A Glimpse of Iraq -- The Blog is now a Book

About a year ago I posted a story from Iraq that captured part of the dynamic of how hearts and minds were not being caught according to plan. That post began my most satisfying personal experience of blogging so far, a correspondence with an Iraqi man about the same age as I. And that connection has given me a connection with this terrible war that makes me want it to come to an end as soon as possible, for his sake and the sake of all who are involved.

Writing under the screen name of Abu Khaleel, he maintained a stable of blogs, one of which, A Glimpse of Iraq, has now been published in book form. Of course I have ordered my copy. I recommend that anyone interested in knowing Iraq, including the part that cannot be explained either by news reporters or milbloggers, should make this book part of what they read.

Time permitting, the reader is welcome to follow a few of my posts to learn about the author and me. There is no way for me to be unbiased in this matter as you will discover. But you will also find, upon closer reading, that my bias is well-founded. (Don't scan. If you don't have time to read and pay attention, skip the exercise and move on to something else. This will take a few minutes.)

After reading the link cited above, read the comment.

Look next at my post about his blog, ten days later.

Finally, read my Fathers Day post which published, with his permission, email exchanges between the two of us that speak for themselves.

The book, A Glimpse of Iraq, is available from Lulu, either for download or hard copy. I look forward to getting a copy and writing a sparkling review at the Lulu reference page. This gesture is not about money, incidentally, but healing. Buying a book is a pitiful gesture but for me, one person far away, it is the best I know to do.