Jeden z lepszych opisów Iraku po inwazji amerykańskiej i próbie zaprowadzenia w nim demokracji. Gdyby ktoś sięgnął do tej książki wcześniej wycofywanie wojsk z Afganistanu nastąpiłoby znacznie szybciej.

This was so well written and presented effectively to give sensitivity to every class of person in Iraq before the US invaded in the country in 2003. He also stayed there for a year after. This is one of the better books I have read about the country of Iraq and its people as well as internal and external conflicts.

Recommended for those wanting to know about Iraq at that time. I would read more nonfiction by this author.

Simply disturbing and awful and beautiful.

A serious look at the US invasion of Iraq from a Muslim point of view. It takes some endurance but gives one a look at the world in this way. We all know the invasion was based on a lie and should not have happened. The next two problems pointed out in the book is the US had no cohesive plan on what to do next; and had no concept of the Muslim world. The book points out the significant differences between different groups of Muslims; endless conflicts between them and shows me there was no good way to engage in or end that war. Though the two main sects within Islam, Sunni and Shia, agree on most of the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam, a bitter split between the two goes back some 14 centuries. The divide originated with a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as leader of the Islamic faith he introduced. That battle between them is endless and brutal. In the end they blamed the US also see the U.S. as the friend of Israel in detriment to the Muslim countries and Palestine. U.S. deserves some blame but that bitter divide between them has done more damage than anything any other country could do. at least that's what I took from this book

Some interesting background I have not found in other books regarding recent events in Iraq, on Islam, the schism with Sunni and Sh'ia, Sistani, and Mongol sacking of Baghdad, as well as the Sh'ia hierarchy, and the thug murderer Moqtad al-Sadr. A few Monday morning observations too, "oh wow" moments, having lived through the aftermath of a lot of this, especially how much better off the US would have been if Sadr had been jailed or killed.

Yes, Bremer was ill-advised to dismiss the whole Iraqi Army. And yes, he was foolish, while trying to quote the British general who victoriously entered Baghdad following the unraveling of the Ottomans, of using words that included "occupation." The former was a substantial mistake. The latter, only a mistake when dealing with childishness.

Sadly, the in-between stories here presented between the interesting background, was a lot of moaning and complaining by Iraqis, who did nothing for themselves under Saddam, generally celebrated his downfall, credited the Americans with getting rid of him, and then turned around and based on unwarranted pride, more victimization that is so common these days, revolted over (Iraqi) looting, (Iraqi) sectarian violence, (Iraqi) murders, (Iraqi) plundering of historical treasures, (Iraqi) kidnappings for profit, (Iraqi) lawlessness, (Iraqi) blowing up of Coalition Forces' provided fixes to oil pipelines, electrical generation plants, and (Iraqi) uncivilized behaviors following the departure of a strong man dictator to tell them what to do and what not to do, get all up in arms over the thought/word "occupation" and the lack of instant genie-in-a-bottle security, electricity, and building of skyscrapers like in Dubai. Yeah, it's actually in the book. We thought the Americans were going to build us a new country, or at least a city, over-night.

The insufferable pride of the Iraqis portrayed here is probably accurate. Pride in what, I haven't a clue. Yes, many times conquered, millennial-old glory as a prosperous city, long-time suffering, but where is the gall to start killing liberators, and each other, over the mere presence of non-believers and the term occupation? Yeah, a period that lasted about 14 months total.

Where was the tangible oppression that the people felt under the "occupation?" Their dinghy ramshackle ugly neighborhoods and usual route home were inconvenienced by jersey barriers and checkpoints. So sorry. Why? Go back and read the 3rd paragraph. Wasn't that someone complaining the previous page about how America failed to dictate (and enforce) instant lock-down curfews, and provide comprehensive coverage of every street and fetid waste-filled alley?

Bush promised us......security, liberty, a dawn of a new age. And you want us to do, what, something? Control our insufferable pride, over our city seeing American flags, seeing in those flags only Christians who came to 1) steal oil, and 2) wipe out our religion? Did either happen? Was there any attempt whatsoever to stifle religious rites, gatherings, medieval self-flaggelations? No, of course not, not once. (Sadr's violence promoting newspaper was told to cease publications for 60 days - boo hoo.) The only oppression that came during the occupation was solely figments of the imagination in the deranged, entitlement-minded Iraqi. They were allowed unfettered freedom, more than ever before, to go and do, to continue their lives, with no heavy hand from the provisional governance.

Yeah, America poured billions into your cess pool, and you sucked it right up, remembered not one bit of it the next day, but turned and blamed and targeted Americans to die because you didn't have air conditioning, and the obsolete phone system that Saddam allowed was not being restored, while forbidden cell systems were being built, so everyone could move into the modern world. Day 2 of liberation, and the Americans are at fault for the looting, so says this author, via his interviews with little people, raised on small-minded Islam, because it was neither anticipated (yeah, lots of misunderstanding of values between West and Arabia), nor were there enough troops or resources to even contemplate that kind of control.

The lack of responsibility for anything that the Iraqis portrayed, as described in this book, is depressingly maddening, while yes, complaining that liberty and democracy being declared or envisioned means, voila, overnight, peace, security, neighborliness, respect....stupid, stupid society.

Excuse after excuse for the insurgency, the violence, the skullduggery of Iraqi killing other Iraqis over age old quarrels, unfounded pride, resentment of being occupied, and taking offense at the presence of humane, generous, valiant, sacrificing Americans (and Brits) just because they don't care two wits for your 8th century arguments and pettiness, and gullibly swallowing the rest of the blatant lies spread by Zarqawi ( a Jordanian), the upstart Sadr, Qays Khazali, and the other nameless Baathist thugs, criminals and know-nothings that fueled the insurgency. For what reason again? Opposition to temporary occupation? Decades of poverty and ill-treatment? Blind-, groundless certainty in the supremacy of Islam's ill-conceived mischaracterized blood-thirty, petulant, small-minded, jealous Allah, and coloring everyone else as detestable? Centuries of resentment over being left in literal dust vs the West? The author gives all of those reasons credence and allowance for the situation the Iraqis suffer through, without assigning responsibility for where it lies. The millstone around their necks of Islam, and the derivative traditions, foolish tribalism, and unfounded over-weening pride in a society that can't figure itself out or get over centuries old resentments to cooperate in any common good.

Well written, good background stuff in parts, but don't read it if you are confused about American efforts, successes, or might encounter an Iraqi tomorrow. Chances are you will have to remind yourself that the tribes of Israel were like stupid children after 430 years in Egypt, and that the Iraqis' years under Saddam perpetuated a resentful, entitlement-minded bunch of small-minded tribalists who expected a new world to be unrolled for them, and the minute it did not appear, turned into a useless bunch of resentful, contemptible ingrates, and then restrain yourself from punching him in the head.

This is the book to read if you want to know exactly how it was in Iraq shortly before and in the days, weeks, months, and years after the United States invaded and occupied Iraq. Anthony Shadid was there. He saw it. He lived it. He got to know and interviewed many average Iraqi people (both Sunni and Shiite)and this book chronicles those interviews and the opinions of the civilian Iraqi people on being invaded and occupied by the United States. It can be summed up in this way: many (not all) were glad that Saddam Hussein was gone, but they hated the American occupation of their country and the violence that ensued after the fall of Baghdad. I don't think that most Americans have any idea how much unrelenting violence and chaos there was. Americans certainly were fed a much more tranquil and triumphant picture than actually existed and this becomes crystal clear in this excellent book. The carnage and brutality, primarily involving the gruesome deaths of many civilian Iraqis at the hands of the powerful American military as well as between the Sunni and Shiite religious factions because of hostilities stirred up by the occupation, are almost inconceivable to those of us who weren't there.

Anthony Shadid was (he died at age 43 from an acute asthma attack in February 2012 while in Syria) an excellent reporter (for the NY Times and a Pulitzer prize winner - twice) and his vivid descriptions of Baghdad, the Iraqi people, and the war, will stay in my memory for a long time to come. Through Shadid's eyes, we clearly see the chasm between the occupiers and the occupied. This book should be required reading for all U.S. government officials, journalists, and anyone interested in knowing how ill-prepared the American forces were in an Iraq after Saddam and how awful life became for ordinary Iraqi citizens. I highly recommend this book.

Anthony Shadid, a Lebanese American, reports on the Iraq war from the perspective of a range of everyday Iraqi citizens. This was everything I'd hoped it to be -- a riveting account that goes a long way toward illustrating what "everyday life" at war is like. For someone like me, who cannot begin to conceive of such an existence, this was quite insightful. Particularly given the access Shadid has to Iraqis from a variety of classes and professions, the interviews they give -- being read now, with the benefit of hindsight -- are remarkably prescient considering how this conflict has escalated in the years since the invasion.

A book that tell the tale of the end of Saddam’s reign and the American invasion and occupation through the author’s eyes of his first hand experience. There are multiple Iraqi’s who are given voice through this book. I became very invested in their stories. This story telling style means very complex political issues are clearly laid out. I have huge respect for Shadid and the risks he took to produce the book. There were a couple of times I did get a little lost as to the characters and direction however.

Very tender and touching portrait of a rugged, violent fallout. Eye-opening to the everyday tragedies and complexities of a world so different than mine.

If anyone wants to know the result of America’s invasion of Iraq, he/she should read this book. The author, a renowned journalist, writes about the personal tragedy of Iraqis during and after the invasion. This book gives the reader much insight about an unjust war and the actions of the occupier that reflect on the aggressor nation. Does forcing democracy on a nation work?

The author is in a unique position to provide an informed perspective on the cultures at play in Iraq, and the myriad factors at play in the war. I found the book highly informative, but the story is rather dry. There are moments of character development, and the author returns periodically to a compelling account of the diary of a young woman, but these moments are few. From the synopsis, I expected the story to have deeper character development and more continuity. Still, I would recommend the book as an excellent reference to learn more about the true dynamics in this besieged country, and the impacts of aspects of the US liberation that failed to consider many of these dynamics.

I did not find Night Draws Near as engaging as House of Stone.