Imperial Life in the Emerald City is the best account I have read of why the American occupation of Iraq has gone so drastically wrong. It is an exceptional piece of work, well researched, well written and well judged. Having lived the Iraqi story for over 30 years, from advising Saddam’s government on Iraqi-American relations to resigning in protest against his use of chemical weapons, I cannot remember a book that does more to enhance our understanding of the country than this one.
On the whole the quality of reporting on Iraq since the American invasion has been dismal. There have been editors of national dailies telling us that Osama bin Laden is King Abdallah’s mother-in-law; a book written by two journalists, supposedly authorities on Iraq, failed to mention King Ghazi at all; and Saddam has been saddled, exclusively, with the crime of oppressing the Shias. In fact the Shias have been oppressed since before Saddam was born.
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