Western
media the social butterfly that it
is, once action in Iraq deflated from large-scale military offensive to
scattered bombings and shootings, it fluttered elsewhere in search of human
drama. A blank space left in Western
awareness of the embattled country, had Iraq been completely destroyed? Were the people reduced to nothing—poverty,
starvation, homelessness? Does the US
military continue to dominate the streets?
What is true public perception of the fall of Saddam Hussein and the
introduction of a Western-friendly (most would say puppet) government? A lot of questions remain.
Lured by
the offer yet wary of the inherent risk (kidnapping insurance was involved), in
2012 Marcel Al Madanat moved to Baghdad for a two-year contract supporting a
mobile phone provider. His time there
both a life motivating and changing experience, in 2015 he decided to write a
book, The Expat: Mission Iraq.
