Review on "The Man Within"

       


This chapter is a profile of Nathan Sassaman, who was a forty-year old colonel in Balad, Iraq, in 2003. His main feature is summarized well as,"Sassaman himself sometimes seemed like two people, the visionary American officer setting up a city council, and the warrior who took too much joy in the brutalities of his job."

This means in his body, mind and personality exist confusing conflicts. He was trying to help with transforming Iraq into a democratic nation, for example,establishing modern election system in his presiding area.
However, he showed totally different image to Sunni and Shia. In Shia area, he is smiling and general to locals. But in Sunni area, he had much less patience in developing relations. The major reason is that people in Shia area agreed his opinions well and did what they are asked to do. Wherever, the Sunnis were more suspicious to his initiatives and sincerity, which lead to frequent insurgencies and destruction. To make it simple, Sassaman adopted a policy of tit-for-tat.

In addition, the book reveals more about what American military did to Iraqis with Sassaman as an example.He turned his eyes off the "non-lethal" policy, initiate night attacks to common people in pajamas, and cracked down walls after walls. To a I'm wondering if democratic Americans are really democratic to Iraqis. And how can we grow seeds of love in Iraq by money, projects, fear and violence,but only except with love. At this point, the concerning attitudes in the book are careful and ironic.

In a degree, I can understand military violence in the field when I depict the situation after a ten-year living in bullets and fires. Moreover,facing huge cultural shocks, soldiers must have difficulty keeping patience and kindness to the opposite people. But wars are about life which is of the same value and respect everywhere. Shouldn't we ask for solutions showing more humanity other than just a understanding to contemporary bad situation? Aren't we suppose to learn more about Iraqi language, culture, religion,and customs,etc, to solve Iraqi problems in Iraqi ways? A saying going as, "Do in Rome as Rome does."


And I come up with another question. In this chapter and many of the previous ones, some wits are talking to the Americans that they should do things in an Iraqi way if they really want to help. I'll start to look for the answer to the question:" What is the Iraqi way to solve conflicts?"