An Uncommon Friendship
During the War in Iraq
by
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Every one’s lives were changed by the war. Nothing remained the same, not even my own family. There were new divisions worries and mistrusts between brothers, uncles and cousins. Who is watching us? Who can we really trust? My father, being a Jew and the many members of my family not really practicing Muslims meant that there was a lot of mistrust.
My father had kept his religious beliefs a secret even from his family. My mother had an idea about it, but she believed that as long as no one else knew about it, it would be OK.
It was Dan that convinced my father he must tell his children.
“The Americans were here now and there was some measure of freedom and security,” he reasoned.
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About the Book
An Uncommon Friendship is based on Diyar’s experiences in Iraq and the experiences of the co-author, David Westbrook. The book reveals many exciting and little known aspects of the war and life in Iraq during the war. It tells of the things both Westbrook and Diyar saw and many challenging and dangerous encounters that they experienced together. The book is fiction, but all the accounts within the pages are based on actual events.
The most interesting aspect of An Uncommon Friendship is the details it discloses regarding life in the cities and villages in Iraq before and after the American invasion. The book includes details about personal relationships, the insurgency and those who gained the power and governmental authority after the fall of Sadam Hussein. The authors saw these things first hand and tell about it from an ordinary observer's point of view. The book is written in the simple language of a young Iraqi woman with an older American friend.
About the Author
David Westbrook is 63 years old. He has lived in Arizona all his life except for the years he has spent abroad. Westbrook served in Vietnam with the US Army Rangers. He was wounded and received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Air Medal.
Westbrook also served 4½ years in Iraq with Blackwater Security USA. He has been a cow rancher in Arizona all his life. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Arizona State University. Westbrook taught in the Arizona Public Schools and was an educator with the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Diyar Alhusseini and Westbrook wrote the book together. Diyar is 19 years old. She was born in Iraq, and lived there until last year, when her family escaped the violence and went to Istanbul, Turkey. They were there for 8 months. She and her family are now in Arizona in America. Diyar’s father was Sadam Hussein's defense attorney. He was standing next to Sadam when he was hanged. Her family saw bloodshed and terror before finally escaping. They were targeted for assassination because of her father's assignments. The process of leaving Iraq and landing in America was a long and difficult journey. An Uncommon Friendship is about a journey to America. The main characters are Dan and Nadie. Their friendship during a very violent period in Iraq is what made everything possible. All that happens in this book has its basis in this friendship, even Nadia's reaching America.