Title: The Spymaster of Baghdad
Author: Margaret Coker
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780062947420
Price: RM120.90
Publication Date: February, 22, 2022
I think what the Falcons show us is that there needs to be a much finer sensibility about going after threats.
– Margaret Coker
“The Spymaster of Baghdad” is a thought-provoking book about family, patriotism, and bravery in wartime. Coker takes a slightly different viewpoint on the war on ISIS in Iraq, seeing it from the eyes of Iraqis rather than US soldiers or politicians.
Coker tells the story through two families that end up on divergent post-Saddam trajectories, both eventually connected through the works of the Falcons or Iraqi intelligence known as al-Suquor.
The story’s main characters are Harith and Munaf al-Sudani, both spies from a working-class Shia family in Baghdad.
In Coker’s book, there is the other side of the ISIS fight, a family of Sunni academics, the Kubaisis. The family’s daughter later joins ISIS, causing them to face difficulties. The narrative becomes interesting because of the underlying motive of why a respectable young academician and scientist joined ISIS.
Coker was able to get inside her characters’ heads and create drama while also making readers question every move. It also added a sense of suspense.
At the heart of this book is the incredible courage of the character in Harith, who spends more than a year foiling attacks on Baghdad by posing as a jihadi and living in tough existence among ISIS recruits before paying the price.
Harith’s handler, Munaf, is his brother, which adds to the book’s cinematic tension. There is a great reliance in the book on retelling experiences shared only between Harith and Munaf, with a clear motive for the readers to recount events in the most positive light possible.
Coker mentions but rationalises less enjoyable elements of Harith’s character, such as his dismissal from school for failing grades, his estrangement from his wife and children, and highly questionable operational decisions made during his time as a penetration of ISIS.
As readers read the book, they will reflect on the sophistication of war and the cruelty and hardship it will place on families and ordinary citizens. In fact, anyone reading this book would grieve and relate that the Iraqis are the ones suffering the most.
As much as Harith is considered a war hero in Iraq from 2013 to 2017, according to Coker’s narrative, he is also described as Iraq’s most successful spy while operating within the secret intelligence unit of Al-Suquor, or as mentioned in the book falcons.
Harith, like many other soldiers, would have been scared or terrified. Wars never benefit anyone, and this is reflected in the book’s emotional outlook. Harith could have just left and chose to live a normal life, opposing the idea of being a part of the entire mission. He could have just lived with his family, but he chose to fight for his family and his nation. A true display of patriotism and embodiment to fight with the enemy against ISIS.
This is a short story filled with historical and personal atmospherics that will entertain anyone interested in Iraq and its long-simmering conflicts.
Coker’s book focuses on its protagonists and their narratives at the expense of more informative, ground-breaking details about Iraq’s intelligence landscape over the last two decades.
With that, I highly recommend this book, especially to those interested in learning more about the Middle Eastern wars and enjoying an incredible insight of wisdom as Coker interviews compelling sources for this book, such as Abu Ali al-Basri, the head of counterterrorism for Iraq’s National Intelligence Service.
Therefore, readers like myself would have firsthand encounters and experiences that highlight the role of Iraqis in the war on terror and the sacrifices they have made on behalf of their country and the world.
You will not only find historical elements and war stories, but you may also enjoy the messy-psychological thriller that comes with it. It would mess your mind as you could imagine yourself being present at the event in real time.
