The Slugletts purvey a far-left view of modern Iraqi history, approving the regime when it pursued socialist and pro-Soviet policies, disapproving as it has increasingly abandoned these and turned more toward capitalism and the West. In pursuit of their thesis, the authors skew history mercilessly, choose carefully what will show Baghdad to advantage before its turning point (which they see as the oil price rise of 1973), and choose nothing but its blackest aspects thereafter.
Unintentionally, the Slugletts' analysis serves to strengthen the hand of those who seek to improve U.S.-Iraqi relations. Their regret that the Iraqi government has moved so far from its radical efforts to transform society, from aggressive pan-Arabism, and from the USSR serves to confirm the potential for the United States to expand its ties with Baghdad.
