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Peter Van Buren

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/PeterVanBuren

born

New York, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.wemeantwell.com

genre

History, Nonfiction, Politics

influences

Michael Herr, William Styron, Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan

member since

April 2011

About this author

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Peter Van Buren has served with the Foreign Service for over 23 years. He received a Meritorious Honor Award for assistance to Americans following the Hanshin earthquake in Kobe, a Superior Honor Award for helping an American rape victim in Japan, and another award for work in the tsunami relief efforts in Thailand.

Previous assignments include Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the UK and Hong Kong. He volunteered for Iraq service and was assigned to ePRT duty 2009-10. His tour extended past the withdrawal of the last combat troops.

Van Buren worked extensively with the military while overseeing evacuation planning in Japan and Korea. This experience included multiple field exercises, plus civil-military work in Seoul, Tokyo, Hawaii, and Sydney with all...more

1002 posts
Peter Van Buren's Blog

State Department Sleaze Accumulates without Real Response

Attempted suicide after a harsh interrogation? Hiring armed guys with criminal backgrounds? Senior officials having sex with subordinates, prostitutes and minors? Investigations into all of the above covered up or halted? That’s the news, not from Gitmo or some banana republic, but from your U.S. Department of State. Better get out the hand sanitizer, this [...]

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Published on June 16, 2013 06:30 • 2 views

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Peter Van Buren's Books

Average rating: 3.83 · 225 ratings · 63 reviews · 1 distinct work · Similar authors

We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People
3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 224 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions

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Upcoming Events

Book Publishing
September 27, 2011 12:30PM
Everywhere, US
http://www.wemeantwell.com

We Meant Well will be published in late September 2011, and is available for pre...more

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Peter's Recent Updates

Peter Van Buren wrote a new blog post State Department Sleaze Accumulates without Real Response Attempted suicide after a harsh interrogation? Hiring armed guys with criminal backgrounds? Senior officials having sex with subordinates, prostitu... Read more of this blog post »
Jun 16, 2013 07:53pm · like
Peter Buren and 1 other person liked Lisa Ehrle's review of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People: " I had the honor of reading this book in preview. It had a great story tone, but told a very real tale of mismanagement and its effects on a country and people. The stories were engaging and almost light at times, yet the message remained heavy. A... " Read more of this review »
Apr 08, 2011 02:42pm · see review
Peter Buren said "yes" to attending Book Publishing date: September 27, 2011 12:30PM location: Everywhere, The United States description: We Meant Well will be published in late September 2011, and is available for preorder now! Learn more at http://www.wemeantwell.com
Apr 07, 2011 11:54am · like
Peter Buren voted on a poll Do you write a book blog? He voted for: Yes! (If you choose this, feel free to post a link to it in the comments.)
Apr 07, 2011 11:51am · like · take the poll
Peter Buren rated a book 5 of 5 stars 1984 by George Orwell	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 07, 2011 11:51am
Peter Buren rated a book 5 of 5 stars Catch-22 by Joseph Heller	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Just the best book about life in war ever written. If I had three wishes, one of them would be that I was the author of this book.
Apr 07, 2011 11:50am · see review
Peter Buren rated a book 5 of 5 stars Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 07, 2011 11:49am
Peter Buren is now a fan of Kurt Vonnegut
Apr 07, 2011 11:48am · like · see all of Peter's favorite authors
Peter Buren rated a book 3 of 5 stars War Without End: The Iraq War in Context by Michael Schwartz	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This book is one of the best presentations of the argument the war was about oil and empire, laying out the case it was US policy from the beginning to destroy Iraq both as a lesson to everyone else in the world and as a precursor toward rebuilding i...more
Apr 07, 2011 11:48am · see review
Peter Buren rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Iraq War: A Military History by Williamson Murray	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Written in 2003 after the most recent invasion of Iraq, this book focuses instead on the 1991 war and the inter-war period of sanctions and no-fly zones, positing the inevitability of additional conflict created by the failure to resolve the fundamen...more
Apr 07, 2011 11:47am · see review