites. Zainab Bahrain argues that "Historical artifacts, works of art..."

Tags:Iraq, military, Colonel Bogdanos, Interpol, FBI, culture, artifacts, gold

Abstract
This paper focuses on the US involvement in the war in Iraq and, in particular, examines the viewpoints taken by journalists Stephen Biddle in "Seeing Baghdad, Thinking Saigon" and Matt Taibbi in "The Chicken Doves". The paper looks at how each author expresses his views on the war differently even though both agree that the war is a failed policy. The paper goes on to show how Biddle's approach is to professionally build a case that, while the Bush approach to winning the war is like the one used in Vietnam, it is not working and cannot work. The paper contrasts this to Matt Taibbi's article where he uses profanity and propaganda to show how angry he is that the Democrats were not able to stand up to Bush and cut off funds for the war.

Outline:
Facts
Stephen Biddle
Matt Taibbi
Outline
Summary of Rrticles

From the Paper
"When a knowledgeable person hears the statement "the war in Iraq," most informed observers now see that there is a civil war in Iraq between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims. This is a bitter ethnic rivalry that has existed for centuries. The Kurds are another ethnic minority in this stew. It is also clear that there are numerous al Qaeda extremists in Iraq that have been recruited, trained, and sent to Iraq to kill Americans and conduct terrorist-style suicide bombing incidents that slaughter and maim scores of innocents.
"This paper is focused on the American's five-year involvement, during which the true cost of the war approaches $2 trillion (health care for injured; interest on money borrowed to finance the war), over 4,000 U.S. troops have died, and unknown tens of thousands of Iraqis have perished. An opinion poll by CBS News (March 15-18, 2008) (www.pollingreport.com) reflects that 65% of American adults "disapprove" of the way George W. Bush is handling the war. Some 59% say the U.S. "should have stayed out..." of Iraq in the first place."

Tags:Bush, Vietnam, al-Qaeda, profanity, propaganda, vulgarity

Abstract
The paper discusses how these two books indicate the great gap between Eastern and Western culture and beliefs. The paper portrays how the Middle East is still steeped in violence, ancient religious doctrine and old-world cities that seem to have stepped back in time. The paper looks at the authors' view that if the Middle East is going to be competitive in the modern world, it must modernize and throw off some of the ancient customs that bind it.

From the Paper
"Women are viewed differently in the two books, and even more differently here in the west. In Horwitz' book, he makes little mention of the women because the people he deals with do not mention them at all. He sees few women and most of the ones he sees are covered in traditional dress from head to toe. Most of the encounters he has are with men because they do the business and run the countries. When his wife has to wear a chador, he writes, "Geraldine, have endured months of hoots and propositions from Arab males, welcomed her sexless disguise. I found it creepy. With one flick of the wrist, she'd transformed herself from the object of my desire into a forbidding black phantom, a foot soldier of the Islamic Republic" (Horwitz 235)."

Tags:customs, traditions, rites, religion, modernity

Abstract
This paper compares, contrasts, and analyzes these two novels about the impact of war and how Iraqis and Iranians cope with the profound uncertainty, political repression, deprivation, and violence that have impacted their homelands in recent years.

From the Paper
"Baghdad Diaries reveals the different ways that different individuals cope with the events of the war. As the book begins, al-Radi notes that she is in profound denial over the war, writing "I couldn't believe that war had started (p. 10). Likely as a result of this denial, she refuses to take precautions against many of the potential dangers of the war. In contrast, many of al-Radi's neighbors are resigned to the inevitability of the war, and take extreme precautions. Writes al-Raid of one of her neighbors, "Shucha, being a fastidious and efficient person, had taped all her windows and doors against nuclear fallout, and organized the windowless room under the stairs as her shelter and stashed it with provisions" (p. 10)."

Tags:political, context, freedoms, ideology, average, citizen, western, embargo, necessities

Abstract
The paper discusses the origins and rise of Islam as well as the history of the glorious city of Baghdad in 800 CD. The paper explores why the rise of Islam is manifested through the actions of violent extremists like the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The paper seeks to determine how the concepts of war and killing are spawned by and driven from religious teachings.

Outline:
Introduction
Literature Review
Today's Radical Islamists Use Religion to Promote Terror
Interpretation of Facts and Research

From the Paper
"The purpose of this paper is to explore and review the rise of Islam, which began many centuries before the emergence of today's most visible and tyrannical radical Islamic organizations, the Taliban and al Qaeda. But for many citizens who are interested in Islam, but also weary of the threat of terrorism - and who cringe with each new suicide bomber's bloodletting in Iraq, Pakistan, Israel, Lebanon and elsewhere - the Taliban and al Qaeda are the only words and images that come to mind when the word "Islam" or "Muslim" are mentioned. These same millions of people read and hear about the terrible violence, bloodshed and civil strife in Baghdad and they likely know little else about this once great city."

Tags:terrorism, Taliban, al-Qaeda, Baghdad, propoganda

Abstract
The paper discusses the Berlin-Baghdad railway and the arrival of the SMS Goeben battleship that caused the Turks to join the alliance that pulled them into World War I. The paper describes in detail the weeks before the actual declaration of war against the Allied powers.

From the Paper
"In November of 1914, the once-mighty "sick man of Europe," the Ottoman Empire, joined the 'war to end all wars' as a Central Power. Having concluded a secret alliance with Germany against her long-time rival Russia, the conditions for war were met, and on 11 November, Sultan Mehmed V declared jihad. This would prove, as with so many other empires, to be the downfall of Turkey as a Mediterranean power, and, in fact as an empire at all. The terms of the alliance pulled the Ottomans into the war, but the real question remains; what led them to sign it? The answers can be found in two places: the Berlin-Baghdad Railway, and the arrival of the SMS Goeben."

Tags:Berlin-Baghdad, railway, SMS, Goeben

Abstract
Discussion of the Middle East in the 1950s. Formation of the Baghdad Pact, a military alliance to defend the Middle East. U.S. response to the pact. The Eisenhower Doctrine & its concerns regarding Communist penetration into the Arab world. Details the major poiints of the Doctrine. Economic interests of the U.S. in the area.

From the Paper
"The United States in the 1950s worked to draw the Middle Eastern countries into a broader military scheme that would encompass the region as a whole, but this proved impossible as the Arab world was reluctant to enter into such an arrangement. In some areas in the North, the Soviet menace was ever present, and the United States turned her attention in this direction. The Baghdad Pact of 1955 was part of this effort and united in a military alliance three non-Arab countries (Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan), one Arab country (Iraq), and one Western country (Britain). The U.S. did not formally adhere in part out of fear that it would alienate forever the revolutionary regime in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world, but American civil and military representatives were active on various committees of the Baghdad Pact organization."

Abstract
Traces the rise of Muslim scholarship from the 8th & 9th Centuries. Syntheses of existing astronomical traditions--Persian, Indian & Greek texts. Arab knowlededge of celestial world. Importance of Ptolemaic model for the planets. Establlishment of House of Wisdom in Baghdad. Islamic impact on development of astronomy & mathematics. Contribution of astrologers.

From the Paper
"The rise of Muslim science began after the life of the
prophet Mohammed and the beginning of Islam in the seventh century. The eighth and ninth centuries involved the period of consolidation of the Muslim people, and the real rise of Muslim scholarship occurred in the ninth and tenth centuries (Al-Daffa , 1977). The Muslims integrated the astronomical traditions of the Indians, Persians, the ancient near east, and especially the Greeks into a synthesis which began to chart a new chapter in the history of astronomy from the eighth century onward (IAL). The unification of the tribes of Arabia into a powerful nation, including Persia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, the whole North Africa, Gibraltar, and Spain created a vast intellectual empire (Ead). However, the Greek legacy did not immediately dominate without a struggle with native ..."