Summary of Phil Klay's Uncertain Ground

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I have always been drawn to the stories of violence in Iraq, even though I was never in any danger myself. I feel that by not talking about these experiences, we are failing to process them.

#2 I was given two weeks’ leave halfway through my deployment, and I went home to New York. At one point, I walked down Madison Avenue near where it intersects with Broadway. Suddenly, I felt the urge to weep. The images came back not as photographs, but as living memories.

#3 I was not there when the photos were taken, but I still remember the emotions they sparked in me. I feel guilty about the sorrow I feel because I know it is manufactured, and I feel guilty about the sorrow I do not feel because it is owed, it is the barest beginning of what is owed to the fallen.

#4 The day Osama bin Laden died, I learned that one of my former Marines was permanently blind. The Iraq War and the Afghanistan surge were both based on the success of the Iraq surge, which was an outgrowth of previous Iraq policy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822547810

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Insights on Phil Klay's Uncertain Ground

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I have always been drawn to the stories of violence in Iraq, even though I was never in any danger myself. I feel that by not talking about these experiences, we are failing to process them.

#2

I was given two weeks’ leave halfway through my deployment, and I went home to New York. At one point, I walked down Madison Avenue near where it intersects with Broadway. Suddenly, I felt the urge to weep. The images came back not as photographs, but as living memories.

#3

I was not there when the photos were taken, but I still remember the emotions they sparked in me. I feel guilty about the sorrow I feel because I know it is manufactured, and I feel guilty about the sorrow I do not feel because it is owed, it is the barest beginning of what is owed to the fallen.

#4

The day Osama bin Laden died, I learned that one of my former Marines was permanently blind. The Iraq War and the Afghanistan surge were both based on the success of the Iraq surge, which was an outgrowth of previous Iraq policy.

#5

The highway north of Fallujah was a four-lane road. The Marines started to cross it, one platoon running at full speed, the others firing away, filling the sky above with bullets. Insurgents on the other side opened fire as well.

#6

In this view, the purest reflection of the quality of our society is found in the courage of its military. When Donald Trump addressed the widow of a fallen Navy SEAL in February 2017, he didn’t articulate a vision