It Was, It Was Not: Essays and Art on the War Against Iraq

Raymond A. Jones is a history professor at Carleton University in
Ottawa.

This powerful collection of essays, songs, poetry, and art is aptly
titled. “It Was” is the official view of the war as a just defence
of a small country from the aggression of its big neighbor. “It Was
Not” is the alternative view of what a new world order really meant to
the people of Iraq. Event the most casual observer must have been struck
by the contrast between the government-controlled media’s portrayal of
the Gulf War (“smart” weapons destroying only military targets) and
the reality of a mindless technological violence destroying everything
and everyone in its path.

The message of this book is loud and clear. War can no longer be used
as an instrument of policy, least of all in the name of a new world
order. An order based on violence is no order at all; peace can be
realized only through discourse—it never comes from the barrel of a
gun.