Mugged by Reality: The Liberation of Iraq and the Failure of Good Intentions

by John Agresto

Book Overview

John Agresto spent nine months in Iraq--from September 2003 to June 2004--working under Ambassador Paul Bremer as senior adviser to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. His... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594031878
• ISBN13: 9781594031878
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Encounter Books
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A heart-breaking but necessary read for neoconservatives

I, like Mr. Agresto, believed that "liberating" Iraq from Saddam Hussein was in the best interest of Americans, Iraqis, and the world. As a neoconservative, I believed that the Cold War ethic of defending and exporting democracy was a moral cause; that every human being is born with an innate desire to live in freedom. Alas, I no longer believe this to be the case, primarily because this template did not/does not recognize the irreconcilable cultural differences between the West and the Muslim world. "Mugged By Reality" is the latest in a string of books I've read over the last couple of years in an effort to better understand Islamic extremism in particular and Muslim culture in general. If President Bush had had the advantage of reading "Guests of the Ayatollah", "The Looming Tower", "America Alone", and "Infidel", for example, I beleive he would have better understood the depths of Islam's cultural disfunctions, and probably would have done things differently in 2003. These aforementioned works have led me to conclude that the Muslim world cannot be reformed (or liberated) from without, it's savior must come from within -- an Islamic Reformation led by an Islamic Martin Luther, if you will. Until then, we should avoid all but the most covert and defensive involvement with Middle East politics. The saddest thing about the Iraq debacle is that we have expended so much American blood and treasure only to see that the "democracy" that has been birthed there is an Islamic one. As Agresto explains in heart-breaking detail in chapter 4, the Iraqi constitution, executive, legislative and judicial branches function less like our own and more like those of Iran's and Gaza's. That is to say that, yes, votes are cast democratically, but individual freedoms and laws are ultimately subservient to Islamic law (sharia). As Mr. Agresto tells it, the reason this unfortunate and tragic result came about is due to the Bush Administration's reluctance to do what we did after liberating/defeating Japan and Germany in WWII: impose American-styled democratic values and laws. Why did Bush and Bremer not do this? It appears they were cowed, just as those on the left are, by a toxic combination of cultural relativism and fears of validating bogus European/UN charges of "imperialism". For this our brave soldiers have paid with their lives? Truly a tragedy, though a different one than the Left laments. The one bright spot that illuminates Agresto's otherwise depressing tome is the success and prosperity that Kurdish Iraqis have enjoyed. Not surprisingly, this is because the Kurdish character is less intertwined with Islam and more comfortable with religious pluralism (Christians and Jews live freely among them). What to do with Iraq now? I'm afraid our policy mistakes are already baked in the cake regardless of however we choose to disengage militarily. You can't unscramble an egg and you can't de-Islamify the Iraqi constitution and character. It is t

Outstanding insights for conservatives and liberals on Iraq

Agresto offers an unapologetic look at why we went into Iraq. Then, he details what went wrong. It is difficult to find such clarity, with no apparent ax to grind. Prior to reading this book, I was confident that we should stay. Now, I'm not so sure. Agresto's description of our many mistakes in Iraq was difficult for me to read. But, I knew that it was important to do so. The failure of Iraq is one that, as Agresto details, at its core is a failure of the Iraqis themselves. Having been liberated from tyranny by us, the Iraqis have failed to step up. Where we failed, it seems is, under the guise of multiculturalism, essentially failing to recognize the superiority of our own culture and systems. We cobbled together a political process, ignoring the virtues and merits of our own. We permitted al Sadr to roam free, even though he is a known murderer. We permitted a political system that divides based on sect and ethnicity, even though our is rooted in geography and forces ideological accommodation. We permitted looting and common crimes to go unpunished. We were too soft, for fear of being too much like Saddam. Agresto is critical of the military, but in fairness to them, the role of the military is to kill people and break things, not to rebuild civilizations for an ungrateful, cowardly and lazy populace.

Any library collection considering itself comprehensive in Iraq culture and experience must have it.

MUGGED BY REALITY: THE LIBERATION OF IRAQ AND THE FAILURE OF GOOD INTENTIONS comes from an author who spent more than nine months in Iraq, helping to rebuild its system of colleges and vocational schools. While it's a memoir of the time he spent in Iraq and his encounters with the people there, MUGGED BY REALITY is also a testimony to the successes and failures after liberation and the struggles to promote a democracy within a world occupied by fanatics. Any who would understand the culture and problems of the Middle East will want to read this - and any library collection considering itself comprehensive in Iraq culture and experience must have it.

Best book on Iraq

John Agresto's new book is the best book on Iraq. Whether you're uninformed about the Iraq or someone who has held a strong opinion about it for a long time, Agresto will offer you fresh, refreshing, and brutally honest insights into the Middle East, Iraq, and our psyche. The book is short but it's loaded with big ideas supported with first-hand anecdotes. Agresto's approach to the debate is unique in that it lacks the platitudes and banalities so common in our discourse. Agresto reaches uses events in Iraq and our policy there to build up profound conclusions not just about Iraq itself, but also human nature. This book should be included in the recipe for American foreign policy.

A Great Book

I've read a few books recently which attempt to explain why our Iraq project has failed so badly. This book is the best of the bunch. It has extra credibility, at least to me, because Agresto initially believed in what the Administration was trying to do and willingly lent his expertise and service to help Iraq become a liberal democracy. From his small corner of the Iraq venture (higher education), he observed the shortsightedness and arrogance of the military, the CPA, and the deep thinkers back home, as well as the problems the Iraqi culture presented for the democracy project. I believe he has correctly seen the big picture from his year of experience and has expressed it very well. This book is much more than a series of anecdotes.