Product Description
From public radio correspondent, Michael Goldfarb comes the most stirring narrative to emerge from the Second Gulf War, one that travels to the frontlines of battle, into the home of an Iraqi Kurdish family, and into the hearts of two men from different cultures whose intimate friendship and mutual passion for authentic freedom can inspire us all. "Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace" is Goldfarb's moving tribute to Ahmad Shawkat, the Iraqi Kurd who served as his translator during "Major Combat Operations," a man whose life's work under an oppressive regime was to promote freedom of expression, a man who was ultimately murdered during the American occupation for his published criticism of Islamic intolerance and violence. Goldfarb recounts his powerful yet all-too-brief relationship with Ahmad and introduces readers to the life of a true Iraqi hero. Eighteen years old when the Ba'ath Party seized control in Iraq, Ahmad shared with Goldfarb in English self-taught, intimate, and always poetic, how he was imprisoned and tortured twice by Saddam Hussein's regime, was forced to fight in the Iran-Iraq war and was banished from his hometown of Mosul for his anti-Saddam political writings. Just as he began to taste freedom with the fall of Saddam and his large family's return to Mosul, Ahmad was murdered for publicly decrying Islamic terror in fervent editorials in the newspaper he had begun publishing. Ahmad's story mirrors the history of modern Iraq, and as Goldfarb investigates the murder of his friend, he mourns this loss and contemplates the dangers awaiting the Iraqi people in their uncertain future. Told with compassion and great respect, this story of one heroic man will forever change our perception of what all Iraqis have suffered and continue to endure.
Synopsis
From public radio correspondent, Michael Goldfarb comes the most stirring narrative to emerge from the Second Gulf War, one that travels to the frontlines of battle, into the home of an Iraqi Kurdish family, and into the hearts of two men from different cultures whose intimate friendship and mutual passion for authentic freedom can inspire us all. "Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace" is Goldfarb's moving tribute to Ahmad Shawkat, the Iraqi Kurd who served as his translator during "Major Combat Operations," a man whose life's work under an oppressive regime was to promote freedom of expression, a man who was ultimately murdered during the American occupation for his published criticism of Islamic intolerance and violence. Goldfarb recounts his powerful yet all-too-brief relationship with Ahmad and introduces readers to the life of a true Iraqi hero. Eighteen years old when the Ba'ath Party seized control in Iraq, Ahmad shared with Goldfarb in English self-taught, intimate, and always poetic, how he was imprisoned and tortured twice by Saddam Hussein's regime, was forced to fight in the Iran-Iraq war and was banished from his hometown of Mosul for his anti-Saddam political writings.
Just as he began to taste freedom with the fall of Saddam and his large family's return to Mosul, Ahmad was murdered for publicly decrying Islamic terror in fervent editorials in the newspaper he had begun publishing. Ahmad's story mirrors the history of modern Iraq, and as Goldfarb investigates the murder of his friend, he mourns this loss and contemplates the dangers awaiting the Iraqi people in their uncertain future. Told with compassion and great respect, this story of one heroic man will forever change our perception of what all Iraqis have suffered and continue to endure.
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