Betrayed: A Play

by George Packer

Based on George Packer's account in The New Yorker , Betrayed is a riveting and morally complex drama that explores in the Iraqis' own words the ways in which we have already abandoned them.

Millions of Iraqis, spanning the country's religious and ethnic spectrum, welcomed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. But the mostly young men and women who embraced America's project so enthusiastically that they were prepared to risk their lives for it by aiding the U.S. forces constitute a small minority. On a cold, wet night in January 2007, George Packer met two such Iraqi men in the lobby of the Palestine Hotel, in central Baghdad to hear their story and those of other Iraqis working as translators and additional key personnel for the U.S. military and occupation authorities. They assumed that their perspective would be valuable to foreigners who knew little or nothing of Iraq. But instead of respect and gratitude, those who chose to help bridge the gap between the occupiers and the occupied were met with suspicion and hostility. They have been killed by insurgents and militias, ignored by U.S. officials, fired from their jobs without reason or recourse, and prevented from fleeing to the States for safety.

Betrayed had its world premiere in January 2008, off-Broadway at the Culture Project.

Genres: Plays, History, Theatre

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2008

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written with compelling characters and stories that seemed incredibly true to life. As a huge fan of the Generation Kill miniseries (still haven't read the book, I'm terrible) and wishing that I understood more about the Middle East in general, it was incredibly interesting to see the conflict and the events in Iraq from a different--namely, native--perspective. Clean writing, great detailing--I wish the stage directions had been a little clearer but the playwright makes use of flashbacks in a manner that's really interesting and I really like how the timeline is structured. Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this play to anyone with an interest in the subject.

[Elizabeth Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audio version. Very insightful! So much to learn from this time period

[John laPlante · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very compelling story of the Iraqis who helped America by interpreting and who were ultimately betrayed by most Americans especially by the leadership who treated them like they were suspicious, spies, terrorists, and the enemy. There were probably lots of reasons why America's war in Iraq was a failure but certainly are distrust of the people we were purportedly liberating didn't help.

[Darius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading day-to-day life in Iraq was cool; I wish I'd also have seen it when they produced the play. I wonder if the characters would have sounded more complex than they read. The material's Very interesting to me, but seemed organized into a plot that's a little predictable and a few people that represent big, cumbersome, generalized perspectives. It ends up feeling like Packer is making a political argument. I agree with him, and surely some of my dissatisfaction is with the simply cruddy US governing that Packer criticizes, but I'm not down with that allegorical stuff.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read that shows a completely different side to the war in Iraq. Compelling and upsetting.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Issue play.