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January 04, 2006

Night Draws Near

As has become common for American wars, the Iraq War has been one of remarkably limited difficulty or pain for the majority of Americans, more an item of interest in the news than an issue relevant to day-to-day life. We are fortunate in this respect. In Anthony Shadid's Night Draws Near we get a glimpse into the lives of some of the many Iraqis for whom the war is more than an academic exercise. The results are well worth reading for anyone hoping to understand the situation in that country.

Shadid made several trips to Iraq as a reporter, chronicling the feelings of the Iraqi people in the weeks leading up to the war and following up with many of the same people in the year following the end of major combat operations. The result is a series of snapshots into how various Iraqis viewed the operation, Saddam Hussein, and the aftermath. While Shadid's political perspective clearly colors the book (in his adjudgement of the occupation as a failure, for example), his reports from the Iraqi people are anything but uniform. I am in no position to assess how common the various viewpoints represented are in Iraq, but regardless of how common or uncommon the particular views may be, reading them provides valuable insight into how the people of Iraq reacted to the war.

People looking for a political axe to grind will enjoy the work regardless of which direction they wish to go, as the book includes examples that could be used to buttress virtually any position on the war. But the book's value lies not in polemics, but in understanding. Setting aside the question of whether the war was/is the right thing to do, reading about the effects it has had on Iraq's people is an important reminder of the consequences of such decisions. Whether the reader decides the war was worth it or not is left to their conscience, but an informed decision on the question cannot be reached without knowing the price paid by the people of Iraq. Shadid's book is not the only place a reader can find such information, but it is an excellent starting point.