Also in Politics & Social Justice

Unembedded

Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq

by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Kael Alford, Thorne Anderson, Rita Leistner

Praise

â??Unembedded is one of the most important books about the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The four photojournalists took the moral path and chose not to act as propagandists for the U.S. military by joining the Pentagonâ??s program of "embedding." Rather, they took their lives in their hands and chose bravely to show the harsh reality that Iraqis must live with every day now: A failed, brutal occupation. An infrastructure in shambles. A life of no security, nor freedom. The incredible will, beauty and resilience of the Iraqi people.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who has any desire to see the reality of Iraq today. The four photographers are true journalists, deserving of the highest respect and regard; particularly today when we attempt to operate as journalists amidst a media overburdened by soundbites, government/corporate/Pentagon pressure and a horribly misinformed public. This book should be required reading in our schools, universities and federal government.â?�

-Dahr Jamail, Independent Journalist

"[Unembedded] is a powerful, apolitical, and impassioned view of the horror and torture of a society in the throes of an apocalypse: hard visuals with the four shooters putting their personal word licks into each essay. It is this rawness that brings home the reality, the diversity, letting us look at â??the other sideâ?? now and grasp the story that we have been denied. It makes me think of Don McCullinâ??s Destruction Business, Philip Jones Griffithsâ?? Vietnam Inc., and Susan Meiselasâ??s Nicaragua."

â??Tim Page, a war photographer wounded in Vietnam, is the author of numerous books on that conflict, including Requiem: By the Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina, which he co-edited.

"The group of extraordinarily brave journalists who produced Unembedded show what it was like for Iraqis as the US invaded their country and then occupied it. Much of what is shown in Unembedded will probably disturb many Americans who have generally watched a sanitized version of the war and occupation unfold on their TV screens. Unembedded captures the whole range of Iraqi life under US occupation from joyful wedding scenes to the carnage of civilian casualties. Its a stunning book."

â??Peter Bergen, author of Holy War Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden

"Unembedded is the real McCoyâ??the images you won't see in the mainstream American press because the war on Iraq has become so difficult to cover. These images speak to the suffering of a nation that left authoritarian dictatorship only to embrace modern terror, largely sparked by the mere presence of US forces. I know first hand the restrictions placed on reporters both by the terrorists and the US military. These 'unembedded images' are a must-see for anyone who wants to understand the pain and humiliation inflicted on Iraq."

â??Philip Smucker, journalist and author of Al Qaeda's Great Escape

"Look closely and you wonâ??t be able to look away. . . . These pictures are painful and compelling enough to make you cryâ??and rage in anger. They are worth more than a thousand words. Much more."

â??Danny Schechter, editor of Mediachannel.org, director of WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception), and author of When News Lies: Media Complicity and the Iraq War

"Unembedded is an unforgettable, in-your-face reminder that there is more to the war in Iraq than what most Americans see on the nightly news; and it isnâ??t pretty. This book is not neutral, nor does it pretend to be. Rather, it is an impassioned response by its authors to the Pentagon's 'embedded' version of events.

"I think people should read this book and view the images in it. Whether or not you agree with the opinions expressed here, I have no doubt that many of you will come away feeling uncomfortable: about Iraq, about the war there, and about the United State's role in that war. And that is not a bad thing, because wars are always about killing and dying, things that should always make us feel uncomfortable. Especially when they are â??ourâ?? wars."

â??Jon Lee Anderson, correspondent for The New Yorker and author of The Fall of Baghdad

"The photos that were chosen for this book ... simply took my breath away. Somehow, the images that get into newspapers lack the sort of heart and compassion and pain, and occasional moments of whimsy, that you four captured. ... I thank you all for putting these images together and helping people see the real human costs of this war."

â??Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor