In the Belly of the Green Bird: The Triumph of the Martyrs in Iraq (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: brotherhood list, foreign fighters, The Heart of the Insurgency, The New Mongols, They Will Be Next Time (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rosen minutely charts the course of Iraq's rapidly metastasizing sectarian conflict, which he observed up close from the immediate aftermath of Baghdad's fall in 2003 to the elections of January 2005. A fluent speaker of Iraqi Arabic and a freelance journalist, Rosen gained an impressive measure of access to both the Sunni and Shia resistance, dissidents and ordinary Iraqis, attending sermons at mosques and visiting tribal meeting halls across Iraq—from Baghdad to Tikrit, Najaf and Falluja to Kirkuk. The title is a reference to the Islamic idea that martyrs' souls are flown to heaven in the belly of a green bird, the book serves as a window onto the rhetoric, ambitions, strategies and historical context of the numerous violent groups struggling for power. From interviews with major Shia, Sunni and Kurdish players, Rosen reports that most people primarily want the U.S. out, while newly arrived foreign jihadis, radicalized by the American occupation, are at war with Christians, Jews and Shia Muslims. Despite the book's choppy chronological organization and Rosen's workmanlike prose, the end result represents brave reportage and significantly increases our understanding of what Rosen describes as an already raging civil war. (May 8)
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Product Description

Nir Rosen has been hailed by The New York Review of Books as the reporter who managed to get inside Fallujah "at a time when it was a death trap for Western reporters," and as one of the few Western reporters able to report the truth from Iraq. Still in his twenties, a freelancer who has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and Harper's Magazine, Rosen speaks Iraqi-accented Arabic and has managed to report from some of the country's most dangerous locales. Even The Weekly Standard notes that "he probably has more sources in the insurgency than any other American reporter."

Rosen knows better than anyone how much the Americans are hated, and how deeply the Sunni Iraqis hate the Shias and vice versa. He has listened to the insurgents, and he knows that they will never rest until the Americans are gone. Too many Sunnis and Shias are willing to use violence for Iraq to ever have peace. The overthrow of Saddam has proved to be nothing less than a triumph for the martyrs who use violence at every turn.

Ever since the fall of Saddam's regime Rosen has been in and out of Iraq, from north to south, listening to Friday sermons in mosques, breaking bread with dangerous men, interviewing political henchmen, joining Shia pilgrims, and listening to ordinary Iraqis who face American soldiers on raids in the Sunni triangle. He has had to plead for his life at times, and he has received more than one death threat. He has been pres-ent when bombs were detonated, and he has sat in meetings of insurgent leaders as they made policy decisions about territory they controlled. He has heard the double messages of Iraqi leaders -- the careful English messages for Western ears and the unvarnished hostility in Arabic -- and he has interviewed politicians and imams and seen how the insurgents and gang leaders create militias, private courts, prisons, security services, and more.

In the Belly of the Green Bird is a searing report, unlike any other book about the American experience in Iraq. Almost everything covered in the Western media has been at least one or two steps removed from the minds and acts of the people who will determine the future of Iraq. Some of them are peaceful, some are violent. Some of them hate one another with the intensity of ancient enemies. The depth of discord between Sunnis and Shias is difficult to fathom without listening to them. Their anti-Americanism is much more recent, but not much less intense. The divisions within this cobbled-together country, much like those within Yugoslavia after Tito, are simply too intense to contain.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743277031
• ISBN-13: 978-0743277037
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #95,420 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the oft ignored Iraqi perspective, April 21, 2006

By	Gil (Los Angeles, Ca) - See all my reviews

Rosen's book is a must read for anyone interested in discussing the Iraqi conflict. It provides fascinating and much needed insight into the events of the last three years from a little known perspective - that of the Iraqi population. The reality on the ground proves to be in stark contrast to the platitudes fed by the administration as well the general media which is limited with respect to its access due to both safety concerns as well as an uninviting indigenous population. Rosen's recklessness for his safety seems a blessing as numerous insurgent commanders are interviewed and Rosen leaves no stone unturned.
The book is rather comprehensive in its detailing of the conflict and the various demographics in Iraq. The writing style, though at times uneven, generally proves to be an ideal blend of of vital information and history together with interviews, experiences and anecdotes detailing Rosen's journey throughout the country. The traces of cynicism which decorate the book sporadically hint at Rosen's misanthropic tendencies yet are easily forgiven considering his extended exposure to the various extremes of the cultures he explores.
Overall most of the book is extremely readable (an unexpected page turner at times) and though many of the details and names will escape the reader at its close, the perspective and knowledge gained is invaluable. Perfect for a course on modern Iraqi politics, urban military conflicts and the like.

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read for the brainchildren and early supporters of the war, May 15, 2006

By	Clayton E. Swisher (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

Finally, at long last, a readable, credible account arrives that objectively peers inside the Iraq insurgency to explain its foundation, motivation, and evolution.

After culturally emerging himself with Iraqis of every stripe, Rosen writes from a decidedly non-Western perspective, demonstrating a mastery not only of both Shia and Sunni sects of Islam but the complicated and failed history of colonialism in Iraq as well.

Many professionals I know are reading his book carefully to understand what perhaps our Washington-juandiced eyes have been unable to see: that the stigma of occupation runs deep in the Middle East, especially in Iraq, and that no matter how much planning or preparation might have been applied, the US invasion of Iraq was doomed from the start.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nir Rosen reports; You decide.., June 9, 2006

By	Joe Briggs (manchester, nh United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nir Rosen provides the most credible, fair and balenced (sorry Fox, you've seemed to have blown it again!) report on the evolution of thought across the critical spectrum of players in Iraq. His middle-eastern looks, his fluency in Arabic, his respect of the culture, his persistent curiosity, and his unwaivering nerve gave him confidential audience to the major figures in the post-invasion Iraq. He details the Iraqi perspective of the American forces from greeted liberator to hated occupier as countless US stategic blunders and cultural disrespect allowed the insurgency to take control of what is now a failed state in the early stages of civil war. Most importantly Rosen digs out the fact, reports accurately from the field, and leaves the spin to Fox and the AEI. A must-have book for anyone seeking the truth on this sad period in American history.