Josh Rushing, author of Mission Al Jazeera, is a former Marine media officer who currently works for the Al Jazeera International, the English language version of the controversial Arabic news station.

As a participant behind the scenes of media relations during the invasion of Iraq, Rushing offers an interesting, if poorly written, account of the politicization of information in the Bush years, and of the failure in cultural understanding that underpins much of America’s foreign policy missteps.

The book takes a decidedly positive view of Rushing’s current employer, described as a much-needed counterweight to the CNN and Fox News of the world. There is, no doubt, an element of truth to this — but at times, it feels as though Rushing has blinders on as big as those he is criticizing.

The most interesting and troubling accounts are of the control of media and information during wartime, and the journalists’ submission to these tough new restrictions on press freedom.

Those, like Al Jazeera, that don’t play by the rules, are looked upon with suspicion, forced out of the loop and denied access. Rushing tells interesting stories of the big American networks waltzing in and having direct access to generals, while Al Jazeera reporters receive scraps at best.

All of this occurred with Rushing acting as the military point man to the network, where he grew to sympathize with them, understand them and, ultimately, to join them. He believes there is a fundamental lack of understanding and information on Arabic culture that is shaping the geo-political landscape and that speaking directly to Arabic audiences is far superior to shutting them out. It is in this way that you overcome extremism, he says.

There are also interesting anecdotes of suspicious border guards in North Dakota that assume Al Jazeera is associated with al-Qaida, and all sorts of buffoonish ignorance on the part of the American population, as Rushing travels the country working for the network.

Somehow, throughout it all Rushing maintains a sort of patriotism left over from his days in the Marines and an almost annoying optimism of the situation and how it can be improved.

This is a book that deals with complex and disturbing material in an oddly lighthearted and easy to read manner. It will not win any awards, but it does manage to give a glimpse of the media world that you only had nightmares about before.