Father of Money Buying Peace in Baghdad (Hardcover)

From the Publisher: In March 2004, Capt. Jason Whiteley of the U.S. Army was appointed governance officer for Al Dora, one of Baghdad's most violent districts. His job was to establish and oversee a council structure for Iraqis that would allow them to begin governing themselves. The nature of persuading Iraqis to support the coalition soon progressed from simply granting them basic privileges to a more complex relationship defined by black market activity, preferential treatment, and a vicious cycle of assassination attempts. In the streets of Al Dora, Whiteley was feared and loved as the man they called Abu Floos, "Father of Money."||Father of Money is the story of a West Point graduate's descent into a moral morass, where bribes and blood money, not principle, governed the dissemination of power and the possibility of survival. The Iraqi people did not have the patience to withstand daily violence while they waited for American ideals to crystallize. Captain Whiteley acted to fill this void by allying himself with the leaders who had the best chance of consolidating power, even if they were former insurgents. Eventually, because of these efforts, Whiteley was himself targeted for assassination, signaling an end to his period of extensive influence.||Although Whiteley viewed his tour of duty as a failure, he reveals in this compelling memoir a part of Iraqi society that few Americans will ever witness. By delving into the Iraqi culture, he dispensed justice, divined futures, and bestowed fortunes in a way the Iraqi people understood and appreciated. It is how change had to occur in a society devoid of order.