Summary

Calculated Risks – Picking up where the previous chapter left off, the author describes his years-long involvement with attempts to resolve the political and military upheaval in Iraq. In particular, he describes his recent attempts to support its current president, Haider al-Abadi, who was “…in danger of losing control of a pivotal fight against the vicious new malignancy of terror growing in the Middle East” (136), commonly referred to as ISIL. He describes the complex religious, political, and military history of the area, as well as America’s involvement (and his personal involvement) in trying to establish a peace in the country, and thereby in the region.

At the same time, almost in the same literary breath, the author describes the efforts being made to treat Beau’s condition, including a new experimental therapy that had some success in previous clinical trials but was by no...