The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq
by Christian Parenti

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Book Reviews of The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq

Book Review: The Reality of Imperial Warfare.
Summary: 5 Stars

You will learn more of the reality of Iraq in one chapter of this book than watching a whole year of news reports on the TV.

Wiity, irreverent of idiocy, self-mocking. He understands the small town, part-time US soldiers he spends time with, their basic decency which is being corrupted by the fanatics in the White House. Following some house searches in Falluja, he writes,

"As a journalist, even being around these searches is nauseating, let alone forcing myself to go inside and see or film the action up close. One becomes party to the spectacle of occupation and the ritualized humiliation of the people of Falluja. Even the soldiers, numbed as they are, feel this, and when pressed they will admit it.
""Who are we to search these peoples' homes? Do we really have the right to do this? Yeah, I wonder about that stuff alot," says Staff Sergeant Luis "Doc" Pacheco, the company medic, one night in his hooch.
"During another interview, Staff Sergeant McGuire, who, like the people of Falluja, is deeply religious, puts it quite succinctly: "There's no nice way to search someone's house. I think about how if we did this in eastern Tennessee, where I am from, they'd just as soon shoot you as look at you."

Parenti also has the measure of the bastards among the American troops - those that enjoy the absolute power of torturing, of murdering with Presidential sanction.

His knowledge of the complexity, and diverse politics of the resistance is excellent and he always maintains the dignity of the Iraqi people. Refuses to see them as the 'other' depicted in the supine American and British media.

The only conclusion you can come to after reading The Freedom is that it's a war without a victory for US or us. Totally unwinnable and the White House knows this. Knows they cannot win and are not interested in reconstruction but plan to continue the present state of war the way it is for as long as possible. Try to beat the Israeli's 37 year occupation of Palestine.

As Parenti acknowledges, his reporting from Iraq would not have been possible without Akeel, his translator, minder and fixer who epitomises the heroes of this book - the Iraqi people.

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