I first heard about this book when flipping through GQ and read a blurb suggesting it. I’d been looking to get a new book so I picked it up a few days later. Dexter Filkins, a New York Times writer, has been in the Middle East for almost 10 years and recounts his travels in the pre-US invasion times from 1998 Afghanistan, all the way up to Iraq in 2007. Essentially a large collection of anecdotes from his time there, they’re categorized into different sections that focus on an aspect or two of the region.
Beginning in Kabul in 1998, Filkins is witnessing Shar’ia law being carried out in the middle of a soccer stadium (think the Kite Runner) where he is shown thieves who have had a hand cut off. They’re taken out of the stadium and replaced by a blindfolded man who is accused of killing another man. The victims’ family refuses to grant clemency and as is their right, execute him. All the while, airliners are taking off from a nearby airport which creates this mix of ancient laws meeting modern technology. He jumps a head to his time during September 11th and then his return to Afghanistan during the invasion. A scene that stood out in my mind was his description of the Taliban fighters and the B-52s, which they could see coming from miles out but already knew that they were dead and so they would wait in the hole that they were in, praying. Another line that was pretty poignant was when he says “The only people who came to kill were the Americans and al-Qaeda,” which he says after describing the Mujaheddin fighters.
After his time in Afghanistan he goes to Iraq where the rest of the book takes place. During his stay he talks about the transformation of the country who was once excited about the US liberation but quickly becomes agitated and then outright hostile at the continued occupation. As an American he was at one time treated like a king but near the end of his stay he can barely run anywhere at night for fear of kidnapping or assasination. He speaks to many Iraqis and clearly illustrates the sharply divided opinions of them, some excited at the prospect of a western democracy and freedom while others question the move and only care for the safety of their family and having a steady job.
Filkins is also embedded with different branches of the military, in particular a Marine contingent during the Falluja offensive. Again he illustrates that there is no clear consensus among those prosecuting the war as some question why they’re there and what they were accomplishing while others felt like it was the right thing to do. In particular, a Colonel who was bringing democracy to a city so quickly that Paul Bremer told him to slow the process down, is also in charge of bringing a neighboring city under control by means of M1s plowing through buildings, barbed wire, and artillery barrages.
Not all is doom and gloom. Filkins brings a very humanistic element to the book and mixes in funny bits that could best be described as flickers of hope in the darkness. He tells the story of a young captain who held an “auction” of a beautiful blonde woman in their company to bring all of the males out from a town so that the rest of the soldiers could search homes for weapons and confiscate them. There’s also another mostly humorous (a Marine was killed beforehand, leading to the situation I’ll describe) encounter with a sniper who is in a building. After having thousands of rounds shot at him, a 2,000 pound bomb, two 500 pound bombs, an artillery barrage, and an M1 attack the building, still manages to ride off on a bicycle.
I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in the region, be it politically, religiously, or militarily, will find it a very informative read. Filkins does a wonderful job of remaining relatively neutral in his recounting of the tales and does an admirable job avoiding making the book pro- or anti-war, rather, he relies on interviews with soldiers, sheiks, ministers, and average citizens to paint a picture that the reader can interpret. Definitely pick this up.
