British Mideast expert Emma Sky went to Iraq in 2003 on a mission to help the Iraqi people. She was greeted by an assassination attempt, and wound up as General Ray Odierno’s chief political adviser during the surge – building alliances with the Sunni leaders who would defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq. She also administered a key Kurdish area for the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Her memoir of her time in Iraq is: “The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq.” She now teaches at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.