Product Description

It's said that the first casualty in a war is truth, as both sides jostle to defend their positions. In the Iraq war, the BBC deployed an unrivalled team of correspondents to cover the complex issues involved and to seek out the truth. For this book, top correspondents, including John Simpson, Rageh Omaar and Fergal Keane, have written a series of incisive and accessible essays which guide the reader through each stage of the Iraq crisis. The book also contains first-hand accounts from the front lines. Some BBC correspondents, such as Ben Brown and Gavin Hewitt, were "embedded" with US and British troops; they provide unique snapshots of combat and the hazards of reporting through the "fog of war". Title guides the reader through each stage of the crisis, from the evolution of American policy after 9/11, through the diplomatic and political confrontation in the run-up to war, to the campaign itself and the prospects for Iraq's post-war reconstruction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166671 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

One of a glut
Reading this book, one is shocked by how far the BBC had moved from the days when its correspondents were experts in their own right. Rageh Omaar - exposed by the Times as a sycophant towards the Iraqi regime - makes great play of the fact he had been to Iraq five times: his 'diary' is written as if looking out from from his hotel room. The pieces by Jim Muir and Evan Davis are the pick of the crop, the material from the 'embedded' reporters rather silly. John Simpson for some reason gives a potted history of Saddam Hussein (if you want to know what made Saddam tick read the biography by Said Aburish).
There is a glut of current books on the Iraq war (the Telegraph's and Reuters are much better than this one), adding insult to the injury of the blanket media coverage that followed decades of ignoring Saddam Hussein's crimes. Where were all these people when young men were being mown down in the Iran-Iraq war, when 4500 Kurdish villages were destroyed and when the Shia of southern Iraq were butchered? And where are the journalists - like David Hirst of the Guardian and the film-maker Gwynn Roberts - who did tell the world what was happening in those days? Have they been pushed aside by people who look better on television?

Excellent...an Iraqi says so!!!!
As an Iraqi, i found this an excellent account of the events leading to the Gulf war, with thoughtful and revealing insights into the two men in the boxing ring, Saddam and George Jr. Thoroughly recommend this for everyone to read

Even Handed account .....
The BBC are the real crown jewels in this country.The personal accounts are fascinating and is better than the Daily Telegraph book which is more Boys own stuff.Any one who hated the anti war movement will hate this book anyway because the BBC are enemy number one for them even though the stance in the news was no different at any of the other skeptical papers...like the Daily Telegraph of all critics.
Hypocrisy runs riot at every level of this war.No one is untouched.Read this book.It a level headed personal and sincere insight to the war.