All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others

by Carol Off

One of Canada's most respected journalists, As It Happens's Carol Off, relates the gripping story of a family's desperate attempts to escape Afghan warlords, Taliban oppression, and the persecutions of refugee life.

In 2002, Carol Off and a CBC TV crew encountered an Afghan man with a story to tell. Asad Aryubwal became a key figure in their documentary on the terrible power of thuggish warlords who were working arm in arm with Americans and NATO troops. When Asad publicly exposed the deeds of one of the warlords, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, it set off a chain of events from which there was no turning back. Asad, his wife, Mobina, and their five children had to flee their home.

The family faced an uncertain future. But their dilemma compelled a journalist to cross the lines of disinterested reporting and become deeply involved. Together, they navigated the Byzantine international bureaucracy and the decidedly unwelcoming policies of Stephen Harper's government until the family finally found a new home.

Carol Off's powerful account traces not only one family's journey and fraught attempts to immigrate to a safe place, it also illustrates what happens when a journalist becomes irrevocably caught up in the lives of the people in her story and finds herself unable to leave them behind.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada, War, Memoir, Biography, Journalism, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2017

About the author

Carol Off is a Canadian television and radio journalist, associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio. She has been a host of CBC Radio's As It Happens since 2006. Previously a documentary reporter for The National, Off also hosted the political debate series counterSpin on CBC Newsworld.

She is the vice-president of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. She was awarded ACTRA's John Drainie Award, for distinguished contributions to Canadian broadcasting, in 2008.

Off has also written several books on the Canadian military, including 'The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle' (2000) and 'The Ghosts of Medak Pocket: the Story of Canada's Secret War' (2005, ISBN 0-679-31294-3). In 2006, she released a book, 'Bitter Chocolate,' about the corruption and human rights abuses associated with the cocoa industry. She claimed that French-Canadian journalist Guy-André Kieffer, who was kidnapped in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire in 2004, had been murdered for exposing Ivorian government corruption in connection with cocoa.

Off got her start in journalism as a staff writer for The Gazette, the student newspaper at The University of Western Ontario.

She lives in Toronto with her husband, broadcaster and novelist Linden MacIntyre.

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good reporter’s job is to get the story. This is what Carol Off of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) did in Afghanistan when she interviewed Asad Aryubwal. He revealed the responsibility of mass murders committed by the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum during the American led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. All this was incorporated into a documentary made by the CBC. As Carol Off said “What is good for the reporters’ career is not necessarily so for the individual providing the information”.

Asad and his family had to flee Afghanistan for Pakistan several times over the years because his life was under threat – not only his life, but his entire family. Afghanistan warlords will not limit their vengeance to the individual culpable and will target his entire family.

Other factors came into play as well. Asad’s daughters were brilliant students and Robina won a scholarship to Paris. Now in most Western countries such an award to a world-class city would be a source of great joy and pride. Not so in Afghanistan where it was seen as anathema to send a young woman alone to a Western city. In fact, Robina’s sister won a similar prize to study in Japan, but she did not even venture to tell her parents due to the negativity heaped on Robina. For this Asad’s entire outer family (his brothers and sisters) banished him. He could not rely on his clan family to protect him from the wrath of the warlord Dostum. He had also married for love and outside of his ethnicity – another taboo in Afghanistan. Asad was a man of integrity and courage.

So eventually he took his wife and family to settle in Peshawar, Pakistan where Afghan refugees are treated with disdain. Asad’s family was physically assaulted on a number of occasions, even by the police.

Over the long years Carol Off had kept in touch with Asad and his family – both his daughters learnt to speak excellent French and English. She became increasingly frightened for the weary plight of his family and coaxed him into applying for refugee status in Canada. The first step was to apply for refugee status at the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees). They had offices in both Peshawar and Islamabad. This was a long Kafkaesque labyrinthe process that went on for several years! Only after could the family then apply to the Canadian government – and this also, took a few more years!

The author dedicated several years to get Asad’s family to the safe haven of Canada. She felt an emotional obligation for the dire predicament that she had imposed on Asad’s family for her story. She takes us through this emotional roller-coaster ride that Asad’s family took on their prolonged journey to Canada. We breath a tremendous sigh of relief when they finally land at Pearson Airport in Toronto – and are greeted tearfully by the author.

My only criticism of this book is that in the history of Afghanistan given at the beginning the author gives far too much credit to Ronald Reagan for ousting the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. This is an American myth. It was largely the money and men supplied by Saudi Arabia and their fundamentalist Wahhabis that provided assistance to the mujahideen in Afghanistan. This was all facilitated by Pakistan’s ISI (secret service) who had a vested interest in Afghanistan and did not want a communist regime there. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan knew what they were doing in Afghanistan, Ronald Reagan and the CIA did not.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no expectation that telling someone's story will fix anything because if I did, I would have an agenda and the truth would run the risk of being lost. I didn't return to Asad's side as a journalist; I did so as a human being. It was simply the right thing to do, a choice made in good faith. I appreciate that in my profession it's easy to become tangled in a cause and cross the line into advocacy. I understand why we have codes of conduct both in journalism and in society. But life is complicated. We do what we can and what we must.

I chose to lead with the above quote advisedly because it captures what I believe to be the primary caveat about All We Leave Behind: I won't contradict that author Carol Off is “one of Canada's most respected journalists” (as states the book's blurb), but this is not a work of journalism – it's a highly personal and opinionated narrative of a time that Off's actions did cross into advocacy. As she relates the story of how her own quest for a scoop led an Afghan man to put himself (and his family) in danger, I am absolutely convinced that Off did the right and moral thing when she then spent years trying to expedite their refugee claim and bring them to Canada – as a personal effort to redress unwitting errors. Everything about this story is informative and highly pertinent to our times, but it's not a cold-eyed work of journalism (and to be fair, it never claims to be), and every time Off uses the term “holy war” to describe both Ronald Reagan's and George W. Bush's entrees into Afghanistan, every time she accuses the Harper government of xenophobia and fear-mongering, I was reminded that she has spent her career working for the left-biased CBC; was probably relieved to drop any pretense of impartiality in her reportage here. And that's not to say that this isn't an important and interesting book to read – I just think it's key to keep in mind that this is a story that puts Off at its center, not merely a dispassionate reporting of the facts.

Off begins with an informative history lesson. As the Berlin Wall fell and Moscow retreated from Afghanistan, the country was left in a power vacuum; and in horrific condition:

For the previous ten years, billions of US dollars and USSR rubles had poured into Afghanistan to fund destruction but little else. By the end of the 1980s, half of all refugees in the world were Afghans, mostly exiled to Iran or Pakistan. A million and a half civilians had died because of war, while countless others were maimed and wounded; the International Red Cross estimated it would take 4,300 years to remove all the landmines that the contending armies had buried in the countryside. Afghanistan ranked third from the bottom in development of all countries of the world. Its children were severely malnourished. The place was swamped with Kalashnikovs, Stinger missiles, rocket launchers, armoured vehicles, bullets, bombs and angry disillusioned men.

Off describes the ensuing years of conflict between the Taliban and the far-flung warlords who resisted ceding power, and after the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom, Western journalists began flooding into the country (she has no kind words for celebrity newscasters like Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw whose presence distracted American viewers from the real news), and in pursuit of her own story on the rising power of the warlords as the Taliban fled the country, Off met and interviewed Asad Aryubwal. Asad had been forced into one such warlord's militia in the north of the country during the years since the USSR left (Asad had been given the rank of General, but insists he had been an unwilling conscript and had no combat role), and he was eager to be part of a news story that might warn the West that they would be foolish to partner with his former boss, Rashid Dostum. Asad led Off and her documentary crew to the site where Dostum's men had massacred Taliban POWs in the weeks following the Coalition's invasion, at great personal risk, and when the interview was over, Off went on to receive an award for her piece and Asad went back to living his life.

Usually, Off gets her story and doesn't look back – understanding that subjects who seek her out for interviews are aware of the risks they are taking and have their own motivation for speaking with a foreign journalist – but she kept in touch with Asad's family; exchanging email greetings and giving heartfelt advice. Off, however, had no idea that Asad was experiencing mounting threats until, for the third time in his life, Asad packed up his family and fled to Pakistan. With Rashid Dostum now the Vice President of Afghanistan, and with no support from his own clan back home, Asad knew he could never return to Kabul; and as the Pakistan around him grew ever wearier of supporting an ever-growing mass of fleeing Afghans, Asad knew that he and his family couldn't remain where they were indefinitely. With Off's support, they applied to the UNHCR as refugees, and as she arranged sponsors for them here in Canada, the Aryubwal family faced down unending years of looming danger and maddening bureaucracy.

The first half of All We Leave Behind is about everything leading up to Off's initial interview with Asad, and the second half is about dealing with the UN agency responsible for refugees; in this way, it feels like two different books. I appreciate the frustration and impotence that Off must have experienced as the refugee application process stretched out indefinitely for people that she had come to love and feel responsible for, but with persistent errors and corruption within the UNHCR's office in Peshawar, and the refugee crisis growing in Syria (and other areas where people were desperate to get to any safe country), I can almost understand why a seven person family with members working and going to school and stably renting an apartment weren't the highest on the list of those needing safe passage; even with a sponsor.

The CBC – where Off worked in television journalism before switching to a more domestic-based role on the radio – may be funded by us Canadian taxpayers to the tune of a billion dollars a year, but that doesn't make it a branch of the government; Off's actions on their behalf were not a proxy for my own. So, the outrage that a person feels in reading about the Canadian government's inaction on Asad's case would likely be proportionate to the degree in which a person agrees with the following statement:

Asad had risked his life when he spoke to the Canadian public broadcaster in an effort to warn our government that Canadians were unwittingly getting involved with the wrong people. I couldn't conceive of a better argument – Canada had an obligation to help.

I don't think that I do agree with that statement, but again, I 100% empathise and agree with Off's decision to have made it her personal obligation to see Asad and his family make it to safety. As her personal story of this journey, All We Leave Behind is a fine and informative read.

[Emmkay · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a reporting trip to Afghanistan, Canadian journalist Carol Off was delighted to score an interview with an Afghan man with past experience working for a notorious warlord. Asad seemed unafraid to speak on camera about problems in his country. Off gave little thought to the impact the interview could have on his life, ultimately driving him and his family from Afghanistan and sending them into lengthy and uncomfortable exile. Off chose to cross the journalist/source barrier and try to assist them in emigrating to Canada, out of her sense of responsibility for their fate.

Her book about the experience was eye-opening, especially about the political situation in Afghanistan (she suggests the west has bungled things by throwing its support behind thugs/warlords, and that Afghans’ distaste for the rule of such warlords had created fertile ground for the Taliban in the first place) and problems with the refugee system (the slowness and corruption). Off does a good job underscoring the mind-boggling scale of the issues, given that her focus is on a single family, which was relatively advantaged in the process given their education levels and connection to her.

[Marian Bron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carol Off writes in All We Leave Behind, “If a journalist asks good questions she might win an award. If someone answers good questions it might get him killed.” This is the true story of a man, and his family, who answered good questions and had to flee for his life because of them.

Elegantly written All We Leave Behind holds the reader from beginning to end. Off does not pussy-foot. She tells it like it is. She puts seven very real faces on the mess that is modern-day Afghanistan, the seven members of the Aryubwal family. She made me cringe and shake my head at the bureaucracy that forced them to stay as refugees in a hostile city and the self-serving governments that left them fearing for their lives for eight long years.

All We Leave Behind is a must read.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

There aren't enough stars to give for this book. Maybe 50? It is simply one of the most memorable books I'll ever read.
Carol Off is a Canadian journalist who spent 20+ years in the field covering wars, refugee crises and other catastrophic events, primarily for the CBC. It was in Afghanistan that she met Asad Aryubwal in 2002, after she arrived in Kabul to cover the post-9/11 state of affairs. Over time, she grew unusually close to Asad and his family, becoming much more than just a reporter.
As Afghanistan careened from one crisis to another throughout the next 13 years, Asad and his family were forced into exile in Pakistan, where it took almost 8 years to wend their way through the crushingly onerous refugee process before finally arriving in Canada in 2015.
This is a book that told me more about the political history of Afghanistan than anything I've ever read before. Off starts the book with a clear, concise but detailed account of the shifting powers that ruled the country from the 1970s onward: the Soviet invasion, the warlords, the mujaheddin, the Taliban, the USA's war of revenge after 9/11, the role of the Canadian Armed Forces in Helmand. It was laid out so clearly that I finally understand why there is so much chaos and still no end in sight.
The book is also a huge indictment of the glacial refugee process, from the woefully understaffed and often locally corrupt UNHCR to the almost universal callousness of right wing western governments who see a terrorist under every
bed. I was well aware of the shameful behaviour of the Canadian government during Stephen Harper's time in office, behaviour that is even more magnified by the current American regime. To these politicians, refugees aren't real people, they're just human detritus, and it's utterly disgusting.
The Aryubwal family finally got to Canada in 2015. I cried through the description of their arrival in Toronto, when Asad collapsed into Carol's arms and sobbed like a baby, relieved at last of the fear and pain of all those years in exile in Pakistan.
We've all seen the pictures of the camps full of hopelessness and I know we can't help everyone, but it breaks my heart to know how much human potential is wasting away every day, as people at all levels turn away and say "It's not my problem, I can't fix it." Those people need to read this book and understand that it's a roll of the dice for all of us. There but for the grace of God.....

[Laura O’Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes you through the recent history of Afghanistan via the lives of a single family, which adds context and makes the seemingly dense, complicated political history actually understandable. Carol Off does a great job of making that history readable; what could have been a long, dry list of names of the players in Afghanistan and Pakistan became a colourful cast of characters. The latter third of the book becomes a bit tedious, but as this is the section cataloguing the Aryubwals' years of navigating the refugee system, it actually helps drive home the feeling of frustration they all must have had through that time. Off's own struggle with her professional and ethical role through the whole ordeal is a sub-plot in itself and is described poignantly.

[Catherine Milmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book. I learned a lot about what happened in Afganistan and how people lived and were treated by speaking the truth and then have to flee their country or be killed. To be terrified everyday for 8 years while waiting for refugee status to be approved. I could not believe the bureaucracy by both governments. I am so glad you never gave up on them Carol Off. You have opened my eyes about refugees fleeing all these countries to save their lives. Thank you.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is drummed in to all students entering the professions, the necessity of professional detachment at work, especially when that work involves emotionally vulnerable people in crises. CO crosses that dividing line when she realized the impact of her involvement with one of the subjects featured in her award winning documentary for the CBC. What sets her apart from most journalists is that she took responsibility for the negative repercussions that threatened the lives her subject and his family in Afghanistan. This book is her account of the years it took to bring Asadullah Aryubwal and his family to safety in Canada.

There is also a comprehensive history of the wars that have plagued Afghanistan and short biographies of key players on the many sides who seek to control it. Canada's position is revealed as sketchy, and this book should be required reading for all of us

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping and influential.

[Eleanor Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A courageous Afghan discloses the truth to a Canadian journalist. There's a huge price to pay. That's the riveting surface layer of this highly educational tome. Below it, page by page, unsuspecting landmines explode about Canada's complicity in Afghanistan's murder and mayhem, and Canada's hypocritical posturing - reminiscent of our country's grisly betrayal of Lieutenant-General The Honourable Roméo Dallaire in Rwanda, described in 'Shake Hands With The Devil.' I thought of Calgary's Captain Nicola Goddard many times as I read, and wondered how informed she'd been before her sudden death at the hands of the Taliban. My takeaway? Vote judiciously. Write letters when I smell a rat, like Canada's lucrative selling of arms to Saudi Arabia so they can do the dirty work while we hide behind our clean Maple Leaf Flag.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As it happens, Carol Off is more vibrant over the airwaves than on the page. In 2002 she interviewed Asad, a former member of the Afghan army, for the CBC. This book is the story of Asad and his family. They were forced to flee Afghanistan for their own safety, partly because Asad openly expressed his opinions during the CBC interview. Carol ignored the rule that reporters shouldn’t get involved in the personal lives of the people they interview. She became actively involved in their efforts to immigrate to Canada. Much of the book describes the long, frustrating years of bureaucracy that Asad and his family had to endure. As could be expected, it doesn’t provide for exciting reading.

[Coby Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book, sitting in my own tears. A profoundly beautiful account of the refugee crisis. I come away from this read with a deeper understanding of how freakin challenging the immigration system is, especially when one is arriving from a war-torn country, such as Afghanistan. And not only do we get this personal story of one family’s experience, but Carol Off brilliantly discloses the context and history that surrounds it. Call me an ignorant White Canadian but I had no idea how complicated and messy the history of Afghanistan was. I want to thank Carol Off for taking the time to inform us of the big picture. It has given me a greater appreciation for the press, history, humanity, and how I want to relate and contribute to the world.

[Melissa Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carol Off is as good a writer as she is an interviewer - and that is high praise. The book deals with complicated subject matter, and she leads the reader through the issues and events with clear and eloquent prose. Her writing voice is like her speaking voice, you can "hear" her telling the story. She brings her personal insights and experiences to draw the reader through political and social events, focusing on one family and her involvement with their lives. An excellent and enjoyable read, even with the complex and sometimes divisive subject matter.

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

The subject of the book, the plight of an Afghan refugee family striving to come to Canada, was well documented. It was an eye opening read and moving to think about how much these families struggle to become Canadians. It is a an amazing and touching story, which unfortunately had to shine through terrible writing to be heard.

Sadly, the poor writing and extraneous detail resulted in the story coming across as unfocused and self serving of the author. This story would have made for a better article or series of articles. I expected better writing from one of Canada’s foremost journalists.

[Rebecca Wettlaufer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, most powerful books I have read in a long time. I could write pages about why everyone should read this, but I will just say that it's informative on many subjects and important to understanding the human aspect of the war in Afghanistan and Canada's refugee system. I believe that Off is brave for writing this.

[Power Pasta · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had the opportunity to speak to Carol Off, I would express my deepest gratitude for her words, wisdom and courage. This is an astounding book and one that will stay with me for a very long time.

[Nika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been standing around on my "to read" bookshelf at home for 9 months until I finally got to it. I've picked it up at the airport in Montreal but I guess the topic finally sounded a bit too intimidating to jump on reading it earlier. The story circles around the conflict in Afghanistan, focusing on a personal story of a reporter, illustrating how you can't always stick to the premise of emotionally staying away from the people you interview. In the author's case, it was two documentaries that she shot, that turned her subject's life completely upside down.
Stylistically, the book was an absolute pleasure to read. You noticed from the very first sentences on that it's written by a journalist, what allowed you to relax into the story completely and the reading flow was completely fluid. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

"I saw in that interview how a question should be a key, sliding into the most reluctant lock and opening a portal on a private mind. Even the most guarded subject becomes vulnerable to the skilled locksmith [...]." (p. 10)

The quote below was one of my absolute favourite ones within the book. Having a very personal story that illustrated it, made the whole narrative additionally captivating.

"The lesson I learned that day is that journalists all too often have their best moments when other people are having their worst." (p. 4)

⁣⁣⁣ What turned out to be problematic for me personally, was how detailed the descriptions of the conflict in Afghanistan were. I felt like you had to go into reading this book with an already existing and strong knowledge, otherwise you would get knocked off your feet with all the background and historical facts, as well as all the new names of people and places within the first half of the book. It ended up being too heavily loaded for me, which was one of the reasons why it took me 18 days to finish the book. Nevertheless, I do have to say that everything possible has been done in order to ease your comprehension: A map of the concerned regions was added in the beginning, as well as a chronological glossary of the significant events in the end, so I'd definitely give it an A for effort! ⁣⁣

A topic that specifically appealed to me were the descriptions of the lives of women within the Afghan society or rather all the ways how it is attempted to suppress them, silence them and make them invisible. It reminded me a lot of the accounts within the book "The Bookseller of Kabul", which was one of my favourite ones I read in 2019. It becomes apparent that even within the most advanced families, the cultural factor of the dominance of the male figures is still imposed in daily life.

"The Rahmans had wealth and a sophisticated world view and yet Habib limited the women's freedom at home , bound as he was to culture and tradition." (p. 47)

"They feared women as dangerous creatures who appealed to human weaknesses and wicked appetites. They believed men needed protection from women. Women needed protection from their own vanity." (p. 110)

"The girls' existence in Kabul was without play, joy, or celebration of any kind. They were not permitted the kiss of the sun on their faces or the flutter of a breeze through their hair. They dared not look out a window without wearing a burqa for fear of being seen by the police who sometimes ordered windows to be whitewashed so passersby could not be tempted by even a glimpse of a female face." (p. 112)

A big part of the story is also dedicated to an immigration debate - how to leave one's own country if your life is in danger and all the obstacles that are put in your way, even if you have the most valid reasons to receive the needed support. The descriptions of all the bureaucracy linked to such a life changing experience are harrowing and they open up a whole new understanding of ones own privileges of living life in security. The whole story makes you appreciate and cherish your situation, if you don't live in fear for your life and the one of your loved ones on a daily basis.

"The seething centre of the refugee debate is not really about policy; it's about perception. Either you identify with others or you don't. Either you see yourself in the eyes of others or you don't." (p. 275)

"What differences flow from a simple accident at birth. In one country a man speaks his mind and his world falls apart; his children are left without a future and they live in abject terror for years." (p. 241)

What I was longing for after finishing the book, was to watch the two mentioned documentaries in the beginning, which the author produced after her trips to Afghanistan. It's a pity that I wasn't able to find them online, but at least there is this short and very interesting video I came across. It adds a visual layer to the story but since it's a bit of a spoiler, I'd suggest you to watch it in the end of the book.

If the described subject matter sounds interesting to you, do give the book a try, but keep in mind that you will have to be resilient with your reading. The first half will be a bit of a challenge, whereas it picks up in pace towards the second half. I feel like the story would have deserved a 4/5 ★ rating and that I simply got to it at an inconvenient time, when I couldn't make as much time for reading as I would have liked to. I'll be aiming at re-reading it soon and I'll finish off this review with another brilliant quote:

"If a journalist asks good questions she might win an award. If someone answers good questions it might get him killed." (p. 279)

[Judy Monchuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey Into the Lives of Others is a powerful book about the importance of telling stories in difficult times and the fallout that may follow for those who choose to speak out. CBC reporter Carol Off tells of her life as a foreign reporter in the wake of 9/11 in Afghanistan, meeting a courageous man intent on exposing the tyranny of his country's warlords and their ties to US interests. His candour in an award-winning CBC documentary puts his life and that of his family in danger, a fact Off learns years later and realizes that meeting her may have been the worst thing that ever happened to the family.
Within a tight narrative, Off has woven the history of Afghanistan, Canada's war efforts supporting the US-led attack on the Taliban post 9/11, and the achingly slow struggle to bring the Afghan family to Canada as refugees. She details delays and corruption with the UN’s high commission on refugees as the process drags across years, then is complicated by millions of Syrian refugees seeking a place to live following the Arab Spring. As the global humanitarian crisis builds, the Canadian government of Stephen Harper establishes roadblocks to refugees seeking entry to this country.
All We Leave Behind is a riveting and important tale, perhaps even more important in 2019 than when it was published in 2017.

[Brittany Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is spectacular, Carol Off is a national treasure. As someone who knew so little about the history of Afghanistan over the past few decades, who has a keen interest in the plight of migrants and refugees, and who wonders about the ethical and moral role that journalists (and researchers, in my case) play in the lives of others, this book hit all the marks. I can’t recommend this book enough to others!

[Amir Taleghani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Carol Off uses her unique experience, as a journalist who gets personally involved in the refugee crisis in Afghanistan, to provide a critical review of the modern political history of Afghanistan, including Canada’s role.

[Jennifer Golin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gave me a much better understanding of the major events that have affected Afghanistan. And while we have all heard the stories of the many refugee plights, Carol has allowed us to better understand the horrors, stresses, losses and struggles of refugees by sharing the story of the Aryubwals.

[Bessie Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book on a number of levels. The biggest message for me was that sometimes you can't just walk away.

[writer... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opening nonfictional account of Afghanistan’s ongoing years of struggle on multiple levels..

[Mary Jane Hele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Carol Off for telling this most compelling story of one family's struggles as refugees and the insurmountable hurdles they had to endure before being allowed to find a new home in Canada. You have compressed the recent history of Afghanistan, revealed some of the horrifying violence and oppression inflicted on it's own citizens and given it a face to connect to. It always amazes me what strength of character refugees demonstrate in their seeking for a better life.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! It is all too easy to not understand people in different circumstances than we find ourselves. Carol Off heals that.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never really understood why the Middle East is such a disaster; oh, I knew about war lords and tribalism, despots, and interfering superpowers funding surrogates who inevitably turn around and bite them, certainly. But Carol Off, a strong investigative journalist and skillful interviewer, was able to help me understand much better than I did, through the lens of her experiences there. Civilian death tolls, the constantly changing power ‘structure’ (using the term very loosely), migrations, effects on the everyday lives of people anyone can identify with, and the ‘workings’ (again, a word used very loosely) of UN operations and efforts to process refugees, all these dry statistics and concepts became three-dimensional and vividly alive through Carol’s eyes and her writing. And through her relationship with one family in Afghanistan, I was able to begin to imagine what it would be like for me and my family to live through such devastation.

I found myself startled, gob-smacked, and infuriated by the utter failure of international responses to this crisis; indeed, their very actions continue to exacerbate the already appalling conditions. Like no other book before, this has stirred me to rattle the cages of our government. I will read all I can as the crisis continues to unfold,following true investigative journalism to help me try to separate government hype from the actual circumstances that people are facing. I will write letters to my MP when I feel Canada, either on its own behalf or as part of the international effort, isn’t doing right by these people.

Carol Off has done all of this for me. Although she eventually got involved with that family in a way that crossed the line as a journalist (and I’m glad she did), her reporting of the facts surrounding this ongoing crisis is done to the highest journalistic standard. But without that involvement, I think it’s very likely I would not have been moved to action, as I am now. Thank you, Carol.

[Tina Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m picky about the non-fiction I read. I’m not tempted by much of it, I enjoy less, and I rave about even less than that.

This is worthy of a rave.

All We Leave Behind’ tells the harrowing, heart-stopping, gut-wrenching tale of one man and one family’s fight to live with integrity in an increasingly chaotic, corrupt world. It begins with Carol Off’s work as a foreign correspondent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where she interviews a progressive and thoughtful man named Asad Aryubwal.

Aryubwal has lived through some of the most turbulent times in modern Afghanistan. He loves his country and, at first, the American efforts after 9/11 give him hope. But he soon sees a familiar pattern emerge, old mistakes being repeated, and he tries to warn the West by speaking with foreign journalists like Off. Specifically, he acts as the main subject of a documentary Off is making about Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, this draws the attention of a very powerful, very dangerous warlord, putting the entire Aryubwal family in danger. When Off finds out, she plunges in to the murky world of the Canadian refugee system and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees.

In the beginning, both the family and Off assume that - given all the evidence and documentation they have to support the Aryubwals’ claim of asylum - the family will have no problem. The reality is very different. It takes a few dozen people working together in three countries, countless roadblocks, miscommunications, and delays, a few close calls, and many, many years before the story finally ends.

As I read this over again, I realize it doesn’t sound terribly exciting. But Off, as a journalist, has a knack for putting things into context, and this context is just fascinating. She also does an excellent job of summarizing the political, social, and religious forces at play for and against the Aryubwals.

Weaving through the whole book is the question of journalistic responsibility: as in, what responsibility does a journalist have to the subjects of her story once it’s finished? And does how does the answer to that question impact her ability to do her job?

There were times when this book made me proud to be Canadian, and times when it made me ashamed, but I was always engaged.

Highly recommended. Very highly.

[Anne Derkat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads and what a powerful story it is.

It tells of CBC's Carol Off meeting with an Afghani man, Asad Aryubwal, and the consequences for him and his family when he opens up to her about the horrors going on in his country. She tells the story of his heart rending attempts to protect his family and eventually with Off's help, get them to safety and freedom 13 years later in Canada.

Off gives the reader some much needed background of the problems in the middle east and of the role the Americans and Canadians have played. It's a book that should be read by anyone who has the slightest interest in what is happening in the world.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carol Off provides a comprehensible explanation of politics in Afghanistan and a heart-wrenching retelling of one family’s struggle through the refugee and emigration/immigration processes. An eye-opening and insightful read.

[Doug Lewars · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** Potential Spoilers ***

If you are politically left of center, I believe you will like this book and I recommend it. If you are politically right you may still want to read it. This is almost two books in one. First there is the background story of what went on in Afghanistan - the warlords, the Taliban, US and Canadian intervention. It seems to be well researched and I found it to be an eye-opener. I knew there were warlords. I also knew that the Taliban was a brutal, fundamentalist Islamic sect that treated both women and men poorly - with special attention doled out to the women - and was in bed with terrorists. What I learned was that the growth of the Taliban was in response to the brutality of the warlords who were just as bad if not worse. The lives of those living in that country who were just trying to live an normal existence were terrible. I also learned that both the US and Canada's ham-fisted attempts to make things better had, to a large extent, backfired. That was the interesting and informative part of the book.

The second part consists of political polemic targeted at persuading, or possibly shaming, Canadians into taking a more open-door approach to refugee resettlement. This part of the book is what passes for journalism at the CBC. Find a single instance of a refugee family that might be sympathetic and then push their trials and tribulations as a means of leveraging support for all refugees everywhere. Personally I regard this as schlock journalism and it cuts both ways. The CBC and other left-wing outlets uses it to promote causes on the left and enterprises such as Fox or Breibart do exactly the same thing on the right. I suppose it sells advertising or, in the case of the CBC, obtains funding from the Liberal government. Having said that, I have to admit that Carol Off is good at her craft. She may be following the CBC and Liberal party line, but she knows how to craft a narrative that is interesting to read. In addition, although she doesn't point fingers, she alludes to a great deal of mismanagement or downright corruption in UN agencies. (She also rails against the Harper Conservatives but that's par for the course and just noise.) There is some suggestion that one road to obtaining refugee status - albeit and expensive one - runs through criminal organizations in Moscow. I doubt that Ms. Off intended it, but what I concluded from reading that part of her book was that Canada would be better off scrapping its UN refugee obligations altogether along with involvement in all but the core UN functions. As an organization, I was left with zero confidence in most of the UN.

As I noted above, if you're left of center you'll love this book. If you're on the right, you'll find the background material interesting and probably educational. The 'struggle' to sponsor a refugee family to Canada is a little tedious but overall I found the book to flow nicely as I read it. As long as you understand that you're going to be subject to what passes for journalism at the CBC I think I can recommend reading it.