Once Upon a Time in Iraq by James BluemelMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Absolutely devastating, impossible to read without becoming angry and depressed about this disaster of a conflict and my country's role in it. The first-hand interviews are from a range of voices, ranging from US Servicemen, war photographers, Iraqi civilians and even Saddam zealots, but none come away with anything good to say about the war. It's clear that the US and UK (interviewees mention on several occasions how we are just as guilty as the Americans) went in with no long-term plan or attempts to reconstruct the country, nor any clear understanding of the geo-political and religious complexities of Iraq. I found the final chapters focusing on the rise of ISIS particularly painful, inflicting horrific brutality on the civilians and almost certainly wouldn't have occurred without the war. I doubt I'll read a better non-fiction book this year.
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