The Weight Of The Mustard Seed
Wendell Steavenson
HarperCollins, Mar 2009, $24.99
ISBN: 9780061721786

This is an interesting biography of Iraqi Special Forces General Kamel Sachet, who worked closely under Saddam Hussein. Dedicated to Iraq, Sachet was a war hero during the Iran conflict of the 1980s and led the invasion of and commanded the occupying army in Kuwait prior to the first Gulf War. His story is fascinating as he struggled with the Baath Party excessively and with his boss' ugly turn to torture; in fact he discouraged his sons from joining the military or the government. When the Desert Shield allies kicked the Iraqis out of Kuwait the general became disillusioned with all the unnecessary death caused by a violent megalomaniac; he already had fallen out of favor as someone had to take the fall for the Kuwaiti embarrassment. He turned to the Koran for guidance as he felt THE WEIGHT OF THE MUSTARD SEED on his soul. In 1999, Hussein had Sachet executed.

This is an insightful biography that explains how a caring person in a high level position struggled with an out of control abusive dictator. Readers will be fascinated as Wendell Steavenson provides a deep portrait of a general, a people, and a country in strife.

Harriet Klausner