Review Once Upon A Time In Iraq, History of a Modern Tragedy

Bluemel, James and Mansour, Dr Renad, Once Upon A Time In Iraq, History of a Modern Tragedy, BBC Books, 2020

 

In the introduction to Once Upon A Time In Iraq, History of a Modern Tragedy James Bluemel and Dr. Renad Mansour say they wanted to provide a voice to ordinary Iraqis so they could tell how their lives were impacted by the Iraq War. Few books include Iraqi voices so this seemed like just the type of book that is needed. In reality however the book is a mix of Iraqi and American personalities. Not only that but the first half covers 9/11 to the end of 2003. The middle is about the two battles of Fallujah and the capture, interrogation and execution of Saddam Hussein which diverges from the stated goal of the authors. The last third quickly goes from 2005 when the civil war broke out to 2017 when the Islamic State was defeated. There are definitely good moments but there could’ve been more Iraqis and the authors could’ve spent less time on the early years of the conflict.

 

Several moments and observations stand out. Waleed Nesyif for instance grew up loving Western culture because he saw it on TV all the time. When President Bush said that “they” hated America’s freedom and democracy Nesyif vehemently disagreed saying that was exactly what Iraqis wanted. During the invasion there were two stories by U.S. troops about shooting up vehicles and killing and wounding civilians. That foreshadowed the occupation when hundreds of innocent Iraqis were killed by American forces for things like not stopping at checkpoints.

 

Many of the Iraqis interviewed said they were happy when Saddam was deposed but were apprehensive about what would come next. Some were afraid that Saddam would return. Many expected the United States to not only quickly rebuild Iraq like Saddam did after the Gulf War but provide a better life. The exact opposite happened.

 

One American interviewed was Paul Bremer the former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority. He just exuded hubris justifying everything he did and never apologizing. He claimed that the Nazis were the main inspiration for Saddam’s Baath Party and said that all the diplomats and intelligence agents were made to read Hitler’s Mein Kampf. That wasn’t true but he used that to justify his order to ban Baathists from the new government. He claimed that order only affected 20,000 people and that he provided plenty of exceptions. He blames the Iraqis for any abuses of the system and that he corrected all of their mistakes. He takes a similar position on his decision to disband the Iraqi military claiming it didn’t lead to the insurgency because the CPA paid ex-soldiers pensions and one year into the occupation unemployment was down to 10% so there weren’t any angry and unemployed military men. He’s immediately followed by an Iraqi and a CIA officer who completely disagree with everything Bremer. They directly blaming him for the insecurity that swept Iraq after the invasion.

 

After that the book gets sidetracked by an extended discussion about Saddam’s capture and his trial. How did this relate to the author’s goal of telling Iraqis’ view of the war?

 

After that the book goes far too quickly through the civil war from 2005-08, the Surge in 2007-08, and the rise and fall of the Islamic State from 2014-17. It could be argued these years were more important than 2003 because they created the political system and the power dynamics that shape Iraq today. One Iraqi mentions that after the defeat of IS people in Mosul where he lived were called Islamic State supporters and continued to be marginalized like they were during the civil war period. He also mentioned that the destruction of IS and many Sunni towns opened the door to Shiite rivalries especially between militias who took part in the war and were now arguing over the spoils. This was only one person’s thoughts however. If more space and more people were included in this section this could’ve been explored more than just in passing.

 

Once Upon A Time In Iraq is a good read but it’s also inconsistent. The biggest disappointment was that it wasn’t about average Iraqis as the authors claimed it would be. It also spends far too much time on the first year of the war and then Saddam’s trial and too little on the rest of the conflict. To the book’s credit it does provide some very interesting stories and emphasizes how violent and destructive life in Iraq became after 2003. Those recollections are the main reason to read it.

 

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