After the september 11th attacks, and initially he was involved with u. S. Efforts at the u. N. Security council to freeze and block assets linked to alqaeda. But after the invasion of ric in 2003 of iraq in 2003, he ended up in baghdad among the First American diplomats sent to the iraqi capital. And then he went on to spend seven years in either iraq or afghanistan advising u. S. Forces and working with local authorities and others. Kaels service, for which he received the secretary of states medal for heroism, was uncommon not only for the amount of time he was posted in iraq or afghanistan, but also for the range of his contacts and the depth of his involvement with american troops and local civilians. His new book, the mirror test, recounts his personal journey, and it also provides a closeup, gritty, emotional portrait of the, of the wars that america has been engaged in now for well over a decade. Kaels very critical of americas failures in both conflicts and makes a point of highlighting the tremendous human costs of the conflicts, the dead and wounded troops and many civilian with casualtieses. Hes haunted in particular by one u. S. Military mission over the anbar desert in iraq in early 2005 that ended in a Helicopter Crash killing 30 marines and one navy corpsman. It remains the single largest casualty incident in either the iraq or Afghanistan War and one for which he feels personally responsible. Kael reminds us from the title of the book through to the last pages how important it is for all of us as citizens to reflect on what being involved in these extended wars has meant. His work serves as its own kind of mirror test for americans, compelling us to look and to come to terms much as a wounded soldier with a disfigured face views the damage after returning from war. So, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming kael weston. [applause] thank you, politics prose, and for all of you who came out on a tuesday evening. Its been a while since ive been in washington, and i think youve put me to the humidity test, but the focus tonight is on a more serious subject which was just outlined. The test that we talk about in the book is a medical term, and i sometimes am trying to read part of my book that goes into more detail about what a marine named aaron menkin came to terms with after he was badly wounded by an ied in iraq. But rather than read his words, i would just urge you in the preface to spend a minute if you, i hope, have bought the book. Because hes as eloquent as anyone, i think, on what it means to look at how war has changed you personally and, of course, the point of the book is maybe to expand it a bit to our nation and to many nations for that matter that have been affected by decisions here in washington. I want to thank the veterans, recognize many faces here. You more than anyone have lived these wars, i think in a more visceral way than i have, and i include veterans from other wars as well; my dad and uncles, cousin, probably were all veterans. My service came in the form of the state department. Id like to the thank all of you readers. I think this book is a citizenshiptype test as well. Its not an easy book, its not a quick book, its a thick book, and as many people tell me, its a very heavy book. And i dont want think war i dont think war books should be anything other than all those adjectives. My goal tonight is not to do a monologue, so im going to open by telling you a little bit more about myself. The bio was appreciated. The real story is my first job was at dairy queen. I worked also cleaning toilets at one point, so i tell any of you if you want to join the state department, you too can be a dairy queen guy and still represent the United States of america. Probably some of the best jobs i had, actually, were before working for our government. The book itself ill go into in terms of a brief overview, the structure, how a book actually gets sold. I can talk to some of you after. But now is the time, i think, for people to continue to write about these wars. I dont think war fatigue is a notion that anyone other than iraqis and afghans and our veterans probably fully appreciate. So for all the naysayers out in literary world about theres enough war books, i still think that the best war books have yet to be written. So to the cspan audience, if youre a veteran live anything iowa, ohio, utah, colorado, keep on writing because i tell my editor and my publisher that theres a lot more good writing out there, and i think theyre prepared to make sure that we all read it. So what is the mirror test . The mirror test is a medical term we heard, i think, a good overview. I wont repeat that. But its a National Mirror test, i think, that cover to cover im presenting to the reader. And some chapters maybe are easier to read than others, but the whole journey through both wars, i think, raises questions that our veterans and especially the iraqi and the Afghan People, i think, deserve us to think hard about. Were not just any country, were still a super power. Were an overstretched super power, but what we do has affected millions and millions of lives. Its not an antiwar book. Im not antiwar, but im antiwrong war. I try not to preach along the way. I try to be an honest guide through the pages. Whether i succeed or fail, ill leave up to you. The curtains that i pull back, some will get me in trouble, probably, especially in a capital like ours. But i believed it was an honest obligation for me to do. I was in meetings and in rooms that a lot of our veterans were not in. , and again, i tried to be fair. I tried not to do a driveby book. I tried not to do any cheap shots. Took a lot of editing to get some of those things out, but i think by the end of it we did. Finally on one point before i kind of get into the structure of the book as an overview, while you, i hope, read my book, i need to tip my hat to veterans and other writers who have produced a lot of good literature already, and one is in the room, carter. Theres veterans like phil, matt gallagher, lee carpenter, elliot ackerman. My book is just one part of a pile of books, and there will be more that follow. Someone who normally doesnt get shouted out is katie schultz. She did a fiction book called flashes of waxer and ive spent of war, and ive spent a lot of time with iraqis and afghans, and i think she does a very good job for someone who hasnt actually been to war writing about war. With all that said, let me get into the structure of the book. Its 608 pages. My contract was for 900,000 words 100,000 words, and to the credit of my publish, they let me go long. The first section is the wrong war, iraq. The second section is the right war, afghanistan, and the third section is home. But probably my favorite section as the author is the the additional part which is after war. And i was interviewed this week on radio and fresh air, and terry gross whos an incredible interviewer asked me with why i ended the book with not my words, basically. The walt whitman quote, the real war will never get in the books. And ill come back to that at the end of the 20 minutes or so that ive got. And i think the last 30 or 40 minutes i would rather have a q a, and im going to ask some veterans to come up and share their satisfactories with me. Quick their stories with me. Quick question though. When i say United States of america today, what words do you associate with our nation . My mother was a fifth grade schoolteacher. She taught me the value of a pop quiz, so im giving you a pop quiz. Dont have to write it down, but i hope youll think about some words that come to mind. Nouns, adjectives. Were not supposed to use adverbs, but whatever. Any word that comes to mind. And then i would ask a second part of that question which is what words do you think iraqis, afghans or nonamericans associate with us today . Have those words changed . Are they the same . No right or wrong answer, but ill probably ask some of you to help there at the end and tell me what words do you associate with us and what words do you think they might. And then i would be negligent if i didnt ask the third question given that were a day out from memorial day. What does memorial day mean to you. And, again, l come back to this ill come back to this in about 10 or 15 minutes. The themes of the book are somewhat complicated. The weave of the book is hike a tapestry. My editor and my publisher were very good at, i think, presenting that image. And for anyone whos been in afghanistan, you know that the tapestry looks a certain way from far distance, but as you get closer, you get to pick up on how those weavers weave the threads. And i think over three years or four years of writing this book and a year of thinking about how to write the book, the weave is complex but hopefully readable. Its been 15 years about since 9 11. I think its time for our literature and for our nation more importantly to think about how these wars got started, how they were fought, the fact that theyre still ongoing and what issues we have succeeded at. This is not a book thats just an indictment on the wars. I actually write about some things, particularly in afghanistan, that we can feel good about. But its also a very frank look into the mirror and where the mirror is cracked, i try and show that we need to recognize that. U. S. Power is not the same thing as u. S. Influence. I think the state department, if anything, taught me that you can be powerful but not influential, and thats another question i think that for our veterans, alex and baylin and dave probably in uniform saw as well, that just because you carry a rifle does not mean you can always get your way. A big theme of my book is accountability. I think that these wars have not led to enough personal or, more importantly, national accountability. Ill leave that up to you about your politics or who you choose to vote for. But at a time of ongoing warfare, i would put that out there as the role of all of us as citizens to think about are we doing our job Holding People accountable for the decisions that we empower them to make. Its about reflection and reckoning, personal as well. You know, of course, my story, my journey, but a lot of other stories in there. And then the big e for education. I think sometimes the value of nonfiction is that you let other voices speak, and you do your best to sort of step to the side. So if im fortunate enough to have you read the book, by the end of it i hope its not just a good journey, but that youve actually learned something. And a big part of the audience that i wrote for was for students. Not because i think my book automatically should be assigned to every student across america, but i really did as the son of a fifth grade schoolteacher try and write a book for the student who on 9 11 buzz a teenager or was a teenagerrer or younger or who had a cousin who was in the military or the state department, for that matter. Because thats probably all theyve known, is that in the background theres iraq and afghanistan and another explosion in baghdad even becoming more red. Final thing ill point out among all the others is that this is not an us versus them book. I think our inherent instinct is to tell our stories as americans, and there have been some very good books that have predominantly focused on the american story of war. My book is trying to widen the lens. So you will meet iraqis, you will meet afghans, and you will meet marines and soldiers. And together i think thats the most accurate mirror that were going to have on these wars. Its also not an us versus them week in term book in terms of the political side of the issue and the military side of the issue. The fact that ive got some military friends here, i think, hopefully attests to the fact that, you know, we did our best in placed like fallujah and helmand, and i think the tribal warfare that sometimes goes on in washington in Conference Rooms really undercut us over there on the ground. And some of those stories probably highlight that. And it definitely was not an us versus them frame with regard to the iraqi and the Afghan People. These are the people whose home front continued to be our war front. And i think as we read books and engage in discussions about these wars, we should keep that in mind. And i want to switch to the photos in the book. Its not a picture book, but the pictures are, i think, a very important part of the reading experience. And why do i say that . My editor, tim to connell and andrew [inaudible] and the great team up in new york who helped me go through about 500 of my photos, and we boiled that down to 95. 90 of mine got in, and we used about three or four department of defense photos. So those photos were specifically picked to be previews for the stories. And because like all of you i always look at the photos first and, hopefully, some of those photos will stay with you. A few. Theres a photo of fallujah, and today fallujahs being cleared, as you probably have heard, again. This time by the Iraqi Government with our air power. If you look at the photos of fallujah, theyre pretty devastating as far as destruction and a city that we didnt level all of it, but i think during the battle we probably leveled about half of it. And, dave, you may want to speak to that as a marine. Theres a photo of iraqis name walid, sheikh kamar, again, these are people with real stories and real pain that has gone on since 2003. Terry gross, to her credit, asked me some very hard questions about what went on at potato factory. Lets just say thats kind of the hardest part of what are which is what happens when you have a humanitarian situation and a Health Situation all at once with bodies on the street, and how do our marine corps and we deal with that. The photos of the department of defense, i wanted to put a face to the issue of whether you call it enhanced interrogation or torture. The fact thats probably one photo that motivated the whole fiveyear project. I think that we get lost in the paper shuffle about what does enhanced interrogation mean. He was tortured to death before abu ghraib. Lots of marine photos. You know, im biased. My dad and uncles were all in the army, but the tribe that i spent most of my time with was the United States marine corps, so youll get to know, i think, the marine stories. Theres a lot of photos of the Afghan People because, again, i think at a time when the longest war in American History is going on and on and on, we lose sight, i think, that, you know, these were people that we had partnered with and that were still partnering with. The last photos ill quickly mention before wrapping up and having a q a is i went to the george w. Bush president ial museum and library. I did not know what i would see there, and i, again hopefully as an honest, trustworthy guy just walk you through how a president memorializes or remembers his own role as commander in chief. Topaz, the japaneseamerican internment camp as a photo. I went there after i left fallujah. Why . I needed a big, long road trip. But i also think, unfortunately, the subject of how fear in a time of war sometimes brings out the worst aspect of the american character, and i think today thats particularly relevant. And then finally, ground zero in new york city. I once with lived in new york city for four years, and as a former new yorker, i felt like i owned a little bit of that story. And i always believed this book needed to end in new york. Start in america, end in america, and the wars in between. So Jason Bressler is a great marine and fireman who was a great friend in the wars, and he and i are looking for closure well never get, but we went to the 9 11 memorial together. And if theres one part of my book that allowed me to put this in perspective, i think its that part. So ive opted not to read part of my book as you did a great job talking about the mirror test and, besides, theres 22 hours of unabridged me. If you want more of me, the team in l. A. Were incredible working me through the audio. I was in very good hands. But ill finally end with those questions i had. What words do you associate with the United States . If you can just raise your hand, ill repeat maybe what those words are, just a few. And then well go to the second one. Yeah. [inaudible] well meaning. Thats a good contracted word freedom. Freedom. Thats a good one. I heard that in the wars. Yes. Powerful. Powerful. Any other words you associate with United States . Naive. Naive. Guilty. I was naive for sure. Selfserving. Yep. Unsuccessful. Unsuccessful. These are all good words. Now im going to shift quickly to what words do you think the iraqi and the Afghan People associate or with us . Or, for that matter, the japanese people, the danes, you know, the brazilians . [inaudible] okay, dangerous. Maam . Crusader. Ah, crusader. Thats a loaded word, but im glad you said it. Anyone else want to offer some words that nonamericans you think associate with us . [inaudible] air gant. Arrogant. And its a good friend who grew up in norway. Good word. Anyone else . [inaudible] disappointing and [inaudible] sorry . Leader. Leader. Wrong. Wrong. [laughter] tim in new york has been a really good back and forth. No right or wrong answer, but ill tell you that i heard great words to describe us in wars, and i heard not so great words. I heard a lot about drones, i heard a lot about freedom. I heard election, i heard abu ghraib. So the book talks about what that balance was in both wars in terms of how we view ourselves in that mirror. I like to avoid mirrors because im getting older and all that, but when it comes to war, you know, we shouldnt. And so i think if the book succeeds, youll see that i try and do a pretty good balance between, yes, what failed, but also some of the things that worked. And i would say that iraq, obviously, i lived the worst battle of the war, so my lens is very red. But in afghanistan there are still some stories and some experiences and some money that resulted in some positive things. So the indictment book, i think, would have been an easier book to write. I tried, again, to be pretty balanced on that. Memorial day, and then im going to open it up to q a, as i think weve got about 35, 40 minutes. What does memorial day mean to you . I was impressed with the [inaudible] underneath it all. That it somehow doesnt seem right, what we do on memorial day. Were not fair with the people who are over there. Okay. This gentleman to my right talked about the cynicism of memorial day, that were not fair to the veterans, to the people who are in the wars. Yep. Millions of people who served over hundreds of years. Good. Millions of people who served over hundreds of years, right . Its not just these wars, its wars all t