Contact Information :
Alan Loren
Columbia University
School of International and Foreign Affairs
al856@columbia.edu
RESEARCH GUIDE: RESEARCHING
IRAQ ON THE INTERNET
By Alan L. Loren
HISTORY AND GENERAL INFORMATION
For an excellent synopsis of important information on contemporary Iraq, including geography,
population , economy, government, military, go to Geographic.org
http://workmall.com/wfb2001/iraq/index.html. Another good site for getting acquainted with
the contemporary WMD issues as regards Iraq is the CBC’s
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/iraq/#backandhistory. Here you’ll find brief but thorough
backgroud on the most recent history of the standoff between Iraq and the UN on the question of
arms inspections.
A wonderful history of the Iran-Iraq war is offered by the Federation of American Scientists at
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/war/iran-iraq.htm, it is quite a comprehensive history.
There are a number of websites which provide excellent information on the ancient history of the
land now occupied by modern Iraq. One in particular is the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook,
produced by Fordham University, with a great site on Mesopotamia
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook03.html, and a more general site on Islamic
History http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook.html This is really a terrific resource.
Another terrific history site on Iraq is produced by Lycos
http://infoplease.lycos.com/ce6/world/A0858896.html and it is a mix of ancient and
contemporary history. For a history of Iraqi Jews, go to
http://thesite2000.virtualave.net/iraqijews/index2.html. This is is a homegrown site, but very
informative.
HONORABLE MENTION
Arabnet History of Iraq http://www.arab.net/iraq/history/iraq_history.html
Languages of Iraq http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~irdp/
Atlapedia http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/iraq.htm
Iraqi Constitution http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/iz__indx.html
IRAQ INTERNET
CONT’D
MEDIA
It is very difficult to find primary news sources on Iraq (in English) via the internet. There are
many links to the Iraqi Arabic press however. For connections to the major Iraqi Dailies (in
Arabic), go to Iraqi Newspaper Links http://www.arab2.com/n/a/iraq-newspapers.htm If you are
looking for news straight from the source, the Iraqi Government Press Agency provides English
language coverage of Iraq http://www.uruklink.net/iraqnews/eindex.html.
For excellent compilations of assorted English language news items on Iraq, a useful site is
Baghdad.com at http://www.baghdad.com/. Another site that provides compilations of Iraqi news
items in English, but with a definite leftist slant, is One World News Coverage
http://www.oneworld.org/news/mideast/.
Radio Free Europe has a number of excellent sites that provide good coverage of Iraq. These are
Radio Free Europe Iraq http://www.rferl.org/bd/iq/index.html, Radio Free Europe Magazine
http://www.rferl.org/bd/iq/magazine/default.asp. Iraq RADIO and TV is available via weblink at
http://www.arab2.com/radiotv/iraq-tv-television.htm
For a survey of Press Freedom in Iraq, go to Freedom House Survey of Press Freedom
http://www.rferl.org/bd/iq/info/iq-pr.html.
MINORITIES
There are a number of exile Iraqi minority groups that maintain websites. The information
contained in these sites is partisan, of course, but they do provide some good information
nonetheless. For information Kurdish issues, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has a good links
page at http://www.puk.org/links.htm. The Turkmen community has a website which is very
poorly done, nonetheless, it is still possible to squeeze some informaton out of what little there is
on the site itself. Go to Turkmen Links http://www.angelfire.com/tn/halk/links.html. The
Assyrian exile community has put together a more thorough web resource, and a good links page
has been compiled under the title Assyrian Links http://www.zowaa.org/v2/links.html, with
helpful information on history, culture, politics, etc.
WMD
There is no better compilation of information related to Iraqi Weapons of Mass distruction than
the Federation of American Scientists website. Three particularly important links by the FAS are
FAS http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/, FAS IRAQ Biological Weapons
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/bw/program.html, and FAS IRAQ WMD News
http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/.
IRAQ INTERNET
CONT’D
There are other resources available which deal with issues of WMD. Of course, UNSCOM’s
own website is extremely useful at http://www.un.org/Depts/unscom/index.html.
Cornell University has put together an excellent site with many links available that steers
researchers to sites with additional information on IRAQ and issues of WMD
http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/histmod.htm#Iraq.
The British Foreign Office has a good site with a good compilation of links on Iraq and WMD at
http://www.fco.gov.uk/news/keythemepage.asp?PageId=152.
The "Iraq Watch" site of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control has extensive
documentation on Iraq's WMD. It may be accessed at: http://www.iraqwatch.org/
For US government sites which deal with WMD and other issues, see below.
IRAQ GOVERNMENT, KURDISH & RELATED SITES
The following provides a listing of Iraqi governmental websites. They are of limited use in
terms of research, but as a subject of research, they provide a wealth of information. The Kurdish
sites deal with the autonomous government that has been established in the north.
Government in Iraq http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/iq.html
Iraqi Government Gateway http://www.uruklink.net/eindex.htm
Iraq UN Mission to UN http://www.Iraqi-Mission.org/sancnew.htm
Iraqi Presidency http://www.uruklink.net/iraq/epage1.htm
Ministry of Culture http://www.uruklink.net/iraqinfo/eindex.htm
Ministry of Foreign Affairs http://www.uruklink.net/mofa/
Ministry of Health http://www.uruklink.net/health/eindex.htm
National Monitoring Directorate http://www.uruklink.net/inmd/goto.htm
Ministry of Tourism http://www.uruklink.net/tourism/eindex1.htm
Kurdistan Regional Government http://www.krg.org/
Kurdistan National Assembly: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/1154/
NON-IRAQI GOVERNMENT & NGO’S
This section pertains to information on the Iraqi Government generated by non-Iraq Government
sources.
The site of first resort to find detailed information on the Iraqi Government is the LOC Country
Studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html. However, there are many governmental and
non-governmental sources of information on Iraq. Below is a short listing of someof the best
sites. Of specail mention, once again, are two of the FAS websites, the FAS Iraqi Intelligence
Agencies http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iraq/, and FAS Iraq and the UN
http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/ . The University of Kentucky has a very useful website, with
many resources and information about the Iraqi Government Kentucky
http://www.louisville.edu/library/ekstrom/govpubs/international/iraq/iraqgov.html
IRAQ INTERNET
CONT’D
Freedom House provides a fairly concise, but detailed survey of Iraq, which includes pertinent
demographic information, http://freedomhouse.org/survey99/country/iraq.html, as do three other
non-governmental resources, Iraq Research and Documentation Center
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~irdp/ , IRAQ Foundation http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~irdp/ Iraq
Action Coalition http://www.iraqaction.org/.
For information on the Oil for Food Program, go to UN Program Oil for Food
http://www.un.org/Depts/oip/
SPECIAL MENTION
US State Department http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c3212.htm
State Department Reports http://www.state.gov/r/pa/rls/c2671.htm
State Department Report on Human Rights
http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/iraq.html
CIA World Fact Book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html
FAS Homepage http://www.fas.org/index.html
BBC Country Profile
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/country_profiles/newsid_791000/791014.stm
UN Program Oil for Food http://www.un.org/Depts/oip/
British Foreign Office Iraq Info http://www.fco.gov.uk/news/keythemehome.asp?23
ANTI-SANCTIONS
Voices in the Wilderness http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/links.html
Iraq Action Coalition http://www.iraqaction.org/
The Campaign against Sanctions on Iraq (CASI) hosts an extensive set of official documents and
research papers on modern Iraq. The information sources section is at:
http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/casi/info/index.html Home page is: http://www.casi.org.uk/
ECONOMY
CIA World Fact Book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html#Econ
LOC Country Studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
EXTERNAL POLITICAL PARTIES
Iraqi National Congress (External Opposition) http://www.inc.org.uk/
The Iraqi National Accord: http://www.wifaq.com/
The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sciri/
Constitutional Monarchy Movement http://www.iraqcmm.org/
Kurdish Democratic Party USA http://www.geocities.com/kdpkol/
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan http://www.puk.org/
Turkman Peoples Party http://www.angelfire.com/tn/halk/
Assyrian Democratic Movement http://www.zowaa.org/v2/home_v2.htm
US Support For External Parties http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol6/v6n10iraq.html
IRAQ INTERNET CONT’D
HUMAN RIGHTS
Amnesty International http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/countries/iraq
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/mideast/iraq.php
Education for Peace http://saveageneration.org/
INDICT http://www.indict.org.uk/
US State Dept. Human Rights in Iraq http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/nea/787.htm
British Foreign Office on Human Rights in Iraq
http://www.fco.gov.uk/news/keythemepage.asp?PageId=190
BOOKMARKS
Harry S. Truman Center Hebrew University http://atar.mscc.huji.ac.il/~truman/
Arab Human Rights Center http://www.arabrights.com/iraq/iraqmntr.html
Arab German Consulting Iraq Links http://www.arab.de/iraq.htm
University of Kentucky
http://www.louisville.edu/library/ekstrom/govpubs/international/iraq/iraq.html
Iraq Action Coalition http://www.iraqaction.org/
Arabji.com Media links http://www.arabji.com/Iraq/media.htm
FAS Links http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/iraq.htm
FAS Major Intelligence http://www.fas.org/resource.htm
IRAQI GOVERNMETN Links Site http://www.uruklink.net/eindex.htm
Iraqi Jewish Websites http://thesite2000.virtualave.net/iraqijews/index2.html
Columbia University IRAQ Links
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/mideast/cuvlm/Iraq.html
University of Texas at Austin Iraq Links http://menic.utexas.edu/menic/countries/Iraq/
British Foreign Office Iraq Links http://www.fco.gov.uk/news/keythemepage.asp?PageId=152
INDICT WEBLINKS http://www.indict.org.uk/InnerFrames/Links.htm
CBC links page http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/iraq/links.html
IRAQ foundation Links http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~irdp/