Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War

by Anthony Shadid

Winner of the 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
A Washington Post Book World Top Five Nonfiction Book of the Year
A Seattle Times Top Ten Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

In 2003, The Washington Post's Anthony Shadid went to war in Iraq, but not as an embedded journalist. Born and raised in Oklahoma, of Lebanese descent, Shadid, a fluent Arabic speaker, has spent the last three years dividing his time between Washington, D.C., and Baghdad. The only journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for his extraordinary coverage of Iraq, Shadid is also the only writer to describe the human story of ordinary Iraqis weathering the unexpected impact of America's invasion and occupation. Through the moving stories of individual Iraqis, Shadid shows how Saddam's downfall paved the way not just for hopes of democracy but also for the importation of jihad and the rise of a bloody insurgency. "A superb reporter's book," wrote Seymour Hersh; Night Draws Near is, according to Mark Danner, "essential."

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle East, History, War, Politics, Journalism, Religion

525 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2005

About the author

Anthony Shadid was a foreign correspondent for The New York Times based in Baghdad and Beirut who won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting twice, in 2004 and 2010.

Reviews

[Tinea · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Updated 16 Feb: I just learned that Anthony Shadid passed away in Syria today, from an asthma attack caused by an allergy to the horses he used to smuggle himself across the border from Turkey. This man was one of the greatest journalists of our time. His craft was not just based on complete fearlessness and ability to maneuver himself anywhere, but also his focused attention to diverse and silenced sources, centering the narratives of women, youth, the poor, and others typically left out of the histories written by the dominant. What Shadid wrote was a much more real picture of any situation because he drew from multiple perspectives, respecting and elevating complex truths. He died with a story of Syria in him. This is such a loss on so many levels.]


When I first started reading books about the Iraq War, I had some specific questions. Who are the "insurgents"? Why are they bombing civilians and not so much US troops? What happened in Fallujah? Who is Sadr and what does he stand for? What does this war feel like to be living through it, not as a soldier but for the people who live in Iraq?

Shadid answered these questions, about Iraq and in a larger way for war in general. He pressed hard off the accepted path for Americans in Iraq, unembedded and free-moving before, during, and after the invasion. Shadid made a point to speak with Iraqis, and the whole book bursts with the direct quotes of Iraqi people, Iraqi experiences and interpretations in their own words. The scope of Shadid's informants is unbelievable. He spoke with rich doctors in Baghdad and mothers in the slum outskirts of the city. He interviewed the families of dead insurgents, Muqtada al-Sadr himself, and religious people on pilgrimage-- before and directly after bombings of Shi'ite holy sites. He quotes at length from the diary of a 14 year old girl. He even quotes the graffitti spraypainted on walls around the city, acknowledging the weight of these messages as a guage of popular sentiment.

All the while Shadid is contextualizing these words with his own experiences of Iraq. Shadid is an American journalist with Arab heritage who has become fluent in Arabic. His English flowers with the Arabic he is translating. Arabic is known for it's descriptive beauty, and this book-- ostensibly a simple history written by a journalist-- reads like a peice of literature. His detailed descriptions of people and places become poignant metaphors for the larger scenes he describes. In one scene he captures the horror and humanity of a suicide bombing in a piece of brain that had been respectfully scooped into a bowl and left there, because the bowl is less unclean then the ground. In another, he describes an ad for US-sponsored Iraqi TV, which reads, "Expect more to come," hanging over a bombed out building in Baghdad.

This is what has happened in Iraq for the Iraqis. There is no unified insurgency, but thousands of people whose lives are unsatisfying, violent, and unstable. The insurgents are Shi'ites looking for power and Sunnis trying to regain it. They are poor people who support grassroots movements which first supply food and necessities and second ask them to fight, and they are religious intellectuals who oppose secular rule. Not all of them are morally against America, but they all share a common sense that the US has utterly failed them and will only be worse and mroe cruel as time goes on.

Fuck, right?
This book was good.

[Kerryevelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm usually wary of accounts of Western journalists claiming to 'reveal' the 'real' Middle East, but this book is completely different. It's among the best books I've read about the contemporary Middle East, definitely the best book I've read on Iraq, hands down. Knowledgeable but not to the point of pontification, Shadid, a CASA Arabic graduate and a Lebanese American, does what it (ironically) seems like so few people have honestly done: actually asks the Iraqi people how they feel about the state of affairs in their country. The response is candid and telling and, in some cases, wise, chilling and ultimately human. What emerges is a complex picture of the invasion, Saddam, and the role of the US, replete with ambiguities and individual views. Really, if you want to understand Iraq and how Iraqis actually feel, this book will help you to understand, and help you to see how impossible it really is to generalize about 'what Iraqis want.' I read this book while living in Syria, and I actually had several conversations with Iraqis that echoed some of what Shadid was saying; I also saw some of the elements of Iraqi culture that Shadid details reflected in Syrian culture and society. At times this book became so sad and depressing that I had to walk away for a time, but really, as a citizen of the US reading a book abut a war initiated by my own country, did I really expect anything else?

[Daniel Villines · Rating 4 out of 5]

So often, the greater part of our nation sees its conflicts through information that focuses on positive results rather than the actual and current state-of-affairs. The Stars and Stripes fly in front of doorways; we’re captivated by red-tinted aerial images with crosshairs lined up on buildings that disappear in silent symmetrical clouds of dust; and if troops are lost in the conflict, then they certainly died in an effort to keep America free.

The choice to use our armed forces to enact US policy, however, is far more septic. To begin, our own perceptions of our involvement can be disturbed by the realities of war. Our personal justifications for our nation’s actions must be balanced against the lives of our sons, the extreme costs of deployment, and, at times, changes in reasoning. But more than those things, our justifications should also include a real concern for those that will have to live through our decision to wage war.

In my observations of the invasion of Iraq, this real concern was minimized and avoided. Very little attention was given to what our flag would mean to a country of people that have lived through centuries of repeated occupations. Very few among us thought about the plight of the people that lived next door to the buildings that evaporated on our TV screens. And discussions regarding the scores of Iraqis that died for every reported American death seldom occurred.

Night Draws Near covers this neglected concern. Anthony Shadid roamed independently through Iraq, completely detached from US forces, and interviewed those that were subjected to the American invasion and occupation. His reports are non-biased and are certainly not aimed at providing positive outlooks. He searched out and interviewed all factions of the population including religious zealots, tribal leaders, Muslim clerics, and the newly-coined Iraqi security forces. Shadid also interviewed a wide cross-section of the Iraqi population, from the wealthy to the poor, from professionals to laborers and to the unemployed. The contents of his interviews are not surprising and in fact, they reveal realities that could have been avoided if we, as a nation, had formulated a meaningful plan for peace following our invasion of this ancient land.

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the reign of the tyrant Saddam Hussein it was one group of Iraqi muslims (the Sunnis) lording it over the other groups of Iraqi muslims (the Kurds and the Shiites). And there were a lot of deaths and suffering.

When Saddam waged war against Iran, there were a lot of deaths and suffering too on both sides.

When Saddam invaded Kuwait, he incurred the wrath of the USA which had to free not only Kuwait, but Iraq itself from Saddam’s cruel rule. An added justification was that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction which threaten the west but this turned out not to be true later.

Saddam’s army didn’t put up much of a fight. Only his two sons who were killed. Saddam hid for a while but was later captured in a small hole on the ground. Not too long after that, he was executed.

Some Iraqis welcomed the Americans as liberators. Many hailed the fall of Saddam. But disillusionment set in when peace and order and basic services were not restored sooner, There were bombings and suicide bombings most likely by Iraqis killing mostly Iraqis. The apparent aim was to create enough mayhem to drive the Americans and their Iraqi collaborators out of Iraq.

The Iraqis are probably one of the most religious people in the world and one with the strongest faith in God. They always have God on their lips. To fight a hopeless battle where death is certain, to blow yourself up in a suicide bombing mission, these they do with ease. A father would be more proud than sad if a son of his dies this way. Having a “martyr” in the family is a lasting honor.

If you do not believe in the muslim God and his prophet Muhammad then you are an infidel. Killing infidels in defence of the muslim faith is good. Being killed by infidels makes you a martyr. You go straight to heaven .

Never can they imagine a world without a God who needs their protection and for whom they ought to kill and get killed.

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must Read

For anyone interested in the Iraqi war and its' continuing aftermath.

This book is particularly gripping because the author focuses on the impact the last few years (2005) have had on the people of Iraq and the city of Baghdad. He examines the war from the lens of Iraq, not that of Washington.

The dichotomy of this war - Washington vis-a-vis Iraq - is exposed. The war is at the same time a liberation and an occupation. The effects of that occupation are detailed by Shadid: foreign tanks moving past homes, informers betraying fellow Iraqis (and suffering the consequences).

The people of Iraq cannot understand the efficiency of a superpower that can take out their leader in a mere 3 weeks, but is so inefficient as to be unable to keep the electricity running or clean the water after years of occupation. It is blatantly obvious that the directors of the invasion were looking at Iraq from a Western point of view. Did they not realize that a people who were subjugated under a repressive dictatorship for 30 years, who underwent an imposed eight year war with Iran and; for the ten years prior to the invasion, endured sanctions and isolation from the outside world - would probably be unsympathetic to the words "democracy" and "liberation."

Shadid describes how fundamentalist Islam has moved into this vacuum and is warping young minds in Iraq. Shiite and Sunni clerics alike are preaching hatred of America and Israel and finding a receptive audience. They are equating martyrdom with the ultimate religious experience. There is no solution proposed - only the purity of a religion over other ways of living. It is frightening - over 70 years ago Adolf Hitler knew the value of hatred in uniting and motivating a confused people. He preached a similar message - espousing racial purity and intolerance of non-Germanic cultures.

Where is Iraq heading under this occupation? Are its' potential leaders already killed by suicide bombers? Or are they sequestered comfortably in exile never to return (and given the current conditions this is very understandable)?

As the author would say it is all very ghamidha - ambigious.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartbreaking and thought-provoking look at the first year of the American occupation of Iraq. The author tells the stories of the civilians - their fears, their frustrations, their deprivations. It's a balanced account, representing people with varying views on life under Sadaam and the 13 years of sanctions before the war. Unfortunately, even the most wildly optimistic and pro-American Iraqis,become disheartened by the inability of the Americans to provide security or even the most basic of services.

The author also chronicles the rise in religious extremism and the role of the occupation in fueling this extremism and anti-Americanism.

The epilogue is written in 2005, and to think that the families featured in this book- and all the Iraq people are - more than 5 years later - still living with an tenuous present and uncertain future, is truly sobering.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not find Night Draws Near as engaging as House of Stone.

[Tristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Shadid interviewed hundreds of Iraqis in the first 2 years of the American War (and subsequent occupation) in Iraq. Given this context, he also provides his own personal assessment of the situation. This book is lucid and powerful, especially given its publication in 2004. Unlike many works written too early on in a conflict without the perspective of time, this book is excellent.

The Iraq that America invaded was one that had been under Saddam Hussein’s reign of violence and fear for decades. It was feverish and frenzied to reclaim its culture and to air its many grievances. Conversely, the Iraq that George Bush and his administration purported to be the first domino to fall in the Arab world was a (hastily and poorly concocted) fantasy. The ignorance, hubris, and greed with which this fantasy was incepted and pursued will never be undone; its greatest perpetrators receding into the shadows of anonymity that come with a second term, with a new administration, with the weight of American corporate interests.

It is clear Islam is more than a religion. It is also a political system, and a fabric of communal organization. The imperative to group together and affect change toward a more holy world is powerful. Where this communal arrow is pointed, though, is ultimately decided by men. The fallibility of men and their political aims, even aims that align morally and ethically with their faith (ie fighting off a foreign occupier) is self-evident. Moreover, the aims of a single movement do not exist in a vacuum: layered, mutually exclusive imperatives to establish a more holy community, with contradictory messages, methods, and goals, only further illustrate the fallibility of men.

Favorite quotes:

“Proud but humbled, rebellious but humiliated, the country was never simply a black and white photograph of dictatorship and repression. It was a time-worn sculpture: born of a distant past, and weathered by more recent, wrenching events. And its people were more than victims.”

“While supremely prepared for war, the American military was singularly unprepared for its frenzied aftermath. There was never really a plan for post-Saddam Iraq. There was never a realistic view of what might ensue after the fall; there was hope that became faith, and delusions that became fatal.”

“The Americans brought a revolution without ambition, and an upheaval without design.”

“The best journalism embraces nuance and celebrates it. War, however, leaves little room for subtleties. How does a journalist convey the ferocity of violence without losing meaning in a mind-numbing array of adjectives? How does one cover war from a professional distance, when, as someone reporting from a city under siege, one has no distance? Perhaps we simply surrender to the ambiguities… Perhaps, we simply tell stories.”

“In country after country in the region, over the past generation or so, Islam has proven remarkably adept as a political program, or more precisely as many political programs. Bringing together opposing demands and unifying distinct grievances. Most often, the movements that espouse it understand its pliancy. They begin with a universalist message of faith: a 7th century revelation, remarkable for its simplicity and clarity, and then tailor it to specific communities.“

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like three and a half.

So I should probably review this before I forget everything. I avoided reading journalist or new political books about the last Iraq war for a really long time and I can't really remember what made me pick this one up. I've always enjoyed Shadid's articles, which I first became familiar with around 2006, and this book covers from just before the start of the war upto the elections of 2005.

Some parts of this are really touching. My favourite is the prologue right before the war started, the people trying to find out about their missing sons that turned into a protest that seemed eerily familiar and sad after the events of the last year. He also goes into a lot of detailed stories about the Iran-Iraq war which is good since it had hundreds of thousands of casualties yet has been largely forgotten. Its impact on the state and people was massive. I just wish he had put the same kind of detail into talking about the 1991 war, the uprisings which the US left to get crushed, and the decade plus of sanctions that followed. The sanctions alone killed way more people than the last two wars put together, but they should not be covered just for that reason, but because it's really important to understanding the state that Iraq was in in 2003.

Once he gets into the war itself we get the perspective of a lot of Iraqis from a lot of very different backgrounds with very different opinions. For the most part they get to speak for themselves and you get to see how they change (or not) as things go from bad to worse, much of the book has the same feel as the (excellent) documentary "About Baghdad." Out of this you get the major disconnect between Iraqis and the American rhetoric, that Iraqis have a much longer memory. Like when the Americans say they were going to make Iraq function "like before," they meant before they invaded, while Iraqis thought that meant like in the 1970s, before Saddam and before the wars and sanctions that devastated them. More discussion of the 1990s would have helped to clarify how destroyed everything was by the time the war came around.

Also, and Shadid is not alone in this by a long shot but it's still unfortunate, he draws this dichotomy of Saddam's rule as secular and that religious parties only came after his fall. The guy was never secular, especially not in the 1990s. It's a minor point but in general people have to stop calling every dictator that dresses up in military fatigues secular cause they almost never are.

Ultimately I opted to give this book a 3 instead of 4 because it didn't tell me much that I didn't know. If you followed the papers and read the in depth articles of the time, the kind of profiles written here will sound pretty familiar to you. That's because the best pieces were either by Shadid or by people that were imitating him, but that doesn't change that it took away from my overall reading experience.

[Alexis Ohanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Shadid, a Lebanese American, reports on the Iraq war from the perspective of a range of everyday Iraqi citizens. This was everything I'd hoped it to be -- a riveting account that goes a long way toward illustrating what "everyday life" at war is like. For someone like me, who cannot begin to conceive of such an existence, this was quite insightful. Particularly given the access Shadid has to Iraqis from a variety of classes and professions, the interviews they give -- being read now, with the benefit of hindsight -- are remarkably prescient considering how this conflict has escalated in the years since the invasion.

[Sarah Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this the day after the news broke that its author, Anthony Shadid, had died in Syria. Shadid wrote a wonderful book that is a testament to his dedication as a journalist, as well as to his compassion as a person. As an American reading about the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the subsequent insurgency -- with almost a decade of hindsight -- I found myself frustrated and enraged.

[Katlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a memoir of an American journalist who went to Iraq a few months before the 2003 US invasion, and stayed for the year that followed. He interviewed and formed relationships with people all over the country-- of every sect and class, and his anecdotes really help to humanize the conflict.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really incredible. You'd think that a book about Iraq published in 2004 would be outdated to the point of irrelevance, but this is really timeless. A absolutely heartbreaking account that really foregrounds the contrast between Baghdad's past and it's present. It's hard to imagine how a place with so much significance, history, and culture has just been decimated, and even worse when you think of what's happened SINCE the occupation. Shadid effectively portrays the human toll of the decades of violence, dictatorship, occupation, and sanctions - who could come out of that unscathed? Is it any surprise that things turned out as they have, after all that? I wish Shadid was around to write about the present day situation - his style of reporting weaves together intensely individual and personal stories to create a picture of the whole that is complex, contradictory, and not at all reductive. I could go on forever, this is definitely worth a read and is very relevant to the present day; it has completely expanded and complicated my view of Iraq and of the broader Middle East, even though I was already pretty educated on the topic.

[Bob Uva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm about one-third through this book and feel compelled to start writing about it. This is the story of the war in Iraq and its aftermath from the point of view of the people of Iraq, on the ground, innocent, and helpless. The late Anthony Shadid "embedded" himself, not in the military ranks, but among the helpless people of Baghdad as the war began and throughout its aftermath. He skillfully embued his story through the stories of ordinary, and some extraordinary, Iraqis who lived through the calamity of war. For example, a fourteen-year-old girl kept a diary starting around the beginning of the war and it is through some quotations from that diary that Shadid explained the mindset of this child and of the people of Baghdad. It would be poignant were it not that THIS WAS A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL LIVING THROUGH THE HELL OF WAR!

Some of you who will read this know that I enjoy reading stories of World War II. Having been born eleven years after that war ended, I was enough removed from it, yet strongly influenced by veteran and historian's accountings, to relish the bravery of soldiers and to appreciate the importance of responding to tyrants early. Reading Night Draws Near broadens my understanding of war and its effects on ordinary people. It's not that I was naive. It is that, given a choice whether or not to invade Iraq, the US used its best marketing of the American people to accomplish only one goal -- the removal of a tyrant. It completely and utterly failed to consider the millions of people on the ground in Iraq and how to reconstruct that country! As an engineer used to thinking problems through, risk assessment and planning, I have to wonder who had the ear of the President at that time. It certainly does not seem like it was anyone who understood Iraqi culture and was serious about rebuilding the country.

Now, having finished the book, I can only recommend this as an example of the highest level of journalism. Shadid was able to take a complex, unpredictable situation and environment and explain it beautifully, but tragically, through the lens of the people of Baghdad and its environs. An incredible book.

[Joanne Clarke Gunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book to read if you want to know exactly how it was in Iraq shortly before and in the days, weeks, months, and years after the United States invaded and occupied Iraq. Anthony Shadid was there. He saw it. He lived it. He got to know and interviewed many average Iraqi people (both Sunni and Shiite)and this book chronicles those interviews and the opinions of the civilian Iraqi people on being invaded and occupied by the United States. It can be summed up in this way: many (not all) were glad that Saddam Hussein was gone, but they hated the American occupation of their country and the violence that ensued after the fall of Baghdad. I don't think that most Americans have any idea how much unrelenting violence and chaos there was. Americans certainly were fed a much more tranquil and triumphant picture than actually existed and this becomes crystal clear in this excellent book. The carnage and brutality, primarily involving the gruesome deaths of many civilian Iraqis at the hands of the powerful American military as well as between the Sunni and Shiite religious factions because of hostilities stirred up by the occupation, are almost inconceivable to those of us who weren't there.

Anthony Shadid was (he died at age 43 from an acute asthma attack in February 2012 while in Syria) an excellent reporter (for the NY Times and a Pulitzer prize winner - twice) and his vivid descriptions of Baghdad, the Iraqi people, and the war, will stay in my memory for a long time to come. Through Shadid's eyes, we clearly see the chasm between the occupiers and the occupied. This book should be required reading for all U.S. government officials, journalists, and anyone interested in knowing how ill-prepared the American forces were in an Iraq after Saddam and how awful life became for ordinary Iraqi citizens. I highly recommend this book.

[S2 Mc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting background I have not found in other books regarding recent events in Iraq, on Islam, the schism with Sunni and Sh'ia, Sistani, and Mongol sacking of Baghdad, as well as the Sh'ia hierarchy, and the thug murderer Moqtad al-Sadr. A few Monday morning observations too, "oh wow" moments, having lived through the aftermath of a lot of this, especially how much better off the US would have been if Sadr had been jailed or killed.

Yes, Bremer was ill-advised to dismiss the whole Iraqi Army. And yes, he was foolish, while trying to quote the British general who victoriously entered Baghdad following the unraveling of the Ottomans, of using words that included "occupation." The former was a substantial mistake. The latter, only a mistake when dealing with childishness.

Sadly, the in-between stories here presented between the interesting background, was a lot of moaning and complaining by Iraqis, who did nothing for themselves under Saddam, generally celebrated his downfall, credited the Americans with getting rid of him, and then turned around and based on unwarranted pride, more victimization that is so common these days, revolted over (Iraqi) looting, (Iraqi) sectarian violence, (Iraqi) murders, (Iraqi) plundering of historical treasures, (Iraqi) kidnappings for profit, (Iraqi) lawlessness, (Iraqi) blowing up of Coalition Forces' provided fixes to oil pipelines, electrical generation plants, and (Iraqi) uncivilized behaviors following the departure of a strong man dictator to tell them what to do and what not to do, get all up in arms over the thought/word "occupation" and the lack of instant genie-in-a-bottle security, electricity, and building of skyscrapers like in Dubai. Yeah, it's actually in the book. We thought the Americans were going to build us a new country, or at least a city, over-night.

The insufferable pride of the Iraqis portrayed here is probably accurate. Pride in what, I haven't a clue. Yes, many times conquered, millennial-old glory as a prosperous city, long-time suffering, but where is the gall to start killing liberators, and each other, over the mere presence of non-believers and the term occupation? Yeah, a period that lasted about 14 months total.

Where was the tangible oppression that the people felt under the "occupation?" Their dinghy ramshackle ugly neighborhoods and usual route home were inconvenienced by jersey barriers and checkpoints. So sorry. Why? Go back and read the 3rd paragraph. Wasn't that someone complaining the previous page about how America failed to dictate (and enforce) instant lock-down curfews, and provide comprehensive coverage of every street and fetid waste-filled alley?

Bush promised us......security, liberty, a dawn of a new age. And you want us to do, what, something? Control our insufferable pride, over our city seeing American flags, seeing in those flags only Christians who came to 1) steal oil, and 2) wipe out our religion? Did either happen? Was there any attempt whatsoever to stifle religious rites, gatherings, medieval self-flaggelations? No, of course not, not once. (Sadr's violence promoting newspaper was told to cease publications for 60 days - boo hoo.) The only oppression that came during the occupation was solely figments of the imagination in the deranged, entitlement-minded Iraqi. They were allowed unfettered freedom, more than ever before, to go and do, to continue their lives, with no heavy hand from the provisional governance.

Yeah, America poured billions into your cess pool, and you sucked it right up, remembered not one bit of it the next day, but turned and blamed and targeted Americans to die because you didn't have air conditioning, and the obsolete phone system that Saddam allowed was not being restored, while forbidden cell systems were being built, so everyone could move into the modern world. Day 2 of liberation, and the Americans are at fault for the looting, so says this author, via his interviews with little people, raised on small-minded Islam, because it was neither anticipated (yeah, lots of misunderstanding of values between West and Arabia), nor were there enough troops or resources to even contemplate that kind of control.

The lack of responsibility for anything that the Iraqis portrayed, as described in this book, is depressingly maddening, while yes, complaining that liberty and democracy being declared or envisioned means, voila, overnight, peace, security, neighborliness, respect....stupid, stupid society.

Excuse after excuse for the insurgency, the violence, the skullduggery of Iraqi killing other Iraqis over age old quarrels, unfounded pride, resentment of being occupied, and taking offense at the presence of humane, generous, valiant, sacrificing Americans (and Brits) just because they don't care two wits for your 8th century arguments and pettiness, and gullibly swallowing the rest of the blatant lies spread by Zarqawi ( a Jordanian), the upstart Sadr, Qays Khazali, and the other nameless Baathist thugs, criminals and know-nothings that fueled the insurgency. For what reason again? Opposition to temporary occupation? Decades of poverty and ill-treatment? Blind-, groundless certainty in the supremacy of Islam's ill-conceived mischaracterized blood-thirty, petulant, small-minded, jealous Allah, and coloring everyone else as detestable? Centuries of resentment over being left in literal dust vs the West? The author gives all of those reasons credence and allowance for the situation the Iraqis suffer through, without assigning responsibility for where it lies. The millstone around their necks of Islam, and the derivative traditions, foolish tribalism, and unfounded over-weening pride in a society that can't figure itself out or get over centuries old resentments to cooperate in any common good.

Well written, good background stuff in parts, but don't read it if you are confused about American efforts, successes, or might encounter an Iraqi tomorrow. Chances are you will have to remind yourself that the tribes of Israel were like stupid children after 430 years in Egypt, and that the Iraqis' years under Saddam perpetuated a resentful, entitlement-minded bunch of small-minded tribalists who expected a new world to be unrolled for them, and the minute it did not appear, turned into a useless bunch of resentful, contemptible ingrates, and then restrain yourself from punching him in the head.

[Shambhavi Pandey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memoirs, historical chronicles, and biographies have become my go-to genres lately, and 'Night Draws Near' is a standout gem. As a Lebanese American journalist, Shadid dives deep into the heart of the Iraq war, giving us a raw and authentic perspective from the everyday Iraqi folks. This book had me hooked from the start—a gripping and eye-opening account that pulls back the curtain on what life is really like during war.

What blew me away was Shadid's incredible access to people from all walks of life in Iraq. Their interviews, especially when you reflect on them now, are mind-blowingly accurate in predicting how the conflict would unfold over the years after the invasion.

Shadid doesn't hold back in showing the devastating impact of years of bloodshed, violence, dictatorship, and years of sanctions on regular people's lives. It's a heart-wrenching narrative that contrasts the vibrant history of Baghdad with its current state of ruin. The destruction caused by the occupation is just mind-boggling, and it's hard to fathom how a place so culturally rich has been left in shambles.

I can't stress enough how enlightening and eye-opening 'Night Draws Near' has been for me. It's expanded my understanding of Iraq and the broader Middle East in ways I never imagined. If you're looking for a thought-provoking and captivating read, this book is an absolute treasure.

[John Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A responsible piece of book journalism. Shadid writes fluently and precisely about a scale of the Iraqi war experience that no one else seems to have heeded at all. The opening chapters depict a Baghdad echoingly silent and tense in the days before the invasion that feels at once real and almost too perfectly foreboding. Shadid's self-awareness is critical to the effect of the novel. Time and again, he stumbles over the things he himself didn't see or didn't read correctly. He gets humbling lessons even for himself out of events that he have lost track of in the litany of mistakes in the early days of the occupation: yes, disbanding the army was horribly wrong-headed, but so was our ignorance (even Shadid's own, as a great familiar of Baghdad life) of the significance the first time we heard the name Sadr or when we heard that Saddam had emptied the prisons. Even those who saw tragedy approaching didn't see the nuance of it. Shadid captures just this.

[aaliyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’ve unfortunately never been too educated on the 2003 american occupation of iraq, so when my good friend maryam recommended this book, i was quite eager to learn.

shadid does a great job of explaining the many different forces in the war (of which there are many), the sentiment of the iraqi people at the time, the disparity between the american and iraqi cultures, the miscommunications between… everyone.

on top of being concisely educational, the book is largely based on interviews with an incredible variety of people, and built on top of the factual framework, the interviews ground the human aspect of it all—the anger, the disillusionment, and the sorrow in the face of war.

the complexities can’t really be captured in a review, and i’m planning on reading other accounts just to get a more rounded perspective, but if you happen to read this, i’d love to discuss :))

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful book with vivid encounters with the people of Iraq. A must read for anyone who desires a nuanced understanding of the complexity of Iraq. The book only covers the first two years of the war, but shows where America made mistakes and lost this war.

The US failed to capture the hearts and minds of the people when it had the chance. The Iraqi people were willing to give the Americans a chance to deliver on their pre-war promises, but after a year the power still was not on, the streets were not safe, and food was scarce. Then came the battle of Falluja, the city of Mosques was destroyed, and with it the faith of the Iraqi people. Now over a million Iraqis are dead, and those heady days of 2003 are a bitter and lost memory.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way Shadid let's his interviewees speak for themselves. He doesn't editorialize the hell out it. This book is the best inside look at the disparate views that Iraqis hold toward the US invasion and occupation and how they have evolved. We love to lump all of them into one nice and neat group and think of them as for us or against us, peaceful or blood thirsty. Iraq is so complex and the administration had no idea what they were getting into. It is amusing to go back to 2003 and read quotes from the likes of Bremer, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush about Iraq. What an ignorant bunch of warmongering bastards.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Shadid tries to be very balanced, and for the most part, succeeds. He sees problems with both the Americans and Iraqis, admitting that the divide between the two groups might just be too wide to cross.

My only complaint, if it can even be called that, there are so many people that I sometimes got them mixed up. Once I figured out who they were, I appreciated the different views. My heart went out to Amal, a young teen-age girl who shared her diary with Shadid. If only more people (not just Iraqis) thought like she thinks. I hope she is still writing...

[Miste · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was on Newsweeks 50 books you should read so I read it. Even though it was not suprising it still made me angry. Another lost opportunity for America just like Afghanistan. If you start a war to depose a dictator then you should have a plan for what you are going to do after you have deposed that dictator--and we didn't. It was doomed from the start it seems like. We didn't/don't understand their culture at all it appears. I had a hard time getting through it. I don't think it was really that well written. I only finished it because I was determined to.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a class called America's 21st Century Wars; it was selected to provide students with a different perspective on how the war in Iraq has affected Iraqi citizens and society. Written by a Lebanese American, it may surprise people in how not biased it is. Shadid interviews people from all backgrounds, classes, and perspectives. He provides quite good coverage of people's experiences and emotions during the invasion and occupation. I'd recommend this to anyone who's interested in current events, but wants to read something that isn't too dense or overly political.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very glad that I read this book. It gives a sensitive view of the people -- individual people and families -- that were victimized by the ravages of what followed the reign of Sadam Hossein. The author does not offer opinions. He does not take sides. He talks about the people that he came to know during his stay in Iraq. His driver and guide, a family of a mother and 4 daughters who are barely surviving day to day, people who were rich, people who were poor, Shiites, Sunnis.........I recommend this book to everyone.

[siga · Rating 4 out of 5]

am listening to this incredible book on tape. anthony shadid draws his audience into the neighborhoods and daily lives of prewar iraq. shadid is a gifted journalist who is passionate without taking sides in describing events that have become history. well worth reading for any and all to understand more of what a mess of peoples' lives the invasion to get rid of saddam hussein made.

[Florence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confined to the green zone, a small secure space in Baghdad, american military personnel carry out their uncertain mission. America invaded the country with an ignorance of its culture and its people. Once the invasion was launched, america blew the chance to actually help the Iraqi people and restore peace in the country.

[Anne Donohoe Wexler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started this...needed a broccoli book. It was a recommendation from my Dad.

Finished it! Took me all year - slowly reading a chapter at a time- but it felt important. This is a look a the Iraq war from the Iraqi people...it's amazing - between this book and the war see on the news- you would think they are 2 separate wars! Wish every member of congress would read this.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a political book as much as it is an exploration of the people of Iraq and the problems they face. The invasion by the USA didn't help and just added to their misery and made their problems worse. Very sad at times and I feel much compassion for the people. Guilt by association since I am an American.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about the US invasion of Iraq, told from the Iraqi people's point of view. The book is divided into sections detailing life in Baghdad, largely, before the invasion, during the invasion, the aftermath of the invasion, and the insurgency.

This book is a prime example of what excellent journalism can be.