Rating: 
Summary: A TROUBLED NATION IN FLUX
Review: This book is part memoir, part many religious factors of the country, part war reporting, and finally assessment of Iraq's future. All are interesting and you learn a reason for what is happening there at this moment. The Shiites are the power now through the religious government named the hawza; "the hawza being the most powerful and influential body in Iraq." The merja is the working part of the hawza. Confusing? The complexity of this country is mind boggling. Religion is the backbone and how events are going to unfold to stabalize the nation is anybody's guess. An interesting book for up-to-date information.
Rating: 
Summary: Great, quick read!
Review: This is a great book for a quick read on the situation in Iraq. I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Fast Read about the War
Review: This is an interesting account by Richard Engel, who gets my vote for bravery, when he stays in Baghdad as the war arrives. His descriptions of the events, and in particular, the reaction of the people on the streets, shops, and restaurants are surreal. For example, while US bombs are falling on the city, people in the restaurant don't even acknowledge what is going on due to their fear of Saddam's regime. The story seems quite balanced. I was surprised to read his stance on the war, which I won't reveal. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: What It Is Really Like In Middle East!
Review: This war correspondent (handsome young man) could be called Mr. Intrepid. When hundreds of journalists and network reporters left Baghdad a year ago, Richard stayed on. After all, he has been living in the Mid East for almost twenty years now.This is nothing like Jimmy Carter's novel, HORNET'S NEST; however, they are both about war. So many years apart, these wars but atrocious just the same. In Carter's novel, we read about scalpings, now we know of beheadings going on in Iraq in this modern age. Have times changed? Not much. There are still uneducated savages leading others just as ignorant. I will always remember the first atom bomb with the mushroom; USA developed and used the first one! Amazing! And I thought we were educated and erudite here. This Mr. Intrepid is able to survive over there because of his fluent use of their language. He was educated at Stanford University in America. He should win some kind of award for endurance and survival in such turbulent times.
Rating:
Summary: What It Is Really Like In Middle East!
Review: This war correspondent (handsome young man) could be called Mr. Intrepid. When hundreds of journalists and network reporters left Baghdad a year ago, Richard stayed on. After all, he has been living in the Mid East for almost twenty years now. This is nothing like Jimmy Carter's novel, HORNET'S NEST; however, they are both about war. So many years apart, these wars but atrocious just the same. In Carter's novel, we read about scalpings, now we know of beheadings going on in Iraq in this modern age. Have times changed? Not much. There are still uneducated savages leading others just as ignorant. I will always remember the first atom bomb with the mushroom; USA developed and used the first one! Amazing! And I thought we were educated and erudite here. This Mr. Intrepid is able to survive over there because of his fluent use of their language. He was educated at Stanford University in America. He should win some kind of award for endurance and survival in such turbulent times.
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