Society assigns war to the military, not the media, yet journalists
venture into combat zones ahead of, alongside, and well after the
troops whose stories they tell. As a 25-year-old correspondent for
the Los Angeles Times, Stack covered Afghanistan in the days
immediately following 9/11, then traveled to other outposts in the
war on terror, from Iraq to Iran, Libya, and Lebanon. In a disquieting
series of essays, Stack now takes readers deep into the carnage where
she was exposed to the insanity, innocence, and inhumanity of wars
with no beginning, middle, or end. Her soaring imagery sears itself
into the brain, in acute and accurate tales that should never be
forgotten by the wider world, and yet always are. Stack grew
increasingly demoralized with each new outburst of hostilities, and
clearly covering the violence took its emotional toll: the uncomfortable
hypocrisy of Abu Ghraib, the unconscionable confusion over women.s
subjugation, the unfathomable intricacies of tribal allegiances. Anyone
wishing to understand the Middle East need only look into the faces of
war that Stack renders with exceptional humanity.the bombers as well
as the bureaucrats, the rebels and the refugees, the victors and the
victims. --Carol Haggas
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