Video: Rajiv Chandrasekaran talks about the Green Zone

Brian speaks to Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post about the sometimes-surprising policies put in place by civilian decision-makers like Paul Bremmer. He talks about how the decision makers hidden in their sanctuary were not listening to the soldiers who were out in the country experiencing the reality of the situation.

Chandrasekaran has written a highly regarded book on the subject. It's called "Imperial Life in the Emerald City". It's a fascinating look inside the "Green Zone", the heavily protected and lavish neighbourhood of the U.S. civilian force, a community that lives in relative safety, strangely remote from the violent city outside.

About the book:
As the Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post, Chandrasekaran has probably spent more time in U.S.-occupied Iraq than any other American journalist, and his intimate perspective permeates this history of the Coalition Provisional Authority headquartered in the Green Zone around Saddam Hussein's former palace. He presents the tenure of presidential viceroy L. Paul Bremer between May 2003 and June 2004 as an all-too-avoidable disaster, in which an occupational administration selected primarily for its loyalty to the Bush administration routinely ignored the reality of local conditions until, as one ex-staffer puts it, "everything blew up in our faces." Chandrasekaran unstintingly depicts the stubborn cluelessness of many Americans in the Green Zone—like the army general who says children terrified by nighttime helicopters should appreciate "the sound of freedom." But he sympathetically portrays others trying their best to cut through the red tape and institute genuine reforms. He also has a sharp eye for details, from casual sex in abandoned offices to stray cats adopted by staffers, which enable both advocates and critics of the occupation to understand the emotional toll of its circuslike atmosphere. Thanks to these personal touches, the account of the CPA's failures never feels heavy-handed