Review of
And
Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East,
by Richard Engel ISBN 9781451635119
Five out of five stars
Due to many
factors, the Middle East has created a lot of history, generally more than it
can consume. That has been true for almost two thousand years, since the rise
of Islam. That process has accelerated in the last two decades and Richard
Engel has been an eyewitness to many of the events.
His story
begins in 1996 when he moved to Cairo, Egypt with $2000 and the dream of being
a foreign journalist. He got a break when he heard of a terrorist attack on a
tour group at a museum and that was his first exposure to the human carnage
that is a way of life in that region. Engel also did one thing that few western
journalists ever do, he took the time and made the effort to learn Arabic. He
spent a great deal of time in the cafes in poorer sections of Cairo and he
points out how open and friendly the people were.
Engel’s main
model regarding the dictators that ran the Arab countries of Tunisia, Libya,
Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Iraq is that they were houses that looked ornate and
stable from the outside. Yet, they were termite infested, so were very brittle
and unstable. When the United States invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein,
the tremors from that building falling were enough to shake and collapse the
other countries in the list.
Another
argument that Engel makes is that the American victory over the Taliban in
Afghanistan was too easy. American air power in combination with local
opposition forces and a few hundred American CIA and special forces operatives
quickly took down the Afghan government. This led to jealousies and a desire by
American military commanders to want an opportunity for military glory and
advancement, making them eager to fight another war, this time in Iraq. The
officials of the Bush administration also drank the self-delusional drink,
believing that they were experts in disposing of governments that they did not
like. Engel argues that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was the trigger for all
of the bloodshed and the rise of ISIS as a power in the region.
After assigning
what would be the major blame to the Bush administration, Engel does not spare
the Obama administration either. He was in Libya while the opposition forces were
fighting to overthrow Gadhafi and saw how the country fell apart once he was
deposed. Engel is also very critical about statements from the Obama
administration regarding the behavior of Bashir Assad in Syria. The fate of
Gadhafi sent a lesson to Assad regarding what would happen to him if he were
ever captured by the opposition.
What is the
most significant change that Engel describes is how the way he was treated as a
journalist has evolved over time. At the beginning of his stint, he was able to
travel freely and safely to interview the leaders of the violent organizations.
They made their dislike of him as a western journalist very clear, yet they
treated him with respect because they wanted their story heard in the west.
Now, nearly all such attempts would be a suicide mission.
With his vast experience, Engel also comes up with a
plausible and most likely solution to the current difficulties in the Middle
East. He believes that in each country a new dictator will arise, one that will
win via bloodshed and then rule with an iron hand. Engel believes that the
people will welcome such an event, as long as that dictator ends the killing
after their rise to power. It is not the democracy that the fools in the west
thought they could install, but at least the wars will end. Engel also believes
that there will be some border adjustments.
A combination
of the reporting of the events as well as an explanation of why they are
happening, Engel offers a unique perspective on what has happened in the Middle
East. That perspective is based on the fact that his boots have been on the
ground and his life was put at risk.
This book was made available for free for review
purposes.
