http://www.radio4all.net/program/65569Podcast for Program: #3 - We Meant WellTue, 15 Jan 2013 14:32:36 +0000240http://www.radio4all.net/program/65569Kenneth Dowst reviews a damning but humorous nonfiction book, "We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People," by Peter Van Buren (Metropolitan Books [hardcover], 2011). This scathing and very funny memoir is by a mid-level foreign service officer assigned to the provinces of Iraq for one year during the U.S. occupation. It is full of first-hand details of how the State Department botched Iraq reconstruction--written by a man who helped botch it. In its wit and even in its "plot," the book is much like Joseph Heller's "Catch-22"--except that it's true, not fiction. Summary judgment: 4 out of 5 (well worth reading). Kenneth DowstTue, 15 Jan 2013 14:32:36 +0000