War Reporting for Cowards

This book is in a light-hearted English tradition of which the most distinguished representative is George MacDonald Fraser's Harry Flashman: the Englishman who willingly admits his terror on the battle-field. Chris is too hard on himself, for he more or (mostly) less chose to be in Iraq in order to not let a friend down, and he (more or mostly less unwillingly) was in "at the death", the most advanced embedded Times reporter. He spares us Billy Russell posturing as was seen in the Crimea: he spares us Churchill's flatulence. For this alone he deserves a Pulitzer. However, his management at the Times was most irresponsible in even asking him to take the job. Their decisionmaking resembles the way in which Bush and Blair lightheartedly ignored Blix to waltz into the current quagmire, because if there had been grown-ups in charge at the Times instead of vicious children, made so by the corporate brutalization of journalism in the UK, no manager would have considered Chris a candidate for war reporter. They considered his experience on September 11 and in the October 2001 anthrax attack a qualification along with his youth, and they completely failed to READ and UNDERSTAND his texts of the time, which indicated that he was not at all interested in being the next Ernie Pyle. They passed over older and more qualified men because of the vicious, and corporate inspired, ageism of the media today, and in so doing they placed a man, who hadn't really chosen to risk his life, in the line of fire. Chris escaped, narrowly, Daniel Pearl's chosen fate and in my opinion should sue the Times along with his Mum and Dad for mental stress alone. Ayres bugged out because he could, because to him a headline in the Times, which he did get, wasn't worth getting killed. But this means he was never qualified as a war correspondent. That's what a real career is: putting it on the line. Unlike Flashman, who was qualified to be a military man albeit fictional because of a brutal streak revealed in the first Flashman book (in which Flashman behaves abominably and is a truer representative thereby of a brutal Empire), Ayres had no brutal streak, and this is a Good Thing: Wilfred Owen knew that war "teaches" nothing. Men return to war claiming to have "learned" great lessons. It has to be stated once and for all that learning takes place at universities, not on battlefields. But like Flashman at Flashman's best, Ayres wanted to stroll along Pall Mall, assuming that's still a fashionable district. Well could he sing, along with WWI soldiers, "I don't want to join the Army, I don't want to go to war: I just wants to live in London, on the earnings of an [...]". There is nothing wrong with this instinct: as Hegel knew, the Slave, who sees in "the sweetness of life" something worth preserving, is the motor of history: if we were all Reginald Dyer, Flashy at his worst, or suicidal war correspondents like Russell, Churchill or the Dutchman who Ayres meets, we wouldn't be h

My husband suggested that I read this book because I am not a huge non-fiction reader and I didn't know a lot about what was going on over in Iraq. This book talks about war and 9/11 in terms that everyday people who don't have a huge interest in war can understand. I watch the news, but it is always so sad and depressing that I often would rather watch my daughter's TV shows. Chris explains what is going on over in Iraq, the kinds of weapons we have, the tanks, etc. It is very informative. The humor and feelings that Chris has endear him to you immediately. I really enjoyed reading this book, and would suggest it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the war, from a surprisingly neutral position.

While it was hard to quell the urge to reach into the pages and slap some sense into this boy (no neon in a war zone! Duh!), the story he tells was very well written, a fast and fun read, and all around worth the time. So often we read war stories from soldiers, reporters, and civilians alike that only talk about the events, or a polished over, mostly forgotten personal experience. The writer wasn't afraid to showcase his cluelessness, and for that the book is fantastic because of it.

Ayres's basic premise will win over any pacific or Iraq-war-doubter. He's a wimp, a coward, and he doesn't want to go to war (not to mention that he doesn't think he would physically survive war). His "wimpiness" is what endears even the most skeptical reader to his story. Our narrator doesn't have all (or ANY) of the answers, he's not an activist, and when fired upon by Iraqis, he's darn surprised by his own desire to have them obliterated to save his own hide. Ayres's story is not just about Iraq in 2003. His history starts much earlier, as that of a journalist trying to make a living, that of a NY resident/journalist coping with the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and that of a New York Times reporter grappling with the reality of anthrax afflicting the very people who work in his office. When I picked up this memoir, I expected to get into the gory details of war, but Ayres educates the reader in the reality that the life of anyone at war in Iraq has a history in 9/11. One of the most-eye opening and heartbreaking moments of the Ayers experience was in finding the drafted members of the Republican Guard who refused to fight and were subsequently executed. Again and again, Ayers faces an enemy that he can't fault for choosing this way of life (or be executed), yet he still wants those bad guys to be killed before they attacked Ayers's convoy. If there is one theme of this memoir, of war as a whole, of the military experience, it is uncertainty. The ground forces faced uncertainty and changes of orders on a moment's notice, of course. Ayers got out of the war on uncertainty--his satellite phone was seized for no reason, and therefore he had no means with which to do his job. When he got his guilt-free release from war, he was nearly killed in random RPG fire on the way out of the county (he was fine in the front lines, though!).

I loved this book. Chris Ayers's writes an honest book about his fear, hypochondria, and misery as an imbedded journalist in the opening days of the Iraqi war. His self-deprecating humor is often laugh out loud funny, while having a tinge of Everyman. Every honest man. While Ayres's slant is about his admitted cowardice, he is actually quite brave. A real coward wouldn't have gone to Iraq. A brave person feels fear, admits that he is frightened, and then goes forward to do what needs to be done. That is what Ayres does. The lead character of a book should be a changed person by the end of the story. Chris Ayres definitely changed during his short tour with the Marines. It would have been interesting to see how he would have changed had he stayed for six months. This is a good read: informative, educational, and funny. Perhaps most important, it's honest. His disturbing description of standing before the burning Twin Towers on September 11, watching as people leaped to their death and then seeing the subsequent collapse of the buildings, will remain with me for a long time. For sure, the image of the man sitting on the curb reading to his child during all this will be burned in forever. As the author of WARRIORS and the co-author of ON COMBAT, I highly recommend this great read.