Iraq veteran puts experiences into book

A fire in Mike Banzet’s belly forged his resolve to write his new book “A Flowershop in Baghdad” about American exceptionalism and the good the United States and its allies performed in Iraq.

A retired major who now works as a civilian for the Air Force, Banzet recalls how surprised people were when he talked about all the positive things he witnessed as a pilot during a year spent helping train the new Iraqi Air Force. From his perspective, that progress got little coverage while the Abu Ghraib prison scandal made headlines. 

According to Banzet, the Army had discovered the transgressions and was taking steps to punish the people who disgraced themselves.

“So when the press published those pictures and pretended they broke the story, they weren’t really breaking the story, they were putting people in danger,” he said. “Why would you do this? It would be different if the Army was covering it up but they weren’t.”

Banzet’s book provided a forum for his insider perspective on Iraqis he met and the progress he witnessed working in the country. He described the secondary purpose as illuminating America as “a special and different” place.

For this, he tells his own story of starting as the lowest-ranking enlisted person, training in maintenance, earning a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering and a master’s in aviation science, then training as a pilot and rising to the rank of major.

In so many places, including Iraq, he said people remain trapped in a class or caste. Banzet describes his book’s theme as twofold: celebrating the United States without class barriers and telling the “secret” story of success in Iraq. 

“This country is special and I’m sick of people ragging on it. We’re the ones who have to build walls to keep people out, not in,” he said. “And you weren’t told the truth about what was going on over in Iraq.”

He drew his book title from an Iraqi with whom he worked, but its connection to gardening became a metaphor on many levels, such as the opportunities opened by the mission, the command structure they were growing as well as the ultimate goal of planting seeds of a new democracy.

“One of the guys I worked with wanted to grow flowers,” Banzet said. “He was a lieutenant colonel but all he wanted was to be left alone. He was a very timid little guy. He wanted to have a flowershop in Baghdad. He couldn’t or felt he couldn’t.”

But with the changes in the country and seeds from Banzet’s wife and parents, this Iraqi citizen and Banzet planted a garden to grow toward his dream of his own business in Baghdad. Many Americans take for granted that freedom to succeed or fail in a business of their own.

“I talk about him gripping his little hoe like the hammer of Thor,” Banzet said with a laugh. “Turns out he sucked as a gardener. He kind of lost interest or did something else.”

But the man Banzet fictitiously named Zamir had his shot.

Banzet sees another garden metaphor in the withdrawal from Iraq. He views “the kids we grew and kind of left” as planting a garden, then walking away before it becomes established and flowers. 

With limited American presence, he puts the chance of a free country surviving as tenuous in Iraq and at zero in Afghanistan. Banzet said if the United States goes into a country to do a job, it needs to stay until it’s finished.

“My perspective is, damn it, you’re going to lose everything that you’ve sacrificed these kids for,” he said. “They’re your friends and sons and daughters of people you know out there risking their lives. I don’t think most of us back in the states have taken a moment to think about the gravity of that.”

He describes writing the book as “getting it off his chest” but said the reviews have been very positive. As he polished the final draft, Banzet sent chapters out for opinions.

One that jumps off the page came from Larry Bond, who worked with Tom Clancy in the writing of “The Hunt for Red October” and “Red Storm Rising.” Banzet met Bond through a man who worked for him as a war gaming expert.

During a dinner with Bond, Banzet discussed this book that he had in the works and Bond said that he needed to get it into print. He told him to send it to his agent but the agent deferred, saying the market was flooded with war books. 

“My book is absolutely not a war book,” he said. “It’s not about me kicking down a door and throwing grenades or anything like that.”

He decided to self-publish using CreateSpace, a website that provides a menu of services to help author’s through the process. 

Bond, a New York Times best-selling author himself, read the final product and provided this review:

“Mike Banzet’s story is insightful, funny, personal, at times deeply moving, and always thoughtful. His work with the Iraqis gave him a valuable perspective on the Iraq war and why we fought it, or more properly, who we fought it for. He’s knowledgeable, opinionated, and has a lot to share. You may not agree with everything he says, but he was the guy doing it, and it’s a worthwhile story.”

People interested in buying the book will find it available first at createspace.com/3919342 for $17.95. Banzet said the book also would be sold through Amazon.com as a print book and with a Kindle version for $8.95. 

More information is available at http://aflowershopinbaghdad.com.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.