BuzzFlash Reviews

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Josh Rushing "debuted" in the compelling documentary "Control Room" about Al-Jazeera and its coverage of the Iraq War.

Rushing was an unusual military spokesperson, in that he tried to understand the Arab perspective on the invasion of Baghdad. Most noteworthy to us about the documentary "Control Room" was that after learning about the people behind Al-Jazeera -- and that it is financed by one of Bush's closest allies, the Emir of Qatar -- we were left astonished. Why? Because the westernized Arab journalists who work for the Emir of Qatar's television network are the kind of Arabs that you would think Bush would be courting instead of bombing. (You actually see a U.S. plane bombing the Al Jazeera office in Baghdad during "Control Room." Also, in a reported conversation that was leaked, Bush is alleged to have told Tony Blair that he wanted to bomb Al Jazeera's headquarters.)

But back to the book, "Mission Al Jazeera." We found out about the book when we saw Rushing interviewed by Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show."

Rushing's story is told in a straightforward conversational tone. He's a pragmatist at heart, and he just doesn't see how bombing people will win them over.

From the Marine Corps to Al Jazeera. It's quite a story.

From an Online Reviewer:

"Though not an autobiography, Josh Rushing, a former Marine Captain, and now al Jazeera journalist, shares his personal story while assigned to the public affairs office at CENTCOM before and during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The author discusses two very important topics in this book. First, from an historical perspective, Rushing discusses the interaction or lack thereof between DoD and the Arab Media. This topic of discussion is extremely enlightening on the subject of how the military public affairs office went from doing its traditional job of informing on and about the war to "selling the war", a state department public relations responsibility. Rushing goes to great lengths to explain how the US marginalized the Arab media eliminating all possibility of US influence in the Arab world.

The second topic that Rushing explores is the means by which US government officials could engage the Arab world, both governments and populace. Rushing writes "if we are to win the war on terror, we have to interact with the media at home and abroad in order to control the way we are perceived."

Rushing spent 14 years as a Marine Corps media liaison officer and is currently working as an international journalist for Al Jazeera. This mix of military public affairs with western and Arab journalism, gives him a perspective not found in the normal American Mind. This allows the author to remove the American cultural lens that most of us normally suffer from and provide a perspective that could be a great tool to be used.

The greatest take away from the book is a look into the Arab Mind and how they, the Arab world, perceive US actions. Rushing does discuss that this perception is often faulty but argues that it will continue to be until the US decides to engage instead of marginalizing the Arab media."

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