A War Against Truth: An Intimate Account of the Invasion of Iraq

by Paul William Roberts

An acclaimed journalist who has covered the Middle East for decades — and one of the few to have interviewed Saddam Hussein — Paul William Roberts knows Iraq better than most. This is his exposé of the politics behind the recent war — and the brutal reality the Iraqis experienced but the rest of the world didn't see. In Baghdad when the bombs started falling, Roberts witnesses the "shock and awe" campaign firsthand, mourns the loss of his friend's entire family, and escapes to Jordan, only to return two weeks later behind the American army. A scathing indictment of the Bush administration's new imperialism, A War Against Truth recounts Robert’s experiences in the newly "liberated" Iraq, where he meets looters selling priceless artifacts, interviews Tariq Aziz in hiding, is interrogated by U.S. intelligence.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Travel

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Paul William Roberts (1950 – May 17, 2019) was a Canadian writer who spent many years in Toronto before moving to the Laurentians in Quebec upon losing his vision.

Born in Wales and educated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he gained a second in English Language and Literature, Roberts moved permanently to Canada in 1980. He lived for several years prior to this in India, where he taught at Bangalore University and studied Sanskrit at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In light of what’s happening in Gaza now (20 years after this book was published),it’s a stark and jarring reminder of who the victims of war truly are: innocents, for the most part. What I liked about the book was the immersion I felt- as if he took me along on a harrowing journey. What I didn’t like was the almost magical way he made it seem that he was always “at the right place at the right time,” or meeting exactly the right people he needed for his story. Did he actually publish any of these interviews? He undoubtedly believed that Canada was an innocent bystander and repeated that often. Perhaps he was uninformed that the Canadian PM promised no boots on the ground but to steadfastly support allies US and GB in any way they could. Mostly covertly. The war on Saddam was a big horrific, misguided lie to all but Canada was not squeaky clean. It’s definitely a worthwhile read.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, moving and with an edge-of-your-seat immediacy that makes the book hard to put down. I read it in three days in large, hasty gulps. Let me make it clear: I don't usually read non-fiction but this book compels and breaks your heart. It should be required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the motives of those who make war. It is infuriating and full of black humour in turns.

Just read it.

[Colin Freebury · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stark reminder that what Russian invasion of Ukraine pales in comparison with the United States invasion of Iraq.

[Taylor Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. No need to say anything other than if you haven’t read it, put down your phone and go read the book.

[Szplug · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book probably deserves a higher rating: I read it immediately after The Fall of Baghdad , Jon Lee Anderson's far superior account of the opening period of the 2003 American invasion of Iraq from a Baghdad perspective—a little distance would likely have made the second book more palatable. A War Against Truth begins with US bombs exploding around the house where Roberts was staying—the author being on familiar terms with a good number of Arabic families from previous periods spent in the Middle East—the shattering, splintering roars of the detonations being accompanied by manic chanting from Roberts consisting of variations on the (recurring) theme FUCK GEORGE BUSH, FUCK YOU BUSH YOU KILLER!!. After grimly assessing the destruction visited upon his host family, Roberts relates the surreal, episodic journey that placed him in Baghdad at that particular point in time, with periodic digressions covering Iraqi history, Saddam Hussein, and musings upon the tragic twentieth-century that set the stage for this current folly.

Roberts, a Canadian freelance writer, undertook a series of risky, meandering maneuvers in order to find himself in the Iraqi capital when the attack commenced, illegally crossing the Jordanian border and inveigling transport across the vast, empty desert. Roberts clearly aspired to a feverish, black comedy styling a la Michael Herr; but in Roberts' less capable hands it comes across as jejune and tiresome, a forced war-is-hell bitter humor overlain across periodic outbursts of raging anger and shame. Fresh on the heels of Anderson's quietly devastating, bleakly beautiful rendering of the same ruinous intrusion, Roberts' Jekyll-and-Hyde switchbacks come to seem more and more strained; against Anderson's measured description, more of a narcissistic look how morally outraged Paul William Roberts is! subject-changer. I'm sure this is all completely unfair to Roberts, who lost many dear friends in those opening days of the war—I just frankly did not care for the manner in which he composed his account, one which chafed against a spirit admittedly already raw from the previous one-two punch of TFOB and Fiasco. By all means give Roberts the benefit of the doubt—but I would definitely recommend Anderson instead, if you feel compelled to revisit those grim days—accompanied, of course, by a large bottle of your alcohol of choice.

[Hubert · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a bit uneven and disorganized, but in an way that reflects the nature of the situation this unembedded (i.e. someone not approved by the government or military) journalist was in. The book vacillates between day-to-day first-person approaches and more historical contextualizing.

The central thesis is unapologetic: Americans - but especially the senior leadership of Bush and cronies - are complicit in the mass slaughter of innocent Iraqi civilians; there is no just war. One chapter is devoted to reprinting the Geneva convention, which prohibits indiscriminate bombing of targets. The opening chapter describes how Roberts lost close family friends in Iraq to firebombs early on during the invasion in 2003.

The average American soldier on the ground isn't portrayed in a nice light either - they're bullies, trigger-happy; but they also were duped into thinking that they would be home a lot sooner than they actually were.

Most fascinating is Roberts' adventures in trying to help bring justice to a group of Kuwaiti travelers who had been murdered by the Republican Guard, members of the group of people protecting Saddam Hussein. In making these efforts, he comes really close to the inner circle of Saddam Hussein, briefly interviewing Tariq Aziz. In an interesting turn of events, he ends up (inadvertently?) giving up his location to the U.S. military, though the military doesn't do good on its promise to help him.

There are these anti-war poems that sporadically show up in the middle of the prose every so often; it's a strange narrative strategy, though I get what the author is trying to do.

It was heart-wrenching to read about these miniature bomblets that are left unexploded all over Iraq, dismembering young kids, city folks, rural farmers, anyone. That legacy is still quite real today, with unexploded cluster bombs exploding and killing innocent civilians.

To be reading this 20 years after the fact is important; for those who believe that the Bush II regime was an ultimately decent one, think again.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author seriously hates George W. Bush, and America in general. Which I get, I guess, but after awhile it got a little repetitive. I mean, I don't like the dude either, but there's only so much "George Bush sucks" I can read before I get a little annoyed. The information in the book was interesting though, especially the history of the problems in Iraq. I definitely question the author's bias a bit, just like I did when I read Tommy Franks' book about the war, but the opinion of the writer is supposed to come into play in a book like this I guess.

[Gary Maunder · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to read an account of what it was like to be in Baghdad when shock and awe was breaking over everyone's heads then read this book. The author went on to experience a bizarre journey through a war landscape.