A review by cristalyne
Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield by Jeremy Scahill

4.0

Scahill has been my long-time hero—a framed flyer from of recent speaking engagement is displayed in the dinning room next to a warped unframed picture of my husband and I. I followed in Scahill's footsteps nearly a decade behind him, learning from his mentors and writing for the same student newspaper. His legacy surrounding me and I wanted to be him, or at least I thought I did for many years. He is one of the best speakers I've every heard and I am beyond grateful for his work. I have, however, rarely enjoyed his writing, which is why this book sat on my shelf for so many years and had so many false starts. I often find it too technical and this one was intimidatingly long. That said, everyone should at least read chapter 35, which is a perfect representation of the role of the United States in the Middle East (family slaughtered; journalist accused of being a terrorist for reporting on it). If you want to know how that's possible, then start from the beginning of the book, which opens with the murder of a 16-year-old US citizen in Yemen by US forces that Obama authorized.