Drowning in the Desert: A JAG's Search for Justice in Iraq - Hardcover

Gembara, Vivian H.; Gembara, Deborah A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076033448X ISBN 13: 9780760334485

Publisher: Zenith Press, 2008

Synopsis

As a serving lawyer for the US Army in Iraq, Vivian Gembara counsels soldiers, investigates them, and prosecutes when necessary. When an Iraqi teenager's body is found floating in the Tigris River and US soldiers are believed to have been involved in the death, she knows she has a case on her hands - but does not know how much this case will reveal about the US Army's conduct in times of war. Both as legal thriller and a searing account of the savagery that occurs when 'the fight' is placed above all else, this chronicles the pursuit of military justice and cover-up in unflinching prose and is a necessary book for anyone concerned with today's world.

About this title

About the Author

Vivian Gembara served as an attorney with the US Army for four years, and helped negotiate the capitulation and disarmament of both the NLA and People's Mujahedeen. She has since left the army, and now practices law in Washington, D.C.

From the Back Cover

They say the only good morning in a war zone is the morning you leave. . . .

A boom jolted me from my sleep.

Everything shook. My cot, the ground, the walls. In the dark, I reached for my Kevlar [helmet], which was vibrating under my cot, and grabbed my vest from the hook it was shaking on. Throwing my Kevlar on my head, I started to secure my vest when: boom.

The sound of the second mortar round exploding thundered in my ears. Damn. This one was close. And loud. So damned loud. But strangely I felt as though I were in a silent movie. I couldn t hear the scratch of the Velcro as I secured my vest. The dull hum penetrated the earth and filled my ears with ringing.

Somewhere on Anaconda, field artillery folks were scrambling to determine the mortars point of origin so that we could prepare a counterattack. My body, every nerve ending, was in a state of high alert, primed for action.

From the Inside Flap

A number of people are waiting to greet Captain Vivian Gembara when the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division returns home to Fort Carson after a year-long tour of duty in Iraq her grateful fiancé, Vivian s parents and sister, and two senior judge advocate general (JAG) officers from post and division legal office. Captain Gembara is pleased that Majors John Rawcliffe and Kerry Cuneo have made time to welcome her home. Prior to Vivian deploying as 3rd Brigade to Iraq, Major Cuneo had been Vivian s boss in the criminal law section of the JAG office.

Still riding the wave of euphoria, I hugged Cuneo and gave a handshake and half-hug to Rawcliffe, truly touched that they d come out. . . . Cuneo and Rawcliffe smiled uneasily, their arms hanging at their sides, long and awkward.

Her happiness with this professional courtesy is short-lived, however, when she is asked to retrieve the file. Certainly not the homecoming she expected, but such is life when your business is dealing with soldiers who have behaved badly.

As a lawyer for the U.S. Army, a JAG, Vivian Gembara s professional life is all about soldiers: she counsels them, investigates them, and when necessary, prosecutes them. When an Iraqi s body is found floating in the Tigris River and American soldiers from 3rd Brigade are believed to have been involved, she knows she has a case on her hands. What she doesn t realize is just how much that case will reveal about the army s conduct at war. Drowning in the Desert is both a legal thriller and a searing account of the savagery that can occur when commanders place the fight above all else.

Edition details

• Publisher: Zenith Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076033448X
• ISBN 13: 9780760334485
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320