Lecture: Beyond The Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq
Beyond the bluster of politicians, beyond the mainstream media bias... where can you learn the truth about the war that has defined our lives?
Since 2003, unembedded journalist Dahr Jamail has filed indispensable reports from Iraq that have made him this generation's chronicler of the unfolding disaster there. In Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq, Jamail brings us inside the Iraq we never see, presenting never-before published details from his first two years in Iraq.
Now, as popular sentiment has turned against an occupation that has all but unraveled entirely, demand for independent reports has grown. Jamail's consistent visits to occupied Iraq and courageous record of reportage from Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria make him an invaluable voice of dissent, bringing us inside the Iraq and Middle East we never see.
Vivid, insightful, and often in the participants' own words, Beyond the Green Zone goes past the polished desks of the corporate media and Washington politicians to tell the story of the daily anguish the U.S. occupation has created in Iraqi civilian lives. In addition to showing the progression of events and the role of various government officials that brought the occupation to its current disastrous state, Beyond the Green Zone goes behind the media disinformation campaign about the capture of Saddam Hussein and the corresponding reaction of Iraqi civilians and uncovers the motives behind the siege of Fallujah and the collective punishment inflicted upon its civilians, including the use of chemical weapons, such as white phosphorus, and the targeting of ambulances. Jamail exposes the humanitarian crisis developing in Iraq, from attacks on hospitals and the lack of electricity and running water to the growing refugee crisis and skyrocketing rate of unemployment. He discusses the 2005 Iraqi elections and the spin behind the stated aim of "bringing democracy" to Iraq. Beyond the Green Zone features the voices of Iraqi civilians, giving readers unfiltered access to the realities of life under occupation.
Biography:
In late 2003, weary of the overall failure of the U.S. media to accurately report on the war in Iraq, Jamail went to the Middle East to report on the war firsthand. Utilizing a far different approach than his mainstream peers, Jamail "chose to look for stories of real life and 'embed' [himself] with the Iraqi people." His "MidEast Dispatches" from Iraq began as a daily e-mail to friends; quickly recognized as an important media resource, they are now read by 8,000 subscribers. His reports have been published in international news outlets around the world, including the Guardian, BBC, the Independent and Asia Times; and in multiple domestic news outlets, including Mother Jones, Democracy Now!, Nation, and Flashpoints.
