Soldiers and Citizens (0230601642) MIRRA

More than five years after the United States military and coalition forces invaded Iraq, the Iraq War remains a controversial and divisive subject throughout the world. This wide-ranging book, the first truly comprehensive oral history of the war, captures the diverse viewpoints of the soldiers, policymakers, family members, and others whose lives it changed. Recorded here are gripping battlefield accounts from veterans, the passionate testimonies of conscientious objectors and war supporters, reflections from nuclear inspectors and diplomats, and the varied perspectives of public figures from all across the political spectrum. This illuminating and moving book is an essential document of one of the defining conflicts of the twenty-first century.

A soldier in the U.S. Marine Corps during the first Gulf War, Carl Mirra is an Associate Professor in the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University.

"Why did the United States invade and occupy Iraq, and what happened when we did? Soldiers and Citizens provides a compelling series of answers. No matter how much you think you know about the Iraq war, this book will teach you more."

--Stephen Kinzer, former New York Times correspondent and Visiting Scholar, Northwestern University

"Carl Mirra has put together a remarkable and moving collection of oral histories of the war in Iraq. He brings into direct dialogue veterans who opposed and supported the war, policy-makers who resigned their office out of principle and those who remain convinced of the righteousness of their policies. These are fascinating clips of a war still in progress, whose origins and course will remain disputed long after it is finally concluded."

--Dr. Marilyn B. Young, Professor of History, New York University and author of The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990

"Whether described as occupied or liberated, Iraq usually generates widely divergent, strongly held opinions. Carl Mirra’s book presents all sides of the issue, as seen by those engaged in the struggle. It is compelling, balanced, rational and thought-provoking. The issues are complicated; the presentation is hard-hitting. Read it and learn."
--Ambassador Edward Peck, former U.S. Chief of Mission in Iraq and Deputy Director, White House Task Force on Terrorism in the Reagan administration

"In the spirit of Studs Terkel, Carl Mirra has given us Soldiers and Citizens, a splendid new oral history of U.S. military intervention in Iraq that could easily have been subtitled 'the good war gone bad.' This book is essential reading for anyone interested in learning why George W. Bush intervened in Iraq and just how difficult it will be to extricate the United States from what every one of Mirra's soldiers and citizens agrees will be a long and bloody war."

--Dr. Douglas Little, Professor of History and Dean at Clark College; author of American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945

Iraq and the United States: A Brief Sketch * The New Winter Soldiers Redux: The Patriotism of Antiwar GIs * From Bunker Hill to Baghdad: "We Will Continue the Mission" * The Sacrifice of Military Families * War Mangers: Pundits and Policy Officials