the battle for Baghdad through the eyes of 19 year soldiers on the ground

Program Title: David Finkel - Pulitzer Prize Winner / The Good Soldiers
Description: It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. “Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,” he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic, Army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the Battalion nicknamed The Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.
Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad, and almost every grueling step of the way.
What was the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front-lines. Combining the action of Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale—not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.

Host(s): Brent Holland
Featured Speakers/Guests: David Finkel is a staff writer for The Washington Post, and is also the leader of the Post’s national reporting team. He won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2006 for a series of stories about U.S.-funded democracy efforts in Yemen. Finkel lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and two daughters. An eternal tale—not just of the Iraq War but of all wars, for all time.

Credits: All shows can be downloaded free of charge, do let us know when and where you broadcast the show.
brenthollandshow@gmail.com

Comments: For more Arhived shows and free downloads:
http://www.brenthollandshow.com/