Summary

Chapter 6 begins in Baghdad in 2003 as Nabil travels to the offices of the American Standard to meet Rita. Baghdad is in chaos after the American invasion, with looting, the indifference of American soldiers, and the noise of bombs and machine-gun fire. Nabil’s father drives him to the office of the American Standard, formerly an ambassador’s villa which the paper leased before the invasion at an exorbitant price. When Nabil arrives, he finds Asmaa has already left with Rick, a famous foreign correspondent, to do a story about the Abu Ghraib prison. Nabil teaches Rita how to tie a headscarf and they head out into the city to write a story about the situation of Iraqi women after the invasion. Rita is not very excited about the story, but says they have oblige New York sometimes. They head out to interview Iraqi women...