Azrael: Angel of Death
Lockheed AC-130A Spectre
The Angel
“Azrael Alaihi Assalatu Wassalam”, my mother says with a salute as she explains the meaning of the expression. “When you see Azrael you say salaam”. The myth suggests that by giving your hello to the Angel of Death you are saying its not my time.
In Islamic texts, Azrael represents one of the four archangels, alongside Jibra'il, Mika'il, and Israfil, (Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael). Amongst the angels, Azrael’s role is to keep a register of names of all of mankind, recording and erasing their names as they are born and as they die. He is essentially responsible for transporting the souls of the dead. As the story goes, Azrael earned this role upon being the only angel to bring God the dust from earth to create mankind.
The Aircraft
So how did this glorious name of Azrael remerge in the 20th century in reference to a strange masochistic tool of murder? The Lockheed AC-130 gunship came to be during the Vietnam War under Project Gunship II in 1967. It served as an updated design to the 1950’s C-130 Hercules, which previously replaced the first gunship, the Douglas AC-47 Spooky, nicknamed Puff-the-Magic Dragon. Though each version of the gunship series has a different moniker, the naming of one particular AC-130 stands apart: Azrael.
Aeriel shot of the Highway of Death
On Feb. 26, 1991, during the closing hours of Operation Desert Storm, the 54-1630 model AC-130A was renamed Azrael, and was launched to drive the Iraqi army out of Kuwait during the infamous “Highway of Death” strike. Despite heavy opposition, the gruesome destruction was mainly the work of Azrael. Two days later, Iraq withdrew their forces. Why did this happen? Why did Iraq want Kuwait, and more importantly why would the US be so intimately involved and committed to the sovereignty of Kuwait?
Colonial Context
Though the exact reasons for Saddam Hussein’s failed attempt to take Kuwait differ, the poliical contentiousness of the region was plagued by longterm British interventions against the Ottoman Empire. The orchestration of borders, installed rulers, treaties, and alliances across the Middle East developed in the 19th century by colonial forces were merely seeds planted for the modern world as we know it. The Mandate for Mesopotamia, written by the British led League of Nations in 1920, effectively formed modern Iraq and served as a blueprint for its neighbors. As the British receded from these territories, their aim was to leave their own hands in power and withdraw their faces to prevent further local uprisings. However, this proved difficult when both Iran & Iraq overthrew their installed rulers, while Kuwait and Saudi remained under British influence.
The small nation Kuwait sits at the foot of Iraq, and eats into most of the coastal access thereby further straining its relationship to Iran—especially given the fact that disputes over the Shatt al-Arab river was a major point of the Iraq-Iran war). It was once mainly a fishing region, served as a British port and was under “British protectorate” against the Ottomans from 1899 until 1961. The discovery of oil reserves in 1938 gave it even more reason to be backed and protected by Western interests, while also leading to a period of large-scale modernization and prosperity in Kuwait from 1946 to 1982.
Operation Desert Storm
In one of the most significant wars of attrition, Iraq incurred a $65 billion debt to Saudi and Kuwait as a result of the Iraq-Iran War (1980-1988). As a buffer state between Iran for both Saudi and Kuwait, Iraq argued that their role indirectly defended these regions from the Persians. The debt refusal added to the greater need for economic stability through both coastal access to the market and possession of oil. Meanwhile, the market was being distorted by Kuwaiti and Saudi overproduction of oil, while Kuwait was allegedly slant drilling into Iraqi oil fields. And beyond everything else, the disputed territorial boundaries of Kuwait were left behind for the conitnued benefit of the British. Given these reasons, in Aug 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait.
Saddam’s move triggered US involvement, sparking the Persian Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm - a 43 day battle with decisive US victory killing over 100,000 Iraqis in the process.
AC-130A Spectre gunship
Azrael’s Flight
That’s where we return to our Azrael, the Angel of Death. George HW Bush’s Gulf War continued with his son’s restitution of parallel wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2001, Azrael gunships were the first weapons deployed and used in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and were directly responsible for the city of Kunduz’s surrender the next day. The aircrafts would make their way through virtually every part of Afghanistan, performing countless operations by the end of the 20 year war. Both regions had their resources plummet with the subsequent invasions. Iraq for example estimates that $150 billion of its oil money has been stolen from the country since the US-led invasion of 2003, while 25% of their population live below the poverty line. Corruption played a huge part in the pillaging of these wars. Both nations similarly plagued by their resistance movements, abundant resources, economic manipulation, and fucked up borders.
The powerful AC-130 aircrafts have been used in every war since Vietnam. In a mocking jab at jihad (holy war), the naming of Azrael serves as a fitting propaganda device. Though Azrael’s name is translated to Arabic for its target audience, its message required no language. The Highway of Death remains a fatal reminder to its enemies, or the people who defy their rule. The AC-130 as an Angel of Death nods to the God-like power that the war machine of colonization maintains, the bullying into submission over the state of the market.
American Devils
And what does this cost us as American tax payers, who ultimately pay for these war toys? Lockheed Martin - the manufacturers behind this technology and countless other murder weapons - charges about $132.4 million for just one of these aircrafts. The US owns 30 of them. Now that’s equivalent to nearly $4 billion just for a single type of weaponry. Lockheed Martin is currently valued at around $105 billion, maintaining its status as one of the top contractor’s for the US government, with half of its sales coming from the US Department of Defense.
Lockheed Martin, like all other war manufacturers, is an amalgamation of contracts and mergers. This beast of capitalism was originally founded by an American aviator Glenn Luther Martin. Today the company is owned and run by shareholders and institutional investors like State Street Corporation, Vanguard Group, and BlackRock.
The glamorization of arms is an advertisement for not only the arms manufacturers’ products, but for the alleged American excellence that use them. Not confined to American sales, these companies have clients across the world of Western allies. Our government tax dollars are thrown at these war manufacturing machines, run by investment firms, whereby anyone with the funds or connections can profit off of these prolonged and unnecessary wars by keeping these companies in their investment portfolios. It is an extension of the colonial regime and a reminder of the corruption that pervades the world, prompting a celebration of violence and slaughter in service of stakeholders.
Sadly, a salute and salaam aren’t enough to get rid of this Azrael. Weapons of mass destruction loom over the world as a tool for Western imperialism, dutifully serving the military industrial complex and the countless other corruptions among us.
