The Devil You Don’t Know: Going Back to Iraq

In 1979, journalist Zuhair al-Jezairy fled Iraq and certain death after openly criticising Saddam’s regime. Twenty-five years later he is back, and cautiously celebrating the toppling of the hated Ba’ath Party.As editor of a newspaper, he breaks the Oil for Food scandal, disclosing the names of Arab and Westerners who were involved. He then sets up a television company and travels all over Iraq, documenting the country’s descent into sectarianism and hopeless violence, soon becoming a target himself.Al-Jezairy’s first-hand accounts of the looting of Baghdad, the destruction of government buildings, and indiscriminate bombings are a searing, personal and unique account of Iraq after Saddam Hussein.