Was the Surge Worth It? The Human Cost of the Iraq War

  • 11 years ago
Was the Surge Worth It? The Human Cost of the Iraq War
Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Perth Writers Festival
During a visit to Australia in 2007, then President George W. Bush was asked how the war in Iraq was progressing. He was overheard answering, "We're kicking ass." But how were the soldiers who were fighting the war faring? In this extraordinary talk at the Perth Writers Festival, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Finkel discusses his book The Good Soldiers.It is an unflinching account of the eight months in 2007 he spent embedded in U.S. army infantry 2-16, a battalion based in Baghdad. Finkel chronicles how he formed bonds with the soldiers and observed close-up how the war changed them. He details the difficult decisions he faced when writing the book, and how the troops and their families have reacted to reading it.Warning: This talk contains some coarse language.