Part I: "I have always been in love with flying"

Georges was the sort of person who was born to fly. "As far back as I can remember," he informs us, "I have always been in love with flying."

His father flew in the air force under the British flag and Georges, as he describes it, spent many summer days "hanging around the flight line making a nuisance of myself." By the age of 12, he was an expert. He had mastered the air force jargon he overheard at the base and knew a host of technical details, such as the difference between high speed and low speed landings.

Later, after Iraq had undergone a series of revolutions that culminated in the establishment of the Ba'athist regime, Georges first made a name for himself as one of the country's finest pilots. In 1963, the year of the Ba'athist revolution, the air force went through a tumultuous transition. Russia had sent its air force technicians to Iraq to help assemble a new line of airfighters, the MiG-21s, and help train Iraqi pilots to fly them. When the Ba'athists-who, believe it or not, were fiercely anti-communist-took over, they kicked the Soviets out of the country. But, of course, they kept the expensive new planes. The only problem was that not a single person in Iraq knew how to fly them.

But, in what would turn out to be a pattern for the new regime, the higher-ups had no qualms about demanding the impossible. Iraq's two finest pilots were brought to the Al Rashid Air Force Base in Baghdad-Georges Sada and first Lieutenant Hamid al-Dhahi. The air force commander told them simply "By Saturday I want to see this plane in the sky. And I expect one of you boys to be flying it." After the commander left, Lieutenant Hamid al-Dhahi announced that he was "not an MiG pilot" and would not take part in a suicide mission, adding, "Sorry, but Georges can do it." Georges accepted the challenge.

Georges had flown MiG-15s in Soviet Russia, where he had been trained as a pilot. But the MiG-21s operated on a completely different set of principals.

"Compared to the planes I'd been flying, it looked like a rocket ship". Hamid and I walked around the plane and looked it over, inside and out, but we didn't have any idea where to begin."

Georges spent the next few days studying the plane with a team of technicians. When it finally came time to fly, he failed to build up enough speed to take off. He hit the brakes, launching the plane's drag chute to prevent himself from colliding with the end of the run way. He was able to take off on his second attempt but made four false landings before finally bringing the MiG-21 safely back to the base. He continued test flights for the next couple of days. Later Georges would learn that no one was ever supposed to take off in an MiG-21 without using their afterburner. In fact, it was extremely dangerous to do so.

But it didn't matter. Georges had survived. It was announced that an Iraqi had mastered the MiG-21 without any help from the Soviets.

For many Western readers it will be a strange sensation to read about the heroics of a pilot in the Iraqi military. We are not accustomed to admiring men who served in the armed forces of a country which we once considered an enemy. Generally, we either felt rage against Iraqis, as enemies of the "free world," or pity, as the victims of a totalitarian regime (or perhaps as the victims of war and poverty). But Georges, and many other Iraqis, deserve neither our rage nor our pity. They deserve our respect.

In Iraq, Georges was a hero. "Because of that [flight] everybody in Iraq knew my name. I'm sure much of my later success was inspired by that event, and I was able to continue flying throughout my career, from lieutenant all the way to major general."

Part II: "Don't be a Mute Satan"

His heroic feats as a pilot catapulted Georges' career, despite the fact that he was not a Ba'athist, not an Arab and not a Muslim-three prerequisites to climbing the Iraqi political ladder. In 1980, Georges was given his first star. He was now a General. He began instructing at all three of Iraq's War Colleges, a job that seemed to have given him as much pleasure as his days as a pilot.

If it took courage to fly a plane without training or even an instruction manual, Georges' new career provided even greater occupational hazards. Over the years, General Sada would develop a new reputation: he was a man who would tell the truth-even to Saddam Hussein.

Georges explains this with an Arabic saying: "Don't be a mute Satan." Which means, if you have crucial information that can help someone in a difficult situation, don't keep quiet. This is why he committed to telling the truth, even though Saddam was capable of killing any man who dared to contradict him.

Georges would give honest military assessments, even if all Saddam wanted to hear was that victory was inevitable. He warned, for example, that the U.S. assault on Iraq after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait would be overwhelming and Iraq would be completely defenseless. Others in the same meeting, in order to placate Hussein, were congratulating themselves on Iraq's military superiority. Most of them simply believed that the retaliation by Coalition forces would never come and so felt no harm in a few false boasts. A spokesman for the Air Force commander told the commanders: "No coalition aircraft will be able to penetrate Iraqi air space-Not even a house fly can enter our air space without being intercepted by our fighters."

But, of course, Georges was right. Iraq was attacked and defeated. The country paid dearly for its failure to evacuate Kuwait before the U.N. imposed deadline.

In the picture Georges paints for us, the Iraqi military leadership was hopelessly inept and corrupt. Friends or relatives of Saddam and loyal Ba'ath Party members were given high-ranking positions in the military and government for which they were unqualified. Saddam's son-in-law, who had been made Minister of Defense, ordered a nighttime helicopter assault on Kuwait, despite the fact that the pilots were not trained for night flying and the pilots had not been briefed on the terrain ahead of them. Because of this, forty-seven Iraqi helicopters and four attack fighters were lost that night.

According to Georges, "At least 50 percent of the Iraqi aircraft sent into Kuwait were lost in the first hours of the assault because of the stupidity of our commanders."

Georges' words, if heeded, could have saved countless lives. In some cases, Georges' willingness to stand with the truth did prevent bloodshed. In one such instance, the lives he saved were enemy combatants and, according to Saddam's son, "war criminals."

Part III: The Wrath of Uday

If Georges earned admiration and respect among Iraqis through his daring mastery of the MiG-21, he earned similar accolades among Westerners by single-handedly saving two British prisoners of war from execution.

During the first Gulf war, two British pilots were captured by Iraqi forces. Saddam chose Georges to be in charge of the POWs because General Sada spoke fluent English and had enough technical knowledge about airplanes that he could make use of whatever Intelligence was gleaned from the prisoners. Georges was determined to ensure that the prisoners were not harmed. This task became increasingly difficult when Uday Hussein, Saddam's son, marched into Georges' office and demanded that the prisoners be executed as "war criminals."

But Georges held firm. The men had been put under his authority. They would be treated within the parameters of the Geneva Conventions. Uday and Georges spent hours arguing and Georges knew that, at any moment, Uday could simply kill him without fear of reprisal. He was Saddam's son-no one would dare to stand in his way.

Georges finally managed to convince Uday that, if they were to slaughter the prisoners the West would take it personally. "It will no longer be a war on Iraq," Georges explained, "It will be a war between America and your family-they will come for you one by one-is that what you really want?"

Georges was later arrested by the secret police for his defiance but spent only a week behind bars. He escaped the confrontation unscathed-and so did the prisoners of war entrusted to his care.

Part IV: The Fall of Saddam

Many people think of Saddam as a Muslim and, unfortunately, associate his actions with the Islamic faith. But Georges rightly concludes that he is nothing of the sort. "Saddam's only religion was Saddam," Georges explains, "and his personal glory was the only higher power he recognized- He couldn't have cared less about Islam. Religion, like everything else, was merely a tool he could use whenever it suited his purposes."

As Georges points out in his book the name "Saddam," in Arabic, means "the Crasher." It's the word they use to describe a car crash. A surprisingly appropriate name for a despot who left his country in ruins.

To understand why Georges refers to the U.S. invasion of Iraq as the "liberation" and why most Iraqis are so happy to see Saddam behind bars (regardless of their opinions of the U.S. presence), consider the following story that Georges recounts:

"A man was watching a speech by Saddam on TV. He was sitting there with his family and at one point became fed up with hearing the same old lies, day after day. So he simply reached over and turned off the television. He said, 'I don't want to hear that anymore. I've heard it too many times.' And that was all. But the next day at school, his son, who was about seven or eight years old, told his teacher, 'My daddy turned off the TV because he didn't want to hear President Saddam last night.' An innocent comment? Less than a week later, undercover agents of the Mukhabbarat showed up at his door. They took his father away and he was never seen again."

As further evidence of Saddam's complete disregard for human life, Georges points out that when "Operation Iraqi Freedom" began in 2003, Hussein released 150,000 criminals onto the streets. One of the released prisoners is now back in jail and accused of killing 150 people. But that's actually pretty miniscule compared to Saddam's own personal record. According to Georges, 275 mass graves have now been discovered in Iraq, each containing anywhere from 50 to thousands of bodies.

Before the U.S.-led invasion, Georges, in his own words, was "convinced that another war was the last thing we needed. Sanctions and corruption were already destroying the country." This made him "eager to join the reconciliation movement and encourage Saddam to allow the weapon inspectors to come back and finish their job" even though he knew that there was only a slim chance that Saddam would relent.

But, though originally wary of the war, he now supports the invasion whole-heartedly. Though he criticizes a few strategic moves, such as the complete disbanding of the Iraqi army, Georges believes the invasion was a step forward, not a step back. His optimism and hope for the future of Iraq are at times contagious.

"With a renewed commitment by the Iraqi people to find a better way," Georges announces at the end of his book, "I believe we will see changes that dazzle the eyes of the world."

Georges is a visionary thinker-an idealist. I don't know what will happen to Iraq over the next ten years. The truth is that no one really does. We can only hope and pray that Georges' optimism is justified.

Part V: WMDs-the Evidence

Most Americans believe the Iraqi WMD debate is over. This is not surprising considering that David Kay, Bush's top weapons expert in Iraq, said in January of 2004 that "My summary view, based on what I've seen, is we're very unlikely to find large stockpiles of weapons- I don't think they exist." In 2005, Charles Duelfer, the chief U.S. investigator officially "gave up" the search for WMD in Iraq. Former US secretary of state Colin Powell referred to his presentation to the United Nations, offering "proof" of Iraq's WMD program, as a "blot" on his record.

Though both Republicans and Democrats widely believed that Saddam possessed WMD before the war, the consensus has now changed. Now both sides largely believe that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction at the time of the invasion-or at least, he had no substantial weapons program.

But Charles Duelfer, among others, never ruled out the possibility that Iraq's WMDs had been moved to Syria. "[We are] unable to rule out the possibility that WMD was evacuated to Syria before the war," he told reporters, remarking that they had uncovered "sufficiently credible" evidence that this may have occurred. According to a report from the Telegraph David Kay told reporters "We are not talking about a large stockpile of weapons... But we know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD programme. Precisely what went to Syria, and what has happened to it, is a major issue that needs to be resolved."

Saddam's Secrets will largely be marketed as "the book that proves Saddam hid his WMDs in Syria." This aspect of Georges' book has already earned him an interview on the Fox News' show, Hannity and Colmes. Unfortunately, the Syria-Iraq WMD connection is probably the weakest link in Georges' narrative.

On June 4th, 2002 a dam in Zeyzoun, Syria collapsed. The flood waters covered an area of nearly forty square miles. The Syrian government reached out to its neighbors, Jordan and Iraq, for assistance. Georges believes that Saddam used this as an opportunity to transfer his remaining WMDs across the Syrian border. Though Georges did not personally witness this transaction, he knows someone who did. Which is the basis of his evidence. "My knowledge of these transfers," he states, "[comes] from a man who was actually involved in the transfers-a civilian pilot who witnessed the commercial 747 go back and forth between Syria and Iraq."

Don't get me wrong-Georges may be right. U.S. intelligence has been unable to rule out the possibility that Iraq transferred WMDs to Syria and David Kay has suggested that a small amount of WMD components were shipped across the border (but not the "large stockpiles" Saddam was believed to have possessed). Israeli intelligence has recently made similar allegations. But most readers won't find the fact that Georges knows a guy who claims to have witnessed the transfers particularly compelling. Worthy of investigation, yes. But not, to quote George Tenet, a "slam dunk" case.

Georges is largely dismissive of those who question the presence of WMDs in Iraq, stating, "I'm convinced it was only politics that made some people change their minds after the fact." This is clearly an exaggeration. Every effort was made to track down the weapons of mass destruction, but our weapons inspectors came home empty-handed. Politicians from both parties have pointed to this as a sign of "intelligence failures" on the part of the CIA. Even if Saddam did still have some elements of a WMD program before the invasion (which seems plausible), the politicians who dragged America into war made much more sweeping claims. We were told not only that Saddam had large stockpiles of weapons but that, with these weapons, he posed an imminent threat to the United States.

Part VI: Forgiveness

In Georges' view, what Iraq needs most right now is not military might or foreign aid or even economic revival. What Iraq needs most is forgiveness. "Countries like Iraq that have learned to make a living from hatred and revenge for so many years must relearn the lost art of forgiveness." In Georges' view this is not merely a political problem but a cultural one. The Saddam regime was violent, corrupt and merciless and its values have seeped into Iraqi society, beyond what any war or political movement can heal.

Georges has managed to uphold the spirit of forgiveness even in the face of terrorism. Addressing those responsible for the bombing of an Iraqi church, Georges writes: "I would also say to those who destroyed our places of worship, who killed, kidnapped, blackmailed and robbed our people, and who used violence and hatred against the Christian community, that we pray to our Father in Heaven that he will forgive them and lead them to a different way of thinking."

But Georges doesn't just talk about the path of forgiveness-he lives it.

After the invasion, Georges took a job with the new Iraqi government as the spokesmen for the Prime Minister, Iyad Illawyi. During this period, because of the dangers, Georges was surrounded by body guards at all times.

One day, his bodyguards caught four young Muslims video-taping Georges' house, driving back-and-forth. When the bodyguards brought these men to Georges he began questioning them and they admitted they had been planning to blow up his home.

"Do you know me?" Georges asked, incredulous.

"No, we don't know you," they answered.

"Then why do you want to kill me?"

Georges' responsibility was clear. The proper thing to do was to turn these four over to the authorities who, Georges' knew, would show them no mercy.

He continued to question them. Two of them were Engineering students at Baghdad University. The others were both in their second year of medical school. Georges shook his head. They represented the future of Iraq. But, with a single act, they had thrown their own lives away.

Georges breathed a silent prayer, Jesus, tell me what to do with these men. Finally, he made up his mind. He told the men they were free to go. Fearing a trick, they were at first afraid to move. Georges assured them they would not be harmed.

Four hours later, they returned with their families. With tears the families thanked Georges over and over for sparing the lives of their sons. They offered their sons, whose lives he had spared, to serve as his bodyguards. It was a matter of honor: because he had spared them, they were willing to protect his life by risking their own. Of course, Georges refused. "The only thing I want is that you send these boys back to the University," he told them.

The four men continue to visit Georges to wish him well. There is an awful myth circulating in the Western world that somehow Muslims or Arabs only understand the language of violence and brute force. But these men-and their families-clearly understood the power of mercy.

Of course, some will think Georges was insane to offer forgiveness to such men, trusting on faith that they would never return to finish the job that they had started. It was reckless and perhaps naive. But Georges has spent his life choosing the insane over the sensible. It was insane to fly a plane for which he had never been properly trained. It was insane to tell the truth to a dictator. It was insane to defend enemy pilots from the mass-murdering son of Saddam. And it was insane to forgive a terrorist. Georges is a hero because he has made a career of choosing the harder path, of risking everything for the sake of his country.

We should all be very grateful that Georges Sada chose not to live a sensible life. And-Americans and Iraqis alike-should aspire to follow the example he has set for us.