Customer Reviews

Inside the Resistance: The Iraqi Insurgency and the Future of the Middle East (Nation Books)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book will disappoint anyone looking for a detailed examination of the Iraqi insurgents. The author is a reporter who has bravely gone to dangerous places in Iraq and has returned with some fascinating stories. Unfortunately, these are snapshots and don't give a very coherent picture. The book as a whole is poorly organized, perhaps a rush job to stitch some short pieces of reportage into a larger whole. As an Arab, the author appears to have greater rapport with Iraqis than a typical Western journalist might have, but the book doesn't really get inside the heads of the Iraqis enough to make me feel like I understand what they are thinking.
Some big questions the book could have grappled with but did not:
What really happened in cases in Fallujah and elsewhere in which American forces apparently gunned down civilians in angry mobs, inflaming the population? Would a larger US force to prevent looting, as some in the book advocate, have led to more violence against civilians, further increasing resistance? Was the insurgency really fed by the indignities recounted in the book, or did some elements just seize on these events because they wanted to fight for other reasons? What role did religious and ethnic tensions play in creating the insurgency? Was there anything the US could have done to dampen the insurgency, such as handing Iraq over to the UN right after the invasion? Was and is there anyone to negotiate with in order to allow the US to exit an Iraq not mired in civil war?

Overall, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Zaki Chehab is one of those ultra-daring reporters that has penetrated the lion's den to bring us the story of what it's like inside the Iraq insurgency.

Chehab is absolutely mesmerizing when discussing his personal experiences and connections in Iraq. For example, he meets with a pen pal from his childhood who corresponded with him for many years while Chehab himself was growing up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Chehab looked his old friend up when he was sent to Iraq as a reporter and actually got to meet him. He discovered that his friend was very sympathetic to the insurgency, and Chehab is brilliant in sharing what eventually happened to his friend and his family. It is through this prism that some amazing insights and a very unique perspective are revealed to western readers, who generally get just one side of the story.

The only failing is when Chehab rehashes the well-known storyline of the invasion and then the occupation and then the voting and all the politics involved. This information, while helpful to the uninformed, will most likely be a tedious bit for readers that are even moderately educated about the Iraq war. But don't let that dissuade you - Chehab's personal encounters with insurgents and the Iraqi people makes for a great read and more than makes up for the slow parts. This book will definitely widen one's knowledge and perspective of what's going on in the Land of the Two Rivers.

Few journalists have had such open access to the secretive world of the insurgents. Chehab's book will not only serve to explain the turmoil of the past year ,but alsowhere Iraq is now headed and the impact that the country will have on the fate of th eentire Middle East.

The recent developments in Iraq , and the scale of killing which is taking place in this country convinced me more and more that the mistakes commited after libertaing this country from its dictator Saddam Hussein should have been avoided if we have relied on experts in the region affairs rather than ignorant advisors, as it was highlighted in this unique and fascinating book .

Very insightful book. Only the first chapter or so is really about "inside the resistance." The rest of the book is a detailed history of events surrounding Iraq's modern history and the lead up to the current war. I recommend this to anyone who is looking to 1. understand what motivates the Iraqi insurgency and 2. obtain a cohesive understanding of current events in the Middle East and how they relate to each other.

I would have to somewhat concur with the preview review. It did although clear alot of misconception I personally had about the population makeup. I do think it sympathies a little too much with the insurgency.

I was disappointed with this book. There was only one chapter (Chapter 1) where the author actually dealt with his in-person experiences with the insurgency. This chapter is actually good and it made me want more of the same. Unfortunately the rest of the book is a rehash of Iraq history that can be found in many other books (for example see Dilip Hiro). I feel that the hype on the back cover : "Where Western Journalists Fear to Tread" really is a bit misleading, given that there is simply not that much in-person experience with the insurgency. Most of the book "treads" in familiar venues such as the Green Zone and among Iraqi expatriates in Washington DC and London. I realize it is deadly dangerous work covering war, (even more so when you are not "embedded" with the occupying force) but someone needs to do it and frankly this book has not done it.

Also some editing needed to be done. There are some nitpicky flaws, one of which is that on page 170 we read :

"the Grand Ayatollah of the Shia in Iraq, Sayed Sistanti"

as if this was the first mention of Sistani's name. However there is a long discussion on his role in the post-war period on page 157.

You would think a book called "Inside the Resistance" would be jammed packed with insurgent information. Unfortunatly, this book contains three chapters on the resistance, the rest of the book covers such topics as Abu Ghraib, Iraq's Political Neighbors and the Elections.

All great topics of note, but not what I was looking for. If I wanted to read about Abu Gharaib, then I would find a book called "Abu Gharaib".

Having said all that, the few chapters that did dwell on the resistance were informative, and well written. In fact, the whole book was decent.

If you're looking for a primer on Iraq, through Iraqi eyes, then this book may be a good starting place. If you're looking for key information on the Resistance, then you may find about 100 pages on the topic in this book.

In this day and age of partisan journalism it is imperative to examine any issue with not only a fine-tooth comb, but a magnifying glass as well. This is especially true for Zaki Chehab's Inside the Resistance: The Iraqi Insurgency and the Future of the Middle East. Although Chehab's courage to examine a difficult topic in one of the most dangerous places in the world is commendable, the reportage tends to be rather weak and often tremendously biased. He views the present situation in Iraq as black and white. Members of the resistance arefreedom fighters and the US troops are occupiers. This is fully within reason if one is writing a polemic, opinion piece, etc. but it does taint journalistic objectivity, and indeed, Chehab is marketing his work as real journalism. Furthermore, the evidence that the author provides is less than assuring. In tracking his sources through citations, many seem less than reputable, and clearly one-sided.

I was hoping to find a thought-provoking and enlightening work on the current bedlam that is Iraq; an in depth analysis of the current insurgency, i.e. players, motivations, etc., in order to understand the situation, but instead I found a disorganized, biased, and poorly written diatribe against the US. I commend the publisher, The Nation, for taking on a lot of controversial topics, and welcome their alternative views, however they must put out a more professional product if they hope to maintain any legitimacy.

After reading several other books on Iraq and the insurgency, one good one being No True Glory, I was dissapointed with this book. It promises to be enlightening but I was soon dismayed to see Mr. Chehab showing his narrow mindedness and heavily lopsided slant on events in Iraq.

At some point around page 100, he simply makes observations that are based on word of mouth and/or have no solidilty to them. Worth reading if you can borrow a copy, and yes, things have gone wrong in Iraq for the US and Coalition, and yes, bad policy and other things can be blamed for the mishaps, but when Chehab rams down your throat how proud Iraqis and Arabs are in general, and how they place dignity very high and being embarrassed is the worse thing that could happen to them etc, he some how sees that rough handeling of prisoners and letting GI K-9 units enter Iraqi houses as more of a crime then the murderous frenzy conducted by Iraqi civilians against 4 US contractors in Fallujah, in which the four were shot to death, light on fire, dismembered, drug through the streets by a donkey cart, and then hoisted over a bridge.....somehow, as being a human being with a brain, I can't see how letting a dog in an Iraqi's house is worse behavior then shooting, burning and disgracing corpses...all of which are against Islam itself.