Journalist Shares His Experience In Iraq

Regaling a rowdy crowd about his time as an unembedded journalist in Iraq, Dahr Jamail kicked off the tour of his debut book, Beyond the Green Zone, at Broadway Presbyterian Church Wednesday evening.

At an event sponsored by the Nation Institute and Haymarket Books, Jamail and fellow journalist Jeremy Scahill, spoke about how their frustrations with the U.S. government’s “baseless claims” inspired them to go to Iraq and see what was happening for themselves.

Jamail was moved to tears as he addressed the audience about “this disgusting, savage occupation,” through the eyes of people he met as an unembedded reporter from 2003 to 2005.

“We don’t know the names and the faces of the victims of the Iraq war,” Scahill said. “Thank you, Dahr, for giving the names and the faces.”

Jamail read a passage from his book about an auto garage turned makeshift clinic flooded with an “endless stream of women and children who had been shot by U.S. soldiers.”

“For all my life, I had believed in American democracy. 47 years,” the man in charge of the clinic, who was not a doctor, told Jamail. “Now I see it has all been lies. The Americans don’t give a damn about democracy. They are worse than Saddam.”
Scahill, whose book on military contractor and security firm Blackwater came out in February, brought up the “bleak” anti-war movement. “Where did the confrontation of the empire go?” he asked.

Scahill discussed “blogosphere obsessed lacktivists,” saying, “I’m sorry, but sending e-mails and blogging until you’re blue in the face is not the solution.”
The crowd members were eager to find answers to their own questions as they lined up at the microphone.

An elderly male audience member addressed the crowd, saying “I think I have a solution to many of our problems around the world.” He then revealed a “Jail Bush” poster to the silenced crowd. Jamail and Scahill grinned awkwardly.

But one audience member beamed from ear to ear. Ten-year-old Sally fled from Baghdad because of U.S. military threats. After a bomb strike, Sally was rushed to a Fallujah hospital, where she was saved. Wednesday night, she was dressed all in pink, giggling and waving to the audience as Jamail introduced her.

Howard Parker of Riverside Drive and 116th Street said that, while he found both speakers “brilliant,” he felt it was too much. “We are now being fed one crisis after another,” Parker commented. “People are just getting wasted by it.”

But Haymarket editor Dao Tran thought the start of Jamail’s national tour was a success. “Great crowd, very engaged,” Tran said. “Books are great in and of themselves, but if they can help to galvanize people, that’s even better.”

The reporter can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.