When men fight, there is a continuum of war, rubble, and human flight. Sometimes the flight comes before the war. Sometimes the war persists even after all is made rubble. Sometimes the flight lasts longer than both the war and its rubble. But these immutable three come together, reliable as gravity.

I made no war. I went to Iraq to turn rubble back into schools and power plants, and failed.

But the third element is flight. I did help some flee. This is their story, and this book is dedicated to them.