The Iraq War Blog, An Iraqi Family's Inside View of the First Year of the Occupation [Paperback]

Faiza Al-Araji (Author), Raed Jarrar (Author), Khalid Jarrar (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

George W. Bush invaded Iraq, a sovereign nation that had never attacked the US, on March 19, 2003. Much of what occurred inside Iraq was not covered by the US media. The Jarrars, a family living in Baghdad, explore through their words how their lives were affected as the American military and coalition allies devastated the city. They persevered through night attacks and daytime missile strikes that oftentimes wreaked destruction to their home by blowing doors off hinges and breaking windows. The Jarrar family, while chronicling their daily lives amid the destruction, also provides descriptive analyses of the political climate that resulted from the American occupation of the country.

"In The Iraq War Blog, we at long last get to hear the voices of people who have been iced out of the U.S. corporate media: Iraqis, on whose behalf this war and occupation have supposedly been waged. Raed and Khalid Jarrar, and their mother Faiza al-Araji, offer powerful, heart-wrenching and eloquent testimony about the inhumanity of a misguided war and the futility of occupation. This book makes it possible to tune out the pundits who know so little and got it so wrong about the war, and instead, enables this extraordinary Iraqi family to be our guides to their country and their future. 'Nothing will change until the people wake up,' writes Faiza. She, Raed, and Khalid provide the call to wake us from this nightmare and point a way forward."
— Amy Goodman (host of Democracy Now!) and David Goodman, co-authors, Standing Up to the Madness

"The Iraq War Blog depicts life in the trenches for those Iraqis who have survived the occupation. The Jarrar family is a testament to the strength and conviction of all Iraqis who see through the smoke and mirrors of the Bush administration; they are not fooled, they are empowered."
— Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Mom and Human Rights Activist

"...reading [the Jarrar family's] daily thoughts as the days of the invasion and occupation passed, we as westerners can glimpse the source of the bitterness that the Iraqis taste."
— Steve Conners and Molly Bingham, Directors, Meeting Resistance

About the Author

Faiza Al-Araji is a civil engineer and worked as the executive manager for the family's water treatment firm in Baghdad. At the start of the war, she began working with local Iraqi non-governmental organizations to assist people with food and medicine. Due to the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq, Faiza moved to Amman, Jordan, in December, 2004 where she has continued her humanitarian activities by voluntarily organizing campaigns to collect funds to help Iraqi refugees with food and medical supplies. Faiza maintained two blogs during the war, The War Diary and A Family in Baghdad, on which parts of this book are based.

Raed Jarrar is an Iraqi political analyst currently based in Washington, DC. After the US led invasion, Jarrar returned to Iraq to become country director for CIVIC Worldwide, the only door to door casualty survey group in post war Iraq. He then established Emaar, (meaning 'reconstruction' in Arabic), a grassroots organization that coordinated with political leadership and civil society throughout Iraq in order to rebuild Iraqi civil society and physical infrastructure. On the environment, he worked as consultant and translator for UNEP Japan to preserve Iraqi marshlands. Back in the US, Jarrar canvassed door to door with California Peace Action to solicit support for an initiative urging Congress to outlaw the maintenance of permanent US military bases in Iraq. Most recently, Jarrar became the Iraq Consultant for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Washington, DC. Jarrar endeavors to advance discourse between Iraqi leaders and members of the US Congress. He is also a contributing writer and analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus and AlterNet.

Khalid Jarrar is a 25 year-old environmental engineer, who lived in Baghdad until he was forced to leave in July 2005. A media activist, he has worked with several non-governmental and media organizations since 2003. Khalid also maintains a blog, Tell Me A Secret, and has been hosted on major and small media outlets in interviews and political programs throughout the world. He has produced a series of documentaries about Iraq for the CBC, which were well-received by audiences. Khalid now lives in Amman, Jordan with his parents.

Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: Second Chance Publishing (June 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971679509
• ISBN-13: 978-0971679504
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,398,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A history we must not repeat - so learn from it!, July 5, 2008

By 

MZ in SF (San Francisco CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Iraq War Blog, An Iraqi Family's Inside View of the First Year of the Occupation (Paperback)

Finally, a way for Americans to see the true cost of this insane war to the Iraqi people, who as noted in other reviews, never invaded us, never attacked us, and didn't have any Al Queda (or WMD, for that matter) until we got there. I have read the book - I've been a regular reader of "A Family in Baghdad" blog since its inception. I have corresponded with Faiza, Raed and Khalid (and younger brother Majid) off and on for 6 years. Their stories have made me cry, and shout, and rage against the Bush war machine. If you have any doubt about the enormity of the crimes "we" have committed against these people - of the oldest civilization on the planet, please read this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories from soldiers of the Iraq war are commonly heard - but what of an Iraqi in Baghdad during the worst of the war?, October 10, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Iraq War Blog, An Iraqi Family's Inside View of the First Year of the Occupation (Paperback)

Stories from soldiers of the Iraq war are commonly heard - but what of an Iraqi in Baghdad during the worst of the war? "The Iraq War Blog: An Iraqi Family's Inside View of the First Year of the Occupation" is what the subtitle outlines - a look at the controversial conflict from the perspective of the invaded. A day by day account of experiencing the destruction of their home in the name of the war on terror, "The Iraq War Blog" is an intriguing viewpoint rarely heard in our ongoing national debate over the necessity of the Iraq War. "The Iraq War Blog" is enthusiastically recommended for personal, academic and community library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.