We met as the 'scud stud' was in Bristol talking about his first book, Revolution Day, a gripping account of the time Omaar spent in Baghdad in the run up to the Iraq war. "I had no plans or desire to write a book when I first came out of Baghdad. Once the exhaustion had passed, however, I knew immediately the type of book I wanted it to be. "When I left, I was worried. I had had the privilege of reporting from Iraq for six years, and if ever there was a situation when countries had invaded a country about which they knew very little - this was it. And this bothered me." Omaar is an engaging talker: passionate, committed and younger than he appears on TV.  | | | Omaar was in Iraq for around six years | |
My list of questions was superfluous: he is a fluent conversationalist whose knowledge really should be used more often on News 24, which, for my money, limits him to straight reporting far too often. "Very few people around the world looked on Iraq as a country with 24m people, with 4,000 years of recorded history that screams out a lot of the pitfalls of the occupation. "They saw it through the face of one man - Saddam Hussein. This was a war of regime change. "I wanted to write the book as giving a snapshot, a voice, a canvas to the very different and contradictory impulses of Iraqi society." And this is the book's strength: filling the gap between the reality of what was happening on the ground to normal people with the political process we all read about in the papers. For Omaar, this is a crucial space. "Whether this occupation is a success depends entirely on how ordinary Iraqis view the actions of the US and the UK. "Iraq's future won't be decided in No 10, in the Oval Office or by the UN - it will be decided in the streets and communities of Iraq." But he is not optimistic. The gap between ordinary Iraqis and the coalition has grown, as the well of goodwill from Saddam's overthrow has been "poisoned". 'No benefit' In part, this is historical: many Iraqis harbour resentment towards the West, blaming the UN and its member states for sanctions that "impoverished" their country. The mistakes that have been made since the fall of Saddam have only added to this. "Patrick Cockburn of The Independent said: 'Saddam Hussein should not have been a hard act to follow.' "That is the problem. Iraqis see the US and UK imbued with such power, but they can't make the man on the street feel safe: they can't get the electricity on. "This leads to the next question: what are they doing here? Iraqis haven't been made to feel the benefits of the end of Saddam's regime." Omaar is back to "duties" soon, he says. A documentary on Islam in Europe over the last 500 years is planned for TV and he will also be reporting for the BBC on D-day. After that, he would like to go back to Iraq. But has he now become the story, I ask: can you report objectively when people are more interested in you than what you have to say? "I have tried to write this not as Rageh's war. The attention to me is dangerous and it is a difficult learning process in how to react to this. "I don't want to be churlish as it is based on people being very affectionate. But when it veers towards celebrity, it becomes uncomfortable. "I don't want to debase the journalist's job, or be a pin up. "It will die away: everyone is motivated by the Iraq war, not by me. Iraq is a vortex: it sucks in every other political issue around." So what are his personal opinions? "We can't leave. We're committed to it. We have to give Iraqis the right help - they haven't had it yet. "The thing is, a terrible dictator was overthrown - but out of that achievement have come failures that have not allowed Iraqis to build a secure and stable country. "As a journalist, I knew it before but by God do I abide by it now: going with the flow is not what our job is about. It is not a beauty contest. "I've been canned from all sides, so I've got to be doing something right." To enter the competition to win a copy of Revolution Day, just answer this question correctly. Where was Rageh Omaar born? This competition has now closed. The winner will be notified by post. | 
