black men. but also people who are more likely to be victims of crime. so in the music, in their art, hip-hop artists are laying down on track for what a criminal justice system will look like, what a justice system will look like if we treated everybody equally, treated everybody fairly, and wanted to keep the streets safe. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> johnny walker is the codename of an iraqi translator who helped the navy seals root out terrorists in iraq following the insurgency. johnny walker accompanied the seals on over 1000 missions and discredited with savings -- saving dozens of them along with iraqis. next, jim defelice and johnny walker talk about mr. walker's experience. this is about an hour. >> first of all, thank you,

everybody, for coming out. we really appreciate the support, and going to kind of winged a little bit, keep it easy and will just take it where it goes, right? a lot of people have been asking why did come how did this book come about, why did you write this book, and i have to say that the book actually started in the way i've been working on this book for almost four years now. while i was working on "american sniper" which i wrote with chris kyle, whose another great, great american. one night chris and i were hanging around in his den and we're looking at some pictures. a picture came up of some guys who were about to go out on a seal mission, and i noticed that one of them was a lot taller than the other people in the room and was wearing slightly different uniform. i said, who's that big guy?

chris, chris the texan, said that's the only iraqi i ever trusted with the gun. that's pretty interesting, man. tell me about that. he told me that was a translator they called johnny walker. chris torbert talk about some of the missions been. i have to say that i write fiction, and the stories that chris was telling me sounded so much more remarkable and more fictional and more thrilling than stories that i've ever come up with that almost stopped writing novels. we ended up putting johnny in the book, in "american sniper." he is in about a paragraph. he changed his name and his background because we were very wary at the time we thought, johnny, we thought you were still in iraq. with the book, our book came out, "american sniper" came out,

and chris is actually doing a book signing i think in california, and johnny without and just showed up. crest, as chris told the story later on, chris said, i called him up. i thought he was dead, and called them up and made them stand up in front of the room, and told everyone the truth, that johnny walker -- chris kyle is known as the man who saved a lot of seal lies, a lot of iraqi lives. chris told that crowd and told me, told everybody he could that johnny walker saved more seals and more americans and more iraqis than chris evert could. it's just a remarkable store, and i'm not sure if it was the next day, soon after chris got hold of our publisher, our editor actually, peter hubbard, who's really been a big help for us, and said, peter, you are

doing this book, boy. because this man is really important. that's kind of where we started. so, johnny, why don't you tell us all bit about, you're born in a city in mosul? tell us about that. >> my first time, i want to thank all of you guys for all of your support, and i apologize for my broken english, but jim, you will explain the. i want to thank matt, that guy, i made it in 2003 in mosul, and this is first time i saw him after all these years. >> matt, why don't you stand up? matt is an army veteran and -- [applause] put himself on the line for us. >> i born in 1964 in mosul, grew

up like a normal child, played basketball, high jump and all my dreams that time, i want to live in america one of the days. and, unfortunately, marriage and having kids and wife, and it looked like my dream disappeared. as you know, i sought hard to work for americans at the beginning and i didn't have any chance. and it looked like in my heart, this is wrong, i deserve this chance. i am the best one for this job. so anyway, by accident i worked with relatively -- >> wait, wait, wait. the problem deal with johnny, johnny is just a little bit to humble. here's what actually happened. he had been trying to get jobs for quite a while to support his family. there were no jobs. at that time the americans were very, you know, they were very

honored because they had liberated the country. so johnny try to get a job, didn't get a job. we go into more detail in the book, but basically he couldn't get a job and he was down -- he had enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes or his kids lunch. >> or taxi to go back. >> 's we decided to heck with the taxi, i can walk. the kids can have lunch and i can buy to cigarettes, or three, whatever it was. he bought the cigarettes. is walking home in mosul which is not the greatest place. and all the sudden he comes upon some mps and the discussion with some iraqi ladies. tell us about that. >> so we are walking, like by accident i welcome the sight of the females. they walk on the right side and i hear them, they talk about things about the american

forces. this is what i need, to have not enough money to support my kids, and right now i'm going to end up fighting with a military policeman without anything because part of our tradition, i have to protect our women no matter what. so anyway, first i'm thinking like that, what i should do. so i come up with a plan. i have to go to the military police and ask them, hey, guys, can you let me fix this issue? they give me the chance, maybe i'll try to make those e-mails while voiding issue with the american police. and at the end of the night, everyone is going to be happy. >> so basically you are a marriage counselor. [inaudible] >> so anyway, when the females start coming up and it's nighttime and i look after them, and i know them, i know the

background of those e-mails, and it looked like what you guys doing? so when you look at me like oh, we are so sorry, we didn't mean to do anything. and i told them, you know what, you have only one option. you have to go right down to your house, are you guys can have something bad with me. so the sergeant, sergeant berg, when he saw what i did with the female on the issue, he asked me who i was, if i can work within. i told him, you know what? i would love it, yet, right now. and that time one of the boyfriends of the girls, he came to me and he started talking -- >> johnny just asked if we could use a bad word. >> we are in new york last night. >> anyway, he came to me and he started hitting me hard time and talking bad word about me and my

family. so it looks like, you know what, i'm done with you. so i catch them and they beat him. his face blood, whatever. ribs broken and the military police tell me, you know what, stop, just leave him. you work for us now. >> just a side note on the story. sergeant berg recently had been out of contact with johnny for pretty much since, several months after that and just recently because of the book got in touch with johnny again. that's been one of the great side notes, you know, of this whole process that a lot of the men and women who served with john in iraq have been getting in touch with them. and it's really a heartwarming part of the story. so johnny went to work with the mps as an interpreter, and he made such a great name for

himself that when the seals came to mosul a few months later on, they wanted, they had already heard of the toughest interpreter in iraq. and they asked for johnny walker. and sergeant berg was very reluctant to give you up and eventually did. so you started working with the seals. and, johnny, did you know what the seals were at first? >> no. so the first time when i hear about seals, it was like, what does that mean? i couldn't find it anywhere and my english at the time not near -- [inaudible] i had no clue what i'm dealing with, and it was like what i'm doing? i love america, those people are scary and different clothes, and

i remember the first mission i went to them, like the guy, walk with him, stopped, left, right, go. and i don't know we pushed the door to make the entrance. so they reached the door and i have no review. i have nothing. so looks like, oh, my gosh we're under attack so i start to run away. and the guy who accompany me, he catch me and he said we just reached the door. >> what you didn't tell them though is that on that first mission, johnny showed up. they told john that he was not allowed to bring his weapon. but ordinarily in iraq pretty much every male had at least generally and a.k., but had some weapon. so what did you bring on that

first mission? >> knife. >> johnny brought a knife. how big was that knife? >> compared to -- this big. >> i heard the story from the original guy. it was more like this big. johnny started going with the seals. there was one incident really that kind of cemented your relationship with the seals. do want to talk about that one with the man was wounded? >> so one of the missions, you know, i'm kind of new in this environment and i don't know what's going on. but i had to support my family, so anyway, we went to one of the targets and we want to take that house as sniper mission towards election next day. so -- [inaudible] and the guy from that house, they start shooting us. at that time i've no weapon,

nothing with me and i show one of the guys, i hear got injured in his arm. so it looks like what i should do? and the only thing i knew is i want to fight, i want to save them. i went, i grabbed him and i don't live i'm going to lose my life or not but it's worth it to do something right. so i got him out and there is -- [inaudible] i cannot mention his name. so from that time they start trusting me and they consider me as a brother and part of the seal community. >> actually, the significance there is that there were a lot of people that were interpreters or translators with the american forces. often they were kept back behind the lines when there was any sort of combat. johnny is being a little bit modest in that story. according to the seals who were there, johnny ran forward

as there was gunfire going on. johnny grabbed him, brought him back, and they were quite impressed at the point but from that point on johnny was actually a brother to the seals. i think it can be difficult for people who are not seals to understand what an honor that is. you can hang out with the seals. you can be even, you know, even from another special forces, another special operations guide and not be considered a brother. johnny, they trusted him with their backs. what does that feel like, johnny? with these americans who you had known, how did you feel towards them? >> i don't know, i feel like they're my family and they do good job to my country so i will do anything to help them make their mission succeed, and catch bad guys. but it's a huge honor for me to

get under an officer, and everyone, and everyone care me and support me internet ways. [inaudible] >> johnny started in mosul, but the seals actually have emissions across the country. johnny, you traveled quite a bit, right? you ended up -- name some of the places you at and where you ended up. >> we went to mosul, city and town come at the end i end up -- [inaudible] >> baghdad at that time is kind of like going to miami, right? it's a nice place. they love you. >> at that time it looked like huge firefight between sunni and

shia. [inaudible] they need all the support from seals to like protect them. and from there we start, like, targeting bad guys, militia and extremists. >> just to explain, in islam, as i think a lot of people know, though not necessarily everyone, you can make a lot of different divisions. one of the major divisions is between sunni and shia. and the interesting thing, johnny, what are you and what is your wife a? >> so i am sunni and my wife, she is shia, and one of the days we set, and it look like i come

up with a crazy idea. i want as my kids who's going to be suing and who's going to be shia. so i told my wife, and i dreamed it that night, i thought, hey, came to bring the kids, i want to talk to them. so my kids came and they show up in the room and i said hey, we are democratic family, and we're going to make vote is going to be sunni, who's going to be shia. so they asked me, daddy, are you shia? no, i'm sunni. mom, she said she appeared thate all raised their hands and said we are shia. [laughter] >> the interesting thing is that not only before the american war but before the kind of sunni awakening, you lived in mosul, and while there were sunni and there were shia, muslim custody wednesday where there's more sunnis. there wasn't religious animosity. there weren't people who are shooting at each other because they were sunni and there were shia. unfortunately, what's the

situation now, or what was the situation with the america's? >> so it looked like almost the country divided by sunni cities, by shia cities, and kurdish places. >> basically, now there's a lot of, there's a lot of violence. >> violence and issues. >> johnny's wife was in baghdad -- no, i'm sorry, excuse me. johnny's wife was in mosul, and you were in baghdad, and can you tell us what happened once you didn't ask we know what happened. tell us about that story. >> so at the beginning they kill my brother and they start targeting me, so we told everyone we are -- i run away to syria or jordan so no one can target my family. anyway, they threatened my wife and a sender, like, letter with a bullet that means they are

going to kill her. so she had no option. so next day she took everything and she moved to baghdad. >> wait a second. there's a lot more to that story though. first of all, she had, johnny's wife is an incredible woman, and we go into in more detail in the book, but she was threatened quite a lot and thought she was going to die at several points. finally, at that episode when she got the bullet, and she decided she's had to go to baghdad because that was where johnny was. to this point john his relatives had been protecting his wife, and she just decides she just had to go. so she packed the kids up, and they went in a van that was kind of, the equivalent of kind of a minibus service here.

but lets it was four hours, kind of rounding things out a little bit, about two hours into the trip they were stopped by some terrorist. and they took them out of the bus. they checked them and they were basically threatened to kill them. fortunately, the terrorists were actually not looking for johnny's family, thank god, but they were looking for some other person that they been assigned to kill. a stay there for several hours in the desert, and johnny's wife was holding the kids. they have four kids. and pretty much thinking they were going to die. until the terrorists apparently called whoever had assigned them to kill these people, you know, kill the person. and thank god the person, he said, no, let those people go, that's not your target. they didn't go to baghdad and told johnny. you didn't know that story until we ar working on the book, righ?

so johnny's wife was telling me the story, we were sitting in the kitchen, she and i are sitting in the kitchen and johnny's over there and he's listening. he starts going, interesting. what? what? you see his eyes, like his eyes become the sides of his face over there. pretty big. it was pretty scary. >> yeah. you know, like for me and my kids and my wife is all my life, and trying to do the right thing for them and to my country, but i end up with all this bad things around me, extremist, bad people. so when i hear jim talk about my wife with this kind of details, i freak out. >> fortunately, she's fine and the kids are fine. but, unfortunately, we kind of skipped over a story there were your brother was assassinated.

maybe we should tell that story of how your brother came to die, unfortunately. >> so my brother, he keep, like pushing hard to work with, to have any chance to work to support his family. so when they, i find a job with the iraqi army, and only my brother job is transportation the bread to iraqi can't. and one of the day they wait for them at the bakery and they came to him, and i apologize, they are cowards. they don't face them. they just shot him without -- there are three or four guys. they shot him in the face without giving them any chance to defend himself. >> and that was because they couldn't get you. so we have another story about you dealing with, tell the awful story. >> you tell them. >> that's your story. you tell about.

>> so one of the days, they teach me don't trust anyone outside your team. and always take the bad, bad feeling, you don't feel like can you feel good, everything is -- [inaudible] so anyway, i told in my car and they were also behind me with two guys, the driver has long beard and the passenger is about 20 years old. and i'm thinking, what's going on? that time, maybe met coming in, 2004 there is no big deal of a fascination or killing our bomb ied or something. so anyway, i'm thinking what am i going to do? so i make up in my mind this is one going to do. i'm going to take a ride, and soon they can come close to me

and i will push the gas and they passed me, i can push the brake and maybe it's going to give me time to confuse them if they have any plan to kill me. so plan is, one of the guys, he shot me -- [inaudible] at that time always i keep my head kind of covered. so anyway, i stopped the car and they took my a.k. and shot both of them. and i finish it because if i'm not going to do that, they're going to chase me into going to kill my family. >> and then what happened? you killed them. you kill them. the crowd starts together, and then what happened? >> to people, they start asking what's going on? i told him those guys, they work with americans, and all of them

said good job, all of them. >> johnny was able to escape from that by claiming that those, the people he killed, were actually the people that were working with the americans. he went back and make sure that his family was okay. now, johnny told me that story. that was one of the first stories that johnny told me, and when he told me that, we had met, we've talked before but we really met, i went out to san diego. johnny, we had lunch, and it's tough to start working on a book, you don't want to know people i said, let's just hang out, just chill, you know, what do you like to do? johnny said, i like to take a walk down by the water, by the ocean. taking out there. so we would have -- so we went out, there's a boardwalk on

embryo beach, and johnny just started talking. i have to say that chris is a really good friend and if chris asked to do something i would do. but even if chris hadn't been involved, even if peter hubbard hadn't asperger, after walking out on that boardwalk talking to john and just kind of getting a feel for him, i knew i had to write this book. so i thought what we would do since this is kind of related to the book, we would you all a bit of you reading. so johnny's going to read the entire book now. [laughter] speak i understand -- i'm going to take my story, writing the book i took my story, what has happened to me and johnny's story which i think the color of the car has changed a couple of times.

my america is your market, and your america is mind. it is a refuge and a dream, a place of freedom and respite, responsibility and wonder. to have a privateer, after the journey i took, after the bombs and gunfire and killings, the beheadings and kidnappings, the dangers, after everything that is happening in my life, the idea that i am free now, and the knowledge of everything it means fills me with gratitude. i am thankful for every moment and every breath. i am grateful to the seals who risked their lives for my family, grateful for the sacrifices of other servicemen and women, grateful to my neighbors and new friends who have welcomed me to this land of large dreams and open skies. every day i live a dream. my dream but unlike most, my dream began amid a nightmare, a

murderous war in iraq that destroyed not only the lives of many of my friends and relatives, but an entire country and culture. that destruction began long before the war i fought him. long before that conflict began, iraq was a broken country, a place ruled more by fear than law, a place where making a decent living was many an impossible dream. the american war brought hope to the disenfranchised iraqis. but soon i hope evaporated, replaced by violence and bloodshed. the americans were an excuse but not because of this nightmare. the hatred and the lengthy it engendered tour would've been my country apart. its effects continue to this day. i am for away from that now. today, on a cold morning in san diego, i walk out on the pier at imperial beach and feel the wind pushed against my body, tearing

at my clothes and sandpaper in my face. it's a wonderful feeling. at six in the morning the beaches nearly always deserted. it is as if i have the edge of the world completely to myself. i wait a little while. the fishermen come and cast their lines into the surf. someone told me that phishing is a great act of faith, to fish one must be incredibly patient are one must also believe. he waits in the water and the winds casting and standing completing that eventually his persistence will pay off. he dreams of landing a fish. he rehearses it in his head. he hopes, he waits. that sort of dreaming is familiar to me. that is how i came to america coming immigrant before you the new i could travel, a citizen in my hopes before the wish could even be spoken. i fishermen. america is a land of immigrants.

every family here has its own unique story of travel, of hardship in many cases, of triumph and sadness. many of these stores are filled with tears. a few are marked by blood. my story has both. i have debated how much to say about the war and my role in it. i thought of not telling about things, but in the end i decided that people should not the real story. i think a lot of people will say that what happened was very savage. perhaps they will think that i'm a savage as well, though in my mind i did what i had to do and killed only to survive. some people, including some of the bravest warriors america has produced, the seals, have called me a hero. that's not a word i use to describe myself. i am only a man who did what i thought i needed to do, what i felt like had to do.

i was a man doing a job, one i was happy to have, for it meant i could support my family at a time and place when it was difficult to do so. and for a while at least, a job i thought meant i was changing my country for the better. people ask how many missions i went on, how many times i faced death. i don't know. i went on at least hundreds and more likely thousands of operations with just the seals, sometimes two or three in a single night. american military units rotated in and out of the country every few months, taking a rest back in the states for months and even years. for me, there were no rotation, and arrests were only very short, and in a war zone. ieds and stray bullets were as much a danger as actual combat or direct action, often more so.

it all seemed like a normal lifespan. perhaps that's a measure of the wars intend to. if i of courage or fear or even savagery, it is because i am human. these things are in all of us. war always brings them out. we are all capable of the worst possible crimes. we can all killed, we can all destroy. these are far easier to do than to build or to help someone live. i have found to my horror that it does not take much to become a monster. i didn't always think this way. maybe like most people, i hope most people think this way, i thought at one time the world was basically good. i believe, and stipulate, that we can all live together in peace, and by working together make our communities and the world a better place. i feel, i know, that it is

better to make and to build than to tear down and destroy. i thought all people around me believe that. little by little, i saw this wasn't true. i thought it. i tried to change it. eventually i saw only, my only course was to escape. but before i was able to call america my home, i had to denounce america. the four i could taste freedom i had to taste death itself. and it was the late summer 2004. i've been working for a number of different american organizations, civilian and military, for more than a year. the liberation of iraq had been a glorious moment, a triumph that nearly all of us in mosul shared. when i got my first job as a translator, everyone on my street celebrate with me. way to go, johnny, they said. now you are made. what a wonderful thing.

but in barely a year all of that changed. things turned murderously bad. my job went from a thing to be celebrated to a thing to be hidden. any association with americans with us a death sentence. if navy seals loves me for helping them, mujahedin terrorists hated me for the same thing. one morning on my way to the steel base, a car pulled up behind as i approached a traffic circle in western mosul. instinctively i knew what would happen. as i look for an escape route, the car to close and the man in the passenger seat began firing. i was lucky. the bullets missed. i feared off the road, then gunned the engine and managed to the other car as it turned. i jumped out, ak-47 and money and. how many rounds i fired, i have no idea. both men in the car died, either

because of the crush or because of my bullets, i'll never know, and it makes no difference. people ran to his. as the crowd gathered, i could feel their hatred. what is it? they demanded. what are you doing? there was only one way to escape. those people, they worked with the americans, i said. they had to die. the crowd began to cheer. a few pals with the car with rocks. suddenly, the car was inflames. i quickly made my get away. it was one of the worst days of my life, the day that i denounced america. but it was also the day that my escape to the united states began. [applause] >> so we're kind of just free forming here so we'll take questions from people i think.

and just kind of -- we can talk about to some extent what's going on in iraq now, if anyone is interested. we will not identify anyone -- no active serviceman will be identified, and we will try to keep some of the details just a little under, you know,. >> i wonder if you're afraid now if they will be coming after you? >> said just repeat the question for the video. are you afraid, johnny, now the people, after you? >> maybe they're going to come after me, but they cannot come after my family. and i have all the support from people, so you know, i'm 50 years old, i don't care anymore. >> was it difficult for you to come to the united states? i mean, the transition, where you brought by the u.s. government's? >> we have a question about

difficult it was for you to come to the u.s., which is a great, let's ask a great question. >> one of my big issue with the system is a half gig of -- [inaudible] and stay for five hours to give me payment to my apartment. so i have big argument with the supervisor. i told him, i don't want you to be kind to me and give me money. i want to work. let me be, like, work in the parking lot, and at the end of the month i deserve what i get it. so this is like making kind of like, sad about this kind of incorrect a system. >> yeah. but how you got out of the system, how you got out of the rack. you were help by the seals and that's actually the question we're looking about for iraq. when you had been serving in iraq, how you got to the u.s.

>> so one of my friends, his name jack -- welcome, brother. we work in 2007, baghdad. >> hey, johnny. >> so anyway, in 2005 and six, most of the team guys, they allowed me and they said johnny, you need to move to the united states. i want to do that but if i'm going to move and everyone move, who's going to stay here and do the right thing? after my wife when she came to baghdad, and my brother killed and they tried to kill me, they put money on my head, it looked like, you know what, my family deserves a better chance. the seals, they do everything. i mean, each one of them, he do his part to move me from iraq. >> we go into the in a little bit more detail but we really have to praise and thank the ones you in particular, we call

them chief cat in the book who really was a tremendous supporter of john and really made it happen but a lot of people involved, a lawyer and a lot of officers thomas so there's a lot of credit to be spread around but chief tat who is a master chief and ignore anything about seals, he is one tough s.o.b., right? win finally everything he got all the paperwork, he got johnny here and we finally heard that johnny was on, he was action on a mission, he started crying. and he is, you know, if you can imagine a real tough as nails seal guy crying, and he is, not only does he admit that, he's proud of that. it just goes to show how much the seals really respected you. >> you mentioned at the beginning you weren't allowed to carry a weapon. what was the defining moment

when you were allowed to carry a weapon? >> to just repeat the question. you are not allowed to carry a weapon. at what point were you allowed? >> when we started training iraqi forces, the iraqi forces, they give me weapon. >> the americans have a long list of things that, well, first of all, the seals or any american force can and can't do. but as kind of a sidebar to that they didn't allow interpreters not, you know, to carry weapons. at some point, well, we're talking about seals but there are other forces. seal specifically started training iraqi forces, and at that point johnny was considered working, even though he was working with the seals he was working also with a iraqis. and under their rules, so he came under their rules, and under the rules he was allowed to carry a weapon.

i know it's convoluted. i'm not the person that came up with those rules, and that's the rules and johnny followed them. the seals followed them. they didn't like him sometimes but in order is in order and that's what they did. >> a moment ago you spoke about the difficulty of arranging your departure from iraq to come to america. i'm a former middle east foreign policy analyst. i know that there were actually many cases of people in afghanistan, in iraq who help american forces, some of whom had tremendous, they put their lives at risk in ways similar to you. i don't know the exact number of these people, but there's a reason will number of them, and java a lot of soldiers who were trying to work for these people, interpreters who put their lives on the line, and sometimes they

were tremendous difficulties with the american bureaucracy to get these people out of afghanistan, out of iraq to the safety of america. i'm wondering, is there any type of national organization rather than take each of these individuals one by one by one as a larger group because there's a number of them. i don't know the exact number of people who really help american forces, and they deserve the help of the united states to come to safety. >> just to kind of repeat or summarize and repeated the question. johnny was lucky and helped by the seals to come to america, but there are, as our audience better pointed out, there's a lot of iraqis who helped americans -- >> afghanistan also. >> and in afghanistan, and that the difficulty coming to america.

that is one of the untold stories, unfortunate untold stories, that even though congress actually passed a law, and johnny actually came to america under that law, saying that, hey, we recognize that these people put their lives on the line for american should now be, you, held to safety and freedom if that's what they want. unfortunately, the implementation of that law has been far less than just kind of, well, proselytize a little bit, the limitation of that law has not been what you would hope. unfortunately, very few translators specifically or interpreters have come to america under it. and the audience member was pointing out and asking if there's an organization that is helping people that are stuck in afghanistan and iraq, and i don't know of one, and we know that -- i do know that there are other translators stuck there.

i think that, i'm not really sure what should be done. i know that we have an obligation to help the people who helped us. i think, hopefully we've learned our lesson from vietnam, because i think we had a similar situation there. they did pass a law but it's been very good difficult for these guys to get the paperwork done. even in johnny's case, it was hard. i know of two other cases. you may have something. >> no, that's good. hold on, hold on. what was yours speak was this is a question for you actually -- >> then johnny will take it. and he will answer in arabic spent on not quite sure how to ask this in a nonleague, but as the author of a book that so

intimate to your subject, how do you not get your own politics, thinking, philosophies integrated in it? how much of you seeps into this stores the? that's a really good question. the question is, since you are the co-author of this book, and other books obviously, so how do you keep yourself from getting in the boat? i think that what, you try to train yourself to become, i mean, my job is not to give my opinions or, you know, my voice. my job is to give john his voice and put it into the story. when i did "american sniper" which is a book about a seal sniper from texas, in some ways that was a little bit of an issue book because chris was, had a very texan a voice.

you know, he talked a lot. he talked a lot different than i do. i can't do a texan come as you can tell, i can't do a texan accent. for chris it was spending a lot of time with him, with his family, they spent a lot of time with us and just listening and just trying to become the conduit for what he thought. and what he wanted to say. whether i agreed with it or not. i agreed with a lot but not necessarily everything. coming, he's a dallas cowboy fan, i mean, give me a break. new york. baseball, forget about it. when he came to johnny, we had a couple of barriers to overcome their one is the language because as you can see, i speak perfect arabic. johnnies english -- and he doesn't understand like have the italian stuff, language, things i'll throw at him as jokes which

is probably to his credit. but the other thing was trying to replicate his language. and as you can notice him, it would've been impossible. he doesn't speak in this. so what we tried to do or i tried to do was come up with a language that would be, that would mimic to some extent the edit that use which was very formal arabic, and try to get the cadences of that in the story. and basically comes down to spent a lot of time with the guy and forming a bond, and we just spend, we spend so much time together that his family pretty much hates me now. but it's just, the thing i'll say about john is if you spent a lot of time with him, you just can't help but like him. these johnny. and hopefully we communicate that in the book. and we do, actually i do talk about that, there's a whole

essay in the back of the book about that. >> okay, i'm sorry. >> talking from the back spent you brought it up, but johnny, tell us about how you got the codename johnny walker. >> how did you get codename johnny walker? >> evening johnny walker or codename? forget about the codename part. johnny walker. >> i love to drink a johnny walker block. [laughter] spent actually, there's more to destroy the net. as usual, the other thing i should say is that when you get one star from johnny, you have to ask in the same story like 25 times before you get all the details, and then you find the seals were with him, you get more. he's a very modest fellow. but the originally were calling you walk or i think, and i think, i think somebody sorry with the drink had said no, he's

not walker, he's johnny walker. johnny, of course, been johnny didn't understand, at that point didn't really understand the joke, and then got it. >> i got it now spent you got it no? >> i got it now. >> i realize a lot of your missions, johnny, are still probably classified, but can you explain like what the mix was? was a partly derogation? was a parlay community relations? what were you doing? >> so what kind of missions did you go on? >> so i did all the mission, and my job is i will do everything to make mission successful. they need me to help him questioning. they need me to call security. they need -- they need me to do anything, i am part of this. >> the bulk, in almost all the missions with the seals, he worked with a number, he worked

with some government agencies and to work also with the mps we talk about. we also talked about in the book some other army services, the rangers, special forces, blah, blah, blah. but the bulk of the missions with the seals were missions where you would go to essentially make an arrest, to use kind of civilian language. you were going to search out a certain individual who may or may not have been guilty, often was, but we have to presume, americans being americans, we are presuming they are innocent. but to go to apprehend people. i would say that was most of the seal missions. you are doing missions where you are handing out soccer balls. >> yet. like some time with the sniper mission my job is not only question people, no. my job to build a bridge between seals and iraqi family because

the iraqi family, we took the house for two days, so i try to make it respectfully and kindly. so soon we had target, i changed my clothes to civilian clothes and gathered money from the team guys and go to the market and buy food for that family. we build a lot of relationship with family. family. >> there is one misconception that i think a lot of the americans, when we hear sniper missions we think that the seals are going out to shoot someone. actually the sniper missions in iraq for the most part, and the missions that johnny was on, were actually over watching the missions where the americans were protecting things like the election. so that to make sure that there was not going to be any violence on the street, the seals would say, going to house the night before the election, or two

nights before the election. and then they would set up outposts and they would watch the street and make sure there were no bad guys. of course, to do that you ha hae to take over the house, and, unfortunately, because of the nature of war, you couldn't advertise a newspaper, we would like to take over house sometime, anybody have a health? johnny's job in those cases was to assure the people that we are here, we're here for this mission, we are here to protect iraqis. we're going to take care of your needs. anything that gets damaged we will pay for. we know it's a pain in the neck and we will take care of that. but the seals and john would go beyond that. we talk about this in the book. they would make them dinner. it would go out and get them, go shopping for them, get them fuel. so i know when americans, hear sniper's come with any of the movies and that's not what's

going on. >> what are you doing today and what sort of thing -- >> so from my expense working with seals, this is not on my job. i mean, this is like a huge project now. [inaudible] we get involved with our culture. so our guys when they go there, they know what's going on and they make job easy. they get the message, they respect you. and also we have language program. [inaudible] there is one guy who speak like -- [inaudible] arabic or any kind of language. >> the seals really stepped up and supported john. not only did they get them out

of iraq, they helped him and his wife get jobs. as johnny said, it's very important for our troops whether seals or wherever they are, whether they're in an urban situation or wherever they are, to present themselves in certain ways so they understand simple customs. even having tea with somebody can mean a lot. it doesn't always work right but at least they understand the theory and what they're going into. do we have other questions? >> would you ever consider going back to iraq for any recent? >> the question is, johnny, have you ever considered going back to iraq for any reason? >> no. this is my country for good. my country and my kids country. [applause] >> johnny would be shocked --

johnny loves america but every time i call johnny 25 times a day john how you doing? [inaudible] [laughter] but the truth is, johnny come if johnny were to go to iraq, johnny would be dead, no matter who was -- [inaudible] or any arab country. the thing with johnny is that he didn't just go on missions that were just against al-qaeda or shia. he went on missions against everybody. so he doesn't have just one in a. he's got enemies all over the place. and friends as well. other questions? we want -- i'm sorry. we are going to thank everybody for coming. now john is going to buy everybody a drink. just kidding about that.

>> is your name johnny? >> my fake name, yeah. >> johnny does not use -- we should explain. johnny doesn't use the name he was given at birth because he still has relatives in different places, not necessary to iraq but other places. where potentially they could be endangered using his name would hurt them. >> i love the name johnny walker. >> and he loves the name. so thank you, everybody. [applause] >> booktv is on facebook.

like us to interact with the booktv's guests and viewers. watch it is and get up-to-date information on events. facebook.com/booktv. >> i write about in the book, the two republican parties right now. there is the republican party of washington, d.c. it is such, especially because of the small pockets, it is such an ideologically driven party that does not allow a variety of views. i'm not talking about liberal views and conservative views. i'm talking about the variety of views that we had, for instance, the heritage foundation. heritage was about education reform. and getting a lot of different conservatives together, and they would fight like heck about the best way forward on education reform. the best way forward on tax reform. jack kemp would have horrible

fights, you know, with phil gramm and others and then it would come together and they would come up with a tax reform plan. they would be constant battles on the budget, and there were a lot of different ways forward to it and the conservatives we believed even in the '90s, in 1994 we always talked about a legislative laboratory of ideas. and we talked about the market place of ideas, we always talked about the free marketplace of ideas. we would close the doors, go downstairs, debate nonstop among ourselves until we came up with the best plan for reform. that's just not the case anymore. in washington, d.c. if you veer off the path a little bit to the right or a little bit to the left, your ideological witchhunt that it suggests you are insufficiently conservative or republican. that's the tea party. that's a 9% party.

that's the record low party. you go outside of this city, that i love and that i love living in and that i loved working in, a politically you go outside of this city and the republican party is a pretty vibrant party. we can probe 60% of -- we control 60% of the government seat. we control the majority of the state houses. we control the majority of the state senate seats of the state house seats. i mean, you know, look at what chris christie did in new jersey. look what scott walker is doing in wisconsin. these are people that aren't just thriving in the deep south. you can look and i talk about this, we have been trapped as a part in the deep south. basic all the place where i live, that's where republicans do well, florida, mississippi, alabama, georgia. we kick mac iver. okay? but if you live in new england, chances are pretty good.

you are being represented by a democrat. we've started to break out of that sort of deep south southern strategy and the type of how we do that more in the book. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> you've been watching booktv, 48 hours of book programming beginning saturday morning at eight eastern through monday morning at eight eastern. ..