“When I first arrived in Baghdad in January 2003, I thought I would soo...” — Richard Engel Quote

When I first arrived in Baghdad in January 2003, I thought I would soon rent a house and envisioned myself swimming in the Tigris to cool off after reporting in the city the caliphs called Madinit al-Salam, the City of Peace. A year later, I realized I wouldn't be taking any midnight dips - Madinat al-Salam no more.

9/11 was a terrible, horrific, tragic day.

ISIS controls a territory roughly the size of Maryland where 8 million people live. If it's attacked and toppled, who will fill the void?

Insurgencies are easy to make and hard to stop. Only a few ingredients need to combine to create an insurgency; like oxygen and fire, they're very common and mix all too often. The recipe is, simply, a legitimate grievance against a state, a state that refuses to compromise, a quorum of angry people, and access to weapons.

I had vied for a championship; I had been involved in being a No. 1 contender, and having runs where I got close but I never got there. Being able to finally get there and be the guy to carry the load and carry it for a while, I felt like I arrived, and it validated my career.

At VMware, the engineers worked very closely with our customers, closely with the field, and it was exciting for everyone. So, one of things I did here at Google when I arrived was to combine sales, marketing, engineering, and product.

Leaving home early is always complicated. But when I arrived in Germany, I encountered an incredible structure built by the company that takes care of my career. They did not leave me wanting for anything. The most complicated thing was really the language. Otherwise, everything was taken care of.

When I arrived at Middlesex I was the only guy who'd been to public school and I got plenty of stick. But it wasn't held against me for long.