Praise for J. Kael Weston’s The Mirror Test:
“Closely observed and illuminating. . . . Weston’s reportage recalls the finest foreign correspondence of the Iraq and Afghan wars.” –The New York Review of Books
“Weston is. . . a diplomat of great bravery, erudition and heart who befriended Afghans and stood up to his superiors. . . . The emotional core of The Mirror Test is Weston’s profound love for the Marines. . . . Weston is [a] civilian hero.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Weston, who worked as a State Department official for more than a decade, brings balance and cultural perspective different from the previous war books. . . . Along the way, he heralds humanitarian efforts and describes a fascinating dynamic of American dollars simultaneously rolling out to fund the allied war effort and the Afghan infrastructure.” —The Desert News
“This book shines when it recounts Weston’s day-to-day dealings with Marines (and Iraqis and Afghans). . . . [The Mirror Test] deserves a salute.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Weston, a former State Department official, spent seven courageous and harrowing years on the front lines as a political adviser to American troops. His memoir offers a serious examination of the effects of terrorism from a personal and emotional perspective.” —The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)
“As a former Foreign Service officer, Weston is perfectly positioned to provide a different perspective on these wars’ sometimes-particular complexities. . . . The Mirror Test offers insights into tribal, cultural and religious dynamics; the limits of military power as a political instrument; the use of drones; the heavy reliance on special operators; cooperation and failed cooperation among military services, agencies and allies.” –The Washington Post
The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan
Narrated by J. Kael Weston
J. Kael WestonUnabridged — 22 hours, 24 minutes
The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan
Narrated by J. Kael Weston
J. Kael WestonUnabridged — 22 hours, 24 minutes
Overview
A Military Times Best Book of the Year
A powerfully written firsthand account of the human costs of conflict.
J. Kael Weston spent seven years on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan working for the U.S. State Department in some of the most dangerous frontline locations. Upon his return home, while traveling the country to pay respect to the dead and wounded, he asked himself: When will these wars end? How will they be remembered and memorialized? What lessons can we learn from them?
These are questions with no quick answers, but perhaps ones that might lead to a shared reckoning worthy of the sacrifices of those-troops and civilians alike-whose lives have been changed by more than a decade and a half of war.
Weston takes us from Twentynine Palms in California to Fallujah in Iraq, Khost and Helmand in Afghanistan, Maryland, Colorado, Wyoming, and New York City, as well as to out-of-the-way places in Iowa and Texas. We meet generals, corporals and captains, senators and ambassadors, NATO allies, Iraqi truck drivers, city councils, imams and mullahs, Afghan schoolteachers, madrassa and college students, former Taliban fighters and ex-Guantánamo prison detainees, a torture victim, SEAL and Delta Force teams, and many Marines.
The overall frame for the book, from which the title is taken, centers on soldiers who have received a grievous wound to the face. There is a moment during their recovery when they must look upon their reconstructed appearance for the first time. This is known as “the mirror test.” From an intricate tapestry of voices and stories-Iraqi, Afghan, and American-Weston delivers a larger mirror test for our nation in its global role. An unflinching and deep examination of the interplay between warfare and diplomacy, this is an essential book-a crucial look at America now, how it is viewed in the world and how the nation views itself.
Editorial Reviews
12/01/2015
After seven years in Iraq and Afghanistan for the State Department and more time at home paying respects to the dead and wounded, Weston reports on his conversations with American soldiers, Iraqi truck drivers, Afghan schoolteachers, imams and mullahs, former Taliban fighters and former Guantánamo detainees, and more to show what the war has cost everyone involved.
2016-04-30
A former U.S. State Department official who spent seven consecutive war years in Iraq and Afghanistan debuts with a damning memoir about our lies, failures, and horrors in the region.Weston's title refers to the moment when people with severe facial injuries first look at themselves in the mirror. He believes the rest of us need to take a look, as well. This is no story told by someone residing safely in academia or in a Washington, D.C., office. The author, who worked for both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, was assigned to the Marines for much of his duty, and he had extensive experience with gunfire, explosive devices, and terrible accidents. On one occasion—an event that haunts him throughout this deeply disturbing text—his actions led, indirectly, to the deaths of 31 service members, whose helicopter crashed on the way to secure polling locations for the 2005 Iraqi elections—a mission the author had urged. Weston revisits this moment continually, his guilt emerging in painful, self-recriminating sentences. Later, back in the United States, he endeavored to visit all of their graves and to meet some family members. The author spares no one. Bush and Cheney, he says, lied—even joked—about weapons of mass destruction; politicians from both major parties supported the troops in rhetorical but not meaningful ways. In several places, Weston provides lists of fallen warriors, and readers will be struck by the youth of those killed in action: many were teenagers, most others in their 20s. And for what? he asks repeatedly. The author declares that on both fronts—Iraq and Afghanistan—we failed to accomplish much that's meaningful, and in Iraq, we sowed the seeds of al-Qaida, the Islamic State group, and a most horrific civil war. Weston also focuses sharply on the wounded and disfigured and on the local people, who have suffered unspeakably. Vivid pages soaked with blood, reverberating with cries of pain, loss, and regret.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169265927 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 05/24/2016 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
By summer 2003, massive and ongoing troop movements had outstripped the Pentagon’s ability to fly U.S. service members to Iraq using only military aircraft. Lucrative contracts were awarded for commercial and charter airlines to fill the gap. Soon Boeing 757s helped transport battalions of Marines and soldiers to Kuwait. From there the Pentagon’s workhorse C-130 flown by uniformed pilots—many National Guard units in effect federalized—made the final, corkscrew landing into Baghdad.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Mirror Test"
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Copyright © 2017 J. Kael Weston.
Excerpted by permission of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
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