📧 from Barrett

Hey Logan,

The earliest you can do it on Friday the better. I'm available before 8 a.m. and after 10:30 a.m. In your rereading, please keep in mind there have been no substantive changes to the material in Chap.6 since I read it to you in D.C. in January. The only other place where you have a significant role are four paragraphs in Chapter 10, pp. 197-198, leading up to your overall frustration with the trip. Also important to remember are the many interviews you gave for the documentary after our return from Rutba. These are all part of the record and the story.

I suspect that seeing your story in print can be alarming. However, I hope you can detach yourself enough in your rereading of Chapter 6 and pp. 197-198 to see the depth and added perspective that an ex-soldier with your experience and perspective brings to the fascinating story of Rutba. The fact that you laid down your weapon after your first tour of Iraq is significant in the overall arc of the war-and-peace narrative. The fact that you were willing to return to war unarmed is significant. The fact that you returned unarmed only as a peacemaker who could not reveal his full identify because of the violence already inflicted on Iraqis, is significant. The fact that you struggled with being someone less than his full genuine self in Rutba reflects well on your overall character. And, then, the fact that you have gone on to write your own book and preach the message of peace, these are significant facts for an ex-soldier conscripted by our war economy. All of these add dept to the book, the film and help speed the progress we are all attempting to make toward a more peaceful world.

That's my two cents. ... Talk soon.