|
Books Etc. Kicks off Wednesday, September 22, with NPR Foreign Correspondent Anne Garrels on the War in Iraq
Anne Garrels |
As the situation in Iraq deteriorates, the death toll rises above 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed, and American troops and Iraqis come under continued attack by the insurgency, the war may be the deciding factor in the U.S. presidential race. Anne Garrels, senior foreign correspondent for National Public Radio and recognized as one of the most astute journalists reporting from the region, on Wednesday, September 22 will discuss the war, its political impact, and her belief that the Bush administration was ill-prepared for the aftermath. In the kick-off event of the Books Etc. fall series (7 p.m. Sulzberger Parlor, 3rd Floor, Barnard Hall), Garrels will discuss her new book, Naked in Baghdad, which chronicles her reporting and experiences before, during and after the American invasion of Iraq.
Garrels' talk will take place in Sulzberger Parlor in Barnard Hall, following an introduction by Professor Lori Minnite of the Political Science Department. Garrels will answer questions from the audience and then sign copies of Naked in Baghdad, which was released in paperbook this fall by Picador. The book will be for sale at the event.
One of only 16 American journalists who stayed in the besieged capital during the invasion, Garrels was at the very center of the storm. As U.S. and British forces advanced on the city, she remained at her post, describing the scene on the streets and reactions from those she encountered.
"One reason I wrote the book was because I was so stunned, after the troops had fallen, how ill-prepared the [Bush] administration was," says Garrels, who has reported on crises around the globe, from Tiananmen Square to the battlegrounds of Chechnya, from Bosnia and Kosovo to Afghanistan and Israel. "I thought that what I heard out of Washington was naïve at best. There was no civilian occupation administration for a number of key days. It was clear they had no experience in reconstruction and mistakes were repeated again and again. The people leading were politicos punching some kind of a card, but they had never been to Bosnia or Kosovo. They were ideologues, not professionals. That was immediately evident in the first month."
In her book, Garrels was intent on showing the views of Iraqi citizens, who, she says, are not surprised by the turn of events since the invasion. "The Iraqis had predicted exactly what would happen. Even those who desperately wanted Saddam gone predicted the looting, the insurgency, the violence."
Having gone to Iraq eight times since the plans for war emerged, Garrels has watched, and documented, the situation deteriorate. "I was given all this credit for staying [during the war]," she says, "but it is so much more dangerous now for everyone... There aren't enough troops. The security vacuum has become worse and worse... It seems to be moving closer and closer to breaking apart."
During the invasion, Garrels was almost completely isolated from the larger world. "I really had been in a cocoon," she said. Afterwards, she was shocked by the praise she received for being one of very few journalists who remained.
"It was a strange phenomenon," she says. "It was like being a pop star ... People who had never listened to NPR were getting in touch with me."
She has found a small advantage to being a woman reporter as the situation worsens. "[During the war,] there was no benefit or liability to being a woman," she says. "But, as it's become more dangerous on the ground, it's been much easier for me as a woman to move around. I can wear a hijab and a shador. I don't look Iraqi, but sitting in the car, I don't draw the same attention that a blonde blue-eyed colleague might. So it's easier, but not much easier: car bombs and roadside bombs don't discriminate."
Garrels hopes that people will read the book and gain a greater understanding of the situation on the ground as well as the sometimes confused and contradictory views of Iraqis about the war. She plans to return to Iraq in November, despite the danger.
"People need information, not what they want to hear," she said. " That's what I feel my job is. A lot of it is what people don't want to hear. Often, I don't provide answers. Or I don't provide answers that lead to simple solutions."
Now in its third season, Books Etc. celebrates the remarkable community of writers among alumnae and faculty of Barnard College in New York City. The series, initiated in the fall of 2003, has featured some of today's most inspired writers, including Pulitzer Prize winners Jhumpa Lahiri and Anna Quindlen, both Barnard graduates, and Alice Walker.
—Elissa Matsueda
For more information about the Books Etc. series, please call the Barnard Office of Public Affairs at 212-854-2037 or visit the website, www.barnard.edu/writers.
|
