Another book about the Iraq War ... but this is one you've never heard of

by Leigh Pomeroy

Sometime last fall, my wife, who is a history professor at Minnesota State University Mankato, received a package in the mail. It was a book, and inside was tucked a very nice letter from a former student thanking her for being an excellent and inspiring teacher, and telling her a little about the book. In sum, the former student had been the primary translator of the book from Arabic into English. The title of the book was Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story.

She read the book and passed it onto me saying, "You've got to read this." And now I am.

What is striking about the book, which was written by al-Jazeera reporter Ahmed Mansour, is that it's essentially a universal story about a city and a people under siege by a foreign attacker. It could have taken place at any time in history or in any country. It could have been Jerusalem under attack by Flavius Josephus in 70, by the Crusaders in 1099 or by Saladin in 1187. It could have been a siege of a medieval English castle. It could have been the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It could have been an account of the British siege of Boston during the U.S. Revolutionary War, but with the names, details and dates changed.

It's a story of hubris and politically driven policy. It's a story of revenge. It's a story of innocent human tragedy ... on both sides of the battle.

It's a gripping book, the stuff from which great movies are made. Buy it. Read it.