At a time when one might expect Iraqi authors to write about the devastating effects of the 2003 American war on Iraq and the chaos and violence that engulfed the country thereafter, it is surprising to see that they dedicate much of their creativity and imagination to excavating the past and re-examining old wars, portraying previously undiscussed phenomena such as desertion – particularly during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–8) – opposition to war, and the relationship between war and art. It is as though these authors, now without the ideological burden of censorship and fear, have new reason to look back at the Iran–Iraq War, which had already been covered in regime-approved fiction, poetry and other forms of art during its eight lengthy years. Today, three decades after the end of that war, a new generation of Iraqi authors has decided to return to the past to examine the historical records of previous wars so as to better understand what shaped their history and the complexities and paradoxes of their present.

During the Iran–Iraq War, there were many instances of individual desertion at lower levels of the military hierarchy despite the severe punishment in place for it. Many young Iraqis fled the war, only to end up in Iranian detention centres. As we will see in Chapter 2, the mass desertion during the 1991 Gulf War was unique in that it affected both higher-and lower-ranking military personnel. Many of the deserters surrendered or were captured, becoming prisoners of war in American or Saudi detention camps. During the 2003 war, there were cases of mass desertion among high-ranking officials, followed by desertion among other soldiers and conscripts. Anthony Cordesman credits these high-level desertions for precipitating the sudden fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Desertion is usually negatively defined as the abandonment of a duty or post without permission and with no intention of return. In Iraq, it is a crime punishable by death. As such, it stigmatises the soldier who makes this choice and dooms him to death and oblivion, banishing him from war records.