Voyage to a Stricken Land: A Female Correspondent's Account of the Tactical Errors, Wild West Mentaility, Brutal Killings, and Widespread Misinfo

I think every person in America should read this book. Nothing could better describe what the Iraq war has been like. Sara Daniel risked her life to bring us an honest accounting of the complex personal feelings of both Iraqis and Americans -- their confusion, courage and dismay -- and the extent to which all parties involved have been victims. Whatever tomes historians may someday write about military maneuvers or political justifications, this book is the account that will speak to the hearts of future generations and perhaps enable them to comprehend the deep tragedy of it all.

I enjoyed reading this account of a journalist's life covering the war in Iraq. It was exciting, refreshing and rare to get a woman's perspective. I believe Ms. Daniel successfully achieved a difficult balance of compassion and objectivity in her reporting from Iraq. Some readers may try to say that because she is French she is biased against the US, but I think these readers are short sighted and too eager to jump on the French bashing bandwagon. This is a woman who risked her very life trying to comprehend what would turn out to be an incomprehensible war. The only agenda she seemed to have was finding out the truth... and her passion for that comes across in every page of the book. There are many instances where it reads like an espionage thriller and I questioned over and over again how she found the courage to put herself in life threatening situations. However re-reading the forward, I think I stumbled upon a clue. She is the daughter of two very successful journalists and grew up surrounded by the news industry. Ink runs in her blood. Perhaps some great journalists are "born and not made". Sara Daniel seems to be one of them.

I love this book. Sara Daniel has gone everywhere in Iraq in the last four years. With a sharp, humane, and inquisitive mind, she's interviewed everyone - be they fighting in the war, involved in the riots, fighting for the insurgency, fighting with the Americans. Her dispatches introduce the reader to American soldiers, to insurgents, to former Baathist-party intellectuals, to fellow foreign correspondents, to Kurds, to life in Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul, and other places in Iraq. I have a sense of the personalities, the tragic mistakes, the horror, and some of the details that make up life in Iraq. She includes her feelings at different moments, such as her fright in interviewing an assassin, and her friendship with her driver, Mohammed. The inclusion of her feelings makes her war-reporting more vivid. She names mania and egotism for what they are, whenever she sees it, on whatever side the person might fall. She gets the big picture and also includes numerous, memorable details. I also liked getting a sense of how it is just to work there, the life on the road and in hotels, and life as a western woman who does not mind wearing a chador. It is amazing, to say the least, that she was not hurt or killed. Full disclosure: Sara is a friend of mine, but I would not write so glowingly of a friend's book if I did not believe what I was writing.

I intend to buy extra copies of Voyage to a Stricken Land for some of my civilian friends and family because I want them to have a better understanding of my downrange experiences. I was interviewed for this book, and some of my soldiers are prominently featured in it. "Voyage" does not report the awards I received or how I single-handedly saved Iraqi civilization like so many other tiresome self-serving tomes about this latest chapter of the Gulf War. While it contains personal thoughts, opinions, and expert analysis, I know that it reflects a time and place where I was. I believe it reports it in a fair and balanced manner. As a 20 year army combat veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom who met the author on OIF1, I am impressed with her ability to see what was really happening as it happened and accurately portray events she witnessed and experienced. Besides my career as a soldier, sergeant, and then officer in the U.S. Army, I worked for years as a staffer in the United States Senate, for various state and local governments, and for independent media as a newspaper reporter. I have read many articles and books about battles, meetings, legislative processes, ambushes, and other events in which I was personally involved but was not able to recognize from the report of the event. Even if I am uncomfortable by how something is covered, I appreciate being able to recognize a situation as the one I remember. In the parts of this book where I have personal knowledge of the events, missions, campaigns, and situations, I have not found a single episode which makes me wonder what Iraq this reporter was covering. This is refreshing when I consistently see other TV, newspaper, magazine, and book coverage of these events which is merely a political statement either for or against my country (United States), my govenment (currently the Bush Administration), my army (The US Army), or a particular person's agenda or company's interest.

Sara Daniel's reportage on the Iraq war through the voices of the soldiers that fought and were wounded physically and mentally is a must to understand the botched policy of the Iraq war. Bravo for her courage .and talent in sharing with us such unbelievable moments.