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Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

Outlook: From Peace Activist to Military Aide

Emma Sky with General Odierno and US troops

27/05/2015

From Peace Activist to Military Aide

BBC World Service - Outlook, From Peace Activist to Military Aide

Emma Sky, the peace campaigner who became a US military adviser in Iraq

How does a peace campaigner end up advising one of the top US generals in Iraq? Emma Sky shares her story with Matthew Bannister.

Emma Sky is a British civilian who had 10 years of experience of conflict mediation between Israel and the Palestinians, and volunteered to go to Iraq in 2003 just after Saddam Hussein was deposed. She quickly found herself in charge of governing a whole province of the country and ended up advising one of America's top generals in Iraq. 

Also, we speak Dao Anh Khanh, one of Vietnam's most famous and flamboyant performance artists and painters. In a country where art and culture is still censored by the government, Khanh stands out. He himself used to work as a secret policeman, and his role was to censor artists. Until one day when he saw a film about the work of the secret police in East Germany and realised the horror of what he was doing. 

We also hear from a teenage boy who managed to invent a cancer detection test when he was only 14 years old. Jack Andraka shares the story of his startling discovery with Outlook.

(Photo: Emma Sky having a meeting over tea with General Odierno and US troops. Photo: Curt Cashour.)

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