Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real sleeper among Iraq books, November 23, 2006
I can't remember how this book was brought to my attention, but I am glad that it was. I took a break from "Cobra II", "Fiasco", and other "big books" about the war to get these guys' "off the beaten path" perspective. I'm a longtime independent traveler and, although Baghdad is not on my list of current destinations, I can readily understand how and why these guys blundered into Baghdad. The book is great fun because of the "slacker" attitude and the perspective that's outside the usual journalistic channels. My guess is that "the guys" had a lot of help writing this. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a little embellishing, but I'd also guess that some of the wildest stories are the most credible.
Essentially, two professional screw-ups decided that their love of dangerous destinations warranted a trip to Baghdad. Despite the security measures in place there, the guys made it across the border and took up residence, initially outside the Green Zone. The book is full of soldiers of fortune, NGO workers, courageous Iraqis, and the mix of US military personnel, embassy types, military contractors, and journalists. The guys eventually wind up running a small aid operation as part of the effort to set up a viable NGO infrastructure in the country.
The book's strengths include its first hand descriptions of the Green Zone and non-Green Zone Baghdad, the guys' interactions with ordinary Iraqis and their perspectives on some of the "innovations" in Iraq (e.g., reliance on contractors, national guard, and Hertiage Foundations-connected interns). They also mention the little discussed problems of drug use among the military (and just about everyone else), particularly steroids, stimulants, and benzodiazepines. The book is unflattering in its description of the occupation administration and the military contractors (who operate in a legal grey zone) come off as arrogant and troublesome for the occupation, while the national guardsmen come off as dolts. Other books such as Crawford's "The Last True Story.." paint a different picture of guardsmen (Crawford was in the Army National Guard himself, and is one of the few accounts to talk about drug use among the military), but the view of the contractors seems consistent with other sources.
The book clearly goes for the absurd and other accounts would suggest that they probably had much from which to choose. Along the way, the guys befriend a variety of soldiers, embassy folks, NGO types (Iraqi and Western), and ordinary locals. They largely stumble into doing aid work and the lead author comes to enjoy it and develop some expertise. Along the way, friends die or slip into substance abuse or insanity, and the whole seen finally becomes too much. The book is a vivid adventure and great fun in places, although one never loses sight of where this all takes place. Even if you know that the war has become a "fiasco", that interns from the Heritage Foundation aren't the way to rebuild a country, and that Baghdad is a dangerous place, the book allows you to see these things from fresh perspectives. There's probably too much about the authors' previous lives in the early parts of the book, but otherwise, this is an adventure worth reading.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I was impressed, April 7, 2007
I just finished this book and was impressed with these guys' observations and their obvious concern for the Iraqis' plight. They went there almost as a lark then couldn't avoid seeing the ramifications of the conflict. They did take the bull by the horns and did what they could to help, even though nothing anyone could do would be enough. They did seem like doofuses at times but I don't think that matters to the book. I didn't like all the drugs and alcohol and wonder how they survived, but still they seem to have meant well.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Read, February 21, 2007
This book reminded me of P.J. O'Rourke's classic 1980s Rolling Stone articles. The authors provide an interesting outsiders' description of Baghdad circa 2004. While they worked and lived (most of the time) within the Green Zone, they were no strangers to the surrounding areas. Their descriptions of the restaurants, bars, hotels, pharmacies and housing in the surrounding Red Zone were a highlight, as were their descriptions of the military personnel (generally favorable), security contractors (not so favorable), and assorted reporters and social workers. After reading of the authors' trips to the suburban slums to pass out clothing, Sadr City will no longer be just a location I hear mentioned on the nightly news. The authors left Baghdad just as things were starting to really deteriorate, and many of the places they frequented outside the Green Zone are no longer safe for Americans. (Not that they were all that safe even then. An example is the evening the authors were near a massive hotel bombing.)
The map at the front of the book was extremely useful for following the authors' Baghdad adventures. All in all, a fast-paced, enjoyable way to learn about the post-invasion Iraq you don't hear about on the cable news networks.
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