This one took a while to get going. It is about 2 reporters in Iraq during the Iraq vs Iran war in the late 1980s, a guy and a women that also get together on their different foreign assignments. They have a sort of relationship going but since neither really has a home is tough. The book also focuses on a few people in Iraq, a painter & his father and the painter's wife and her father. This is a rough time in Iraq with the war going on and Saddam really exerting his power and control over the country. The latter part of the book, the female correspondent comes upon a Kurdish village where chemical weapons were used and the whole village was killed. The male correspondent is in Southern Iraq at the trenches of the war and witnesses the roped together line of Iranian kids forced to walk to the Iraqi side--setting off the land mines to clear the way for the Iraqi tanks. Both of these really did happen and is a powerful reminder about how awful this war was. It is remarkable that Saddam and the leaders of Iran remained in power after this war. Book written in 2007 so after we went after Saddam twice and finally taking him out. This 2nd invasion of Iraq and the aftermath was a wrong approach that hindsight shows--many saw before hindsight but back then I was a believer in the Bush admin for their reasons. The cost to America, especially in lives but money & resources as well was too great but the removal of Saddam hopefully proves to be a good thing for Iraq maybe in long term. Iran without Iraq to balance the power of that area, Iran has assume more power in the region and has become a player in terrorism throughout the Middle East--how this is possible with that horrendous leadership is beyond me. I hope there are change for the good in both countries and the region soon.
I have posted this book on PBS, it is the only copy but since older--published 2007--not sure it will be going anywhere anytime soon.
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