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The Thing Speaks For Itself

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Shahin Contrary to your impression the book is really a snapshot of how poorly the US understood Iraq (and all the middle east) and the consequences of that lack of understanding. The horror we unleashed. It's interesting that he makes no overtly political statements at all -it's just a litany of bodies, family, communities, lives blown apart. How the US template of "democracy" (whatever that means) isn't a one size fits all kinda thing. The lives blown apart are overwhelmingly Iraqi but Filkins allows the killed and maimed in the US to speak as well. I have been impressed by Filkins, both his on screen and written pieces - he seems to be struggling to restrain himself, almost jittery from the horror he witnesses every day but that his viewers/readers haven't. And this goes to the point of the argument you and I have been having for years, that good journalism, for me, doesn't tell the viewer/reader what to think but just presents the facts as a sort of literal snapshot and leaves him or her to draw their own conclusions. You always want journalists to challenge official pronouncements, to refute present statements with previous ones. But I think that only causes the official to refuse subsequent interviews and insults the intelligence of the viewer. Yes, it's easy to insult the average American's intelligence, the vacuum that is their knowledge of world history, but doing so only makes them more intransigent. More likely to hew to some red state/blue state idea of patriotism, my country right or wrong,to close their ears and eyes to the reality of what their leaders are doing in their name. Filkins's book is much more a soundless walk through the no longer functioning trauma wards of Iraq, dead and broken bodies everywhere. The thing speaks for itself. Only in his epilogue does he allow himself to show any emotion and only obliquely. "...For me, the war sort of flattened things out...so many bombs had gone off so many times that they no longer shocked or even roused;...your dreams come alive, though...your dreams explode...My friend...told me that he couldn't have a conversation about Iraq with anyone who hadn't been there. I told him I couldn't have a conversation with anyone who hadn't been there about anything at all." Extraordinary.

Amazing perspective on a devastating war

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Flying Out of Brooklyn The Forever War by Dexter Filkins is a first hand ride with a long roster of participants, American, Iraqui and Afghani whose lives have been forever changed by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is able to place you on the scene in real time so you too become a participant. His vivid reporting is never skewed to any one view of our involvement, instead he shows you the anguish and pain suffered by all who have been impacted. Amazingly he survives the most dangerous of situations and is painfully aware of his good fortune and the bad luck of others with whom he has worked.

A War Story Not Strictly About War

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Dexter Filkin's book the Forever War is a collection of short first-person war stories about his experiences as a NY Times correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan. The short pieces are informative and lucid descriptions of what he saw and how he felt about it at the time. FW reminds me of a book of short takes Ernest Hemingway wrote about the Spanish Civil War; short, insightful and clear-minded all written in a minimalist form. The stories make good points while at no time being political, partisan, or propaganda for any side. Filkins has unique point of view, but it isn't a political one. He writes as a human observer of other humans who do good, bad, evil, stupid, smart, heroic and noble things for and to each other. Often the same people, too, just on different days. Don't read FW if you are looking for a comprehensive view of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars though. FW isn't that kind of book. If you want a narrative of military and political operations in Iraq and Afghanistan read Thomas Ricks' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq or Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. I recommend this book but only with the warning that a typical war narrative as we've come to understand the genre isn't what you're going to get here. I still think it's worth the read though.

From the gut	Customer Rating:
I don't read a lot so I found the style of this book a bit disconcerting. It wanders continiously in place and time. Nonetheless, I couldn't put it down and finished in two days. The author gives us a sweeping view of Iraq and Afganistan. Often visceral, frequently nalytical, always compelling. It resonates with authenticity. This opinion from one who has served in a Muslim country.

"A Must Read'	Customer Rating:
Purchased book for my wife. She says it is excellent, not an easy read due to content but most informative. She highly recommends it.