Publisher Description
The Washington Post’s former Baghdad bureau chief, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, takes us into the Green Zone, headquarters for the American occupation in Iraq. In this bubble separated from wartime realities, the task of reconstructing a devastated nation competes with the distractions of a Little America—a half-dozen bars, a disco, a shopping mall—much of it run by Halliburton. While qualified Americans willing to serve in Iraq are screened for their views on Roe v. Wade, the country is put into the hands of inexperienced twentysomethings chosen for their Republican Party loyalty. Ignoring what Iraqis say they want or need, the team pursues irrelevant neoconservative solutions and pie-in-the-sky policies instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity production. Their almost comic initiatives anger the locals and fuel the insurgency.
This is a quietly devastating portrait of imperial folly, and an essential book for anyone who wants to understand those early days when things went irrevocably wrong in Iraq.
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“Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran is the most impartial book about America’s first year in Iraq that I’ve found so far. Rajiv spends a lot of time criticizing Bremer, who rightly deserves it because of many of the decisions he made while serving as the Administrator of Iraq. I was in Iraq during the last 6 to 7 months of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and saw the effects of a lot of his decisions first hand. If you’re looking to form your own opinion about Iraq, this is one of the better books to use as one of your resources. I’ve rated it 4 out of 5 stars because although it is the most impartial book I’ve found so far, Chandrasekaran does draw his own conclusions at times that are only partially informed.”
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Jak (4 out of 5 stars)
