On Feb 16th 2012 the world lost Anthony Shadid an intrepid reporter who worked for the New York Times. He died from of all things an asthma attack while on assignment in Syria. I saw this news report and was saddened by the fact that while covering an uprising, something as simple as his allergy to horses would kick him in to an attack and cause his life to end.
I had no previous knowledge about Anthony prior to his death and only learned of it by catching up on the news from the BBC who had been covering the deaths of several reporters in Syria. I became intrigued by this man and discovered that he was a published author. His book Night Draws Near was published by Picador a division of Henry Holt and Company, in 2005. This book is about the lead up to the American invasion of Iraq and begins with background on the country and the people.
It is a fascinating look at another world and how the American "Liberators" were viewed prior to the war and how the people of Iraq expected the events to unfold.
There were two quotes in the book that I want to share, the first is from the Iraqi artist Mohammad Ghani Hickmat who said "We'll bend but we are not broken. They can bend us but they cannot break us. We are like palm trees. The wind will bend them but it never breaks them. We live. This is the Iraqi character. We cannot be broken." I discovered that he survived the war and passed away last year. Here is a link to his life story http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2641/farewell-mohammad-ghani-hikmat
The second quote is from Wamidh Nadhme a professor from Baghdad University who said this before the invasion. "The American invasion has nothing to do with democracy and human rights. It is basically an angry response to the events of September 11, an angry response to the survival of Saddam Hussein, and it has something to do with oil interests in the area." "Even if the Americans are capable of overthrowing the regime, they will face more and more resistance from factions and groups who are not necessarily pro-regime or armed by the regime." http://www.browndailyherald.com/campus-news/shadid-brings-reporter-s-perspective-to-iraq-war-1.1675624#.T0zUZnnZWSo
I have barely scratched the surface in this book and I am completely hooked to hear the story as it unfolds as told by an Arabic/American. You see Anthony was born and raised in America and was a valuable part of the NYT team because of his Arabic language skills. I wish I had been aware sooner and it had not been his death that lead me to his book. Here is a link to the story of his death. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17071591
RIP Anthony Shadid.
I had no previous knowledge about Anthony prior to his death and only learned of it by catching up on the news from the BBC who had been covering the deaths of several reporters in Syria. I became intrigued by this man and discovered that he was a published author. His book Night Draws Near was published by Picador a division of Henry Holt and Company, in 2005. This book is about the lead up to the American invasion of Iraq and begins with background on the country and the people.
It is a fascinating look at another world and how the American "Liberators" were viewed prior to the war and how the people of Iraq expected the events to unfold.
There were two quotes in the book that I want to share, the first is from the Iraqi artist Mohammad Ghani Hickmat who said "We'll bend but we are not broken. They can bend us but they cannot break us. We are like palm trees. The wind will bend them but it never breaks them. We live. This is the Iraqi character. We cannot be broken." I discovered that he survived the war and passed away last year. Here is a link to his life story http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2641/farewell-mohammad-ghani-hikmat
The second quote is from Wamidh Nadhme a professor from Baghdad University who said this before the invasion. "The American invasion has nothing to do with democracy and human rights. It is basically an angry response to the events of September 11, an angry response to the survival of Saddam Hussein, and it has something to do with oil interests in the area." "Even if the Americans are capable of overthrowing the regime, they will face more and more resistance from factions and groups who are not necessarily pro-regime or armed by the regime." http://www.browndailyherald.com/campus-news/shadid-brings-reporter-s-perspective-to-iraq-war-1.1675624#.T0zUZnnZWSo
I have barely scratched the surface in this book and I am completely hooked to hear the story as it unfolds as told by an Arabic/American. You see Anthony was born and raised in America and was a valuable part of the NYT team because of his Arabic language skills. I wish I had been aware sooner and it had not been his death that lead me to his book. Here is a link to the story of his death. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17071591
RIP Anthony Shadid.
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