In a perverse way, I wonder if this telling, with its “Hell’s Bells” soundtrack, might actually be a kind of recruiting tool for adolescent teenage boys.

I do not think Mr. Filkins has a political agenda, but I was dismayed by his describing how he wanted to do bodily harm to a young man in a Manhattan bar because the man did not “support the troops.” I wanted to ask Filkins what, exactly, he expected the man to do: give hugs, send cookies, wave flags? We live in a political climate where vague slogans (”support the troops”) are thrown around so that “unpatriotic” citizens can be kept quiet and/or cast out of our society. I am sorry such an otherwise sensitive author has become part of the problem, not the solution (which in my opinion involves free speech, even in bars, and tolerance of differing opinions).

I heard a caller voiced some of Americans’ resentment by blaming the Iraqi people for not standing up to take over the governing of their own country. First of all, Iraq is a country consist of the multiple ethnic groups that have a long history of conflicts and hatred for each other. The American went in there and stirred up a big hornets nest without understanding the history, culture, and the seriousness of their ethnic hatred. This is an incredible mess and it is unfair to blame it on the Iraqi people for not standing up. Saddam Hussein might be a dictator but he was able to keep the country ‘peaceful’ and at least the majority of the people were happy. Life were normal before the war, and the Al Qaeda terrorists didn’t dare to go there. Now Iraq is a terrorist haven because it’s where they can target Americans. It is always easier to point finger at someone else. The war has now created a very different group dynamic in Iraq and it’s not so easy to put it back into equilibrium. Eventually, Americans will leave its unfinished war in Iraq and claim ‘victory’ just the way they did in Vietnam.

Dexter Filkins has clearly written something both beautiful in its narrative clarity and profound in its impact. The expression ‘must read’ comes to mind.

I too was taken aback by Mr Filkins remark about the young man in the restaurant. While I understand his passion and agree that someone ought to be put through the window over this war, alas, the most deserving parties have secret service/capitol police protection and Mr Filkins s unlikely to get to them. Otherwise a great show.

I’m writing with “Hells Bells” playing in the background, I remembering in part what it’s like to be hyped up for action (if only in war games-I was not in Iraq).
War is war, and as Sherman simply and unequivocally intoned, It is Hell.
Regardless of our feelings in Iraq, we have sent people there to fight – and therefore through a crucible that those who have never fought (or in Mr. Filkins case, been with) can ever understand.
I have served with those who knew war, and am related to many as well. We can’t understand the change that this brings.
Mr. Filkins can.
I will read the book, but I’m not looking forward to it. I feel it will be too real.