History & Mythology
Pilot 2

Ancient Mesopotamia
 
In Pilot, Part 2, Locke notes that backgammon sets have been found in the ruins of Ancient Mesopotamia, 5,000 years old.

 
From Wikipedia: 
Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, and parts of eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwest Iran. The toponym comes from the Greek words for "between" and "river", referring to the basins of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers and the area in between. Comparably, the Arabic term is Ma Bayn Al Nahrain "between the two rivers". The geographical area watered by these two rivers is often referred to as the "Cradle of Civilization", since it was here that the first literate societies developed in the late 4th millennium BC, using a highly sophisticated writing system in the context of the emergence of the first cities and complex state bureaucracies.
 
Mesopotamia is also the geographical location of the Garden of Eden, according to the description from Genesis 2: 10-14:
 
"10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin  and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates."

 
See also: 
Geography
Games - Backgammon
 

The Gulf War 

 

In Pilot, Part 2, Sayid reveals to Hurley that he was a military communications officer who saw battle during the Gulf War: 

SAYID: I was a military communications officer.

HURLEY: Oh yeah? You ever see battle?

SAYID: I fought in the Gulf War.

HURLEY: No way! I got a buddy who fought over there. He was in the 104th airborne. What were you - Air Force... Army?

SAYID: The Republican Guard.

 

In Confidence Man,  Sawyer taunts Sayid as he's being tortured:

[Sayid starts with the bamboo under the fingernails.]

SAWYER: That's it? That's all you got? Splinters? No wonder we kicked your ass in the Gulf. . . [he screams].

 

In Outlaws, Hurley asks Sayid if he ever suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, which Sayid notes was on the "other" side.

 

In One of Them, Sayid and his commanding officer are caught by the Americans during the Gulf War.

From Wikipedia:

The Gulf War or the Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990–28 February 1991)was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of approximately 30 nations led and authorized by the United Nations (UN) in order to liberate Kuwait.

The war developed out of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The aggression was met with immediate economic sanctions by the UN against Iraq. The international armed intervention began in January 1991 and resulted in a decisive victory for the coalition forces, which drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait with minimal coalition deaths. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and bordering areas of Saudi Arabia. Iraq also launched missiles against targets in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Since the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88 had been called the "Gulf War" or "Persian Gulf War" by many news sources, the 1991 war has sometimes been called the Second Gulf War, but more commonly, the 1991 war is styled simply the "(Persian) Gulf War" or the "First Gulf War", in distinction from the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Operation Desert Storm was the U.S. name of the air and land operations and is often used to refer to the conflict. 

The Iraqi Republican Guard

 

From Wikipedia:

 

The Republican Guard was not formed to be Saddam Hussein's bodyguard. It was a force first initiated by General Arif to protect him from his own army who were becoming increasingly hard to control in an epoch characterised by an overly-influential military in Iraqi politics. However, upon seizing power from Arif's brother, it is true that Saddam Hussein manipulated the Republican Guard to its full extent, which may explain why it is often wrongly cited that the Republican Guard was a creation of Saddam himself.

The Iraqi Republican Guard  (RG) was the core of the Iraqi military. It was originally formed to be Saddam Hussein's bodyguard but was expanded into a large military force. It was disbanded after the Second Gulf War.

There were between 80,000 and 100,000 troops in the Republican Guard itself, and an additional 15,000-20,000 troops in the Special Republican Guard (SRG). Not counting troops of the SRG, the Republican Guard fielded two Corps, consisting of one infantry division, a Special Forces Division, two mechanized infantry divisions, and three armored divisions. The Special Republican Guard consisted of four brigades and two commands.

The Republican Guard were the elite troops of the Iraqi army under Saddam, unlike the paramilitary Fedayeen Saddam and the ordinary Iraqi Army and ground forces. They were easily recognizable because they had red boots instead of the ordinary black.  

Sayid tells Hurley that he was in the Republican Guard in Pilot Part 2,  and that he was a communications officer.  

 

In Solitary, we see more of Sayid and his interrogation skills as he handles Nadia being a prisoner.  Knowing the risks he would be taking, he still helped Nadia escape, leading to the assumption that he still has compassion for human life, be it enemy or not.

 

In another episode, One Of Them, we find out it is the American Armythat turns Sayid into the torturer that he is today. They showed Sayidvideo of his families village being poisoned and killed. Therefore, he was more then willing to help the Army get his commanding officer to talk.