Review Richard Engel, A Fist In The Hornet’s Nest, On The Ground In Baghdad Before, During & After The War, Hyperion, 2004

Engel, Richard, A Fist In The Hornet’s Nest, On The Ground In Baghdad Before, During & After The War, Hyperion, 2004

 

Richard Engel was an American journalist who decided to go to Iraq before the 2003 invasion and try to get a job with a U.S. media outlet. A Fist In The Hornet’s Nest, On The Ground In Baghdad Before, During & After The War is a collection of his experiences in the Iraqi capital during those tumultuous months. While it’s emphasis is obviously on what it was like being a journalist at that time it includes enough stories about everyday Iraqis to make it a well-rounded story.

 

While Engel starts with some of his difficulties operating in Iraq like getting a proper credential to be a reporter in the country he mentions what Iraqis were going through as well. When he arrived in Baghdad he was surprised to find no one taking the impending war seriously. People were just going about their business as usual. It wasn’t until right before the war started that Iraqis began leaving the city to be safe and hoarding supplies.

 

Engel had two government minders but neither was that interested in their job so he was able to get away from them and talk with people on the streets. He met a Christan pharmacist for example who said the war could be bad for his community because Saddam had control of the Islamic fundamentalists who tried to intimidate Christians. If Saddam was gone those groups would have a free reign to terrorize Christians which was what happened.

 

Engel’s driver was a Shiite. He revealed that he hated Saddam because he had killed so many from his community. He predicted after the regime fell there would be sectarian fighting between Sunnis and Shiites for control of the state and revenge killings with neighbor killing neighbor for all the wrong that had been done before. He too proved right.

 

The book gives insights into what Baghdad was like during the invasion. For one, the Baath Party deployed its militia throughout the city as they set up checkpoints and guard posts. Engel’s driver predicted they would disappear when the fighting began and they did. Engel met a group of 30 young foreign Arabs at his hotel who said they’d come to Iraq to fight the Americans. Their numbers would grow after the war as Islamists organized thousands of young people to come to Iraq and oppose the U.S. occupation.

 

Ironically, Engel thought that many Iraqi government officials seemed to believe their own propaganda. Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahaf gave infamous press conferences where he said the Americans were losing and suffering heavy casualties. When they arrived in Baghdad he denied they were there. The officials in Engel’s hotel seemed to believe these stories. Then one day just before Baghdad fell they all disappeared.

 

The regime’s information campaign actually became too effective. At first the government emphasized Iraqi losses to make the invasion look bad. Engel reported that many Iraqis heard this and became demoralized. The government then shifted to only exaggerating about the Coalition’s losses.

 

Of course the chaos that ensued immediately after the U.S. invasion was included in A First In The Hornet’s Nest as well. Engel appeared to be on top of many of the trends of the time such as Iraqis blaming all their problems upon the Americans while also going to them for aid with all of their issues. U.S. soldiers were completely unprepared for this situation. There was also an explosion of satellite TV and mobile phones which were banned under Saddam. Hundreds of newspapers and political parties were formed with the new freedom although many just attacked each other. Murder became not only common but unpunished. Finally there was the rise of Shiite militias which the Americans seemed to think they could control by favoring some. That backfired as these groups seized the state and some turned against the U.S.

 

Engel also provides early insights into the insurgency. He believed that ex-Fedayeen provided the core of the initial Iraqis fighters. They had been given guns under Saddam and had first-hand experience from the invasion of how to fight. They could also extort local businesses for money and tap into ex-regime members for additional funds. They joined with Islamists and foreign fighters who came to wage jihad against the American invaders. What was at first small random attacks like throwing a grenade at a U.S. vehicle quickly escalated within 3 months of the invasion with Abu Zarqawi’s terrorist attacks which attempted to deny America international support and stoke sectarian fighting with the Shiite majority who were determined to take power. The book therefore provides a brief and thorough recollection of how the resistance to the Americans quickly developed.

 

Engel seemed to get much out of his time in Iraq before and after the invasion. The fact that he lived in the Middle East and worked there for several years before 2003 where he learned Arabic helped a great deal. For instance, he could tell where people came from such as foreign fighters by their accents.  A Fist In The Hornet’s Nest is also very short so it can be read quickly. It provides a lot of information in only a 100 plus pages.

 

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