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Hollie S. McKay is an investigative and international affairs/war journalist who has written two non-fiction books, Only Cry for The Living and Afghanistan and a novel, Dictator’s Wife. She has put her life on the line as she worked on the frontlines of several major war zones including in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Her books cover terrorism, and crimes against humanity.
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Book Description
Only once in a lifetime does a war so brutal erupt. A war that becomes an official genocide, causes millions to run from their homes, compels the slaughtering of thousands in the most horrific of ways, and inspires terrorist attacks to transpire across the world.
That is the chilling legacy of the ISIS onslaught, and Only Cry for the Living takes a profoundly personal, unprecedented dive into one of the most brutal terrorist organizations in the world.
Journalist Hollie S. McKay offers a raw, on-the-ground journey chronicling the rise of ISIS in Iraq—exposing the group’s vast impact and how and why it sought to wage terror on civilians in a desperate attempt to create an antiquated “caliphate.”
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Elise’s Thoughts
Only Cry for The Living takes readers on a journey of ISIS as it commits torture, rape, murder, and genocide. McKay provides a profoundly personal insight into the rise of ISIS in Iraq, exposing the desperate pursuit of a barbaric “caliphate” at the expense of innocent lives.
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Book Description
Overnight, Afghanistan dramatically transformed. One chapter – a twenty-year epoch heralded by the attacks of September 11, the U.S. invasion and propping up an ailing government – shuttered on August 15, 2021. Another entirely new – albeit old – chapter flipped open under the stringent ruling of the Taliban.
Officially termed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it’s a government that triggers immense fear among the population, having reigned with an iron fist pre-9/11 and waged a brutal insurgency from the mountaintops that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Afghans and foreigners.
Veteran war reporters – writer Hollie McKay and photographer Jake Simkin – walk you through the fall of the U.S. and the rise of the Taliban, drawing you into the minds of the new regime and into the hearts of the Afghanistan people.
“Afghanistan: The End of the U.S. Footprint and the Rise of the Taliban Rule” is a chilling bloody, yet beautiful visual expedition through one of the most magical yet wounded parcels of the planet. It is a place where poppies grow wild and men in the mountains cradle guns like children. It’s a place where kites fly high, and everyone has a war story, even though most never chose to go to war.
Welcome to Afghanistan after the cataclysmic fall. The band-aid over the bullet wound has been ripped off, and “Afghanistan” will guide you into the maze of dust, debris and delicacy the way no journalistic endeavor has done before.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Afghanistan, written by McKay with the photographs of Jake Simkin, delves into the fall of the U.S. and the rise of the Taliban, including how women lost any rights gained while the Americans were there.
Both books interviewed those who have been the perpetrators and the victims that describe the true horrors of what happened. The best summary is from Jocko Willink, a retired Navy SEAL, “She gives us all a better understanding of war and human nature.”
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Can you explain your quote about how the rule of law is lost in a war zone?
Hollie S. McKay: In the book on Afghanistan, I have this quote. “The budding and innocent always bear the brunt of war in its height and aftermath.” In the book on ISIS I have this quote, “If only the victims could tell the world what was happening to them, somehow it would all change the world.” These quotes emphasized how those in these situations feel incredibly powerless with a sense of injustice. Unfortunately, the perpetrators never have any accountability. I think telling the victims stories offers a sense of justice that they will never receive from the courts. I am hoping that people might understand on a microlevel what happened and maybe it will spur action.
EC: I wonder where the feminists are with all three brutal attacks on women by Hamas on October 7th, what the Taliban has done in Afghanistan, or ISIS in Iraq. Please comment.
HSM: Women were raped, tortured, and had their freedoms taken away. There is an overarching narrative where people do not want to be perceived of being derogatory to a different culture. There are situations in life, these being one of them, where people need to culturally offend for any change to a happen. Women should not be MIA but should speak out about any cultural practices that are inherently wrong. More than 150 years ago there was a practice in Hinduism that was called SAATI. Basically, if the men did something wrong or died for whatever reason, they would burn the wives under the belief her life was meaningless without a husband. When the Brits came into India, they said they would kill anyone who practiced this and put a stop to it. My point being that people must step up. Another example, in Afghanistan, had little boys taken, dressed up as girls, and raped. It was a real mistake that the US did not clamp down on this practice. In fact, in 2014/15 a Green Beret was court martialed because he beat up an Afghan police commander he found doing it. He went through a trial and was discharged. That never should have happened. Eventually the charges were dropped and the decision reversed after public outcry. People need to speak out when they know something is inherently wrong, and that is just what he did.
EC: Why do you think the Taliban and ISIS allowed you to interview people and observe?
HSM: I was not treated like ‘their women.’ They recognize I was a western woman that has a different lifestyle and beliefs. Obviously, I was not a man. It was an arbitrary middle ground, which is quite advantageous in these places. I could go and sit with the men but also could sit with the women, which my male colleagues cannot do. In a way I had access others did not because of the middle ground.
EC: What about the Kurd fighters who are women?
HSM: It is a fascinating story. The PKK fought against Turkey but also ISIS. They have a Marxist point of view. They feel women and men are equal in the way that they fight. There are others like the Sun Ladies in Iraq where thousands were taken and used as sex slaves or killed. A number managed to escape but there are still a number still missing. A lot of those women joined the fight because they felt they could not rely on anyone else for their protection. Their motivation was to protect themselves. Generally, the Kurds have more of an open mind then other Sunni Muslims in that region. Another motivation was that these women knew that the extremists believed if they were killed by a woman they would not go to paradise. This put an extra layer of fear to the ISIS terrorists.
EC: What about the US pull out in Afghanistan?
HSM: In Afghanistan a lot of women cannot be educated anymore. A large amount of the poverty level is represented by women. Currently, women have no rights to do anything. Women who want freedom and education, feel a sense of abandonment. At some point there was needed a significant draw down by the American forces. What was frustrating was to see the Afghan Army throw down the weapons and give up the fight considering the training they had. During the evacuation there were able bodied muscular strength men filling the planes because they pushed through that gate above women and children. The evacuation did not need to happen the way it happened.
EC: Does Hamas, ISIS and the Taliban have the same goals?
HSM: Hamas relies on Iran for funding. The Taliban are a little more on their own without the global funding that Hamas has. Their objectives are different. The Taliban is focused on their own border while Hamas wants to eliminate Israel. In terms of extremism both have a Sharia Law system that is brutal. ISIS has the objective to broaden their Caliphate.
EC: What do you want readers to get out of the books?
HSM: I want people to care about everything happening. But human nature has a limit to deal with all the tragedy in the world and the Middle East region. People also get jaded. I wanted to find the micro stories that can tell a micro picture that people can relate to on a personal level. Statistics and numbers can be very desensitizing. People can understand the conflict in a broader way. I wanted to put the human face to the number. It is impossible for Americans to live in a bubble. It is important to understand the way the enemy thinks and the way they see the world.
EC: Are you writing another book?
HSM: I have a book with my agent delving into mothers in war, in crisis, and in conflict. It expanded twelve different countries from Yemen, El Salvador, Taiwan, Syria, North Korea, and Israel.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
