Once Upon a Time in Iraq

by James Bluemel & Renad Mansour

Reviewed by Matt Adcock, Head of Communications at Embrace the Middle East

Reading this book a few months after Pope Francis made his historic trip to Iraq this year - a region often labeled ‘the birthplace of the Eastern Church’ – was a sobering and heart-breaking experience. Whilst Embrace the Middle East has a long history in the region, we have only worked with partners in Iraq since 2019 and I feel now more than ever that we need be there helping wherever we can.

The challenges are great, this is a country still experiencing the traumatic aftermath from the 2003 conflict and the future looks as uncertain now as ever. Once Upon a Time in Iraq, based largely on the first-hand testimonies of those who lived through the horrors of the Iraq War, brings the effects on those trying to rebuild their lives into sharp, painful focus.

As a UK citizen, there was a sense of unreality when Western troops invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein's regime. We were told it was necessary and that the threat of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ was real. There was the theoretical link to the events of 9/11 being pushed by George Bush and a sense that this act could somehow be both our revenge and a way to make the world a safer place as a result. The media covered the highlights as our precision weaponry was unleashed on Iraq’s forces in a way that almost made it a spectacle to tune in to and watch. Little did I, or most of the general public, know what a potentially grave mistake was unfolding right before us, or that the ramifications would continue to reverberate through the lives of millions even over a decade later both in Iraq and the West.

In this book (written as a detailed companion to the award-winning documentary ‘The Iraq War’ and compiled from over 100 hours of interviews), James Bluemel & Renad Mansour show that many of the issues facing the world today - the rise of the Islamic State, increased Islamic terrorism, intensified violence in the Middle East, mass migration, and more - can in some part be traced back to the decision to invade Iraq.

What hits you immediately when reading Once Upon a Time in Iraq is that this isn’t a piece of retro-fitted propaganda. The authors talk to and document accounts from all sides of the conflict – working class Iraqi families watching their country erupt into civil war; soldiers and journalists on the ground; American families dealing with the grief of losing their son or daughter; parents of a suicide bomber coming to terms with unfathomable events – to create the most in-depth and multi-faceted portrait of the Iraq War to date.  It feels meticulously put together and is written in an engaging format. By exploring this conflict that even now continues to shape our world, it delivers a reminder of the devastating consequences that stem from the decision to attack Iraq.

Once Upon a Time in Iraq is a truly devastating read, it will move you and likely strip away the trust of those at the highest levels making world-shaping decisions. Told through the accounts of real people’s lives and their frank recollections - ranging from US Servicemen and advisors to Iraqi civilians who were caught up in the heat of the events overtaking their country. The overarching and consensus is that there is nothing positive to say about the war. The US and UK interviewees explain how our forces went in with seemingly no long-term plan as to what we would do if and when we managed to topple Saddam. How would we help reconstruct the country that we were systematically destroying? Was there any clear understanding of the geopolitical and religious complexities of Iraq? It is a hard read for anyone to come to terms with but an essential one if you want to understand the situations that occurred and much of the recent history that has stemmed from the invasion.

Focusing on the rise of ISIS particularly painful, inflicting horrific brutality on the civilians and almost certainly wouldn't have occurred without the war.

It is refreshing and fascinating to hear the Iraq war presented not from the perspective of the politicians or analysts, but by asking the people who were there to tell their stories. You won’t hear much on the news about how more than sixteen years after the war, Iraqis are still without many basics of daily life. One legacy of the war is that the people of Iraq now have a government that cannot provide the essential services we in the West take for granted such as clean water, stable electricity supplies, and an education system that works.

The authors have certainly brought together an impressive array of voices, each of whom has a different take on what happened and what went wrong. Waleed Nesyif, who as an 18-year-old, sang in Iraq’s only heavy metal band despite his father being a Colonel in the Iraqi Republican Guard. His accounts are raw and moving as sometimes the words of young people are. After the invasion, he became a translator, earning more in a day than his father did in six months but his life is scarred. It’s interesting that he speaks in a very matter-of-fact about how the inhuman treatment of prisoners meted out by the Americans ‘wasn’t that much different to that experienced under the brutality of Saddam’s regime.

In contrast, there is Sergeant Rudy Reyes, an elite US Marine who went into Iraq ahead of the main invasion in order to destroy strategic targets – is a self-described ‘very capable, violent professional’. But his hard exterior cracks at points when he recalls how some civilians died in ways that had he known more about the country, would have been avoidable. He now runs an NGO with some other veterans.

As a blog writer, I enjoyed the piece by Omar Mohammed who created the Mosul Eye blog – regarded as one of the few reliable sources of information about life under the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). His account of the mooted relationship between Saddam and al-Qaeda – which he thinks is a ridiculous notion is a fascinating and frank opinion.

These various voices combine with many others to give you a feeling of almost being there. Vivid descriptions and personal reflections make this a book like few others. At times it gives you the sense that the Western governments would really rather you didn’t read this as it lays bare the shambolic way that the war unfolded. 

Indeed, when surveying the immediate aftermath one account says how the country was destroyed, the infrastructure gone, with no thought as to how to rebuild and that the oil ministry was the only building left protected by the troops. Its details like this that say so much.

Once Upon a Time in Iraq is a book that deserves a wide readership. It stands as a unique testament to a horrific series of events that were misrepresented by the media and so widely misunderstood by the Western public. Covering an important part of recent history through the accounts of those who experienced it makes for an absorbing, thought-provoking and emotionally draining read.

Highly recommended. 

Find out more about Embrace’s work with partners in Iraq.

This review is a personal reaction to the book and not an endorsement by Embrace.