A soldier refuses to fight in Iraq

Key may have grown up rough, but he insists he knows right from wrong. Yet even during basic training, he says a drill sergeant ordered him and a few others to beat up fellow recruits who had fallen behind in their duties or hadn't obeyed orders, beatings for which he says he's now deeply ashamed. "[T]hey used me to do their dirty work, and I, stupidly, felt honored to do exactly as they said." He adds that the attitudes he believes led to the atrocities he witnessed in Iraq -- which motivated him to desert -- were apparent in boot camp: Soldiers were told to visualize the dummies in bayonet practice as Muslims, and that racial epithets and chants ("One shot / One kill / One Arab / One Asian") were a way of life.

Once in Iraq, the book makes clear, a culture of hate was endemic among the U.S. occupation forces he served with. Key gives graphic accounts of soldiers gratuitously beating Iraqis and firing on civilians who annoyed them or made them nervous. He offers this devastating conclusion:

"Some people will say that the terrible things I have described seeing in Iraq were exceptions to the rule. That might be comforting, but it would be naive. Because I saw fundamental violations of basic human rights every day or two ... and since I never saw one soldier or officer criticized or disciplined for carrying out such violations, I tend to fear the opposite. I fear, and believe, that what I saw was only the tip of the iceberg in Iraq."

One of the book's great pleasures is in seeing the author's personal development, the journey he has taken, turning away from violence and destruction to become more humane. "One's first obligation," Key says, "is to the moral truth buried deep inside our own souls." He understands a soldier's obligations under the Geneva Conventions and the Nuremberg doctrine not to participate in atrocities. He has paid a stiff price for his desertion: exiled in Canada (where he may not be able to remain) and shunned by much of his family.

Near the end of his tale, Key insists that he is "neither a coward or a traitor." He is believable, as he has been from the outset, and through his words and the actions he describes, he conveys hard-earned honesty and integrity. In this testament of his experience in military service in Iraq he is making a substantial contribution to history.

Martin Rubin is a critic and the author of "Sarah Gertrude Millin: A South African Life."