Customer Reviews

Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq

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Absolutely fascinating book and 100% accurate. I first heard Dahr Jamail in a documentary called "The Bases Are Loaded" about the American military mega-base/city/colonies in Iraq. Well he is one of the few to speak accurately about this subject. I spent 2.5 years as a civilian truck driver in Iraq and can attest to the HUGE GINORMOUS permanent bases (indoor swimming pools, outdoor pools, multi-story gyms, massage parlor, PX (as large as Walmart), 24hr AC barracks, big screen tvs, boxing rings, etc). We have set the stage to run Iraq and control our little puppets for centuries (not decades) to come. It is truly shameful and embarrassing. Thankfully there are still some credible journalists left willing to expose the truth.

Dahr Jamail is one of the only unembedded journalists covering the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and this is his published report. 'Beyond the Green Zone' is a harrowing account of a brutal occupation which refuses to be covered and discussed honestly in the corporate media. Jamail has uncovered a record of war crimes and crimes against humanity that is difficult to stomach; he has finally brought us the much needed perspective of the Iraqis themselves as they struggle to live in a torn country under military occupation.

This book is a compelling documentation of war. Jamail has uncovered horrendous atrocities in Fallujah and elsewhere, and he has debunked the view that the military objectives include the submission of the warring factions and the implementation of a democratic government. On the contrary, Jamail has revealed that the U.S. has often delayed elections and decision-making processes in an attempt to escalate the sectarianism and increase their military presence in the region. He has exposed the intentions of the U.S. as well as its puppet government in Iraq with regard to its attempt to control the oil resources of the region. Jamail writes: "On February 26, 2007, Iraq's cabinet approved a draft of an oil law that would set guidelines for nationwide distribution of oil revenues and foreign investment in Iraq's giant oil industry. The law would grant regional oil companies the power to sign contracts with foreign companies for exploration and development of oil fields, and open the door for investment by foreign oil companies" (287). Jamail has unearthed the practices of an imperial project in a compelling and first-hand account. Beyond the Green Zone is indispensable literature for anyone who wants to understand what is actually happening on the ground in Iraq.

Last Monday I saw Mr. Jamail speak in Philadelphia. Having returned from Iraq in April I am still hesitant to listen to what other people have to say about Iraq because most people simply do not know what is going on. Mr. Jamail does a great job in this book of looking at things with as an objective eye as he possibly can. He does not tout himself as the hero of the book which is what many journalists / travel writers have done. The book is much like his speaking style, direct, efficient, and clear.

All of America, starting with the highest levels of government, should read this book.

There are portions of the book I disagree with, but all in all, five stars.

If you consider it important to be informed this book is a MUST. The mainstream media cannot be counted on but we can be grateful that Dahr Jamail had the courage to go and find out what was really happening by going to Iraq unprotected by the US military. This is the real story that the mainstream either neglects or censors. Find out what is being done in the name the US bringing "freedom and democracy" to Iraq. Though sobering, it's fully readable, in fact it is a page turner. If you want to know the facts, and the faces behind them, this book is required reading.

In this beautiful harrowing book, Dahr Jamail tells the story of his time living and reporting on the streets of occupied Iraq. He writes with dedication, passion and accuracy. Finally here is a book about the children, the mothers and grandfathers, the land and the deep culture that are Iraq. It is also an eloquent condemnation of the role of the media in destroying that country as it sells the war for the corporations that benefit from it year and after year. Each chapter Jamail compares what he experienced first hand with what was reported in the in the US. The difference is staggering. Jamail reported on torture months before it became news. His accounts of Falluja have still not been reported. And the stories of countless massacres that have been covered up or changed are shocking. Jamail's courage and critical thinking (which might be the same thing) shine through his narrative. If everyone would really take in the story of this book, the wholesale destruction of Iraq for the profit of a few people which Jamail lays out here would be so outrageous that we could not let it continue.

A very disturbing and moving eye-witness account of the war in Iraq, more accurately characterized by the writer as a foreign occupation. Dahr Jamail demonstrates incredible personal and professional integrity as he brings to life in this slim volume the stories of those who are most impacted by the war: the people of Iraq. This book seriously challenges the notion that foreign occupation can bring about liberation. While told primarily from an Iraqi perspective, it gives both objective and subjective accounts of atrocities that war ultimately brings about. Reminds me of the saying, "absolute power corrupts absolutely."

I've just finished Dahr Jamail's Beyond the Green Zone and it is a stunning book that is such an important read for anyone who wants to know what is really going on in Iraq. While our media and politicians debate and posture, Jamail brings us the voices of Iraqis, telling of their day to day experiences under the invasion and occupation. And as one of the few witnesses to the battles of Fallujah, his voice is crucial to our understanding of Iraq.

This is a very human book as well as exceptional journalism - and one that should be widely read.

In his book Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq, Dahr Jamail has revealed to concerned people the true face of war. Devastating, personal and direct, his prose cut through the misinformation of corporate media. Jamail tells the true story of the people of Iraq, ordinary people like you and me, people who are suffering from the deliberate creation of a war that goes far beyond the Green Zone. If we are as brave as Jamail, we can see the effects on our daily lives. If not directly affected by having family members on any side of this godforsaken war, we can still feel the emotional toll that war takes. The toll that we pay is called separation and numbness. It is also a death toll, still on the rise. Jamail gives us a narrative from inside to understand the full spectrum of despair in Iraq, making his book required reading for all people who yearn for peace.

Beyond the Green Zone is a horrifying and disturbing read, but I highly recommend it. There's a demented joy to learning the truth no matter how horrible when you know you've been lied to for so long.

I can hear the criticisms now: How do you know you've been lied to? How do you know this book is true? But such critics never seem to realize that they are accepting the approved White House and Major Media storyline on faith and only being skeptical of ideas that challenge that chorus.

That's one way you know it's a lie: the chorus. When they're all saying the same thing, something is terribly wrong. It's human nature: When a reporter is embedded with a group of men with guns, their only means of protection in a hostile environment, is that reporter really going to criticize their unofficial bodyguards? Look how long it took for the American media to finally use the label "civil war" after years of referring to "sectarian violence."

There are several major groups that this book damns: 1) the military 2) the media 3) the corporate contractors and of course, 4) the war criminal planners: not just Bush and Cheney but the "think tank" junta for which Bush and Cheney are merely the public face.

A lot of Americans would likely be deeply offended if they were compared directly to a docile or fearful populace of Nazi Germany as that regime carried out genocide. However, that's what it appears is happening: genocide of the Iraqis while most Americans sit back and argue over who supports the troops more.

For those of you who are simple-minded, this is not an insult to the troops, and neither is this book except in the way that drawing attention to someone's actions serves as an insult because those actions are despicable.

This is the only thing I've read in the almost five years of this war that attempts to find out what the liberation promised by the war criminals Bush and Cheney looks like. What it looks like is nothing that I'd want to be liberated for: mass chaos, murder, impure water, no access to electricity, random bombings, collective punishment for neighborhoods that will not turn over insurgents, etc.

I greatly appreciate Mr. Jamail bringing the perspectives of the common Iraqi to readers world-wide. Where else are we hearing the voice of the Iraqi-on-the-street? What other media outlet greets the official military line with such skepticism?

Read this book and call for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney as well as an investigation into their activities with a view toward criminal prosecution. Thank you.

Larry Nocella
author of the novel, Where Did This Come From?
Available on Amazon Kindle!

The US learned one thing from the Vietnam war...control the reporting of material which is critical of the war.

The Bush decision to embed journalists with the military and censor reportage aroused suspicion in my mind. I sought alternative reportage to obtain a balance . "Beyond the Green Zone " confirms what I learned from independent sources and I am grateful to Dahr Jamail for his courage and determination to expose the deception.