Product Description
A unique on-the-ground account of a country shattered

Iraqi playwright Issam Jameel returns to Iraq in the summer of 2005 after a 12-year exile. From the relative safety of Jordan, where he worked for an opposition radio station under the watchful eyes of Saddam's spies, he travels by car to Baghdad visit family and friends. He longs to see his mother country, but the immediate reason is to grieve his nephew's untimely death at the hands of American forces while guarding an Iraq parliament member from insurgent attacks. Jameel enters a Kafkaesque nightmare of assassinations, kidnapping, and explosions. American soldiers are everywhere in the streets and ready to shoot whenever they feel danger is close. He sees the formerly secular civil society fairly well replaced by vehement sectarianism, intolerance, and ignorance. Basic human needs have become a endless daily struggle amidst the shards of infrastructure. Tasks we all take for granted, such as selling a house or getting a job are fraught with peril as old scores continue to be settled on religious, ethnic, and political fronts. Everywhere he turns, people are desperate to leave but fear for the worst. After returning safely, he started to record the events he had seen, trying to be honest and impartial to unfold the Iraqi problem to the western community. This is his story.

Critics Praise Iraq Through A Bullet Hole

"Issam Jameel's Iraq Through A Bullet Hole is evocative in the best sense of the word. A native Iraqi, he describes with measured sadness and authenticity the dismemberment of his country by a senseless war. His perspective on events there-both personal and general-will not be found in reporting done by the Western press. His tale reminds us that the things that matter most-family, friends, and faith can and will endure even the most severe trials. I highly recommend this book for its relevance and timelessness."
--Cristobal Krusen, Author and Filmmaker
"Iraq has been a focus for our attention for years now, since our armed forces went looking for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction there. The media have presented a picture-but how real is it? What is life really like in that unfortunate country? Find out by reading this book."
--Robert Rich, PhD, Author of Cancer: A Personal Challenge

"Going home is such a trivial thing to so many people in the world. This story is the revealing statement of one man that went home to find it lost in such a strife-filled region, considered by historians as the origin of modern civilization. For those who do know how difficult his journey was, they will relate to Issam's message which is one of perseverance, shared hope and a common faith in mankind that in the end, all could eventually be well. If only men would let it..."
--Bill Evans, civilian contractor in Iraq

More info at www.IraqThruABulletHole.com
Book #5 in the Reflections of History Series from Modern History Press
www.ModernHistoryPress.com
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Customer Reviews (10)

Into the Stygian Recesses of a Failed State
This is the story of an Iraqi man, his adopted country, Australia, and his tortured motherland. In broken English, which lends authenticity and urgency to the narrative, the author embarks on an odyssey deep into the Stygian recesses of Iraq: part failed state, part hell, part family. Fear - nay, terror - permeates this tale: from the nightmarish taxi ride across the Jordanian border to the maiming and killing of innocents by American "liberators" and Muslim "martyrs and insurgents". No one is exempt. This is a subversive text, precisely because of its naiveté: history has rendered the entire cast of characters evil and deformed, one way or the other. Decades of rapacious tyranny, followed by destitution wrought by an inane embargo, an interminable war with all the neighbors, and, finally, a surrealistic occupation. It is not a hopeful situation and this is not an uplifting tome. But, then, the anatomy of human passions and pathologies never is hopeful or uplifting. Iraq is, indeed, a metaphor and the author wanders the lunar wasteland that once was the landscape of his childhood and manhood with undisguised awe and trepidation, shock and indignation, and finally profound sadness and resignation. We, his readers, are likely to do the same. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited"

Little Boy Broken
I have so much sympathy and compassion for this boy - now a man - who experienced so many years of horrific sexual abuse in silence at the hands of HIS OWN FAMILY!How anyone could even dream of doing these things to a child is absolutely beyond my comprehension!!!His family should be skinned, strung up by their fingernails, and left for the vultures to eat piece by piece!!!This book shows that it is incredible what people bear and survive!

Regarding Iraq Through a Bullet Hole
War memoirs, be they written from the perspective of a participant (e.g., Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War), a journalist (e.g., Robert Fisk's Pity the Nation), a humanitarian/witness (e.g., Chris Giannou's much under-appreciated Besieged: A Doctor's Story of Life and Death in Beirut) or, as is the case with Jameel's Iraq Through a Bullet Hole, that of an exile returned, can prove to be far more telling and compelling in terms of dissecting, analyzing and ultimately understanding the human condition than works of virtually any other nature.

Unfortunately, in this case, Jameel's narrative fails to impress. A stranger in his own home, Jameel remains disconnected from the crisis at both the micro- (personal, familial and communal) and macro- (inter-communal, national and international) level; while the author superficially recognizes and addresses (especially at the personal, religious and philosophical level) these disconnections, he never really explores them with precision or in great depth. In the end, the premise, a slice of life of an exile and convert in a time of war, is promising, but the work itself is underwhelming, at best.

A Limited View of Life in Iraq
I had a misunderstanding about the book as I had thought reading the jacket that the author was returning to Iraq permanently. His story touches on a lot of different points so that one not familiar with Iraq could have a general idea of what is going on, but it didn't seem much different than reports made by mainstream media.
The book starts off upon his return and how he had difficulty crossing the border, his first initial interaction with American troops where he questions "What made the solider abandon the beautiful beaches of America to come in this remote desert" (9), his surprise at a man being beaten by Islamic militants for asking for a beer and how the author believes one comes to be a religious extremist. As his nearly 3 month trip continues it seems he goes through a variety of emotions. At first nostalgia and awe at what his country has become, then a half-hearted desire to move back to Iraq and reclaim his old position (that changed quickly) and finally the expected desire to get out of the war zone that was his mother country and return to Australia.
For the reader not familiar with Iraq, its history and varying religions the book can become a bit heavy in spots and hard to follow especially when the author has the religious debates with his brother who is determined to get him to convert from Christianity to Islam and when he is describing geographic locations. The author attempts briefly to explain why the different groups, Shia, Sunni and Kurds all believe their actions are correct and the way of their God.
I think the book could have been a little bit longer maybe 100 pages as I did not feel it showed a broad scope of life for Iraqis at that time. I was expecting more of an insider's point of view, but I guess the author could not really provide one due to his short time in the country and his number of years away. At some points in the book for example when he was trying to locate his house and sell it even I as never having set foot in Iraq shook my head and thought why bother that it would never happen? Reading between the lines I think the author has left several experiences during his time there out of the book. I would have liked it if he went into more detail about why he thought he should move back to Iraq. Other than that the book was ok.

Fascinating Iraqi Perspective on the war
Iraq Through a Bullet Hole is a book long overdue, primarily because the media has provided us with insufficient coverage of the Iraqis' viewpoint regarding the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the American occupation of their country. Issam Jameel has come forward to reveal his experiences in his native Iraq, a country he left many years ago, but returned to in 2005 to mourn his nephew's accidental killing by an American soldier. Jameel does not express his opinions on the war, but reports impartially on events and conversations he witnessed and partook in regarding the crisis within his homeland. The strength of Jameel's story lies in his ability to remove himself from the situation while his background provides him with a more knowledgeable understanding than the Western media, not ingrained in Iraqi culture, can achieve.

Jameel was a playwright of the Iraqi National Theater and theatrical critic for Al-Thawra, the official newspaper of Iraq from 1981--1985. He fled Iraq to during Saddam Hussein's regime and worked in Jordan for an Iraqi opposition radio station. During this time, Jameel converted to Christianity. In 2002, he migrated to Australia where he currently resides. His Iraqi background, his distance from the present situation in Iraq from his years' absence, and his Muslim upbringing and current Christian faith provide Jameel with multiple unique perspectives on the situation in his country. In Iraq Through a Bullet Hole, Jameel reports on his experiences honestly and effectively because of this impartial yet informed view. Any reader who wants to understand Iraq's modern history and the moral and political concerns of the U.S. occupation will be enlightened by this striking memoir.

The viewpoint of the Iraqi people has rarely been heard, but Jameel reports on a variety of his countrymen's thoughts, providing us their actual words, words they would not exchange with Americans or the media, but reserve to speak only within the safety of their family circles. Most Americans, whether in moral agreement about the war, believe the U.S.'s purpose is to bring democracy to Iraq; the media depicts Iraqis desiring democracy, as reflected in the repeatedly broadcast depictions of Iraqis pulling down Saddam Hussein's statue and celebrating in the streets over the American takeover of Baghdad. While Iraqis may have found Hussein's regime intolerable, within a couple years, the American occupation has caused many Iraqis to look back with nostalgia to Hussein's presidency.

The people of Baghdad suffer without the electric grid they previously had, relying on generators they only dare run a few hours a day to air-condition their homes or run their basic electric appliances. Worse, the Iraqis live in greater daily fear of the American soldiers than they did of Hussein. They avoid Americans at all costs, following far behind their military vehicles, constantly afraid to make eye contact with the soldiers, while the soldiers are constantly vigilant and ready to pull the trigger at the slightest suspicion that an Iraqi may attack them.

Americans will be astounded that Iraqis first viewed the war as a United States trick to turn Iraq over to Iran. Nor can Iraqis be expected to welcome the American occupation when for years the United States' economic sanctions against Iraq brought hardship. The presence of Westerners in their land has made many formerly non-religious Iraqis turn to extreme forms of Islam for comfort and a sense of control over their situation. Issam Jameel's family rarely followed Muslim rituals while he lived in Iraq but now his family constantly prays and worships at the local mosques.

The most insightful yet disturbing perspective reported by Jameel was from his own brother, a staunch zealot for Islam. Jameel reports many of his arguments with his brother.

When Mohamed said it was a Christian war to destroy Islam, the discussion developed spontaneously into a religious debate.
"This is not true, why do you assume that America is the representative of Christianity? This is ridiculous! Can't you see that there are many American Muslim soldiers serving with the troops?" I replied immediately, trying to explain that the Western regimes are run today free from religious influences.
I told him that if George W. Bush wants to portray himself as a good Christian by attending a church meeting, that doesn't make him a representative of the Christians in America, because, after all, a lot of churches have been opposing the invasion of Iraq.
In any case, my comments weren't able to change his opinions, and he still assumed that the main aim of America was to destroy Islam, whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, or in any part of the world.
It was easy to see that Mohamed had adopted a radical Islamic perspective, as he made no attempt to hide behind polite words. He declared openly that everyone who didn't adopt Islam should be treated as an infidel, citing the verse from the Qur'an that reads:
"Everyone who follows a religion other than Islam will be one of the losers."
"But the word `Islam' in that verse doesn't refer to the religion," I said. "You must read the verses that come before it, to understand the meaning of the verse. The Qur'an says that everyone who submits himself to God is a Muslim," I added, trying to explain the meaning of the complex word-play in this verse....on this interpretation, a good Christian or a good Jew is a Muslim.

Such conversations allow the reader to visit Iraqi homes, as if the titular bullet hole is a voyeuristic peephole allowing us to see and listen to conversations that would otherwise never be reported to us. Jameel's reporting is not only impartial but his years of exile from Iraq make the changes in his homeland more visible to him than to his countrymen: "I was sure they couldn't fully appreciate the disaster in which they were living, because they had become accustomed to such scenes over many long years."

As Jameel's first book written in English, Iraq Through a Bullet Hole serves appropriately as an interpreter between Iraq and the West. Jameel style has its imperfections--English is, after all, his second language--but his literary expertise as a playwright has served him in making his report memorable. He never dramatizes his experiences, never exaggerates, embellishes or fictionalizes to glamorize or enhance their horror, but relates each event with brutal, straightforward honesty. The Western media has depicted Iraq as through a camera's angle, marginalizing what it does not want its viewers to see; by contrast, Jameel presents an uncensored snapshot of daily life in Iraq during the summer of 2005--a date sadly less than halfway through what may well become the longest war in U.S. history.

The American public has long waited for this informative, unbiased, uncensored Iraqi voice to provide a more accurate evaluation of the United States' military presence in the Middle East. Iraq Through a Bullet Hole belongs on the desk of every congressman and Pentagon official, on the bookshelf of every military family, and in the luggage of each soldier sent overseas. Issam Jameel has given the Iraqi people a voice, which, after all, is the expressed purpose of the United States' efforts to create a new democracy.

-- Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., author of The Marquette Trilogy
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"The interviews crackle with immediacy." -The New York Times

"It is my hope that this outstanding piece of work will reach the widest possible distribution and readership." -Dan Rather, CBS News, on the John Burns interview

EMBEDDED is a collection of deeply emotional and highly personal accounts of covering the Iraq War. Many of the world's top war correspondents and photographers speak candidly about life on the battlefield. Here are articulate and heartfelt descriptions of fear and firefights, of bullets and banalities, of risking death and meeting deadlines.

With over sixty interviews conducted in Kuwait and Iraq shortly after many returned home, Katovsky and Carlson allowed these journalists to step outside their professional role as journalists and examine the lethal allure of combat reporting.

Here is CBS Evening News correspondent Jim Axelrod discussing the perils of racing to Baghdad while despondent over the death of a television colleague and being unexpectedly comforted by ABC News Nightline's Ted Koppel; Newsweek reporter Scott Johnson unwittingly driving into an ambush and then kicking out the windshield of his bullet-riddled car to escape the Iraqi gunmen; New York Times Baghdad Bureau Chief John Burns's brave refusal to be intimidated by his Iraqi information ministry minders; and many, many more.
Each interview in EMBEDDED maps its own personal path and narrative arc, while presenting an emotional window to war and reporting. Taken individually, each offers a unique view of the most-covered war in history. Collectively, EMBEDDED is an eyewitness to history that will do for the war in Iraq what Michael Herr's Dispatches did for Vietnam.
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Customer Reviews (17)

perceptive for a time, perhaps.But certainly not any longer.
This is about the failure of America's good intentions in Iraq in the period immediately following the U.S. invasion:2003-2004.Its author, John Agresto, was the president of St. John's College (Santa Fe branch) who took a leave of absence during that time to help the American forces establish a viable educational blueprint for Iraq's future, particularly as regarded higher education.

Loath as I am to say anything negative about St. John's College, this book struck me as so naïve it was almost funny.(Almost.)Agresto had spent so many years in the Ivory Tower (how much more rarefied an atmosphere can you get than St. John's College?) and then was plopped down in the middle of that mess.

I think the experience made him a lot more conservative than when he went it, but the big problem is his view of Islam.Even after all the horror and destruction he saw, he still, like nearly every writer out there on Iraq, has a vision in his mind of Islam being a certain way, based on who knows what?Wishful thinking?Analogies to Christianity?A sense of what a religion ought to be?He never seems to get that Islam isn't like any of those things.

But even if you don't agree the book is naïve, it's got a far worse problem:it's dated.It came out before the Iraq insurgency really started in earnest, when most of the American population still had hopes that we could engage in "nation-building."

Perhaps worse than both these problems is that Agreso was only in the country for about ten months!Those with more experience in this area will immediately view that as a serious disqualifier.

A must read this election year
It seems that many pundits and politicians visit Iraq only to add credibility to their pre-existing notions.It is a nice change to see someone who bases his views on reality rather filters facts to fit his views.

Not Enough
The author jumps around a lot making scattered points, starting from the premise that Saddam's tyranny was unlike any previous tyranny (Saddam himself had a Ph.D.) and chronicling the many deaths he saw (three dozen professors) while making passing observations about terrorist fanaticism (it's a form of love), intellectual prostitution (teaching), the Iraqi culture (lazy, untrustworthy, entitlement-driven), and USAID screwups.He warns America never to invade a country again "for" a people or in the name of freedom.He makes some small remarks about liberal arts and the lowering of educational benchmarks, but largely this book is a neoconservative recantation.I suspect the author was too closely involved in his topic to write a detached essay on the problems of higher education in post-conflict situations.Look elsewhere for that.

Mugged by Reality
If you truly want to understand the situation in Iraq, you must read this book.

An Innocent Abroad
The power of John Agresto's intellect comes across in this book, especially in the brief but clear discussion of citizenship and civil society.Agresto is a serious academic and thinker, who led one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges.

Unfortunately, the author seems unsure of how to handle himself overseas, in a bureaucracy, in dealings with foreigners, the military, etc. (you get the picture).In this slim volume, Agresto laments over and over about being blown off by junior U.S. government functionaries--seemingly an embarrassing admission of bureaucratic ineptitude, but serially prose-worthy for Agresto.

The author is also hopping mad that his $1.2 billion education mega-plan was not immediately funded and implemented during his brief stay in Iraq, showing perhaps less understanding of national level politics in the United States than one would expect from a political scientist.He's hopping mad that donor nations did not follow through on pledges to fund higher education in Iraq.Oh, and he's hopping mad, personally affronted even, that the problems of Iraq, decades in the making, did not yield to his energy and enthusiasm over a span of nine months, not including leave breaks.He's also hopping mad at the military.Perhaps some Colonel yelled at him in a meeting.

In the end, this book is less about higher education in Iraq, and more about the hopping mad author and his short stint as an innocent abroad. ... Read more

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The End of Iraq -- definitive, tough-minded, clear-eyed, describes America's failed strategy toward that country.

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Customer Reviews (63)

Three entities do not make a state.
First off, this book was written in 2006, when the insurgency was waging full blast in the Sunni triangle.Things have cooled down since that time, American troops are leaving and going to fight in another insurgency in Afghanistan.So the author was wrong about this.He is also wrong characterising the sectarian violence as a civil war.

However, I believe the author makes many great points.First, the Kurds will form their own state at some point.Second, Iraq will be more of a theocracy with the Shiites as the leaders.Finally, Iranian influence will grow in this weak power state.That is why I gave him good markson this book.

The blunders made by the Bush Administration were huge.Inexperienced people leading a major Mideast nation is nothing to be proud of, despite the war.This is a book that shows the issues with the Iraqi conflict.

Still a very relevant book on the Iraq War
This book has been well reviewed by others. I will only add that although I've long been highly critical of the decision to go to war in Iraq, I was still amazed at the level of ignorance among the neoconservative decision makers, and president Bush himself. That he needed to be explained the difference between sunni and shiite muslims a full year after the invasion speaks volumes.

Reading this book two and a half years after it was written was interesting. The Iraq issue was downplayed some in the last presidential election, probably mostly due to the financial crisis, but also because of the perception that the 'surge' strategy worked.

However, if the surge strategy worked to postpone the troubles that will restart once the American troops withdraws, I fear that some will blame the current administration for the ignorance and consequences of the Bush administration.

This book was updated in 2008 (Unintended Consequences: How War in Iraq Strengthened America's Enemies). I hope the author will have time for another update later, for instance in three years. The Iraq issue will probably be an important factor in the Western- Middle East relationship for a long time to come. Well formulated critical thinking, like that provided by Galbraith, will be helpful in understanding the relationship.

Awesome !
Wouldn't I know the war is reality I'd think the plot is fiction. The author served as US Ambassador and has lived the tragedy of the Iraq war up close and personal. Moving insides !

End of Iraq
Wow, what a book! It's time the people knew exactly what goes on in the White House. Peter Galbraith did a super job writing this book. I'm glad some people aren't afraid to tell the truth. I would encourage anyone who likes to read to buy this book. It is very hard to lay down.

The End of Iraq
Excellent book -- insightful, well researched, highly readable account of the whole mess. Peter Galbraith explains the complex history and lays down the facts in a manner that is easy to digest. The End of Iraq should be required reading for all voters and all politicians. What are they dying for? ... Read more

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The Hanafi school of law is one of the oldest legal schools of Islam, coming into existence in the eighth century in Iraq, and surviving up to the present. So closely is the early development of the Hanafi school interwoven with non-legal spheres, such as the political, social, and theological, that the study of it is essential to a proper understanding of medieval Islamic history. Using rich material drawn mainly from medieval Islamic biographical dictionaries, Nurit Tsafrir offers a thorough examination of the first century and a half of the school's existence, the period during which it took shape. She provides a detailed account of the process by which the school attracted ever more followers and spread over vast geographical areas in the Islamic world empire.

Customer Reviews (1)

The early spread of Hanafism
Many people do not realize that in the early period of Islamic Jurisprudence, the so-called Hanafism, Maliki, or Shafiism did not exist as a single school of law. This book under review portrays the complex interrelationship between the sources and the scholars who spread Hanafism during eighth to ninth century. The sources of Hanafi legal systems, the author said, alrealy existed and widely circulated in the eight century, but none of scholars made clear boundaries between Hanafi and other schools of law. That is to say, beside the follower of Hanafi itself, some other scholars who were not part of this circle might spread Hanafism unintentionally. This book also includes a common issue in the development of Islamic history; that is political debate, in this specific case, regarding the election of official qadi in the early Abbasid period. Scholars in this field should have this book. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Highly recommended for academic and community library Iraqi Studies and International Studies reference collections
The beginning of Iraq's transformation from a single-party dictatorship to a multi-party democracy began with the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the subsequent overthrow of Saddam Hussein. As events unfolded it became clear that this was a pre-emptive 'war of choice' on the part of the Bush administration who over the next seven years were to consistently bungle the American occupation of Iraq, the ensuing civil war between warring political and religious factions within the Iraqi population, and the current continuing violence that results in the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi citizens (and the occasion American soldier) every month. That's why "Iraq In Transition: The Legacy Of Dictatorship And The Prospects For Democracy" by combat Marine officer Peter J. Munson is such a timely and useful contribution to our understanding of the political and military forces behind the nightly news headlines from that embroiled nation. "Iraq In Transitions" provides a complete history beginning with how Iraq was formed, the impact of Islam, and the 'rise of the tribes' within Iraq's power structures. Noted is the rise of the Shi'a as a political entity, the Sunni suppression under the Bath party, the post-American invasion insurgencies from 2003 to 2007, Iraq's constitution and elections, and the advances by the American and Iraqi military against the insurgents. Of special note is the concluding chapter regarding what we ourselves have learned from our experiences in Iraq over the past several years and what those 'lessons learned' mean in terms of our future relations in the Middle East and around the world. Enhanced with the inclusion of a selected bibliography, extensive footnotes, and a comprehensive index, "Iraq In Transition" is highly recommended for academic and community library Iraqi Studies and International Studies reference collections, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in understanding the events of the past several years in Iraq and what America can expect in the years to come. ... Read more

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From their limited use in China during World War II, for example, to their often clandestine use in Vietnam ferrying supplies before the war escalated in 1964 and 1965 when their role became more prominent-and public-private military contractors (PMCs) have played made essential contributions to the success and failures of the military and United States. Today, with an emphasis on force restructuring mandated by the Pentagon, the role of PMCs, and their impact on policy-making decisions is at an all time peak. This work analyzes that impact, focusing specifically on PMCs in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Isenberg dissects their responsibilities, the friction that exists between contractors and military commanders, problems of protocol and accountability, as well as the problems of regulation and control that PMC companies create for domestic politics.

Isenberg organizes his work thematically, addressing all facets of PMCs in the current conflict from identifying who the most influential companies are and how they got to that point, to the issues that the government, military, and contractors themselves face when they take the field.He also analyzes the problem of command, control, and accountability. It is no secret that PMCs have been the source of consternation and grief to American military commanders in the field. As they work to establish more routine protocols in the field, however, questions are also being raised about the role of the contractors here at home. The domestic political arena is perhaps the most crucial battleground on which the contractors must have success. After all, they make their corporate living off of taxpayer dollars, and as such, calls for regulation have resonated throughout Washington, D.C., growing louder as the profile of PMCs increases during the current conflict.

Product Description
Newly reissued and updated to engage with Iraq's current, central role in world affairs, Geoff Simons' seminal book presents a broad history of Iraq, from the earliest times to the emergence of modern Iraq in the twentieth century, the power struggles that led to the rise of Saddam Hussein, the Iran-Iraq war, the 1990-91 Gulf war, and the continuing depiction of Iraq as a 'rogue' nation. Lending objective analysis to a comprehensive historical account, such crucialfactors as the West's historical influence in the Middle East, the prolonged Western support for Saddam Hussein and the US manipulation of the United Nations are profiled. This book encourages a deeper understanding and a deeper ethical perception of the "Iraq question".
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Customer Reviews (3)

Iraq: From Sumer to Post-Saddam
Excellent book for a concise and sufficiently detailed overview of Iraqi and related regional politics. I had read this book a few times before as a first edition, and although the post-Saddam period was of less interest to me (I'm writing a book related to the 1960's to 1980's period), it is still an excellent book to pick up again - informative and very readable (not too dense and academic). The author is clearly no fan of the colonial or imperial powers that manipulated Iraq (as it became)and the region over many decades. However, the book is balanced and by no means a polemic tirade against those powers. Worth having on the shelf.

Author's personal prejudices are too distracting
The history in this book is fair, but not particularly insightful.It consists mostly of facts and successions, but with little in the way of cultural understanding.The author's fatal flaw is that he makes his own religious bigotries very apparent, making the book almost unpleasant to read.This review is based on the 1994 edition, so it's possible some of this has been removed in later editions.

Good historical context but nothing new.
Simons is very critical of the Bush & Clinton Administrations, as well as Arab dictatorships.He exposes much of the hypocrisy of western Realpolitik as applied to the Gulf.But is it really a surprise that bigpowers have selfish interests?Simons gives an excellent historicalcontext but is weak on current trends and economics.He offered littleproductive insight or proposals to resolve the situation.I hoped for morecommentary from the normally insightful Tony Benn in his too-briefintroduction. ... Read more

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From its ancient Mesopotamian roots to its recent status as a hotbed for international debate, Iraq has long been a nation of vital significance. The controversies surrounding Saddam Hussein’s regime, oil, and weapons of mass destruction have brought all eyes to this complex land. Inside Iraq helps make sense of Iraq’s longstanding travails, assembling fifteen accessible, insightful essays by many of the world’s preeminent writers, historians, journalists, and scholars. The pieces included in this collection examine the history, people, and modern conflicts of this contested country as it struggles to survive and evolve in a time of crisis. Contributors include Tony Horwitz, Michael Kelly, Milton Viorst, Raymond Bonner, David Rose, Evan Thomas, Freya Stark, and many other distinguished writers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

not terrible, but not great either
To begin, the target audience for Inside Iraq is/should be those that have done next to no reading about the country previously.If have more than just a passing interest for the subject and have followed up on it, then you most likely will not learn anything you didn't already know before.I bought this book several years ago for very cheap and won't get rid of a book about Iraq, but at the same time I don't want to have books sitting on my shelf that I haven't read...even if they're average books at best.

This is an edited text with multiple authors.Books like this can alway be hit or miss...in my opinion this book too often misses.Some of the contributors and their contributions are quite good, such as the Cockburn brothers, Said Aburish, and Efraim Karsh, but I found that at least half the book was unorganized and didn't really accomplish anything beyond giving the reader a very vague sense of Iraq.

With the exception of the Aburish piece, I found the first section of the book, The History, to be all over the place in its presentation and not helpful at all in understanding the history of Iraq.One part in particular was especially troubling.In the very first article written by Milton Viorst, he states: "Iraq is not a democracy-for one thing the press is tightly controlled-yet neither does it seem to be governed in defiance of the popular will."I was stunned when I read this.A statement like this that is so patently false coming on page 29 of a nearly 300 page book almost made it seem not worth reading.Luckily subsequent articles were better, but give me a break.

Several other reasons I found this book to be less that helpful is that firstly, there is no subject index at the end of the book.Why this was left out still puzzles me.Secondly there are no cited sources or references.The Cockburns' piece came from a book of theirs that I have read before and that had cited sources.This means that they were consciously removed for inclusion in this book.I think it does a disservice to those wanting to know more about Iraq when they are denied a look at where these authors are getting their information.Often times one of the most valuable parts to a book is being able to piece together a future reading list of works cited.Unfortunately this was not the case with Inside Iraq.

My response to a book like this is that if you're going to take the time to read about Iraq, you may as well take the time to do it right.Books on the subject written by the authors mentioned favorably above would certainly be a good place to start.

great articles, sloppy editing
This compilation of previously-published articles about Iraq was evidently rushed to press in December 2002 when it looked like the United States might go to war with Iraq, and unfortunately the haste shows.Still, I have to recommend this book on the basis of its fascinating and very readable content.

The writers include journalists (such as Milton Viorst of the New Yorker), academics (such as Efraim Karsh of King's College London) and even a couple of "adventurers" (such as Freya Stark).The articles were well-chosen and from the first page to the last I was learning new things about Iraq, the Middle East, and politics and international relations in general.For example, while I had a vague idea about Kurds and Sunnis and Shiites before, now I really understand the historical tensions between the groups, the key figures involved and the future implications for the country."Inside Iraq" achieves what it sets out to do, providing an excellent introduction to a country that claims much of our attention these days.Whether you are a hawk or a dove or are undecided, you'll benefit from reading this book.The articles do sometimes overlap, but it was actually nice to hear the story from another writer's perspective.Likewise, a few pieces were dated, but it was interesting to see what was known/believed at the time.

On the down side, there are an inexcusable number of typographical errors, which I am confident did not appear in the original versions of the articles (if the essay by Tony Horwitz is anything to go by).For example:"Hussein does not lake [take] criticism well...Ibrahim suggested that Hussein step dawn [down] temporarily in order to pave the way far [for] a negotiated cease-fire...Whether or not this incident actually task [took] place..."Ugh.To find so many errors in one chapter would be bad enough, but on one page?One can only conclude that transcription of the articles was done electronically, and whether for reasons of budget or time no human was involved in proofreading the final document.

Biographies of Miller and Kenedi are not provided, but in addition to this book they have edited "Inside Islam", "Inside Israel" and the somewhat less impressive sounding "Muhammad Ali: Ringside" and "San Francisco Stories".

A Quick Iraq Sampler Overview
Short articles by various authors with varying opinions is the strength of this collection......BR>I found it to be a fine introduction to the topic and it prompted me to read more.Paul Williams Roberts piece had me in stitches.Considering the serious nature and how upsetting the reality of life in Iraq can be, this was no small feat.
I learned a tremendous amount for a small bit of reading.The articles can be redundant and certainly overlapped topics.I actually found this helpful from a credibility and retention standpoint.
If you can get a copy on loan or at a discount price, I highly recommend it. .....
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Product Description
In March 2004, Caleb S. Cage and Gregory M. Tomlin deployed to Baquba, Iraq, on a mission that would redefine how conventional U.S. military forces fight an urban war. Having led artillery units through a transition into anti-insurgent rifle companies and carrying out daily combat patrols in one of the region's most notorious hotspots, Cage and Tomlin chronicle Task Force 1-6 Field Artillery's year on the ground in Iraq and its response to the insurgency that threatened to engulf their corner of the Sunni Triangle.

Rather than presenting a snapshot dominated by battle scenes, The Gods of Diyala presents a wide-angled view of the experiences of Cage and Tomlin and their comrades-in-arms. They assess the implications of their experiences, starting with their pre-deployment training in Germany and ending with the handing over of duties to their replacement brigade at the close of their tour of duty. They discuss frankly their impressions of the benefits and liabilities of working with embedded journalists and relate both their frustrations with and their admiration for the fledgling Iraqi security forces. From chaotic security planning to personal debates on the principles of democracy, both authors discuss how Iraqis perceived the value of their first post-Saddam elections and the political future of their country as it tries to reinvent itself in the wake of a dictator's fall.

The Gods of Diyala gives a new and personal perspective on the second stage of the ongoing war in Iraq. Students and scholars of military history will find its insights meaningful and informative, and general readers will enjoy its thoughtful, well-measured narratives of a year spent trying to protect a fragile nation as it struggled toward democracy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Very self serving
I served with both authors in Iraq.I was at the police hq for my entire deployment and knew Tomlin.The authors left out a lot of facts and credit for the other units in Baqubah.After reading this book one would think that 1-6 FA did all the work not true.There was a large role played by a Natl Guard unit at the police hq.They also failed to mention the role of Special Forces in the area and the work of civil affairs and psyops.
There was no "Green zone" in Baqubah more attacks and car bombs went off between the goverment buildings than the authors thought.It wasn't a matter of if you would get hit it was when.I also did not like the bias the authors showed.They seemed to only include their buddies in the book.One of the officers was sent over because of incompetance.He was good in a staff role but when a convoy he was accompanying got hit he went into panic mode.I know i was treating casulties and returning fire.
For me it was interesting to read about the area i fought in and to see the photos of people i knew and made friends with.Other than that it was very self serving and typical of a ringknocker and still serving officer.Me and some of my battle buddies are working on our own book project which will tell a better story.Get it from the library.

A Must Read!!
If you are looking for a book to provide you with an accurate portrayal of the daily ins and outs of life in a non-conventional urban combat zone....look no further.

I very much enjoyed each page of this book.As the authors mention we live in a society where information is distributed worldwide in a blink of an eye, and more often than not that information is merely a variation of what events actually occurred.And with a war that doesn't necessary have the highest `global buy-in'...distortion is probably more prominent in Iraq than anywhere.This book gives you the straight forward answers you need to determine that we as a nation are indeed doing the right thing to help liberate an otherwise oppressed people.

This book should be a mandatory read for school systems nationwide.It seems that all too often this conflict gets the naïve assumption to be about money and oil.This book displays the great perils that our men and women in the armed forces face daily to provide the Iraqi people with basic luxuries that we take so much for granted, such as casting a vote in an election, sleeping safely in their homes, ect...

You can see the pure passion that Cage and Tomlin had not just in serving their country, but to help rebuild a corrupt and corroded nation.The actions of the Iraqi people in this book make it evident to me that we are indeed doing the right thing.

Thoughtfully conceivedand crisply written...
In their book, The Gods of Diyala: Transfer of Command in Iraq, Cage and Tomlin present an unvarnished account of the problems and perils faced by two U.S. Army lieutenants in the early days of the Iraq war.

Arriving in the dangerous Sunni Triangle during the months following the fall of Saddam Hussein, and commanding infantry platoons comprised of recently retooled artillery personnel, these officers faced daunting challenges. Language and cultural problems, ruined infrastructure, extreme weather conditions, mutually antagonistic religious sects within the local population and a murderous insurgency of imported Al Qaeda fighters, all presented seemingly insurmountable obstaclesto accomplishing their mission of helping bring about the nation's first democratic election.

Thoughtfully conceivedand crisply written, The Gods of Diyala, takes the reader along with American ground forces down the alleys and on to the rooftops of Baquba, as they battle well-armed and unrelenting insurrectionary fighters. Moreover, the book provides a unique glimpse into the sometimes-ambiguous attitude of U.S. infantry troops toward "imbedded" news teams; especially during that early, chaotic period when American forces were developing (largely through trial-and-error) effective tactics for combating this unexpected and aggressive insurgency.

The Gods of Diyala is an account of war refreshingly bereft of bravado and ego. Yet, this unembellished and unpretentious narrative of sacrifice and achievement could not more highly honor the officers and soldiers of 1st and 3rd platoons, C Company, Task Force 1-6.

The Gods of Diyala: Transfer of Command In Iraq
Being someone who doesn't really enjoy reading or have the time to read outside of work, I am really enjoying this book and every second I get, I try and read at least a chapter.

The book is interesting and is written in a way that allows the reader to actually feel what the authors were seeing and going through during their tour of duty.

I really am enjoying the book.

Waste of Money!!!
A pathetic fictional comedy.To hear U.S. Army Lieutenants whine about their missions in Iraq and their leaders is disgusting.DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY BUYING THIS BOOK!!!If you would like to buy a book to teach the next generation how to fail as leaders... buy this book now!If you are looking for a book to professionally develop your soldiers...LOOK ELSEWHERE.A chest thumping portrayal of everything combat leadership should NOT be.You cannot turn a page in this book without the authors complaining about fighting in combat.Newsflash gents...I'll refresh your memory on the mission of the Infantry...it is"The mission of the Infantry is to close with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver to defeat or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat, and counterattack".So my question is, if that's what you did...why do you feel the need to tell the whole world about it?To vent your frustrations?To make yourself feel better?A true warrior accepts his plight in life (see above..."mission of the infantry")and doesn't feel the need to solicit the rest of the world to help him feel sorry for himself.Hopefully these sorry excuses for leaders are not serving our country anymore.If they are, I feel sorry for the soldiers they are leading.These boys persecute the media, their leaders, the U.S. government and this country, while they put themselves on a never-ending pedestal.Shame, shame, shame.I would expect more from men trained to lead this country's sons and daughter's into combat with distinction...as for me Amazon.com is getting a very quick return!!!
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Customer Reviews (5)

Very well written, but unfortunately incorrect
I read this book when it was first published, and the general consensus in the media was, "we surrender."At the time it seemed a very well written (if troubling) list of the mistakes we had made in both Iraq and Afganistan.As far as I knew, our missions in the theater had both been complete failures.

Unfortunately for the author, recent history has proven him wrong.It is as if someone had written a book on our defeat in the Revolutionary War while our troops were still holed up in Valley Forge.By all indications we were indeed on the road to defeat; however, typical of the American people, we turned the situation around and ultimately triumphed.

This book has ultimately been shown to be a perfect example of journalists so desperately wanting something to be true, that they write about it before it even becomes a reality.I would say that our troops won the war *despite* books like this.I hate to sound like a fascist, but this sort of propaganda almost makes me wish the government censored books like they did under FDR.

Out of Date
This book should be read--as an instructive in the mindset that more recent events have proved wrong. It's quite amazing that this book should be out of date so quickly.

A futile occupation
How often do we hear the mantra that what went wrong in Iraq was the absence of a plan for the reconstruction of the country following the invasion? There is a list of familiar villains, not least Donald Rumsfeld, who was eventually forced from office for his failure to anticipate the realities of a country shattered not just by the coalition assault but by the 12 years of severe sanctions that preceded it. Paul Bremer, the colonial viceroy who decided to disband the Iraqi army (so creating a pool of potential insurgents), and refused to pay officers' pensions (so providing them with motivation), is another. It was Bremer too who insisted on radical de-Ba'athification, apparently oblivious of Ba'athism's ideological roots in pan-Arab nationalism, something far deeper than the brutal dominance of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen.

In this argument we see the outlines of a neocon apologia. The idea was sound, but the execution was poor, hence the disaster. Trust us, we'll do better next time. This is the approach that gets such short shrift from Jonathan Steele in Defeat:Why America and Britain Lost Iraq (Counterpoint 2008). Argued on the basis of first hand experience of Iraq throughout the period, Steele maintains that given the country's historical experience and social structure, there was no possibility that a prolonged occupation of any kind could have succeeded. Not only that, but those who planned the war should have known this, or should have been so advised by their experts in the field. This leads to three questions: why was an occupation doomed to fail; could a short campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein, followed by speedy withdrawal, have met the coalition's goals; and why were governments, particularly the British government, so badly advised by their diplomatic specialists?

On the first question Steele's case comes down to his statement that "failure to understand ... Iraqi patriotism was the single biggest mistake made by Bush and Blair". With not a shred of social science expertise between them, the leaders of the West saw the alternative to Saddam as a society of passive individuals with no thought other than to prosper in a free market context. About Islamism (among both Shias and Sunnis), about Iraqis' long direct experience of British imperialism after 1915 or about their exposure to US actions across the region from Iran to Israel, Bush and Blair knew nothing. They had no idea of the sense of humiliation foreign dominance of their country would be bound to generate in Iraqi minds.

Could the coalition's goals have been met by a hit-and-run attack on the Ba'athist state followed by a rapid handover to relatively benign Iraqi elements?The main weakness of Steele's book is that it sometimes implies that they could. But while the successor state to Saddam in such a scenario might well have reflected Iraqi national aspirations, there is little to suggest that these would have been acceptable to a coalition with a strategy, in Steele's words, "for giving US oil companies control over Iraq's resources and for threatening Iran".

Finally why, to add to the collective professional suicide of the British intelligence establishment over WMD, and of the legal establishment over the lawfulness of the war, did the Foreign Office get the probable Iraqi response to the invasion so spectacularly wrong? It was not inevitable: before the war president Chirac of France warned of "the fragmentation of Iraq, and turmoil throughout the region with Shias being in charge in Baghdad and Tehran". By contrast at the FO "Moqtada was unheard of".

Of course the UK lacked an embassy in Iraq, and therefore immediate engagement with Iraqi society. But Steele hints at another reason: the dominant culture of linguists and regional specialists at the Foreign Office - including the Camel Corps of Arabic speaking officers who had served in the Middle East - had given way to a new breed of management experts. Maybe the Iraq war is what happens when you subordinate professional judgment to organizational goals.

Insightful grounds-eye view of a fiasco in the making
Excellent read which provides an inside view of the arrogant cultural disconnect that made a bad idea even worse.The invasion could have been a liberation, but mismanagement by neocon ideologues quickly turned it into an impossible occupation. Mr. Steele provides "boots on the ground" insights which only reinforce the informed reader's macro view of the last five years of U.S. involvement in Iraq.


Bob Philbin

Superb study of a criminal war
Jonathan Steele, the Guardian's Senior Foreign Correspondent, has written an outstanding account of the war on Iraq. He argues that from the start the occupiers were bound to lose and that they have in fact already lost. As the Iraq Study Group said in December 2006, "The situation is deteriorating ... The ability of the United States to shape outcome is diminishing."

Why? Because nobody wants foreign troops in their country. As Steele writes, "Most occupations fail. In the Middle East, they fail absolutely." People there have a deep sense of national dignity, honour and sovereignty.

Opposing Saddam Hussein did not mean supporting the occupation, as Blair and Bush thought, in a mirror-image of their slander that opponents of the war were supporters of Saddam. After the invasion, some Iraqis thought `thank you and goodbye', but most thought just `goodbye'. The majority have consistently wanted foreign troops out immediately and approve of attacks on them. 92% of the unfortunate US troops in Iraq also want to leave within a year.

The occupiers have not achieved the politicians' claimed goals of democracy and a pro-Western regime, nor will they. More people have been killed in the occupation's five years than in Hussein's 32 years. Mass detention of innocent civilians in a brutal counter-insurgency war breeds resistance not support. In 2004, the USA estimated there were 5,000 insurgents, in 2005, 16,000, in 2006, 20,000 and in 2007, 70,000. 2007 was the deadliest year yet for the USA.

In a poll last December, 85% of the people of Basra thought that the British occupation had a negative effect; just 2% thought it positive. The British forces are serving a political, not a military, purpose. They are Downing Street's hostages.

Blair blames the continuing violence in Iraq on `blowback from global terrorism', as if it was a natural but unfortunate effect of his good war. But the war is a defensive war against foreign invasion not a clash of ideologies or of civilisations.

To the US and British ruling classes, victory is the only exit strategy, but their `victory first' means exit never. Staying is a trap, not a strategy. Exit is the only good option and the sooner the better.
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Product Description
Extensively researched, painstakingly documented, and dedicated to the courageous men and women who fought and served in the First War with Iraq, this is a factual military history of Operation Desert Storm-and the only readable and thorough chronicle of the entire war.From the first night of battle to Day Two, when Saddam struck back, to G Day and the eventual cease-fire, accomplished military historian Richard S. Lowry delivers a detailed, day-by-day account of each battle and every military encounter leading up to the liberation of Kuwait.Desert Storm was a war of many firsts: America's first four-dimensional war; the first time in military history that a submerged submarine attacked a land target; the Marine Corps' first combat air strikes from an amphibious assault ship; the first time in the history of warfare that a soldier surrendered to a robot; and more. And it was an overwhelming victory for the United States and its allies.Intentionally presented without political commentary and ending with a complete listing of the heroic Americans killed in Desert Storm as well as a battle timeline, glossary, bibliography, and resources, The Gulf War Chronicles provides a much-needed understanding of the nature of modern-day, high-tech warfare and honors America's collective resolve and commitment to freedom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great for U.S. Military War Buffs but Not Entirely Definitive
As a previous reviewer already mentioned, The Gulf War Chronicles isn't entirely an all-encompassing account of the 1991 Gulf War - with material mostly coming from U.S. sources and from the U.S. perspective - but it's probably the best book that attempts to be that at the moment. Although the author's intent was to make the book a "factual military history", I sensed pretty much right off the bat a skewing of facts to give readers an even more favorable impression of the U.S. effort. In the first chapter, the reason given for the first U.S. casualty of Desert Storm, LCDR Michael Speicher (who I admire as a hero), was one of several things that hinted to me that this might be a big U.S. Military propaganda piece.

The book makes the claim that the aircraft he was in was downed by a surface to air missile when almost all real evidence that exists - the wreckage that was found, accounts from members in his flight, and an account from the intel officer charged with determining the cause for the downed aircraft - has indicated that LCDR Speicher's plane was shot down by another aircraft. I got the feeling the account given in the book was an attempt to perpetuate the idea of U.S. invisibility in air combat, which made me wonder if I was going to get a lot more propaganda than a pure and balanced history of the war. Gladly, I didn't get that feeling as much as I thought would happen as I continued to read through.

Overall, it's a great overview and military account of Operation Desert Storm, especially from the Coalition perspective. I purchased this book, however, thinking it was a completely comprehensive and balanced analysis of the war which is why it didn't quite fit the bill for me.

One sided with serious factual errors and omisions - but the only book that covers the war in any detail.
This book is drawn almost entirely from US sources with no attempt to find any Iraqi sources to confirm or refute the assertions made. At one point the book asserts that the Gulf War was "the largest armor battle of all time" (p.172 and x). BIG MISTAKE!. Somebody forgot (or ignored?) the battle of Kursk (with 3 times the number of vehicles and twice the number of men). The battle of 73rd Easting is well reported except for the obvious omission that all of the M1 tanks knocked out were hit by friendly fire (this omission appears to have been an explicit choice). And that's just scratching the surface.

Also the order of battle at the back of the book only records Coalition forces, a bias which pretty much sums up the book.

On the plus side it's the only book that covers the war in any detail, and establishes a firm timeline of events. However, if you want more than 50% of the story, you are going to have to wait for someone to write a more balanced account.

A solidly presented historical account
Written by Richard S. Lowry (a veteran of the United States Nuclear Submarine Service during the Vietnam War), The Gulf War Chronicles: A Military History Of The First War With Iraq offers a minute-by-minute chronological description of Operation Desert Storm. Drawing upon information, interviews, and diversely informative resources ranging from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August of 1990 to the September 11th attacks upon the United States, The Gulf War Chronicles is a solidly presented historical account and offers great insight into the complex interplay of events upon a world stage -- events that continue to have a reverberating impact in the current global war against international fundamentalist Islamic terrorism.

Enlightening.
My boss recently asked me to research the first war with Iraq as background for an article. I found that this book, unlike the others I read, was well researched. In addition, the tone was not condescending, which was refreshing. Richard Lowry went beyond the story as told by CNN or CBS, digging deeper and uncovering the real story. Excellent book!

Great work!
It is now over 13 years since Operation Desert Storm began on January 16, 1991. Given the length of time that has passed, one startling fact is evident in the Desert-Storm Community, there is no single work that provides an accurate day-by-day, hour-by-hour account of Operation Desert-Storm, from the onset of hostilities until the cease-fire declared at Safwan (extensively covered in Ally to Adversary: An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace by Rick Francona), until now.

Richard Lowry's The Gulf War Chronicles strives to fill this void and to do so in detail, yet still provides a fast-paced read.

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Product Description

The attempt in 2004 to draft an interim constitution in Iraq and the effort to enact a permanent one in 2005 were unintended outcomes of the American occupation, which first sought to impose a constitution by its agents. This two-stage constitution-making paradigm, implemented in a wholly unplanned move by the Iraqis and their American sponsors, formed a kind of compromise between the populist-democratic project of Shi'ite clerics and America's external interference.

As long as it was used in a coherent and legitimate way, the method held promise. Unfortunately, the logic of external imposition and political exclusion compromised the negotiations. Andrew Arato is the first person to record this historic process and analyze its special problems. He compares the drafting of the Iraqi constitution to similar, externally imposed constitutional revolutions by the United States, especially in Japan and Germany, and identifies the political missteps that contributed to problems of learning and legitimacy.

Instead of claiming that the right model of constitution making would have maintained stability in Iraq, Arato focuses on the fragile opportunity for democratization that was strengthened only slightly by the methods used to draft a constitution. Arato contends that this event would have benefited greatly from an overall framework of internationalization, and he argues that a better set of guidelines (rather than the obsolete Hague and Geneva regulations) should be followed in the future. With access to an extensive body of literature, Arato highlights the difficulty of exporting democracy to a country that opposes all such foreign designs and fundamentally disagrees on matters of political identity.

Product Description

Contesting History: The Bush Counterinsurgency Legacy in Iraq uses a comparative analysis of history to assess the Bush administration's actions in Iraq, focusing specifically on the policy of counterinsurgency. Insurgency exists within an extended timeframe and exhibits a global reach, argues comparative warfare expert Matthew J. Flynn. Therefore, understanding this phenomenon is best realized through an examination of guerrilla conflicts around the world over time; this book provides that approach.

The work analyzes U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine during the Iraq War from 2003 to the present, and offers relevant historical comparisons to conflicts dating back to the mid-19th century, in which a nation enjoyed marked military superiority over their enemy. In doing so, it encourages readers to link the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the broad context of the utilization of counterinsurgency operations to achieve policy objectives. Ultimately, the book illustrates how the tactical "military" success of the U.S. surge in Iraq still nets a strategic failure.

Product Description
As the American diplomat chosen by President Bush to direct the reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq, L. Paul Bremer arrived in Baghdad in May of 2003. For fourteen danger-filled months, he worked tirelessly to realize the vision he and President Bush share of a free and democratic New Iraq.

MY YEAR IN IRAQ: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope is a candid and vital account of this world-shaping task and the daunting challenges lying in wait. With his unique insider perspective, Bremer takes us from the ancient lanes in the holy city of Najaf to the fires of a looted and lawless Baghdad; from the White House Situation Room to the Pentagon E-Ring; from making the case for more U.S. troops to helping Iraq's new leaders write a liberal constitution to unify a traumatized and divided Iraqi people. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (53)

A book that tells the reader almost nothing
The main reason a reader would desire to purchase a memoir such as this one is to obtain some insight, by the author, that is truly unique to the author's experience or position. Hence the question becomes does this book provide any unique insights from the author's experience or position? Unfortunately the answer is an unequivocal no.

Bremer, unfortunately, does not elaborate on almost any of the issues that a person in his position (Ambassador to Iraq and de facto head of state of Iraq) should have. For example, there is no discussion whatsoever regarding his relationship with Bush in terms of his license. Did the President give him great decisional latitude in making his decisions? Small? How involved was Bush in the decisions Bremer made, especially the important ones such as disbanding the Iraqi army? Unfortunately Bremer does not discuss this at all.

Bremer also, unfortunately, does not discuss in any great depth his most important and controversial issues. With respect to one of the most important and controversial, if not the most important and controversial (the disbanding of the Iraqi army), Bremer literally only has two or three sentences to say. Basically that he thought it was needed to De-Bathify Iraq. This is the extent, literally, of his discussion. There is no mention of any possible dangers of this strategy (i.e., the resulting unemployment of hundreds of thousands of well-armed and combat experienced troops, the loss of this labor pool for post construction work such as building or guarding infrastructure, etc.). It is as of Bremer totally dismissed these potential problems altogether. Other individuals such as Sanchez, in his memoirs, were quite scathing of Bremer with respect to this decision, as were many other career members of the Defense Department (as opposed to political appointees such as Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz).There is also little serious discussion in the book either of important relationships and interactions with the State Department and Defense Department and the main players. There is not even a mention of other major decisions, for example providing foreign companies investing in Iraq with permanent tax holidays.

Hence, in the one area the book can make the greatest contribution to, it adds absolutely nothing.The reader comes away, after reading the book, knowing as much as he or she did just from reading the mainstream press (i.e., New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, etc.) while events were unfolding in real time.

In addition, Bremer despite his extensive experience in foreign affairs (i.e., almost 20 years in the State Department in a variety of positions such as economic and commercial officer, Ambassador to the Netherlands and Ambassador-a-large for Counterterrorism under the Reagan Administration as well as years in the private sector serving as a consultant for counterterrorism) simplifies the analytic framework in his book to the point of insulting the reader. Throughout the book, perpetually, Bremer states that his goal (and that of the U.S. in invading Iraq) was to "end tyranny" and "build" democracy. Even the most simple minded person could not find it hard to believe, however, that the U.S.'s main goal in invading Iraq was the fear of Saddam building up an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (even Karl Rove admits to as much in his memoirs ["Courage and Conscience"]).Considering that Bremer, again, barely even touches upon the issue of weapons of mass destruction (maybe one paragraph in the whole book) this comes as no surprise.

On the positive side the audiobook is well read and is never monotone. Unfortunately this does not make up for the book's other major problems.

3 and half stars for an interesting first person account
Paul Bremer provides a clear and concise look at the state of affairs in Iraq under the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) during his tenure as the head of Iraq.There are many lessons to be learned from what happened in Iraq and the understanding that this was to be the largest reconstruction project since Germany and Japan is often lost on many people who study this area.It is amazing to see the state that Saddam had driven the country to during his tenure.A moderate middle class was completely destroyed, technocrats were virtually eliminated and the prized Saddam army vanished into almost thin air soon after the occupation began.What is also clear from Bremer's account is that the United States and its allies had no plan whatsoever for how they were going to shape postwar Iraq.From bureaucratic struggles to the confusion on command and control structures (CPA was transferred from Defense to NSC midway through his tenure) the situation in Iraq was a mess even before the CPA got started.

Now the main problem with this book is simply a lack of sources. We have someone who reports on a lot of private meetings but we have no way to verify what actually occurred.There are no corroborating documents available from either intelligence, military or domestic source to help compare this account.This book can only serve as a firsthand account from Paul Bremer's point of view and while that should not be dismissed out of hand just because of lack of supporting evidence it does need to be taken with caution. For those who are looking at what happened in Iraq from someone who was on the ground this is an interesting book to read but more reading to understand the whole story is in order.

What a moron -- just shut up & go away
I wouldn't advise anyone to waste time or money reading the justifications Bremer proffers in his book to whitewash his terrible record in Iraq. He should keep quite and disappear from the public forever. He is neither an administrator nor a diplomat, and had no business accepting this task. Bremer bungled the CPA from beginning to end, and miraculously caused $$millions (some say billions even)of our tax-payer $$ to disappear (into his pocket??.. hmmm... we will never know as the Bush admin covered that up pretty quickly). Not to mention having allowed / ignored / participated in / the organized looting of Baghdad's museums' priceless treasures. I later met several of his shifty cohorts (not all Americans, thank the Lord for small mercies) who have reinvented themselves into "humanitarian aid workers" in various African countries, and are still engaged in syphoning away funds intended for victims of famines and natural disasters.

How I destroyed a country with PowerPoint
Absolutely necessary memoir, necessary as in memorable and self-serving for the diplomat-turned-colonial-governor Paul Bremer.

Pulled from the private sector for the unique job of...governing a country we just invaded and that he knew nothing about, Bremer spent a year or so carefully writing mails, putting together presentations, and travelling around with big flak jackets as he carefully managed to wreck a country through a number of 'administrative' actions that probably made a lot of sense in his office.Included is the disbandment of the Iraqi army, which drove Al Qaeda recruiting to record highs and made the multi-gazillion dollar US investment in...an Iraqi army a future milestone to mark in PowerPoint.He tried to do the right thing, but darn it, Iraq was a tough company.Eventually, his software licenses expired and he had to pack it in and head home.

I always knew PowerPoint was dangerous, but to read of it handled with such awesome power that it managed to literally tear apart a country in around a year, I can only imagine what he is doing in whatever job he now has in the private sector.

Freedom Medal please....
Hey L. Paul,you cost your country like 2 trillion dollars and a loasd of blood, can we have our Freedom Medal back? ... Read more

Product Description
The name "Chaldeans," as applied in the last five centuries to Aramaic speaking people of Mesopotamia, is meant to indicate their linkage to ancient Mesopotamian ancestry and culture. In history, Chaldean was the last universally acknowledged term to express Mesopotamian identity. Chaldeans, since 1000 B.C.E., were Aramaic tribes; their language, and the Babylonian culture that peaked with them, are the most precious legacy that is kept alive today with contemporary Chaldeans. The presence of more than one hundred thousand Chaldeans in the United States highlights the demand for this resource book, which comprises a bibliography of sources that deal with the history and culture of Chaldeans, past and present. In this comprehensive depiction of Aramaic tribes of Mesopotamia, Ray Kamoo explores the ancient and modern periods, the civil and religious influences, and the pagan and Christian heritage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

the only one
The Review that seems to put down this book is a bit harsh and low-leveled, I am an American Chaldean and although Ray didn't talk much of Chaldeans in the Present living in America or Iraq.I moved to chicago a year ago and this was when I first learned about Assyrians.My (middle-eastern) teachers use me as an example when the Assyrians come up, but they all understand that I am Chaldean even though there aren't many here.I think the review is by someone who must have been very mad about something.I think the person who wrote the review must have been looking for something that doesn't exist. This person should stop wasting time writing reviews and should maybe write their own book on the subject (since this person is so critical of this book) and teach all of us about our history since this person seems to know so much. No other books even come close to capturing the subject the way this does.

No relation between ancient and modern Chaldeans
The author who belongs to the Chaldean Catholic Church makes many unsubstantiated claims in his book. Facts are that there is no relation, whatsoever, between the ancient Chaldeans and the modern day Chaldeans. The ancient Chaldeans lived predominantly in southern Mesopotamia, today's southern Iraq, while modern day Chaldeans live exclusively in northern Iraq, 400 miles to the north. There is no serious scholarly reference about any massive migration from southern Iraq to northern Iraq to justify the presence of ancient Chaldeans today in north of Iraq. Even when the ancient Chaldeans helped their allies the Medes (Persians) to sack Assyria, it is documented historically that it was the Medes (Persians) who controlled northern Mesopotamia, while the ancient Chaldeans returned to control southern Mesopotamia. Facts are yet that the today's title Chaldean was given by the Vatican to the Nestorians (members of the Church of the East) who became Roman Catholic, first in Cyprus in 1445, then in Diyar Bakir (Turkey) in 1681, and finally in Mosul (Iraq) in 1830. Every single history and theology book about the Christians of Asia or Iraq attest to this fact. Today's Chaldean title is a religious denomination of the Assyrian people, it does not represent an ethnicity.The following books are a sample reference: 1. Hagarism by P. Crone and M. Cook2. The Eastern Christian Churches by Ronald Roberson 3. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone 4. The Middle East:A Physical, Social and Regional Geography by W. B. Fisher 5. Asshur and the Land of Nimrod by Hormuzd Rassam.

Excellent coverage of the Chaldeans
Having a long-time interest in ancient history, it's nice to finally see a good book on the Chaldeans.Prior to attaining this book, I had not found any materials that had covered the Chaldeans in such a comprehensivefashion.The author gives a good backdrop to the peoples that occupied thearea prior to the Chaldeans and how the Chaldeans finally came to power. This type of information was certainly not easy to find before thepublication of this book.In addition, the bibliography portion of thebook is extensive!I have already begun researching the listings that areprovided.Dr. Kamoo has made finding articles and books on the Chaldeansthat much easier for historians and lay people alike. ... Read more