Moral Ambiguity and Hypocrisy

As Klay's narrators supply the information that allows the reader to peel away the layers of interconnecting story arcs and weave the strands together into a coherent whole, it is clear that he has challenged the reader's impulse align with a clearly defined moral or ideological position. Missionaries is a war novel, and it is central to Klay's purpose that he present the ongoing conflicts in Colombia and Afghanistan as blurry moral territory for their planners and combatants. Although the American military is supposed to be providing security for the weak Afghan state against the Taliban, as they had done during the Iraqi insurgency, Klay makes sure to emphasize the tragic collateral damage attendant to the well-intended mission.

The mythic narrative of the American military as a force for freedom and liberation from oppression is a way of thinking left over from World...