In the Belly of the Green Bird is a 2006 book by Nir Rosen which describes the events in Iraq after the U.S. invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein. The book builds on nearly three years spent in Iraq observing ordinary life and talking with a wide range of people involved in and affected by the violence. Rosen's thesis is that Iraq is now in a state of civil war and that the U.S. can do little to stop the increasing violence. Rosen was able to take advantage of his fluent Arabic to mix unobtrusively with Iraqis and to dispense with translators in his interviews (Massing).