George Packer

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George Packer (born August 13, 1960) is an American journalist and novelist. His parents, Nancy Packer and Herbert Packer, were both academics at Stanford University; his maternal grandfather was George Huddleston, a congressman from Alabama.^[1] Packer graduated from Yale College, (he lived in Calhoun College there), in 1982,^[2] and served in the Peace Corps in Togo.^[3] His essays and articles have appeared in The Nation, World Affairs, Harper's, The New York Times, among other publications. Packer is a columnist for Mother Jones and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since May 2003^[4].

Packer's most recent book, The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq, analyzes the events that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and reports on subsequent developments in that country, largely based on interviews with ordinary Iraqis. Packer is highly critical of the war, but he in turn has been criticized by anti-war activists for his support during the run-up to the invasion.

Contents 1 Campaign Contributions 2 Books 3 External links 3.1 Magazine Articles About the Iraq War 3.2 Other Topics 4 References

[edit] Campaign Contributions

Packer gave $750 to the Democratic National Committee in August 2004, and then $250 in 2005 to Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, an anti-war Democrat who campaigned unsuccessfully for a seat in Congress from Ohio. Both donations occurred while Packer covered the Iraq War as a journalist. '[1]'

[edit] Books

• The Village of Waiting (1988). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1st Farrar edition, 2001). Pb. ISBN 0-374-52780-6
• The Half Man (1991). Random House ISBN 0-394-58192-X
• Central Square (1998). Graywolf Press ISBN 1-55597-277-2
• Blood of the Liberals (2000). Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 0-374-25142-8
• The Fight is for Democracy: Winning the War of Ideas in America and the World (2003, as editor). Harper Perennial. Pb. ISBN 0-06-053249-1
• The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq (2005) Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2005 ISBN 0-374-29963-3
• Betrayed: A Play (2008) Faber & Faber [2]

[edit] External links

[edit] Magazine Articles About the Iraq War

• Over Here: Iraq the Place vs. Iraq the Abstraction, World Affairs (journal)
• Comment: "No Blame, No Shame", The New Yorker, May 14, 2007.
• A Reporter at Large: "Betrayed" The Iraqis who trusted America the most, The New Yorker, March 26, 2007.
• "Knowing the Enemy", The New Yorker, December 18, 2006.
• Comment: "Unrealistic", The New Yorker, November 27, 2006.
• "Save Whomever We Can", The New Republic, November 27, 2006.
• Comment: "Alternative Realities", The New Yorker, October 30, 2006.
• Comment: "Keep Out", The New Yorker, October 16, 2006.
• Comment: "Prisoners", The New Yorker, September 18, 2006.
• Comment: "Not Wise", The New Yorker, May 8, 2006.
• Letter from Iraq: "The Lesson of Tal Afar" April 10, 2006.
• Comment: "Saddam on Trial", The New Yorker, October 31, 2005.
• Comment: "Game Plan", The New Yorker, October 24, 2005.
• Comment: "Name Calling", The New Yorker August 8, 2005.
• A Reporter at Large: "The Home Front", The New Yorker, July 4, 2005.
• Letter from Basra: "Testing the Ground", , The New Yorker, February 28, 2005.
• Comment: "Invasion versus Persuasion", The New Yorker, December 20, 2004.
• Comment: "Questions of Greatness", The New Yorker, October 25, 2004.
• A Reporter at Large: "The Next Iraqi War?", The New Yorker October 4, 2004.
• Comment: "The Political War", The New Yorker, September 27, 2004.
• Letter from Athens: "From the Playing Field", The New Yorker, August 30, 2004.
• Comment: Wars and Ideas, The New Yorker, July 5, 2004.
• Letter from Baghdad: "Caught in the Crossfire", The New Yorker, May 17, 2004.
• "War after the War" What Washington doesn't see in Iraq., The New Yorker, November 24, 2003.
• Tuning In: A Butcher in Baghdad, The New Yorker, April 7, 2003.
• "Dreaming of Democracy", New York Times Magazine, March 2, 2003.
• "Journalists dole out campaign cash' [3], "msnbc.com", June 22, 2007.

[edit] Other Topics

• George Packer at FSG
• Blog at the New Yorker
• Biography of Packer at The New Yorker
• Comment: "Mr. Independent", The New Yorker July 2, 2007
• "The Megacity - Decoding the Chaos of Lagos", The New Yorker, Nov 13, 2006.
• "The Revolution Will Not Be Blogged", Mother Jones, May/June 2004. (Issue on the limitations of the political blogosphere)
• George Packer on Assassins' Gate, Washington Post Book World, October 11, 2005.
• Posts by George Packer at TPMCafe.
• Review of The Assassins' Gate, The Washington Monthly.
• Profile in the Columbia Journalism Review.

[edit] References