Mugged by reality : the liberation of Iraq and the failure of good intentions /
John Agresto spent a little over nine months in Iraq. His job, was to help Iraq rebuild its once highly regarded education system. As he left Iraq, Agresto was asked by the Pentagon to write a few paragraphs for the future about this formative and transitional time; from those paragraphs Mugged by R...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York :
Encounter Books,
2007
New York : 2007 |
| Edition: | 1st ed |
| Subjects: |
Table of Contents:
- 5050 PREFACE
- 1. GOING: Why we are there ; Why I was there ; What we hoped to accomplish ; Neo-Conservatism and democracy ; Democracy and Terror ; Religion and Terror
- 2. DAILY LIFE: Conditions as I found them ; Of life in the 'Green Zone ; ' Of safety and security ; Iraqi culture, American culture, common culture
- 3. TRUTH, FACTS AND LIES: FIVE ASPECTS OF CULTURE AND CHARACTER: Truth, Facts and Lies ; Stories and Lessons ; Death Goes to Pick the Finest of All ; Getting Iraqis to Fight ; An Assassination Attempt and a Kidnapping
- 4. HIGHER EDUCATION, POLITICS AND RELIGIOUS TOTALITARIANISM: Politics, fanaticism, and the universities ; Conditions before and after the war ; Difficulties with the Minister ; Fears and hopes
- 5. BRINGING IRAQ TO DEMOCRACY: Democratizing a non-democratic country ; Effects of both tyranny and socialism on character ; Democracy and the necessary character of citizens ; 'Cultural Insensitivity, ' or, American ignorance as to what makes its own democracy work
- 6. EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY: Reflections on higher education and political liberty
- 7. ALL ASSISTANCE SHORT OF ACTUAL HELP: What we did and, especially, what we failed to do ; Funding failures and the failures of misplaced priorities
- 8. SOLDIERS: How the US military saved the day, and also how it lost
- 9. REALITY OFTEN ASTONISHES THEORY, or THE CATASTROPHE OF GOOD INTENTIONS: What we did right, what we did wrong, and what we might learn from it all ; The death of Ali ; Possibilities, impossibilities, and the false seductions of Hope
- 1 Going
- 2. Daily life
- 3. Truth, facts, and lies : five aspects of culture and character
- 4. Higher education, politics and religious totalitarianism
- 5. Bringing Iraq to democracy
- 6. Education and democracy
- 7. "All assistance short of actual help"
- 8. Soldiers
- 9. Reality often astonished theory.
- 1 Going 1
- Why we are there
- Why I was there
- What we hoped to accomplish
- "Neoconservatism" and democracy
- Democracy and Terror
- Religion and Terror
- 2 Daily Life 25
- Conditions as I found them
- Of life in the Green Zone
- Of safety and security
- Iraqi culture, American culture, common culture
- 3 Truth, Facts, and Lies: Five Aspects of Culture and Character 41
- Truth, Facts, and Lies
- Stories and Lessons
- Death Goes to Pick the Finest of All
- Getting Iraqis to Fight
- An Assassination Attempt and a Kidnapping
- 4 Higher Education, Politics and Religious Totalitarianism 71
- Politics, fanaticism, and the universities
- Conditions before and after the war
- Difficulties with the Minister
- Fears and hopes
- 5 Bringing Iraq To Democracy 97
- Democratizing a non-democratic country
- Effects of both tyranny and socialism on character
- Democracy and the necessary character of citizens
- "Cultural Insensitivity," or American ignorance as to what makes its own democracy work
- 6 Education and Democracy 121
- Reflections on higher education and political liberty
- 7 "All Assistance Short of Actual Help" 139
- What we did and, especially, what we failed to do
- Funding failures and the failures of misplaced priorities
- 8 Soldiers 155
- How the US military saved the day, and also how it lost it
- 9 Reality Often Astonishes Theory 171
- American Ideals and the Failure of Good Intentions
- What we did right, what we did wrong, and what we might learn from it all
- The death of Ali
- Hopes for the future, and fears