War and Peace with Packer

GAMBIER, Ohio (September 7, 2007) Journalist and novelist George Packer has been on the ground in Iraq and brings the reality of war to Kenyon on September 10. Packer is the author of The Assassins' Gate: America In Iraq, a 2005 account of the tangled occupation of Iraq by American and allied forces after the 2003 invasion.

David Rowe, associate professor of political science, said Packer will deliver a penetrating analysis of the war and his appearance is a coup for the College.

Packer will address "Lessons from the Iraq War" at 7:30 p.m., September 10, in Higley Auditorium, and will follow that with a discussion on his experience in the Peace Corps in the Togolese Republic in West Africa at 11:10 a.m., September 11, in Olin Auditorium.

Packer, of Brooklyn, New York, is a staff writer for The New Yorker, a columnist for Mother Jones, and the author of five books.

"His reporting on the Iraq war has been outstanding," Rowe said. "The book The Assassins' Gate is one of the definitive histories on how and why the United States became engaged in the Iraq war."

Packer has recently taken the lead on reporting that the United States has been lax in helping Iraqi citizens who have been American supporters with a vision for democracy and are now terrorism targets, Rowe said.

"In order to be well-informed, you need to hear what he has to say."