We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People (American Empire Project)

This is a very difficult book to review. Taking the author at his word that this is a true account of his year in Iraq, one is struck by the disconnect with what we know and what we think we know. While he seems to have been against the war, this is not a rant. Indeed, it is a revelation of just

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how low we as a nation expect of our citizens in a foreign environment. This is all about the civilian, not the warriors, we sent there. Since when has it been proper behavior to avoid eye contact lest someone criticize. Money was everywhere. Who started the thinking that wasting money was a skill to be mastered? Why would anyone want to be part of futility? The debate should not be endless about whether we should have been there; the debate must center on what we are doing there or anywhere for that matter.

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