This book is a history of the present. It charts and grasps the rhythms and realities of the monumental historical events since September 11 in the heat of the moment. Writing from experience of a human being and a Kurdish writer on the receiving end of the historical upheavals in the Middle East, Kamal Mirawdeli demonstrates a great degree of deep insight, intelligent analysis and realistic assessment of the background, context and direction of events and the role of the United States in the transformation of the Middle East, starting with Afghanistan and Iraq, from despotic entities frozen in forgotten anachronisms to liberated democratic societies. Although the articles cover over three years (first article published on 02 May 2002 , the last one on 4 November 2004) during which events twist and turn, a principled consistency informs the writer"s judgements emanating from a strong belief in the universal values of liberation, democracy and human rights and inevitability of democratic change. Mirawdeli strongly argues that the intervention of the US, both political and military for regime change and the promotion of the ideals and examples of liberation and democracy in the Middle East, is a necessary historical factor in which the universal values of freedom and democracy, the security and economic interests of the United States and the hopes and aspirations of millions of oppressed and enslaved human beings for emancipation and human rights, coincide. The significance Mirawdeli"s ideas and their astonishing validity and accuracy emanate from their instantaneousness. He analyses and assesses the unfolding historical events in the moment of their birth which he in fact inscribes as the moment of their truth. Hence, it is interesting to see how he reconciles his strong criticism of certain aspects of the US"s policy with his strong belief in the inevitability and essentiality of a strong US leadership role in establishing a new democratic order in the Middle East.