Bad Days in Basra: My Turbulent Time as Britain's Man in Southern Iraq

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The phonecall came from out of the blue, just when Sir Hilary Synnott was looking forward to retirement after helping steer India and Pakistan back from the verge of nuclear war. "It's about Iraq. We need a King of the South..."Bad Days in Basra" is the story of Synnott's time as Britain's most senior representative in Southern Iraq, trying to keep the region together as the rest of the country descended in to murderous violence. By turns wryly comic, revealing and heart-breaking, it offers a never seen before glimpse in to the high politics of the occupation. Shuttling between the gilded palaces of the Green Zone and the leaky outhouses which constituted Coalition HQ in Basra, Synnott had to negotiate his boss, Paul Bremer's brash indifference to what was going outside Baghdad, the indecisiveness of his London masters, and the brutal political realities of a country under occupation.Bearing witness for the first time to the chaotic fashion in which the coalition was run at the highest levels, Synnott's unique insider account is the most important primary source we yet have on how the South was lost.
It offers new insights in to the style and motivations of key characters such as Bremer himself, US commander General David Petraeus and the then UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw. It provides an entertaining and witty portrait of the absurdities of life inside the occupying coalition, a devastating critique of CPA policies and controversial revelations about the real relationship between the two occupying powers, Britain and America.

Reviews

"Hilary Synnott was the top British official in Basra during the crucial first year of the Iraq occupation. His inside view of the difficulties of handling Iraq's powerful Shia militias and the tense relationships that Britain's 'softly softly' approach created with the Americans offers an important new insight into the Iraq war".Jonathan Steele"Authoritative and devastating" - Toby Dodge"Compelling...shrewd, balanced and authentic" - Sir Jeremy Greenstock

Author Bio

Sir Hilary Synnott was the Coalition Provisional Authority's Regional Coordinator for Southern Iraq from July 2003 until January 2004, reporting directly to Paul Bremer. Before then he was British High Commissioner in Pakistan from 2000 until 2003, in which role he helped broker the resolution to the India-Pakistan nuclear stand-off of 2002. He has appeared in numerous documentaries about the Iraq war. This is his first book.