From Baghdad To America

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman won the hearts of readers everywhere with his moving story of adopting an abandoned puppy named Lava from a hellish corner of Iraq. He opened the door for other soldiers to bring dogs home, and in From Baghdad to America, Kopelman once again leads the pack with his observations on the emotional repercussions of war. Here, for the first time, Kopelman holds nothing back as he responds to the question, “Why did you save a dog instead of a person?” The answer reveals much about his inner demons—and about the bigger picture of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He talks about what it’s like to return to the States and examines the shocking statistics to come out of Iraq: Depression, suicide, alcohol abuse, and broken relationships are at record highs for the men and women who serve there. Kopelman credits Lava with helping him to endure combat and the pain of war, as well as helping him deal with the surprising difficulties of returning to everyday life. Civilians have a hard time understanding what being a Marine means, and the adjustment to living among them is hard for these soldiers. This book attempts to shed light on that for all readers.

Bestselling author Jay Kopelman on his return from Iraq, his beloved dog Lava, and PTSD.

In the autumn of 2002, Atlantic Monthly national correspondent James Fallows wrote an article predicting many of the problems America would face if it invaded Iraq. After events confirmed many of his predictions, Fallows went on to write some of the most acclaimed, award-winning journalism on the planning and execution of the war, much of which has been assigned as required reading within the U.S. military. In Blind Into Baghdad, Fallows takes us from the planning of the war through the struggles of reconstruction. With unparalleled access and incisive analysis, he shows us how many of the difficulties were anticipated by experts whom the administration ignored. Fallows examines how the war in Iraq undercut the larger ”war on terror” and why Iraq still had no army two years after the invasion. In a sobering conclusion, he interviews soldiers, spies, and diplomats to imagine how a war in Iran might play out. This is an important and essential book to understand where and how the war went wrong, and what it means for America.

During the war's worst fighting in 2006 and 2007, a handful of Iraqi interpreters put their lives on the line to help American troops. Families threatened, a bounty on their heads, ignored by the powers that be, they faced execution as collaborators with the enemy if they remained in their homeland. A Task Force Commander decides a promise made should be a promise kept. After the murders of several Iraqi allies, Lt. Col Steve Miska decides to slice through the bureaucratic red tape to get interpreters to safety. His team creates the Baghdad Underground Railroad to get the "terps" and other allies out of the country to Jordan for their Embassy interviews. Soldiers also tap their own families in the United States to serve as sponsors to house and assist the new immigrants. For the Iraqis, they face the struggle of adapting to a culture vastly different from their own. One of them even joins the U.S. Army and returns to Iraq as an American soldier. In this compelling memoir that illustrates humanity and compassion in the midst of war, Steve Miska highlights the plight of local allies, who are essential to the American cause in foreign wars but are often left behind. He also offers an insider's look at the complex and frustrating political reality of Iraq facing U.S. commanders and policymakers following the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

A war memoir that will capture the hearts of its readers, just as one scruffy puppy sneaked his way into the hearts of hardened Marines just when they needed it most.

From Baghdad to Chicago is a diligent and comprehensive memoir of an Iraqi-born physician, growing up in Iraq, and pursuing his education and professional calling in Medicine, to serve to the utmost of his ability. Asad Bakir speaks to the culture of Iraqi and Middle Eastern history, and offers timely reflections on the contemporary practice of Medicine. Having lived through four generations of Iraqis, he has experienced Iraqs dramatic upheavals over the last sixty-five years and seen the ruin left behind. This book is a memoir of Dr. Bakirs life and times in Iraq, England and the US, and a fascinating account of his 26-year work at Cook County Hospital of Chicago. He covers in depth a wide array of subjects of great interest: history, politics, literature, sociology, the arts, and the science and practice of Medicine. His account helps us understand the recent events of the much-troubled Middle East. He describes events as objectively as possible, in a scientific discipline consistent with his medical studies and career, and he speaks with a voice of solid authority. Join the author as he offers a firsthand account of the Arab Renaissance before it expired in the 1960s, the violent toppling of the Iraqi Hashemite monarchy, the dark chapters of Saddam Husseins tyranny, the wars he invited upon Iraq and the lethal 12-year sanctions. Very engaging, as well, are his reflections on the US invasion of Iraq, global terrorism and the current state of healthcare in the US.

The diplomatic historian examines the ideas, policies and actions that led from Vietnam to the Iraq War and America’s disastrous role in the Middle East. “What will stand out one day is not George W. Bush’s uniqueness but the continuum from the Carter doctrine to ‘shock and awe’ in 2003.” —from The Long Road to Baghdad In this revealing narrative of America’s path to its “new longest war,” one of the nation’s premier diplomatic historians excavates the deep historical roots of the US misadventure in Iraq. Lloyd Gardner’s sweeping and authoritative narrative places the Iraq War in the context of US foreign policy since Vietnam, casting the conflict as a chapter in a much broader story—in sharp contrast to the dominant narrative, which focus almost exclusively on the actions of the Bush Administration in the months leading up to the invasion. Gardner illuminates a vital historical thread connecting Walt Whitman Rostow’s defense of US intervention in Southeast Asia, Zbigniew Brzezinski’s attempts to project American power into the “arc of crisis” (with Iran at its center), and the efforts of two Bush administrations, in separate Iraq wars, to establish a “landing zone” in that critically important region. Far more disturbing than a simple conspiracy to secure oil, Gardner’s account explains the Iraq War as the necessary outcome of a half-century of doomed US policies. “A vital primer to the slow-motion conflagration of American foreign policy.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the former New York Times bureau chief in Baghdad comes the gripping and heroic story of an elite, top-secret team of unlikely spies who triumphed over ISIS. The Spymaster of Baghdad tells the dramatic yet intimate account of how a covert Iraqi intelligence unit called “the Falcons” came together against all odds to defeat ISIS. The Falcons, comprising ordinary men with little conventional espionage background, infiltrated the world’s most powerful terrorist organization, ultimately turning the tide of war against the terrorist group and bringing safety to millions of Iraqis and the broader world. Centered around the relationship between two brothers, Harith al-Sudani, a rudderless college dropout who was recruited to the Falcons by his all-star younger brother Munaf, and their eponymous unit commander Abu Ali, The Spymaster of Baghdad follows their emotional journey as Harith volunteers for the most dangerous mission imaginable. With piercing lyricism and thrilling prose, Coker’s deeply-reported account interweaves heartfelt portraits of these and other unforgettable characters as they navigate the streets of war-torn Baghdad and perform heroic feats of cunning and courage. The Falcons’ path crosses with that of Abrar, a young, radicalized university student who, after being snubbed by the head of the Islamic State’s chemical weapons program, plots her own attack. At the near-final moment, the Falcons intercept Abrar’s deadly plan to poison Baghdad’s drinking water and arrest her in the middle of the night—just one of many covert counterterrorism operations revealed for the first time in the book. Ultimately, The Spymaster of Baghdad is a page-turning account of wartime espionage in which ordinary people make extraordinary sacrifices for the greater good. Challenging our perceptions of terrorism and counterterrorism, war and peace, Iraq and the wider Middle East, American occupation and foreign intervention, The Spymaster of Baghdad is a testament to the power of personal choice and individual action to change the course of history—in a time when we need such stories more than ever.