As the author points out, "Despite the scepticism of many US journalists permanently stationed in Iraq, television and newspaper newsrooms in New York and Washington... have largely bought into the idea that "the surge" – the wider deployment of 30,000 extra US troops since February 2006 – has succeeded." And it has, by one measure -- but by others, including any that try to make a "true assessment of the happiness or misery of Iraqis." it has failed. With the fifth anniversary of the invasion approaching,the author notes, "for millions of Iraqis...the war has robbed them of their homes, their jobs and often their lives. It has brought them nothing but misery and ended their hopes of happiness. It has destroyed Iraq."

Excellent journalism in that it provides a wider perspective than what most media focus on when reporting about Iraq, is well written, personally experienced, and alerts the reader to issues that will be confronting the U.S. and the next President in efforts to manage an human relations disaster.

I have generally liked Patrick Cockburn but this story is more like a human interest tale about one man. I still don't know what to believe about Iraq at this moment in history. Is it any better? Is it the same? My picture is no clearer